We are in that run of Sundays in year B of the lectionary that I like to call the month of bread. (Bethlehem means House of Bread in Hebrew, I'm not sure what month of bread would be iralehem maybe?) Anyway, beginning last week and for the next several Sundays our Gospel readings will be about the bread of life, the true bread that comes down from heaven etc, etc.
As I've been thinking about the next several sermons, I was remembering that in Jesus' time it was rare for people to bake their own bread. Most people didn't have ovens in their home, so to actually have leavened bread they needed to take their prepared dough to the baker and have it baked for them. Making bread was, of necessity, a community activity, you couldn't do it alone.
I wonder if that means that when Jesus says, "I am the Bread of Life" or "I am the true bread which comes down from heaven" did he have in his mind not only the staple food that everyone needed, but also the most common connection of people to their neighbors and communities? And if so, does that mean that Jesus is not only our connection to the basics of eternal life but also the basics of eternal community? Just something I'm pondering
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