Day Eighty-four – Matthew 26:26-30

“Jesus took some bread.” Have you ever tried to imagine Jesus’ mannerisms? Have you wondered how his hands looked when reaching for something, his posture when he reclined at a table, the slant of his shoulders or the tilt of his head? Are these things important? Only to someone who in love with Jesus.

In Jewish homes of Jesus’ time, nothing was more commonplace than bread. Jesus took this ordinary food in his hands, gave it a meaning, turned it into a ritual, and made it extraordinary. Consider the ordinary nature of the signs God used in previous covenants–a rainbow, circumcision, day and night, etc. (Gen. 9:8-17; 17:10; Jer. 33:20-21). In a similar way, Jesus sets His hand on ordinary objects around us, giving them a sacred usefulness so that through them we become more aware of him and our bond with him is strengthened.

What is Jesus touching in this present moment? What ordinary object at hand  is potentially sacred if only we had the eyes of faith? What is being turned into a symbol? a mystery revealed? a door to greater awareness? (Gen. 28:17). Oh, for eyes to see and ears to hear!

O gracious and loving Savior, please take us as You took the bread and transform us into something extraordinary. We are not the Bread of Life, but we are pieces broken from that loaf. May we feel the touch that fits us for God’s work in the world as channels of His mercy, goodness, and healing. May we hear the blessing You pray over us. Apart from Your touch and blessing, we will go on being our silly, dysfunctional selves. If necessary, continue to break us until You see in us all that You desire, and then give us to the world.