Rev. Brian J. Nygaard
Trinity Memorial Lutheran Church – Merrillville, IN
March 6th, 2024
Midweek Lent 3
Text: Genesis 47:13-26 (Psalm 63; 1 Corinthians 10:14-22; John 6:22-29, 35-40)
“Who is . . . the Bread Giver?”
How many times have you said or heard your children, grandchildren, or other family members say to you, I am starving! Because this is heard so often in a house of teenagers, I have begun to say, you are not starving you are just hungry. You know, it is one thing to miss a few meals and go hungry, while it is a whole other thing to suffer starvation, not having anything to eat to the point of death. This is what the Egyptians and the surrounding communities faced, including the chosen people of God in our text for today. Famine; no food; no grain; no bread.
As you may recall, this was all the fulfillment of what Pharaoh had dreamed and Joseph interpreted. Pharaoh dreamt of seven fattened cows and seven skinny cows and the skinny cows devoured those fattened cows. This was then told to Joseph who said that the land would be plentiful for seven years, but after that, seven years of terrible famine. It is time to store up and prepare for the years of want and need. And so, it came to pass. Famine descended upon the land of Egypt and the people began to go hungry, then they began to starve. . . to death.
Moaning and groaning, the people in their suffering came to Pharaoh who sent them to Joseph who Pharaoh had appointed as his second in command and put him in charge of the distribution of grain in Egypt – the bread keeper if you will. The people paid for their grain, first with money, then with livestock, next their land and finally, their lives. They had become servants of Pharaoh. And they were thankful, after all, they were alive! They gave thanks saying, “You have saved our lives; may it please my lord, we will be servants to Pharaoh.” No animosity, no more moaning and groaning. They gave thanks for their salvation! They gave thanks to and for Joseph, the bread giver.
The people were saved, the land was saved, the Israelites were saved and the Messianic line was preserved – Jesus would come, Jesus would save – thanks be to God in Christ Jesus that we too have been saved! Our lives have been preserved, restored, resurrected by Jesus, the Christ, the True Bread Giver! He is the Bread of Life!
Yes, it is true that the people of Egypt paid for the grain, but the people of God, the chosen ones did not. The Egyptians gave their money, their livestock, their land, and ultimately their very lives in order to receive the grain, the bread of life, but the Israelites gave nothing. They had money, they had livestock, they had land, and, of course, they had their lives, but nothing was required. Jesus, the true Bread Giver requires no payment for the gift of life. No payment is required for our salvation either. In fact, the true Bread Giver gives Himself. He makes the payment in our place, on our behalf. Jesus gives Himself and as the Bread of Life, He is the One who saves.
We were helpless, wandering in the wilderness of sins and death, struggling with, hungering for righteousness, thirsting for salvation. We were without; without bread, without water, without hope, without options. We were dead, our land was dead, our world was dead and we had no grain, no bread to give us any life. The people of Egypt made payment, but in Christ Jesus, we see a reversal. It is Jesus who makes the payment. Just as Joseph returned the silver payment from his brothers, so Christ rejects our offers and efforts to pay, to make it right. Our payment is insufficient. When we swipe our personal credit card, it gets declined, insufficient funds. But with Jesus’ card, payment is made in full. There is only one payment that will be worth, one payment that is enough and it is Jesus, the all sufficient sacrifice. His actions on the cross reveal Him, the one who died that we might have life. It is Jesus who shed His blood in our place. He alone atoned for our sins by being the Separated One, the Substitute, the Wrestler, our Bread Giver.
In John 6 Jesus says, “I am the bread of life; whoever come to me shall not hunger, and whoever believes in me shall never thirst.” On the cross He showed that He was just that. No more hunger, no more thirst, no more death. Jesus is the Bread Giver and the bread He gives to each and everyone of you is Himself, the Bread of Life.
Today, He still gives you that life in, with, and under the bread and wine, His body and blood in His Holy sacrament. Just as Joseph provided the grain that saved the chosen people, so also, Jesus provides the bread of life that saves you, God’s children whom He adopted at your baptism, and opens the gates of everlasting life. In Jesus’ Name. Amen.