Break Now the Bread of Life, ELW 515
1 Break now the bread of life,
Dear Lord, to me,
As once you broke the loaves
Beside the sea.
Beyond the sacred page
I seek you, Lord;
My spirit waits for you, O living Word.
2 Bless your own truth, dear Lord,
To me, to me,
As when you blest the bread
By Galilee.
Then shall all bondage cease,
All fetters fall;
And I shall find my peace,
My All-in-All!
3 You are the bread of life,
O Lord, to me.
Your holy Word the truth
That rescues me.
Give me the eat and live
With you above;
Teach me to love your truth,
For you are love.
4 Oh, send your Spirit, Lord,
Now unto me,
That he may touch my eyes
And make me see.
Show me the truth concealed
Within your Word,
And in your book revealed
I see my Lord.
Devotion
This beautiful hymn by Mary Lathbury reminds us of a deeper meaning of the "Feeding of the Five Thousand." John's Gospel tells us the crowd followed Jesus that day because of the signs he was doing for the sick. They were hungry for healing and wholeness before they were hungry for bread later in the day.
Verse 1:
"Break now the bread of life, dear Lord, to me,
as once you broke the loaves beside the sea.
Beyond the sacred page I seek you, Lord;
My spirit waits for you, O living Word."
Like the crowd on that hillside in Galilee, we have a greater need than food for the body. A life centered on satisfying our physical hunger for material things will never be fulfilled. As the hymn writer longs: "I seek you Lord, my spirit waits for you, O living Word." Later in John, chapter six, Jesus offers us the only bread that truly satisfies, when he said, "I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never be hungry and whoever believes in me will never thirst." The spiritual bread that Jesus offers us is more than enough, just like the bread that Jesus provided to the hungry crowd on that hillside in Galilee.
Prayer
Bread of Life, fill us with your Holy Spirit and satisfy our deepest need for your grace and love, that we will never be hungry and never thirst. Amen.