Christians retold the story of Jesus’ Last Supper, loaves and fishes, and the Eucharist, followed by the lovely sounds of the SPSA Chamber Ensemble; But I am like a green olive tree in the house of God: I trust in the mercy of God for ever and ever. Psalms: 52:8
The Bread of Life
Stage includes: Table and two chairs on either end of table.
In the Christian scriptures there are two closely connected stories that deal with the importance of bread: the Feeding of the Crowds by the Sea of Galilee and the Last Supper in Jerusalem. The Feeding of the Crowds is told six times in the four Gospels. John tells it this way:
Just before the Jewish festival of Passover, a crowd of people came to Jesus and his disciples as they sat on the shore. Jesus saw them and asked his disciple Philip where they could buy bread for all the people to eat. Philip told him
We would need a great deal of money – 200 denarii, – to buy enough bread for all those people. Another disciple, Andrew, saw a child with five loaves of barley bread and two fish. Jesus asks us disciples to have everyone sit down.
Jesus takes the loaves, gives thanks to God, and gives them out to everybody. He does the same thing with the fish. We give out as much as people want. After everyone eats, Jesus asks us to pick up the pieces left over, so that nothing gets wasted. The people are impressed, and think he is a great prophet. But Jesus is embarrassed by the fuss, and slips off to the hills.
The next day, people come looking for Jesus. He tells them they are after him just because they liked the bread. Jesus tells them that, just as the people of Israel were given bread from heaven, the true bread of God comes from heaven and gives life to the world. When they ask him to give them that kind of bread, he replies,
I am the bread of life; anyone who comes to me will never be hungry.
All four Gospels tell the story of the last time Jesus has a meal with his disciples. A story out of which grew the sacrament (ritual?) of Communion.