The Bread of Life

I have often made bread by hand, and one day while kneading some dough, my thoughts turned to Christ’s teachings regarding bread. It was then that I realized that He has given us a recipe, if you will, for bread. In John 6:51, Jesus stated, “I am the living bread which came down from heaven: if any man eat of this bread, he shall live forever…” As we look at the ingredients of bread, we can come to more of an understanding of Christ as the Bread of Life and how we can truly eat of His bread.

Basic bread is made of mixing wheat flour and water. By adding oil, salt, leaven or yeast, honey and milk, a lighter, more flavorful bread is obtained. All of these ingredients were mentioned by the Savior for use in our lives and as a description of Himself and what He offers us.

 

Wheat

The main ingredient in bread is wheat. Of all the foods, wheat is the most eternal in nature. Wheat will keep almost indefinitely when properly stored. Like wheat, Christ’s word is eternal [D & C 1:39, Moses 1:4] and those who truly live according to the words of Christ will obtain eternal life [Alma 37:44, Moses 6:59]. Jesus Christ is also referred to as the Word in John 1:1 and He is eternal [Doc. & Cov. 20:17].

The word of Christ, like wheat, must be planted, cultivated, nourished and harvested. It takes effort. The Lord told Adam, “By the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread” [Genesis 3:19]. Alma also emphasized that we must nourish the word by our faith with great diligence and with patience [Alma 32:41]. We cultivate the word of God through scripture study, ponderings of the Spirit, obedience to His commandments, Church and Temple attendance, fasting and prayer.

Jesus also spoke of Himself as wheat when He foretold about His death. “Except a corn of wheat fall into the ground and die, it abideth alone: but if it die, it bringeth forth much fruit.” He followed with “He that loveth his life shall lose it; and he that hateth his life in this world shall keep it unto life eternal” [John 12:24-25]. To become wheat ourselves, we must, like Christ, be willing to give up our lives, in other words, yield our will to His as He yielded His will to the Father.

In Matthew 13, Jesus also referred to righteous people as wheat in His parable of the wheat and the tares, saying, “The field is the world; the good seed are the children of the kingdom; but the tares are the children of the wicked one” [vs. 38] “Therefore, I must gather together my people, according to the parable of the wheat and the tares, that the wheat may be secured in the garners to possess eternal life, and be crowned with celestial glory…” [Doc. & Cov. 101:65]

 

Water

The second most important ingredient to bread making is water. It cannot be made without moisture.  Without water, there can be no life. Jesus has told us that without Him, we could not abound or live [Doc. & Cov. 88:50].

Water is also eternal—there is as much water on earth today as there ever was or will be. Like the properties of wheat and water, Jesus Christ is eternal.

Water is also the universal solvent—over time, water can dissolve almost any substance, which is why baptism a beautiful symbol for its cleansing properties. The Lord has promised that “though our sins are as scarlet, they shall be white as snow” [Isaiah 1:18].

Water quenches our thirst. What makes us spiritually thirsty? In the parable of the rich man who ignored the beggar Lazarus, the rich man dies and finds himself in hell. He cries that Lazarus, who also died but is in heaven, will dip his finger in water and cool his tongue, for he is tormented with the flames of hell [Luke 16:20-25]. In this story, it is sin that makes us spiritually thirsty. Jesus said, “If any man thirst, let him come unto me and drink” [John 7:37]. When the children of Israel were thirsty in the Sinai wilderness, Moses smote a rock and water gushed out [Exodus 17:6]. The rock, symbolic of Jesus Christ, had to be smitten in order for the people to drink. Jesus Christ was smitten for our sins and sinful nature in order that we might drink, and be cleansed—that we might have eternal life.

Water, unlike wheat, does not take great effort to obtain. Mostly, we simply need to drink. Jesus has been likened to a fountain of living water [Jeremiah 2:13, 1 Nephi 11:25, D & C 10:66]. Christ’s atonement, like a fountain, quenches our thirst, cleanses us from sin, renews and refreshes our souls, and sustains our lives.

To the Samaritan woman he said, “Whosoever drinketh of water that I shall give him shall never thirst; but the water that I shall give him shall be in him a well of water springing up into everlasting life.” [John 4:14]

 

Oil

To give bread better taste and consistency, oil is added. Olive oil, the oil primarily used in ancient Israel, not only was a nutritious ingredient used with bread and in cooking, but was also used in healing. The good Samaritan bound up the wounds of the sufferer with oil and wine. The wine, like alcohol, was used to clean the wound. The oil aided in the healing of those wounds. Christ is the source of true healing from our wounds of our earthly existence as exemplified by the many miracles of healing performed by Him in His mortal ministry. Alma said, “If thou believest in the redemption of Christ thou canst be healed” [Alma 15:8]. Through faith in Jesus Christ we can be healed of our spiritual sicknesses and wounds. We also, should offer assistance to those who are in need of healing, both spiritual and physical.

Oil is a source of light and was used in lamps in ancient Israel. Jesus said of himself, “Behold I am the light; I have set an example for you” [3 Nephi 18:16]. Jesus Christ is the light which we must follow to gain eternal life. By doing so, we become light ourselves and help bring others to the Source of Light. “Therefore, hold up your light that it may shine unto the world. Behold I am the light which ye shall hold up—that which ye have seen me do” [3 Nephi 18:24]. As the Holy Ghost is “one” with the Father and Jesus Christ, it is not surprising that the light of Christ and the Holy Ghost are often synonymous. In Doc. & Cov. 45:56-57, we read in reference to the oil in the lamps of the wise virgins, “For they that are wise and have received the truth, and have taken the Holy Spirit for their guide, and have not been deceived…shall not be hewn down… but shall abide the day.”

 

Salt

To bring out the flavor in bread, salt is added. Salt has been a precious commodity since ancient times. Anciently, it was often traded ounce for ounce for gold. It is used to enhance the flavor of foods and also is used in preserving certain foods. Paul counseled the Colossians, “Let your speech be always with grace, seasoned with salt, that ye may know how ye ought to answer every man” [Colossians 4:6].

Jesus Christ has asked us to be the salt of the earth [Matthew 5:13]. In Doctrine and Covenants 101:39-40 we learn that when we embrace the Gospel and its covenants, we are accounted as salt with the responsibility to be the savor of men. In the Old Testament, the Lord commanded, “…with all thine offerings, thou shalt offer salt” with the bread and grain offerings [Leviticus 2:13]. By helping to enrich the flavor of other people’s lives through service, our example and sharing the Gospel with them, we will, like salt, preserve our own lives [Doc. & Cov. 4:4].

 

Honey and Milk

Honey brings sweetness to bread, and milk adds flavor and moistness. Jesus said, “Come unto me all ye ends of the earth, buy milk and honey, without money and without price”[2 Nephi 26:25]. Our lives will be much sweeter and richer when we have a personal relationship with Jesus Christ. It is interesting that many of our early Ward dinners consisted entirely of bread and milk, sweetened with honey.

 

Leaven

Leaven is used to give rise to the bread and makes a softer bread. Jesus said that the kingdom of Heaven is like unto leaven, hid in three measures of meal, until the whole was leavened [Matthew 13:33]. Joseph Smith felt that this parable applied to the Latter-day Church, which has taken its rise from a little leaven that was put into the three witnesses and that it is fast leavening the lump and will soon leaven the whole [TPJS p. 100].

As yeast permeates and gives rise to a batch of dough, so can our personal spiritual growth by the inner workings of the Spirit, expand and lift our lives. And we, like leaven, can give rise to those around us. “A little leaven leaveneth the whole lump” [Galatians 5:9].

 

Knead and Bake

Essential to the elasticity and texture and shape of the bread, the dough must be kneaded. We can liken the kneading to the molding and shaping of our lives through our mortal experience. Like dough, we should be soft and moldable and become a “saint through the atonement of Christ the Lord, …submissive, meek, humble, patient, full of love, willing to submit to all things which the Lord seeth fit to inflict” upon us [Mosiah 3:19].

After the bread is shaped, it is ready for the oven. We can liken the baking to the sanctification process by the Holy Spirit [Alma 5:54, 13:12]. This “baptism of fire” by the Holy Ghost transforms us from “dough” to “bread” and we become new creatures in Christ [2 Corinthians 5:17, Mosiah 5:7].

In conclusion, the symbolism of the ingredients of bread can teach us about Jesus Christ and what we must do to become “bread” as well. We can eat of the “bread” that Jesus offers by partaking and internalizing His word, serving and lifting others, and partaking of His atonement as we repent and become sanctified by the Spirit and the refining life experiences. We can become “bread” by incorporating the “recipe of bread” Christ has given us in the scriptures in our lives.

 

The Symbolism of Bread in the Scriptures

 

               Bread played an important role in the Old Testament sacrifices, feasts and festivals of ancient Israel. Jesus Christ also used bread as a symbol of his atoning sacrifice, and he described himself as the Bread of Life (John 6:48). Ironically, Jesus was born in Bethlehem, which means “house of bread.”

On the eve of their escape from Egypt, the Lord commanded through Moses that each household of the children of Israel kill a lamb without blemish and put its blood on the doorposts. They were then to hold a “Passover feast” in order that the destroying angel would pass them by. They were to cook the lamb, symbolic of Jesus Christ, and eat the flesh along with unleavened bread and bitter herbs. In future observances of that first Passover, they were to eat unleavened bread for seven days and completely remove any leaven from their homes during that period. So prominent was the focus of unleavened bread that the Passover Feast is also called the Feast of Unleavened Bread.

In Exodus 12:39 we read that the children of Israel baked unleavened bread that they brought forth out of Egypt, “for it was not leavened; because they were thrust out of Egypt, and could not tarry …” Egypt, symbolic of spiritual Babylon, was a place they were not to tarry and carry the “old leaven” with them, as Paul explained to the Corinthians:

 

Purge out therefore the old leaven, that ye may be a new lump … for even Christ our Passover is sacrificed for us. Therefore let us keep the feast, not with old leaven, neither with the leaven of malice and wickedness; but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth (l Cor. 5:7-8).

 

Paul was counseling the Saints to remove their old sinful motives and sins — just as ancient Israel was commanded to leave behind any leaven from Egypt — and replace them with humble and obedient hearts.

Unleavened bread was also the required accompaniment to the Burnt and Peace offerings. In fact, the poor could offer grain offerings instead of an animal for these two sacrificial offerings. These offerings were voluntary, unlike the Sin and Trespass offerings, which were mandatory sacrifices for sin. Bread was not associated with these atonement offerings, since it is blood that is the expiatory ingredient. The Burnt offering was symbolic of dedicating one’s life to God and the Peace offering was a meal shared between the priest, the offerer and those around him, suggesting open communion and reconciliation with God and our fellowmen. The unleavened bread, like the unleavened bread of the Passover, represented the removal of the “fermenting” desires of sin and presenting ourselves as humble followers of Christ.

The next feast, held fifty days after the Passover, was called the Feast of Weeks or the Feast of the Pentecost. Ancient Israel was to offer the first sheaf of grain, along with a sacrificial, unblemished lamb to the Lord. They were also to present to the Lord two loaves of bread, baked with leaven. These loaves were called the firstfruits (Leviticus 23:17). The use of leaven in this feast can be symbolic of the new life one experiences when “born again” as one becomes “leavened” with the Spirit of God. Just as yeast permeates the dough and gives rise to the whole, the Spirit of God permeates our being and gives rise to a newness of life in Christ. Paul referred to firstfruits as being in conjunction with the Spirit, in describing the process of redemption, “… but ourselves also, which have the firstfruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting for the adoption, to wit, the redemption of the body” (Romans 8:23). It is no coincidence that on the Day of Pentecost, that the Apostles of Christ received the Holy Ghost (Acts 2). In speaking of those who have taken the Holy Spirit for their guide, we read, “…These are they which follow the Lamb withersoever he goeth. These were redeemed from among men, being the firstfruits unto God and to the Lamb” (Rev. 14:4).

The third feast that was required by the Lord was called the Feast of the Tabernacles or the Feast of the Ingathering of Wheat. It was held at the end of the fall harvest and was the most joyous of the festivals of ancient Israel. While, specific uses of bread are not mentioned, sheaves of wheat were presented before the Lord, along with animal sacrifices. Near the temple, families would make booths from the boughs of trees to dwell in that week. This festival could be representative of Christ’s analogy, “There, I must gather together my people, according to the parable of the wheat and the tares, that the wheat may be secured in the garners to possess eternal life, and be crowned with celestial glory, when I shall come in the kingdom of my Father …” (D & C 101:65).

After feeding the 5,000, Jesus gave a discourse on bread explaining that he was the true bread from heaven. He said, “I am the living bread which came down from heaven: if any man eat of this bread, he shall live forever: and the bread that I will give is my flesh, which I will give for the life of the world” (John 6:51). He further said, “As the living Father hath sent me and I live by the Father: so he that eateth me, even he shall live by me” (vs. 57). To “live by” Christ is to live by his commandments.

Jesus continued, “This is that bread which came down from heaven: not as your fathers did eat manna, and are dead: he that eateth of this bread shall live forever” (vs. 58). The people murmured, saying, “How can this man give us his flesh to eat?” (vs. 52) Jesus explained, “It is the spirit that quickeneth, the flesh profiteth nothing: the words that I speak unto you, they are spirit, and they are life” (vs. 63).

After hearing that the bread that Jesus offered consisted of his words and teachings, many of his followers went back and walked no more with him (vs. 66). Jesus asked the twelve apostles if they would also leave him. Peter answered, “Lord, to whom shall we go? Thou hast the words of eternal life” (vs.68). The living bread that Jesus offers is his words — his commandments and teachings that will lead us to eternal life if only we live by them.

Just as the children of Israel did not live forever eating manna, Moses told them what would give them eternal life. After 40 years of wandering in the wilderness, Moses explained their journey:

 

And thou shalt remember all the way which the Lord thy God led thee these forty years in the wilderness, to humble thee, and to prove thee, to know what was in thine heart, whether thou wouldest keep his commandments, or no. And he humbled thee, and suffered thee to hunger, and fed thee with manna, which thou knewest not, neither did thy fathers know; that he might make thee know that man doth not live by bread only, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of the Lord doth man live” (Deut. 8:2-3).

 

The manna was designed to teach the children of Israel that true bread, or sustenance, came from God. When Jesus was tempted to turn the stones into bread after his 40-day fast in the wilderness, his response to Satan was similar, “Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God” (Matt. 4:4).

It is interesting that the Lord did not cause loaves of bread to fall from heaven, but that manna was as small as coriander seed (Exodus 16:31) and had to be gathered early in the morning. Each man gathered according to his eating (vs. 18) and they were not to hoard it (vs. 20) or gather on the Sabbath (vs. 26-27). Bread takes effort to make and Adam was told that by the sweat of his face he would eat bread (Gen.3:19).

Jesus compared his words to living bread. In this vein, obtaining the words of Christ takes effort and is small “like unto coriander seed.” This illustrates how we progress as we gather his words, “line upon line, precept upon precept” (2 Nephi 18:30).

Like ancient Israel, we gather his words according to our “eating” — or in other words, our ability to incorporate his teachings into our lives. Alma understood this principle when he explained that those who have had the mysteries of God given to them are “laid under a strict command that they shall not impart only according to the portion of his word which he doth grant unto the children of men, according to the head and diligence which they give unto him” (their obedience to what they had been taught) (Alma 12:9).

Symbolism can also be drawn from the miracle of feeding the 5,000. Jesus had compassion upon the multitude and did not want to send them away hungry. After taking the seven loaves and few fishes, he gave thanks and broke the bread and gave to his disciples first and then the disciples distributed the food among the people, which could symbolize how His word is given — first through His apostles and prophets and they, in turn give it to the people.

 

Sacramental Bread

      On the eve of His death, Jesus was with the twelve apostles in celebration of the Passover. He took bread, blessed it and broke it and gave to his apostles saying, “Take, eat; this is my body which is given for you: this do in remembrance of me” (Luke 22:19).

      The Joseph Smith translation of Mark 14:20-21 reads, “And as they did eat, Jesus took bread and blessed it, and brake, and gave to them, and said, Take it, and eat. Behold, this is for you to do in remembrance of my body; for as oft as ye do this ye will remember this hour that I was with you.” The JST translation of Matthew 26::26 reads, “And as they were eating, Jesus took bread, and blessed it, and brake it, and gave to his disciples, and said, Take, eat; this is in remembrance of my body which I give a ransom for you”.

After Jesus’ death, the disciples “continued steadfastly in the apostles’ doctrine and fellowship, and in breaking of bread and in prayers” (Acts 2:42). In speaking to the Corinthians, Paul explained the symbolism of the sacrament:

 

The cup of blessing which we bless, is it not the communion of the blood of Christ? The bread which we break, is it not the communion of the body of Christ? For we being many are one bread and one body: for we are all partakers of that one bread” (l Corinthians10:16-17).

 

Paul then chastised the church for not being “one,” for have divisions and heresies among them. He reminded them that Jesus took bread, “and when he had given thanks, he brake it, and said, Take, eat: this is my body, which is broken for you: this do in remembrance of me … For as often as ye eat this bread, and drink this cup, ye do shew the Lord’s death till he come. Wherefore whosoever shall eat this bread, and drink this cup of the Lord, unworthily, shall be guilty of the body and blood of the Lord … and eateth and drinketh damnation to him self, not discerning the Lord’s body” (l Corinthians 11:24-29).

Paul was counseling the Corinthians that they were representative of the Lord’s body, and by living His commandments they became “bread.” If their lives were not in harmony with the Lord’s will, they should not partake of the sacrament. It is interesting to note that in the ancient temple, in the Holy Place, twelve loaves of bread were continually present, representing the twelve tribes of Israel.

When Jesus appeared to the Nephites, he commanded that bread and wine be brought unto him. He first gave to the twelve disciples and they ate and were filled. Then he commanded that they give unto the multitude. Regarding the bread, he said, “And this shall ye do in remembrance of my body, which I have shown unto you. And it shall be a testimony unto the Father that ye do always remember me. And if ye do always remember me ye shall have my Spirit to be with you (3 Nephi 18:7).

The next day, Jesus appeared to the Nephites again and broke bread and gave wine to them to drink, but this time He miraculously provided the bread and wine. Then he said, “He that eateth this bread eateth of my body to his soul; and he that drinketh of this wine drinketh of my blood to his soul; and his soul shall never hunger nor thirst, but shall be filled” (3 Nephi 20:8).

Moroni included in his record the Sacrament prayers as we know them today. Regarding the bread, the prayer states “…that they may eat in remembrance of the body of thy Son, and witness unto thee, … that they are willing to take upon them the name of thy Son, and always remember him, and keep his commandments which he hath given the, that they may always have his Spirit to be with them” (Moroni 4:3).

Bread is known as the staff of life. In the scriptures, bread is used as a symbol of the words of the Lord, for he was known as The Word that was made flesh (John 1:1, 14), and that if “eaten” or internalized in our lives, would lead us to eternal life. We are also to become “bread” as we live our lives in harmony with God and our fellowmen and by doing so, we will always have his Spirit to be with us, Jesus Christ being the great exemplar.

Bread is also symbolic of Jesus Christ’s sacrifice for sin. In the flesh he suffered beyond degree, “Which suffering caused myself, even God, the greatest of all, to tremble because of pain, and to bleed at every pore, and to suffer both body and spirit” (Doc. & Cov. 19:18). As we partake of the sacrament, we need to remember that these emblems are symbolic of Jesus Christ — his words, the example of the life he lived, and of his atoning sacrifice for all of us.

Jesus said, “I am the living bread that came down from heaven: if any man eat of this bread he shall live forever” (John 6:51). As we truly partake of the bread Jesus offers, we, too, can have eternal life.