Food for the soul
Harvest festivals are upon us; a time when we give thanks to God for his provision of the things which sustain our lives, namely food. The other evening I had a TV dinner; it was baked beans, scrambled egg and delicious, freshly-fried chips from our local chippie. I really appreciated that meal and inwardly I offered an additional (post-meal) ‘grace’ to God.
Food plays an important part in our lives - actually it’s essential. This is why Jesus spoke of it in his teaching and involved it in the signs and wonders that he utilised e.g. water into wine, the miraculous catch of fish and the feeding of the multitudes. His supreme usage of food to instruct his followers was of course at the Last Supper.
Here, Jesus shared out bread with his friends, telling them to eat it saying to them, ‘this is my body given for you’. Now I don’t think for a minute that his friends thought that they were eating a chunk of his flesh, seeing that he was there in front of them intact. Likewise, after the meal, he told them to share a cup of wine saying, ‘this is my blood poured out for many’. Again, his disciples knew full well that it wasn’t literally a liquid extracted from his veins.
Very many deep and profound words have been written about the bread and wine at this supper, and how they represent the giving up of Jesus’ body to crucifixion; how this, together with the blood that came out of his broken flesh, was to transform the relationship between God and all who are friends of Jesus. Here, however, in this short article, let me draw out a simple analogy.
God gives us seedtime and harvest so that we have food to eat - food to be enjoyed that will keep our physical bodies functioning so that we remain biologically alive. God also has provision for our souls i.e. our inner-man; that which constitutes the essential ‘me’. This provision is Jesus, who amongst his many titles is called the Bread of Life.
Each day, when we have a meal, we take food into the very centre of our physical body. In a similar way, we are invited to feed on Jesus by taking him into the very depths of our being. This, I suggest, is a significant part of what Jesus was communicating at the Last Supper. He was saying to his friends, ‘I myself am to be Food and Drink to you.’ The same invitation/command is extended to us: we may feed likewise so that we can have spiritual life and not just biological life. Something to consider, whether you attend a harvest festival or not.