"In this cosmic cradle, the Bread of Life invites us to partake" Christmas Eve 2024

24. December 2024
Christmas Eve Lessons and Carols
John 1:19-28

This is the Word of the Lord that came to me, so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing, you may have life in His + Name. AMEN.

In the heart of Bethlehem, a humble village, where the harvest has been stored up for the long winter ahead and hearths ablaze to stave off the north wind, a babe, born in the bosom of that bread-blessed abode, lies in a manger meant for mealtime beasts—a feed trough fashioned as His cradle, a humble haven for the holy.

This God-Child, the chalice of life, incarnate in the embrace of earthly clay, was not laid in the lap of luxury but in the lowliest lodging—a trough that cradles corn for creatures, now a crib for the Creator. In this unlikely setting, an unlikely word-picture is painted for us by angels, shepherds, and magicians, the grandeur of the divine, veiled in the guise of an infant, a grain seed planted in the fertile fields of Bethlehem.

Behold the Bread of Life, the bounty born in Bethlehem's barn, beckons us beyond the trivialities of our daily bread to the banquet of eternal sustenance. This babe, born in a house named for the humble loaf, bears witness to the intertwining of the sacred and the mundane.

Consider the kernel of truth that composes this revelation: the feed trough, once a receptacle for fodder, is now a symbol of heavenly fare. Just as the bread of earth nourishes our bodies, this Child, born in the house of bread, invites us to feast on the true manna, the spiritual sustenance that transcends temporary cravings. 

The birth of creation’s maker changes everything. Now, daily bread becomes more than mere sustenance. It is transformed into a tangible sign, a cord that tethers us to the Christ child's mission. Each morsel reminds us of Bethlehem's birth, calling us to leave our comfy tables and come into the Lord’s House to partake in the eternal feast prepared by the hand that once rested in a manger. 

The babe born in Bethlehem, the Bread of Life that emerges from the House of Bread causes even the bread on our tables to stand as a silent witness to the sacred Christmas message. It speaks of a child who, though cradled in the coarse crib of a stable, would later offer His body as the true bread, broken for the world's redemption.

As the true bread of heaven is broken, God's hand furrows the very ground of our lives so that our struggles, akin to the stubborn soil of Bethlehem, may bear the promise of an eternal harvest. In the ebb and flow of daily life, the Lord's Table may stand as a reminder that even in affliction’s fermentation, we partake of His body and blood. This feast lifts our eyes to see what awaits us above and beyond temporary, earthly tumults.

Let us not be blind to the beauty in the barn and the glory in the grain. In this cosmic cradle, the Bread of Life invites us to partake in the everyday miracle of His sustenance, to see in faith the divine in the daily grind.

For in the trough that once held fodder for flocks, you glimpse the true manna, the embodiment of a promise fulfilled. As you taste the tangible grace on your tongues, your hearts will be stirred with gratitude for the One who chose a cradle of corn to commence His earthly course.

In the bosom of Bethlehem, amid barley and rye, a revelation unfolds—a revelation that invites you to see the sanctity in the simple, to recognize the divine in the daily, and to find solace in the sustenance that extends beyond the feed trough to the Lord's Table.

In this unassuming ancient village, where the Bread of Life first drew breath, you find your breath in the breaking of this bread — Jesus, the Christ, the Creator of the heavens and the earth, the source and sustenance of your life.

This is the Word of the Lord that came to me, so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing, you may have life in His + Name. AMEN.

Rev. Christopher R. Gillespie
St. John Ev. Lutheran Church & School - Sherman Center
Random Lake, Wisconsin