Skip to main content

Bread And Wine

Bread and wine - these were the elements chosen by Jesus to teach us about His dying love. The bread speaks to us of Jesus' body broken for us. The wine speaks to us of Jesus' blood shed for us.
Jesus used bread and wine to proclaim His salvation. He did this at the Last Supper, but that wasn't the first time that Jesus had used bread and wine as visual aids to help us to understand the meaning of His salvation. Before the Last Supper, there were the miracles of turning water into wine and the feeding of the five thousand.
(1) The miracle of turning water into wine, along with the cleansing of the Temple, proclaims the miracle of the new birth. It leads us into the words of Jesus - "You must be born again" (John 3;3).
  • The contrast between the water and the wine speaks to us of the contrast between "that which is born of the flesh" and "that which is born of the Spirit."
  • The transformation of the water into wine speaks of the new birth which Jesus came to bring us: "Mild He lays his glory by, Born that man no more may die, Born to raise the sons of earth, Born to give them second birth." This great miracle of turning water into wine prepares us to hear what Jesus says to us concerning being born again, born anew, born of God, born from above, born with a heavenly birth.
(2) The meaning of the miracle of the feeding of the five thousand is summed up in the words of Jesus - "I am the Bread of Llfe" (John 6:35).
Jesus did not perform this miracle to impress the crowd. This miracle created for Him another opportunity to teach the people the real significance of His miracles and the real meaning of faith.
The Lord speaks of Himself as the Bread of Life. He gives eternal life to all who put their faith in Him. By speaking of Himself in this way, He highlights the Gospel character of this miracle.
At the heart of the miracle story, there is, in John 6:4, a short sentence, which we could easily overlook: "Now, the Passover, the feast of the Jews was at hand." We must not overlook this fact. It points us forward to the Lord's Supper, which also took place at the time of the Passover.
"When I see the blood, I will pass over you" (Exodus 12:13) - Jesus fulfilled this!
Now, the Lord's Supper, the feast of the Christians, is at hand. May God grant that your understanding of and experience of Christ's love will be deepened and enriched through our looking together at these two great miracles.

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Sometimes, Lord, our lights are switched off.

Exodus 27:20-29:9   Sometimes, Lord, our lights are switched off. Sometimes, they're switched on. The light of Your love is never switched off. It's always switched on. Your love is 'all the time' love. There is no love like Your love for us. It's the only 'always and forever' love. Thank You, Lord, for the light that never stops shining - the light of Your undying love. This is the only light that is always shining.

Help us, Lord, to invite Jesus, Your Son, to be our Saviour and our Friend.

Proverbs 18:1-24   Lord, we thank You that ‘the fountain of wisdom is an overflowing stream’ (Proverbs 18:4). We read the joyful testimony of Paul: ‘The grace of our Lord overflowed for me with the faith and love that are in Christ Jesus’ (1 Timothy 1:14), and we say, in our hearts,  ‘This is the “wisdom” we must seek – the wisdom which receives “salvation through faith in Christ Jesus” (2 Timothy 3:15). True wisdom finds its overflowing joy in the Saviour: ‘The Name of the Lord is a strong tower; the righteous run to it and are safe’ (Proverbs 18:10). We rejoice in Jesus. He is Your Son – ‘You shall call His Name Jesus. He will be great, and will be called the Son of the Most High’ (Luke 1:31-32). He is our Saviour – ‘You shall call His Name Jesus, because He will save His people from their sins’ (Matthew 1:21). He is ‘the Friend who sticks closer than a brother’ (Proverbs 18:24). Help us, Lord, to be wise. Help us to invite Jesus, Your Son, to be ou...

A Godly, Christlike And Spirit-Filled Life

What kind of people are we to be? What kind of life are we to live? Lord, You're calling us to live a life of "love" (Proverbs 17:9). How, Lord, do we learn what love is? - We learn from You. You show us what love is - "God so loved the world that He gave His only Son ... " (John 3:16). In Jesus, we see perfect love - "The Son of God loved me and gave Himself for me" (Galatians 2:20). The Holy Spirit fills our lives with Your love - "The fruit of the Spirit is love" (Galatians 5:22). Help us, Lord, to live a Godly, Christlike, Spirit-filled life - a life of love.