Are You Hungry?نموونە

Have you ever had a meal you just couldn’t wait for? Maybe a celebration dinner at a restaurant, a night at a friend's for take-out and a movie, or a traditional holiday feast shared with family? We read in Luke that Jesus just couldn’t wait to share the Passover dinner with His friends. He even made reservations.

All throughout the Gospels, we see Jesus teaching about the kingdom of God with anticipation, like it was a wedding celebration or a feast He couldn’t wait to begin. But why is that? Jesus longed to give His friends a gift that only He could give, a gift of rescue and new life. Jesus also wanted to receive something — He wanted the people He loved to become His own people and be a shepherd to them (John 10-27-29). The feast was a celebration of giving and receiving.

Because this was the Passover meal, Jesus and His disciples remembered the deliverance that God provides and remembered God’s love and provision through the symbols of bread and wine. Both of these are unique among other foods in that they are elevated through human work and sacrifice. There is gathering, crushing, mixing, fermenting, and waiting. Care, attention, and a family recipe are involved, and they are made beautiful through an act of creation. The wine had to be poured out to be used, and the bread had to be broken. These are symbols of what Jesus was about to do and the kind of life He was calling His followers into.

Kingdom people give, and kingdom people receive. Both require humility and love.

Jesus calls Himself the bread that gives life. He was willing to be poured out and broken to gain you and me a seat at His table. It takes humility to receive this gift and to follow in the footsteps of Jesus in serving others. The things we create, construct, and organize, and how we teach, heal, lead, or restore are our acts of creation—our bread. The purpose of these things in the kingdom is to break them for the good of others rather than ourselves.

Reflect:

• What is more difficult for you, giving or receiving? Why?
• What has God given to you? What can you share with others that you have received from God?
• What work can you do for others that demonstrates that the kingdom of God is about giving?