Grandma’s Light Bread – Theology Essay
Grandma’s light bread would melt in your mouth. In the 1950’s, rural electric had not yet reached our part of the countryside. As kerosene lamps gave a golden glow in the kitchen, I’d watch grandma mix and kneed the bread dough, put it in pans, and then set them aside to rise overnight.
At daybreak she would fire up the wood cook stove and bake the bread until the top crust was shining and golden. I could hardly wait for a couple of slices of grandma’s light bread spread with home churned butter and, perhaps, a spoon of wild comb honey or a dollop of blackberry jelly. Those were the days when bread was bread.
Grandma would occasionally make Hot Cross Buns with a cross on the top of each one. I later discovered that during Lent or Easter many English women would put a cross on buns made with cinnamon or spices to remind them of Jesus’ death on the cross. I remember learning to play the flute-phone (now called a recorder) while in grade school. One of the songs that we learned to play was entitled “Hot Cross Buns”. If the ACLU had been around or known of the significance of those “Hot Cross Buns”, I imagine that they would have had a fit. They, like many others, despise the cross.
One day Jesus miraculously fed over 5,000 people with only five barley loaves of bread and two small fish. There were 12 baskets of bread left over. I would have liked to have had a piece of that bread that was blessed by Jesus. (John 6:1-15)
Not long afterwards a crowd of people sought out Jesus. They asked, “What will you do for us? After all, our ancestors ate manna while they journeyed in the wilderness! As the scriptures say, ‘Moses gave them bread from heaven to eat.’
“Jesus answered, “I assure you, Moses didn’t give them bread from heaven. My Father did. And now he offers you the true bread from heaven. The bread of God is the one who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world’” (John 6:30-35).
Bread is called the “Staff of Life”. Good whole grained bread is a building block to a healthy body. The Bread of Life is indispensable for eternal, spiritual life. Let’s consider three aspects of the Bread of Life.
First – It is WONDER BREAD! Jesus declared, “I am the bread of life . . . No one who comes to me will ever be hungry again” (John 6:35-36).
There is a soul hunger in all of us. Only Jesus can satisfy that soul hunger. Do you feel empty – that there is something lacking in your life? Someone once gave me a business card that read, “If you don’t like the way the cookie crumbles – Try the Bread of Life – Jesus.” Jesus is the true Wonder Bread. Isaiah prophesied, “For a child is born to us, a son is given to us . . . And he will be called ‘Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace’” (Isaiah 9:6).
My grandmother cannot give me anymore of her wonderful light bread. She is dead. Moses is dead. But Jesus – the Bread of Life – is alive! He arose victorious over death, hell, and the grave. Jesus says, “I am the true bread from heaven. Anyone who eats this bread will live forever and not die as your ancestors did, even though they ate manna.” We eat the true Bread of Life by receiving him and His sacrifice on the cross by faith. (Ephesians 2:8-9)
Second – THE WILL OF GOD is true bread. One day Jesus sat down by a well of water in Samaria. The disciples went into the village to buy bread for lunch. Jesus ministered to a woman who was soul hungry and thirsty. (John 4) When the disciples returned, they offered Jesus some food to eat. But he told them that he had already eaten. The disciples were puzzled. Jesus said, “My food is to do the will of Him who sent me and to finish His work.” There is soul satisfaction and spiritual nourishment in doing God’s will. Jesus said, “For I have come down from heaven to do the will of God who sent me and not to do what I want . . . For it is my Father’s will that all who see His Son and believe in Him should have eternal life” (John 6:38-40). Do you seek God’s will as your daily bread?
Third – THE WORD OF GOD is bread indeed. At the Temptation of Christ, Jesus answered Satan, “It is written, ‘Man shall not live on bread alone, but on every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God” (Matthew 4:4). (Deuteronomy 8:3; Isaiah 55) True nourishment comes from feasting on the living Word of God and on Jesus and His sacrifice. “This bread is my flesh offered so the world may live” (John 6:50-51).
My grandma’s light bread was only temporal. Jesus the Bread of Life gives eternal life and real nourishment and satisfaction. Feast on Him today.
“But as many as received Him to them He gave the right to become children of God, even to those who believe in His name” (John 1:12).
Grandma’s Light Bread
Grandma’s light bread would melt in your mouth. In the 1950’s, rural electric had not yet reached our part of the countryside. As kerosene lamps gave a golden glow in the kitchen, I’d watch grandma mix and kneed the bread dough, put it in pans, and then set them aside to rise overnight. At daybreak she would fire up the wood cook stove and bake the bread until the top crust was shining and golden. I could hardly wait for a couple of slices of grandma’s light bread spread with home churned butter and, perhaps, a spoon of wild comb honey or a dollop of blackberry jelly. Those were the days when bread was bread.
Grandma would occasionally make Hot Cross Buns with a cross on the top of each one. I later discovered that during Lent or Easter many English women would put a cross on buns made with cinnamon or spices to remind them of Jesus’ death on the cross. I remember learning to play the flute-phone (now called a recorder) while in grade school. One of the songs that we learned to play was entitled “Hot Cross Buns”. If the ACLU had been around or known of the significance of those “Hot Cross Buns”, I imagine that they would have had a fit. They, like many others, despise the cross.
One day Jesus miraculously fed over 5,000 people with only five barley loaves of bread and two small fish. There were 12 baskets of bread left over. I would have liked to have had a piece of that bread that was blessed by Jesus. (John 6:1-15)
Not long afterwards a crowd of people sought out Jesus. They asked, “What will you do for us? After all, our ancestors ate manna while they journeyed in the wilderness! As the scriptures say, ‘Moses gave them bread from heaven to eat.’
“Jesus answered, “I assure you, Moses didn’t give them bread from heaven. My Father did. And now he offers you the true bread from heaven. The bread of God is the one who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world’” (John 6:30-35).
Bread is called the “Staff of Life”. Good whole grained bread is a building block to a healthy body. The Bread of Life is indispensable for eternal, spiritual life. Let’s consider three aspects of the Bread of Life.
First – It is WONDER BREAD! Jesus declared, “I am the bread of life . . . No one who comes to me will ever be hungry again” (John 6:35-36).
There is a soul hunger in all of us. Only Jesus can satisfy that soul hunger. Do you feel empty – that there is something lacking in your life? Someone once gave me a business card that read, “If you don’t like the way the cookie crumbles – Try the Bread of Life – Jesus.” Jesus is the true Wonder Bread. Isaiah prophesied, “For a child is born to us, a son is given to us . . . And he will be called ‘Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace’” (Isaiah 9:6).
My grandmother cannot give me anymore of her wonderful light bread. She is dead. Moses is dead. But Jesus – the Bread of Life – is alive! He arose victorious over death, hell, and the grave. Jesus says, “I am the true bread from heaven. Anyone who eats this bread will live forever and not die as your ancestors did, even though they ate manna.” We eat the true Bread of Life by receiving him and His sacrifice on the cross by faith. (Ephesians 2:8-9)
Second – THE WILL OF GOD is true bread. One day Jesus sat down by a well of water in Samaria. The disciples went into the village to buy bread for lunch. Jesus ministered to a woman who was soul hungry and thirsty. (John 4) When the disciples returned, they offered Jesus some food to eat. But he told them that he had already eaten. The disciples were puzzled. Jesus said, “My food is to do the will of Him who sent me and to finish His work.” There is soul satisfaction and spiritual nourishment in doing God’s will. Jesus said, “For I have come down from heaven to do the will of God who sent me and not to do what I want . . . For it is my Father’s will that all who see His Son and believe in Him should have eternal life” (John 6:38-40). Do you seek God’s will as your daily bread?
Third – THE WORD OF GOD is bread indeed. At the Temptation of Christ, Jesus answered Satan, “It is written, ‘Man shall not live on bread alone, but on every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God” (Matthew 4:4). (Deuteronomy 8:3; Isaiah 55) True nourishment comes from feasting on the living Word of God and on Jesus and His sacrifice. “This bread is my flesh offered so the world may live” (John 6:50-51).
My grandma’s light bread was only temporal. Jesus the Bread of Life gives eternal life and real nourishment and satisfaction. Feast on Him today.
“But as many as received Him to them He gave the right to become children of God, even to those who believe in His name” (John 1:12).
Grandma’s Light Bread
Grandma’s light bread would melt in your mouth. In the 1950’s, rural electric had not yet reached our part of the countryside. As kerosene lamps gave a golden glow in the kitchen, I’d watch grandma mix and kneed the bread dough, put it in pans, and then set them aside to rise overnight. At daybreak she would fire up the wood cook stove and bake the bread until the top crust was shining and golden. I could hardly wait for a couple of slices of grandma’s light bread spread with home churned butter and, perhaps, a spoon of wild comb honey or a dollop of blackberry jelly. Those were the days when bread was bread.
Grandma would occasionally make Hot Cross Buns with a cross on the top of each one. I later discovered that during Lent or Easter many English women would put a cross on buns made with cinnamon or spices to remind them of Jesus’ death on the cross. I remember learning to play the flute-phone (now called a recorder) while in grade school. One of the songs that we learned to play was entitled “Hot Cross Buns”. If the ACLU had been around or known of the significance of those “Hot Cross Buns”, I imagine that they would have had a fit. They, like many others, despise the cross.
One day Jesus miraculously fed over 5,000 people with only five barley loaves of bread and two small fish. There were 12 baskets of bread left over. I would have liked to have had a piece of that bread that was blessed by Jesus. (John 6:1-15)
Not long afterwards a crowd of people sought out Jesus. They asked, “What will you do for us? After all, our ancestors ate manna while they journeyed in the wilderness! As the scriptures say, ‘Moses gave them bread from heaven to eat.’
“Jesus answered, “I assure you, Moses didn’t give them bread from heaven. My Father did. And now he offers you the true bread from heaven. The bread of God is the one who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world’” (John 6:30-35).
Bread is called the “Staff of Life”. Good whole grained bread is a building block to a healthy body. The Bread of Life is indispensable for eternal, spiritual life. Let’s consider three aspects of the Bread of Life.
First – It is WONDER BREAD! Jesus declared, “I am the bread of life . . . No one who comes to me will ever be hungry again” (John 6:35-36).
There is a soul hunger in all of us. Only Jesus can satisfy that soul hunger. Do you feel empty – that there is something lacking in your life? Someone once gave me a business card that read, “If you don’t like the way the cookie crumbles – Try the Bread of Life – Jesus.” Jesus is the true Wonder Bread. Isaiah prophesied, “For a child is born to us, a son is given to us . . . And he will be called ‘Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace’” (Isaiah 9:6).
My grandmother cannot give me anymore of her wonderful light bread. She is dead. Moses is dead. But Jesus – the Bread of Life – is alive! He arose victorious over death, hell, and the grave. Jesus says, “I am the true bread from heaven. Anyone who eats this bread will live forever and not die as your ancestors did, even though they ate manna.” We eat the true Bread of Life by receiving him and His sacrifice on the cross by faith. (Ephesians 2:8-9)
Second – THE WILL OF GOD is true bread. One day Jesus sat down by a well of water in Samaria. The disciples went into the village to buy bread for lunch. Jesus ministered to a woman who was soul hungry and thirsty. (John 4) When the disciples returned, they offered Jesus some food to eat. But he told them that he had already eaten. The disciples were puzzled. Jesus said, “My food is to do the will of Him who sent me and to finish His work.” There is soul satisfaction and spiritual nourishment in doing God’s will. Jesus said, “For I have come down from heaven to do the will of God who sent me and not to do what I want . . . For it is my Father’s will that all who see His Son and believe in Him should have eternal life” (John 6:38-40). Do you seek God’s will as your daily bread?
Third – THE WORD OF GOD is bread indeed. At the Temptation of Christ, Jesus answered Satan, “It is written, ‘Man shall not live on bread alone, but on every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God” (Matthew 4:4). (Deuteronomy 8:3; Isaiah 55) True nourishment comes from feasting on the living Word of God and on Jesus and His sacrifice. “This bread is my flesh offered so the world may live” (John 6:50-51).
My grandma’s light bread was only temporal. Jesus the Bread of Life gives eternal life and real nourishment and satisfaction. Feast on Him today.
“But as many as received Him to them He gave the right to become children of God, even to those who believe in His name” (John 1:12).