Show bread, also known as Shewbread or The Bread of Presence, is an Old Testament (OT) Jewish custom that has made a come back in many of our New Testament Christian lives.
What!?
Yes- many of us carry around the Bible, which
(a) is the word of God that reveals Jesus as the living bread (John 6:51), and ,
(b) Jesus says is more sustaining than earthly bread (Deuteronomy 8:3, Matthew 4:4),
as if it were for consuming only on the sabbath day, and then putting it back on our shelves or tables once we get back home from church. The process repeats every week, and has become part of a nonchalant walk with God who is not the center of our lives, but rather a consultant.
Even in the OT laws, show bread was meant to represent humanity’s constant need for God, with the priests eating it on the sabbath day after placing freshly-baked loaves on the table as the Great I Am asked that this bread be in His presence continually (Exodus 25:30).
After receiving Christ, one understands that this show bread mentioned in the OT is actually an image of Jesus being continually in the presence of God, and who is broken for humanity’s need for salvation from their original sin. And get this- we are asked to partake of this very living bread (Luke 22:19)!
But do we only partake of Jesus and His living Word only on certain auspicious days, when we are asked to take communion or during Sunday sermons?
Strangely, a certain OT king named David, who is not a priest, but a fugitive of Saul (1st Samuel 21:6), leads the way in setting an example for the Church on when and how to partake of the Bread of Presence, or in our case, the Bible. Jesus gives us this critical Bible study hint, about David and the Show Bread, as He declares to the religious leaders that Jesus has been given authority over the Sabbath (Matthew 12, Mark 2:26, Luke 6:4).
In 1st Samuel 21, David has gained fame after slaying Goliath and many other enemies of Israel, and this new, young, warrior brings the older Saul to an envious rage that pushes Saul towards trying to murder David. David flees Gibeah, returns, and then flees again after being warned about Saul’s intentions of killing David by Saul’s own son Jonathan, and is now hungry and desperate for help. He can’t go back home and put his family in danger, and he can’t go back to work in Saul’s palace, so where does he go?
As pointed out by Max Lucado in his book, “Facing your Giants,” David does not waste any time in going to the House of God to get help. He asks Ahimelech for bread, and makes things slightly awkward for the priest. The only bread that Ahimelech has on hand is the Bread of Presence that has been set apart for priests, as described in the very strict OT laws mentioned above. Yet, Ahimelech realizes that the bread, which is the representative answer for humanity’s need for God, is truly needed here by this human flesh in front of him in the form of David.
He hands the Bread of Presence to David, and thus through mercy breaks the pattern of using the Show Bread for display purposes and priests- establishing by example that the Bread of Presence should be made available to everyone who is in need of God. Now David didn’t just see the Show Bread with his eyes, but partook of it with his most intimate of the five senses, ate of it, tasted it, and digested the bread so it became an organic part of his own body and life.
So how can we, who are not priests, follow David’s example? Maybe only priests and pastors are allowed to eat of the Bread of Presence, like in the OT? This is why what Jesus did for humanity is so radical- He serves as the only high priest (Hebrews 4:14-16) whom we have to go through, and furthermore, he calls the Church a royal priesthood (1st Peter 2:9)!
As Jesus tore the veil from top to bottom after His death on the cross, and then defeated death through His resurrection, he made all those who believe in this resurrection reality a royal priesthood. This identity is given to all those who recognize their brokenness due to Original sin (Genesis 3) and accept Jesus as the ultimate sacrifice that absorbs their sin as Holy justice took its course on the cross, and therefore is the only way humanity can come into a right relationship with God once again (Hebrews 9).
Wow. Now this is some good news as we start 2018. The Bread of Presence that was once reserved for priests to put on display and then symbolically eat to represent humanity’s spiritual need for God as analogous to their physical need for food has now become offered as a gift to:
EVERYONE through Jesus’s death on the cross.
So for those of us who believe that Jesus’s resurrection has put us once again into holy communion with God, may we eat with enthusiasm our Bible daily with the Holy Spirit as our study guide, comforter and convictor. May we not just talk the talk but live out what Jesus asks us to do as an organic part of our lives! May we not just treat it as a showpiece but as a way of life that changes us as we eat it and partake of Jesus and His Holy Spirit. Thank you for the Holy Spirit’s guidance as we read the Bible that helps mold us so we can Love God and love our neighbors more. Lord may you help us walk with You as our center as we read, eat and treat the Bible with reverence and awe everyday. Thank you God for our fresh, fragrant, delicious, daily bread and not stale, for display only, day-old bread. Amen.
What!?
Yes- many of us carry around the Bible, which
(a) is the word of God that reveals Jesus as the living bread (John 6:51), and ,
(b) Jesus says is more sustaining than earthly bread (Deuteronomy 8:3, Matthew 4:4),
as if it were for consuming only on the sabbath day, and then putting it back on our shelves or tables once we get back home from church. The process repeats every week, and has become part of a nonchalant walk with God who is not the center of our lives, but rather a consultant.
Even in the OT laws, show bread was meant to represent humanity’s constant need for God, with the priests eating it on the sabbath day after placing freshly-baked loaves on the table as the Great I Am asked that this bread be in His presence continually (Exodus 25:30).
After receiving Christ, one understands that this show bread mentioned in the OT is actually an image of Jesus being continually in the presence of God, and who is broken for humanity’s need for salvation from their original sin. And get this- we are asked to partake of this very living bread (Luke 22:19)!
But do we only partake of Jesus and His living Word only on certain auspicious days, when we are asked to take communion or during Sunday sermons?
Strangely, a certain OT king named David, who is not a priest, but a fugitive of Saul (1st Samuel 21:6), leads the way in setting an example for the Church on when and how to partake of the Bread of Presence, or in our case, the Bible. Jesus gives us this critical Bible study hint, about David and the Show Bread, as He declares to the religious leaders that Jesus has been given authority over the Sabbath (Matthew 12, Mark 2:26, Luke 6:4).
In 1st Samuel 21, David has gained fame after slaying Goliath and many other enemies of Israel, and this new, young, warrior brings the older Saul to an envious rage that pushes Saul towards trying to murder David. David flees Gibeah, returns, and then flees again after being warned about Saul’s intentions of killing David by Saul’s own son Jonathan, and is now hungry and desperate for help. He can’t go back home and put his family in danger, and he can’t go back to work in Saul’s palace, so where does he go?
As pointed out by Max Lucado in his book, “Facing your Giants,” David does not waste any time in going to the House of God to get help. He asks Ahimelech for bread, and makes things slightly awkward for the priest. The only bread that Ahimelech has on hand is the Bread of Presence that has been set apart for priests, as described in the very strict OT laws mentioned above. Yet, Ahimelech realizes that the bread, which is the representative answer for humanity’s need for God, is truly needed here by this human flesh in front of him in the form of David.
He hands the Bread of Presence to David, and thus through mercy breaks the pattern of using the Show Bread for display purposes and priests- establishing by example that the Bread of Presence should be made available to everyone who is in need of God. Now David didn’t just see the Show Bread with his eyes, but partook of it with his most intimate of the five senses, ate of it, tasted it, and digested the bread so it became an organic part of his own body and life.
So how can we, who are not priests, follow David’s example? Maybe only priests and pastors are allowed to eat of the Bread of Presence, like in the OT? This is why what Jesus did for humanity is so radical- He serves as the only high priest (Hebrews 4:14-16) whom we have to go through, and furthermore, he calls the Church a royal priesthood (1st Peter 2:9)!
As Jesus tore the veil from top to bottom after His death on the cross, and then defeated death through His resurrection, he made all those who believe in this resurrection reality a royal priesthood. This identity is given to all those who recognize their brokenness due to Original sin (Genesis 3) and accept Jesus as the ultimate sacrifice that absorbs their sin as Holy justice took its course on the cross, and therefore is the only way humanity can come into a right relationship with God once again (Hebrews 9).
Wow. Now this is some good news as we start 2018. The Bread of Presence that was once reserved for priests to put on display and then symbolically eat to represent humanity’s spiritual need for God as analogous to their physical need for food has now become offered as a gift to:
EVERYONE through Jesus’s death on the cross.
So for those of us who believe that Jesus’s resurrection has put us once again into holy communion with God, may we eat with enthusiasm our Bible daily with the Holy Spirit as our study guide, comforter and convictor. May we not just talk the talk but live out what Jesus asks us to do as an organic part of our lives! May we not just treat it as a showpiece but as a way of life that changes us as we eat it and partake of Jesus and His Holy Spirit. Thank you for the Holy Spirit’s guidance as we read the Bible that helps mold us so we can Love God and love our neighbors more. Lord may you help us walk with You as our center as we read, eat and treat the Bible with reverence and awe everyday. Thank you God for our fresh, fragrant, delicious, daily bread and not stale, for display only, day-old bread. Amen.
