Christmas Bread
And now, something a little different. Check out the first episode of my new mini-podcast, “Scripture to Go.” Take about three minutes to listen, or go ahead and read the text of the show below.
I’ll still offer at least one in-depth written blog each month, but let me know what you think of this additional format option.
Hey, guess what? It’s December already. The month of acceleration of activities and preparations. So, let’s take a moment to take in the fragrance of the kind of bread that provides energy without calories.
One of my favorite parts of preparing for Christmas is fixing all sorts of homemade breads for the season. There’s nothing like pulling and stretching on dough until its gluten starts screaming for mercy. And nothing says home to me like the welcoming fragrance of bread baking in the oven.
It’s really quite biblical, you see because part of the original Christmas had something to do with preparing bread.
You probably know the story. Joseph and his very pregnant wife, Mary, made their way to the family homeland to take part in a census. Their destination was Bethlehem. In Hebrew, Beth-le-hem means house of bread. Once there, Mary gave birth to her son, Jesus. Draping him in cloth, as we might with dough preparing to rise, she laid her little loaf in a feeding trough called a manger.
One day he would rise into a full-sized man and declare in John 6:35 that he was the Bread of Life. Feeding on the substance he provided would so satisfy people they’d no longer hunger for a lesser bread. Jesus even dared to equate himself with the manna that dropped down from heaven to feed the Israelites in the wilderness so long ago.
Deuteronomy 8:3 said of that manna, that it came to let God’s people know that natural bread would never be enough to sustain them. They needed the supernatural nourishment that came from every breath, every word, proceeding from the mouth of the Lord. Distilling from heaven like dew on the grass, this man was the spirit of the Son of God taking on flesh at the last supper.
This self-proclaimed Bread of Life would rise at the table and lift up the Passover bread. Blessing it, he passed it on to his disciples saying, “Take. Eat. This is my body broken for you.”
So, if any of your preparations for Christmas include making bread, think of Jesus as you mix and knead and wait for it to rise.
Let its fragrance in the oven remind you of the gift of bread—the manna from heaven laid down in a manger in Bethlehem. Inhale his goodness and exhale your gratitude for the loaf that ever satisfies.
Thanks for joining me on scripture to go. I hope today’s snack helped you taste and see that the Lord is good.
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Bye for now.
Thanks to Dreamr Productions for my theme music.
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