Bread of Jesus

And as they were eating, Jesus took bread, and blessed, and brake it; and he gave to the disciples, and said, Take, eat; this is my body.  Matthew 26:26 (ASV)

We are gathered around the table.  Jesus is with us.  It seems to be a normal moment like so many others before.  We are all busy eating or getting ready to eat, going about our routines of the daily life.  All of a sudden, Jesus takes some bread and blesses it.  He starts to hand it to each one of us and tells us that we need to have this, to take it for ourselves and eat it.  He wants us to swallow what He is offering to us.  It needs to go deep inside to be digested and become a very part of us.  It will nourish us and give us strength.  It will sustain us.

What is our reaction?  What do we tell Him?  Do we respond by taking it and going through with the ritual until His bread is completely inside of us?  Have we ingested Him to the point where we cannot distinguish where we end and He begins?  Do we run off of His strength that has nourished us and revives us? 

Or perhaps we are trying to hold our relationship with Him to an impersonal decision, one of mental deduction.  We believe that there is a God and Jesus is His Son.  We can continue to go about our routines without really listening and taking Him inside of us.  Is there a difference between what we would like to do and what we actually do?

The Disciples took the bread out of Jesus´ hand, they heard His voice and His instructions.  They ate that bread and it changed their lives.  All but one of them went out from there into the world nourished by a strength that no other food could give them.  They spent the rest of their lives feeding others and giving them to eat of what their Savior had given them.

Dear Jesus, give us that bread which is Your body.  Let us take into our own selves that nourishment that comes only from You.  We would digest every part of You so that we will be one with You.  Let Your strength revive us and empower us to seek more of You.  We no longer wish to hold to our routines and rituals but rather wish to live on You alone.

Amen