The journey toward Bethlehem is a journey toward the "house of bread". That is what Bethlehem means. Jesus takes human likeness and enters our world. He comes to find a people who are hungry.
My heart is moved with pity for the crowd,
for they have been with me now for three days
and have nothing to eat.
I do not want to send them away hungry,
for fear they may collapse on the way.
This morning we probably have enough food to fill our bellies. But we are still hungry for that which truly satisfies. We may be only dimly aware of this desire but it is there. Augustine reminds us that God makes us for himself and that we are restless until we rest in him. We are hungry until we join the feast he prepares.
A feast of rich food and choice wines,
juicy, rich food and pure, choice wines.
There is so much around us that would seem to satisfy this hunger. There is so much that appears to be feasting. Yet it is quickly consumed and gone, leaving us more empty than before. This is the experience of the prodigal son who spends his inheritance on dissipation. We only find satisfaction when we allow Jesus himself to feed us.
They all ate and were satisfied.
Only then is there such an abundance that there are left overs to share.
They picked up the fragments left over–seven baskets full.
We can't "get enough bread in this deserted place". But Jesus can.
You spread the table before me
in the sight of my foes;
You anoint my head with oil;
my cup overflows.
He can do it because he himself is the living bread come down from heaven (cf. Joh. 6:51). He gives us his own flesh to eat (ibid. 6:52). He himself is the sacrificial lamb of Passover who is slain for us. Paul tells us, "Keep the feast (1 Cor 5:8)!" He wants us to consume the Passover lamb which is at the same time "the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth."
From Bethlehem he comes. And now we see why. The one who is the paschal lamb lifts bread before our eyes and says to us, "Take and eat; this is my body" (cf. Mat. 26:26).
The food and the wine cannot be more rich than this. The one who lifts up flesh to God by joining himself to it gives us that very divinized flesh on which to feast. And we become what we receive. We become partakers of the very divine nature of God himself (cf. 2 Pet. 1:4).
No wonder it is so important to receive this gift with an undivided heart.
Therefore whoever eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord unworthily will have to answer for the body and blood of the Lord (cf. 1 Cor. 11:27).
This is a heart which we cannot create for ourselves. It is a disposition which we cannot attain with effort. Instead, we must turn to the LORD. There is no way to deserve a gift like this. But he gives it anyway. We can be confident his love will make us able to receive it.
The reproach of his people he will remove
from the whole earth; for the LORD has spoken.
On that day it will be said:
“Behold our God, to whom we looked to save us!
This is the LORD for whom we looked;
let us rejoice and be glad that he has saved us!”
For the hand of the LORD will rest on this mountain.
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