We hear a lot about bread in this reading from John. Those who bake bread or have grown up in a home where bread is baked know and appreciate the pungent smell of dough as it rises. Few smells can beat that of bread fresh out of the oven. Some of Diane s and my favorite restaurants in Austin were those where the waiter placed fresh hot bread on the table along with the menu, allowing the patrons to savor each bite as they waited for the entree.
Bread is one of the few foods common among all ethnic groups and cultures.
It is one of the few foods which combined with only water can sustain human life for an extended time. As far as I know, every religion somehow incorporates the consumption of bread into its worship. Bread for the Jews was an essential part of their diet. It was a part of every meal, especially of the Passover meal that reminded them of their freedom from the Egyptian bondage and their journey into the land of milk and honey. Instead, life in Judaism comes from and through Torah, the first five books of the Hebrew Bible or which we commonly call the Old Testament.