Son Of Man 42: Bread Handling Bread

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Son of Man 42: Son of Man: Bread Handling Bread

Here’s a thought for you. As the Son of Man claimed to be Living Bread it might be interesting to see how he handled bread. In this way you might be able to see how “I AM” translated into “I handle” for him.

Picture about ten thousand hungry people. You’re imagining a crowd of five thousand men, along with women and children. So say at least ten thousand.

At the end of this story everyone will be satisfied.

So how do you get from hunger to satisfaction? I’ll tell you the steps.

Step one; Give your bread over to the hands of the “I AM”. One young boy had five loaves (and two fish) but for the purposes of our understanding we can count this all as his “bread”.

The next steps are out of your hands. Watch the Son of Man handle it.

Step two is that he takes it. Step three is that he thanks God for it. Step four is that he breaks it open. Step five is he gives it back. Step six is you give it away. Step seven you are completely satisfied. Read it for yourself in Matthew 14.

So do you want satisfaction? It will emerge from a connection between the bread of your life and the Bread of all life. That’s what coming to him and believing in him means in John 6.

So hand over your bread; (“your heart, your soul, your mind, your physical possessions, body and life”) into his hands and watch.

First he shows you, by thanking God, that it was all a gift in the first place. Look at your week. Everything you can do, everything you own, every skill you have is a gift. Thank God for it.

Then let him break it open. It’s not breaking. The Son of Man is never in the business of breaking. It’s breaking open. Then he hands it back. Then the surprise, as you give it away it multiplies. Five loaves and two fish fed ten thousand people.

If you want real satisfaction give your talents to others; give your gifts and don’t hoard them. As you do he will multiply them.

At the end, the twelve disciples picked up twelve baskets. There’s no great mystery here: each one of them got a basket and were completely satisfied.

So do you want satisfaction? It comes down from heaven. It is permanent and daily. It is satiating and generates safe searching. It is about taking all you have and handing it over.

Most of all it is letting him handle you and all you are because the One who came down lifts you up. He who was broken breaks you open. He who was wounded will multiply your strength.

This is not just ancient history; it’s about today’s work. It’s about satisfaction now in the middle of your actual week. Let him feed you. Feed on him. Let Him satisfy you. Let him be the “I Am”; the Living Bread.

Work well.
Geoff Shattock

Bible Section.

John 6:35-51

Matthew 14:31-21

Here are the Bible sections for February 23rd

John 6:35-51

³⁵ Then Jesus declared, “I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never go hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty. ³⁶ But as I told you, you have seen me and still you do not believe. ³⁷ All those the Father gives me will come to me, and whoever comes to me I will never drive away. ³⁸ For I have come down from heaven not to do my will but to do the will of him who sent me. ³⁹ And this is the will of him who sent me, that I shall lose none of all those he has given me, but raise them up at the last day. ⁴⁰ For my Father’s will is that everyone who looks to the Son and believes in him shall have eternal life, and I will raise them up at the last day.”

⁴¹ At this the Jews there began to grumble about him because he said, “I am the bread that came down from heaven.” ⁴² They said, “Is this not Jesus, the son of Joseph, whose father and mother we know? How can he now say, ‘I came down from heaven’?”

⁴³ “Stop grumbling among yourselves,” Jesus answered. ⁴⁴ “No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws them, and I will raise them up at the last day. ⁴⁵ It is written in the Prophets: ‘They will all be taught by God.’Everyone who has heard the Father and learned from him comes to me. ⁴⁶ No one has seen the Father except the one who is from God; only he has seen the Father. ⁴⁷ Very truly I tell you, the one who believes has eternal life. ⁴⁸ I am the bread of life. ⁴⁹ Your ancestors ate the manna in the wilderness, yet they died. ⁵⁰ But here is the bread that comes down from heaven, which anyone may eat and not die. ⁵¹ I am the living bread that came down from heaven. Whoever eats this bread will live forever. This bread is my flesh, which I will give for the life of the world.”

Matthew 14:13-21

13 he withdrew by boat privately to a solitary place.  Hearing of this, the crowds followed him on foot from the towns.  14  When Jesus landed and saw a large crowd, he had compassion on them and healed their sick.

15 As evening approached, the disciples came to him and said, “This is a remote place, and it’s already getting late.  Send the crowds away, so they can go to the villages and buy themselves some food.”

16 Jesus replied, “They do not need to go away.  You give them something to eat.”

17 “We have here only five loaves of bread and two fish,” they answered.

18 “Bring them here to me,” he said.  19 And he directed the people to sit down on the grass.  Taking the five loaves and the two fish and looking up to heaven, he gave thanks and broke the loaves.  Then he gave them to the disciples, and the disciples gave them to the people.  20 They all ate and were satisfied, and the disciples picked up twelve basketfuls of broken pieces that were left over.  21 The number of those who ate was about five thousand men, besides women and children.

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© Geoff Shattock February 2015