Bread
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When he was at the table with them, he took bread, blessed and broke it, and gave it to them. Then their eyes were opened, and they recognized him.
-Luke 24:30-31
In the many post-resurrection appearances of Jesus that are recorded in the gospel, I’m always struck that it is the very human things, the very earthy and grounded things, that help people recognize the post-resurrection Jesus. Things like hearing his voice. Seeing and touching his skin. Recognizing his unique viewpoints while discussing scripture. Or, as in this Sunday’s gospel, over a meal.
In western cultures, bread is the most basic staple food. In other countries, the central staple food is rice or sweet potatoes or plaintains. What all these foods have in common is a starchy, filling comfort for those who have eaten it regularly with just about every meal since childhood. Bread fills that role in our culture. The word bread is even used in western culture to describe the totality of our required sustinence, or “our daily bread.”
Although bread is a very commonplace food, it takes practice to learn how to make it well. But for practiced bakers, making bread can be a very meditative and spiritual ritual through the many steps of its preparation: the mixing, the kneading, the rising, the shaping and the baking. The aroma of freshly baking bread just can’t be matched (even if you use gluten free flour) and that smell conjures up deep memories in many of us. Food, especially simple comfort foods like bread, can touch us to the core. Over the centuries we have built grand cathedrals with breathtaking stained glass and ornamentation to conjure awe and a spiritual connection to God. However, Jesus is still made most powerfully known to us through simple actions, human interactions, and above all, in simple bread.
I am hoping to bake some homemade communion bread for this Sunday, and I invite you to come - to taste and see. I pray that Christ will be known to you in ever new and deeper ways in the breaking of bread.
