And it happened that, while he was with them at table, he took bread, said the blessing, broke it, and gave it to them. Luke 24:30 NABRE
A resurrection story we read is about two people walking to Emmaus who are joined by the resurrected Christ, unknowingly. He speaks to them on the journey and they invite Him in for a meal as they arrive home. At table He took bread, blessed it, broke it and gave it and in doing so they recognized Him. This is commonly referred to as a Eucharistic story, matching what Jesus said feeding the five thousand and His words at the meal before He is arrested. Jesus words though speak of the Body of Christ which includes all of us. Henri Nouwen has a beautiful reflection on these words. He says we are the beloved of God, we are taken, blessed, broken and given. With bread it makes sense to say it is taken, but we are chosen, each of us the desire of Love. We are then blessed, meaning we are spoken well of, we are affirmed, by Love. We discover we are all broken, we might not like to admit it, but our brokenness reveals our uniqueness, no two of us suffer the same way, we know this because when our suffering is compared to others we realize this is no consolation. But it is through brokenness that Love’s power is made perfect in us. When we are lonely, isolated, fearful, insecure, rejected, ignored, despised, feeling as though we are of no special value, then we are ready to confess our dependence on and trust in God, which frees us. Finally we are given, sent for others, sharing our life and even in death we become gift to ourselves as we are welcomed by Love.
We are the body of Christ, taken, blessed, broken and given, this is the image Jesus wants us to see in the breaking of the bread. It is His body, in which we are part.
Do you hide your suffering? Can you take Love’s blessing to your brokenness?
We are the body of Christ, taken, blessed, broken and given, this is the image Jesus wants us to see in the breaking of the bread. It is His body, in which we are part. Share on X#bible #godisgreat #jesus #christianity #dailybibleverse @youversion #BeAnEncourager #broken #blessed #Luke #everybodyalways #god #jesuschrist #jesussaves #godisgood #dailydevotion #biblestudy #scripture #bibleverse #verseoftheday #cross #last #Matthew #loveeachother #godisgreat #thisVineyard #youversion #everythingalways