The “Bread of Life”

The “Bread of Life” is God, the Creator Himself! To eat this Bread, is to introduce God into oneself, and for oneself to live in Him. Under what form can we nourish ourselves? Jesus of Nazareth, the Messiah, explains it to us:

“‘I am the Bread of Life. He who comes to me will never be hungry; he who believes in me will never thirst… I am the living Bread which comes down from Heaven. Anyone who eats this Bread will live for ever; and the Bread that I shall give is my flesh, for the life of the world’. Then the Jews started arguing with one another: ‘How can this man give us his flesh to eat?’ They said. Jesus replied: ‘I tell you most solemnly, if you do not eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you will not have Life in you. Anyone who does eat my flesh and drink my blood has eternal Life, and I shall raise him up on the last day… He who eats my flesh and drinks my blood lives in me and I live in him…’ After hearing it, many of his followers said, ‘This is intolerable language!’ … Jesus said: ‘Does this upset you? What if you should see the Son of Man ascend to where he was before? It is the Spirit that gives Life, the flesh has nothing to offer. The words I have spoken to you are Spirit and they are Life. But there are some of you who do not believe…’ After this, many of his disciples left him and stopped going with him” (John 6,35-66).

The defection of these incredulous disciples did not discourage Jesus; He pursued his plan. During the Last Easter Supper which He had with his apostles, He answers the question the Jews had asked: “How can this man give us his flesh to eat?” In fact, He took some bread, then a cup of wine and offered them:

“As they were eating he took bread, and when he had said the blessing he broke it and gave it to them: ‘Take it,’ he said, ‘this is my body’. Then he took a cup, and when he had returned thanks, he gave it to them, and all drank from it, and he said to them: ‘This is my blood, the blood of the New Covenant poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins… Do this in memory of me…’” (Mark 14,22-25 / Matthew 26,26-29 / Luke 22,15-20 / 1 Corinthians 11,23-25).

This new Passover Meal was instituted by Jesus on the eve of his crucifixion, in the form of Bread and Wine which incarnate his Body and Blood, and consequently his Soul and Divine Spirit too. This Meal, because of its simplicity, deceived a great number of Jews who expected a royal messianic Meal, triumphant and extravagant, at the scale of an ambitious earthly Zionist kingdom. This deception was predicted by the prophet Hosea:

“Neither threshing-floor nor wine-press will nourish them, the new wine will disappoint them” (Hosea 9,2).

The threshing-floor -where wheat was battered in the past- is the symbol of the Bread of Life. The vat -where grapes were left to ferment into wine- is the symbol of the Wine of Life. Those who turn their backs on Jesus, nourish themselves neither from the heavenly produce of the threshing-floor, nor the vat. As a consequence, they deprive themselves of Eternal Life. Such is Jesus’ Divine Message to the world; a Message permanently valid, and will remain so until the end of the world.

The Qur’an comes, in its turn, to invite believers to this heavenly Table:

“The Disciples, said: ‘O Jesus son of Mary, can your God send down upon us a Table (served) from Heaven?’ Jesus said: ‘Fear God, if you are true believers.’ They said: ‘We wish to eat from it so that our hearts are at peace, and we know that you have spoken the truth to us, and we be witnesses (witnesses of the Table) thereof.’ Jesus son of Mary said: ‘O God our Lord, send down upon us a Table from heaven (served), and it shall be a feast-day for first and last among us, and a miracle from You, and grant us Your bounty (nourish us) – You are the best of providers.’ God said: ‘I shall send it down upon you. Who among you disbelieves hereafter, I shall torment him with a torment the like of which I shall torment no other human being.’” (Qur’an V; The Table,112-115)

“The Righteous are in Bliss, upon couches, watching. On their faces you would discern the radiance of Bliss. They are given to drink from a Wine, sealed, whose seal is musk – for this let contenders contend – and whose mixture is from Tasním: A fountain, from which those intimate shall drink. Sinners (those who refuse to drink from this sealed Wine) would once laugh at the faithful…” (Qur’an LXXXIII; Those who Shortchange,22-29)

(See the text “A look of faith at the Qur’an”, chapter 5.3; The Heavenly Table).

The Lord Jesus ascribes so much importance to this Bread of Life, that He Himself appeared to Paul in order to reveal to him the Institution of the Eucharist and its Content. It is not through the apostles that Paul learned this vitally important fact, but by the Lord Himself, as he declared to the Corinthians:

“For this is what I have received from the Lord, and in turn passed on to you: that on the same night that he was betrayed, the Lord Jesus took some bread, and thanked God for it and broke it, and he said, ‘This is my body, which is for you; do this as a memorial of me.’ In the same way he took the cup after supper, and said, ‘This cup is the new covenant in my blood. Whenever you drink it, do this as a memorial of me.’ Until the Lord comes, therefore, every time you eat this bread and drink this cup, you are proclaiming his death, and so anyone who eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord unworthily will be behaving unworthily toward the body and blood of the Lord. Everyone is to recollect himself before eating this bread and drinking this cup; because a person who eats and drinks without recognizing the Body is eating and drinking his own condemnation.” (1 Corinthians 11,23-29).

This Heavenly Bread and Wine initiated a new priesthood which required a new generation of priests. In fact, under the Torah, priests slew animals which they then offered to God. They were, so to say, “sacred butchers”, a worship that was repeatedly and explicitly denounced by the prophets as being detested by God, rejected by Him:

Psalm 51 (50),16-17: “Sacrifice gives You no pleasure, were I to offer holocaust, you would not have it. My sacrifice is this broken spirit, you will not scorn this crushed and broken heart.”

“For when I brought your ancestors out of the land of Egypt, I said nothing to them, gave them no orders, about holocaust and sacrifice.” (Jeremiah 7,22).

“With what gift shall I come before the Lord, and bow down before God on high? Shall I come with holocausts, with calves one year old? Will he be pleased with rams by the thousand, with libations of oil in torrents? … What is good has been explained to you, man; this is what Yahweh asks of you: only this, to act justly, to love tenderly and to walk humbly with your God.” (Micah 6,6-8)

“Since what I want is love, not sacrifice; knowledge of God, not holocausts.” (Hosea 6,6)

“Provide yourself with words (of repentance) and come back to God. Say to Him: ‘Take all iniquity away so that we may have happiness again. Instead of bulls we will offer you our words of praise’…” (Hosea 14,3).

“I hate and despise your feasts, I take no pleasure in your solemn festivals. When you offer me holocausts, I reject your oblations, and refuse to look at your sacrifices of fattened cattle… But let justice flow like water, and integrity like an unfailing stream.” (Amos 5,21-24)

The Qur’an too, confirms the futility of animal sacrifice and stresses rather on prayer and submission to God:

“Their flesh and their blood shall not reach up to God; rather, it is your piety that will reach Him” (Qur’an XXII; The Pilgrimage,37).

Jesus, by the sacrifice of his own body, instituted a new generation of priests edified by the offering of his person on the cross. In order to be affiliated to his priesthood, one must no longer slay and sacrifice animals, but to succeed in sacrificing one’s own vices, in slaughtering egoism and materialism:

“Jesus said to his disciples: ‘If anyone wants to be a follower of mine, let him renounce himself and take up his cross and follow me.’” (Matthew 16,24), “Go and learn the meaning of the words: What I want is mercy, not (animal) sacrifice.” (Matthew 9,13)

Thus, as we have already seen, it is during the Last (Passover) Supper in which Jesus instituted his new priesthood, that of the New Covenant announced by the prophets, by Jeremiah in particular:

“See, the days are coming—it is God who speaks—when I will make a New Covenant with the House of Israel (and the House of Judah), but not a covenant like the one I made with their ancestors… Deep within them I will plant my Law this New Covenant, writing it on their hearts.” (Jeremiah 31,31-34)

This messianic Meal was already -and prophetically- symbolized two thousand years before the Messiah, with the bread and wine offered to our Patriarch Abraham by Melchizedek. This latter was, at one and the same time, “king and priest of the Most High God”, all when not being part of, nevertheless, Abraham’s family (Genesis 14,17-20). This is the reason why David, under divine inspiration, announced, a thousand years before the Advent of Jesus, that the Messiah will be, at the same time, king and “priest for ever”, but “according to the order (non-Jewish) of Melchizedek” (Psalm 110,1-7), and no longer according to the Jewish order of Aaron, the brother of Moses.

St Paul, in his letter to the Hebrews (chapters 5-7), explains this revolution in the Jewish priesthood; he summarizes it as so:

“But any change (by Jesus) in the priesthood must mean a change in the Law as well. (the Jewish religious Law)” (Hebrews 7,12)

This change in the priesthood was concretized in the Bread and Wine of Life offered by Jesus at his mystical Table. The first Christians did not fail to share their Meals in simplicity. There was no ostentatious worship, but on the contrary: ample Biblical knowledge and prophecies concerning the Messiah’s Advent, a profound faith in Jesus, and genuine fraternal love. They shared this Heavenly Meal around the spiritual Table in the intimacy of their respective homes:

“These remained faithful to the teaching of the apostles, to the brotherhood, to the breaking of Bread (the Bread of Life) and to the prayers… met in their houses for the breaking of Bread (the Bread of Life); they shared their food (spiritual) gladly and generously.” (Acts 2,42-46)

In the current Apocalyptic era, which we have already entered into, because of the Antichrist’s apparition, this messianic priesthood -disfigured by the traditional churches along the centuries- is restored in order to regain its original purity, free from all pagan-folkloric rites. Hence appears the beating Heart of the Christian faith: the Body and Blood of the Messiah present in the Bread and Wine. This “reality is the Body of Christ.” (Colossians 2,17-18)

The Book of Revelation invites us to restore the priesthood as it was practiced by the first Christians: in simplicity and with the family. Jesus Himself invites us to do so:

“Look, I am standing at the door, knocking. If one of you hears me calling and opens the door, I will come in to share Supper, side by side with him.” (Revelation 3,20)

“He (Jesus) loves us and has washed away our sins with his Blood, and made us a line of kings, priests to serve his God and Father” (Revelation 1,5-6) … “You (Jesus) bought men for God of every race, language, people and nation, and made them a line of kings and priests, to serve our God and to rule the world.” (Revelation 5,9-10)

So, Revelation invites us to restore Jesus’ Priesthood. The Apocalyptic priests are thus, they too, of the order of Melchizedek. They are therefore independent and liberated of the traditional churches, just as Melchizedek was independent of the Jewish Community. Such is the Spirit of liberty and independence to which Jesus invites us to in the Revelation. The practice of the Apocalyptic priesthood was already revealed by Jesus in the Gospel as a sign of his Return:

“Be like people waiting for their Master to return… ready to open the door as soon as He comes and knocks… I tell you solemnly, He will put on an apron, sit them down at Table and wait on them…” (Luke 12,35-40)

This “Table” is the “Tree of Life set in God’s Paradise” and this mysterious “Hidden Manna”, that Jesus promises to offer his faithful in the Book of Revelation (2,7 & 2,17). In order to benefit of this Holy Manna, one must imperatively believe in the interpretation of Revelation as revealed by Jesus Himself in 1970 (See the text: “The Key of the Apocalypse”).

The invitation to the restored priesthood is addressed to men as well as to women, married or single, young or old. Women are entitled to this priesthood on the same basis as men are. In the Kingdom of God inaugurated by Jesus, there is neither man nor woman; all are equally called upon to be children and priests of God, without any discrimination, be it gender, racial or other. Those who prevent married men of entering the priesthood, and priests from getting married, are “hypocrites” condemned by God Himself. This prevention shows the necessity for a restoration. It is one of the evident signs of the end of times. Paul says indeed, that the Holy Spirit firmly condemns these “hypocrites” who, during the last times will forbid marriage:

“The Spirit has explicitly said that during the last times there will be some who will desert the faith and choose to listen to deceitful spirits and doctrines that come from the devils; and the cause of this is the lies told by hypocrites whose consciences are branded as though with a red-hot iron: they will say marriage is forbidden…” (1 Timothy 4,1-5).

Four important points should be revealed in this text:

1. It is the Holy Spirit Himself, and not Paul, who reveals this renouncement of faith; and He reveals it clearly.

2. This abandonment of faith occurs during the last times. It is an important sign which confirms what Jesus had already predicted of this unfortunate period of the last times (see Matthew 24,3-25). In fact, at the dawn of Christianity, priests and even bishops got married. Paul said: “A bishop should be blameless, the husband of one wife…” (1 Timothy 3,2 / Titus 1,5-6)

3. Those who forbid marriage are the same “who desert the faith and choose to listen to deceitful spirits”. It is these hypocrites who often fall into the traps of various vices and immoralities, which are clearly self-evident today.

4. The restoration of the monastic vocation is an inevitable consequence of what has just been exposed. This vocation belongs to the past, though it produced souls that were authentically holy, and who had joined it in good faith. However, it is not in line with God’s plan. In fact, Jesus, at the eve of his crucifixion, addressed the Father in front of his apostles in this way:

“Father… I passed your word on to them… I am not asking You to remove them from the world, but to protect them from the evil one… As You sent Me into the world, I have sent them into the world” (John 17,14-18).

We are sent into the world, not on the sidelines in the world, not in its outskirts. Life “in the world” with the faith is a challenge; dare to face it! It is among our brothers and sisters in the world that we, believers, can be of help, the souls of good faith who are placed in our paths by Divine Providence. “You are the light of the world”, Jesus says, “No one lights a lamp to put it under a tub, but on a lamp-stand where it shines for everyone in the house…” (Matthew 5,14-16) Those who, on the contrary, hide themselves from the world are similar to the bad servant of the parable, a coward who, from fear of the master, hid his only talent instead of having the courage to multiply it by having faith in God. His fate was being rejected by the Master (Matthew 25,14-30).

The messenger of the Book of Revelation, this “powerful Angel… with a rainbow over his head” (Revelation 10,1-2), is sent with the power to invite believers to the Table of Jesus, without the resort to any ecclesiastical authority. God Himself confers this power to him through the “Small Open Scroll (Book)”, the Book of Revelation that he presents to mankind, open, ie clearly explained by Jesus. The “Rainbow” in fact, is the sign of the Covenant between God and man (Genesis 9,12-17). This means that this “Angel” has a sacred mission of proclaiming on behalf of God, the restoration of the New Covenant. This restoration is already under way; it had been prophesied by Peter; it is directed by Jesus Himself, who is already on his Return, spiritually:

“Then He (God) will send you the Christ he has predestined, that is Jesus, Whom Heaven must keep till the universal restoration comes…” (Acts 3,21)

This “Restoration” is “the New Heaven and New Earth”, the “New Jerusalem”, in which John sees no material temple (Revelation 21,22). The reason for this is that the priesthood has evolved towards the interior of families, and that the true notion of the temple is none other than the faithful themselves. Any other material, religious building becomes thus obsolete and useless to true believers.

(See the texts: “Worship and Place of Worship”, “Jesus restores the priesthood”, “The Universal Restoration”).

Finally, the purpose of the different churches is to gather the faithful around the Body of Christ, the “Eucharist” as some call it, this Bread of Life. And yet, God wants to introduce it today into the familial or the personal intimacy. May His Holy and Divine Will be done!

Humanity in its entirety is invited to take part in this restored priesthood. All those who believe in the Apocalypse revealed by Jesus on the 13th of May, 1970 –men or women of all races, languages, and color– have only to say “yes” to become priests of Jesus. This consecration to the priesthood is undergone spontaneously and in intimacy between the Christ and the person who answers positively to His Call. It is in this way therefore, put simply, that we have access to this holy priesthood and respond to the invitation of Jesus’ Wedding Feast (Matthew 22,1-14). The ones who deprive themselves of this are those who do not believe and who deliberately refuse to respond to the call; or “those without a wedding garment”. It is therefore no longer needed to pass through any religious hierarchy whatsoever, neither through the rite of imposition of hands. The Authority who confers this priesthood is the Living Christ Himself who lays his blessed hands on his believers, since it is He Himself who has “washed us from our sins and made of us a line of kings and priests to serve his God and Father” (Revelation 1,6 & 5,9-10).

For those who have a mature faith, unique true worship embodies itself today in the Bread of Life Whom, we can freely access in our homes. Such are the Restoration and the First Resurrection of which the Book of Revelation speaks. “Happy and blessed are those who share in the First Resurrection; the second death cannot affect them but they will be priests of God and of Christ…” (Revelation 20,6). Paul is quite right by saying:

“The reality is the Body of Christ… Let no one deprive you of it…” (Colossians 2,17-18)