The Blessing

Years ago, while pasturing in Illinois, a Dutch Reformed family visited our church. I called on them the following week. When I arrived at the door, they were just sitting down for their evening meal. I was invited to join them. One mysterious thing happened around the table that night for me. We all began to eat without asking God’s blessing on the food. I thought this rather strange until the meal was ended. At that time, the father called upon each person to share the highlight of their day. One by one, everyone participated; it was quite beautiful. After everyone shared, the father lead in a prayer of thanksgiving for the events of the day and for the food we had just enjoyed together. We all knew what we were thanking God for, and no food got cold.

This experience started me on a search for the origin of blessing food. To my knowledge, it is nowhere commanded in the Bible. It never mentions anywhere that the food should be blessed before it is consumed. However, there is one very obvious observation that can be made concerning this event at the dinner table. Apparently, Jesus was in the habit of blessing the bread before He served it. He did so when he fed the five thousand, and He did so after His resurrection when He sat with His friends at Emmaus.

The word for blessing is the Greek word from which we get our term eulogize. It has the element of finality in its original definition. This doesn’t help a bit. Is it the final element of preparing the food before it is consumed, or is it the final event concerning the food, as in thanking God for it after it has been enjoyed? When it gets right down to it, however, it makes little difference if you thank God for His supply by faith before, or by experience after, consuming the food. Just do not forget to thank Him for every good thing.

One fact that I was led to in my search, however, was that eating and the Lord’s supper were originally connected. In I Corinthians 11, the apostle corrects the church for inappropriate portions at church events. In Acts 20:7, we see it as a very important act of the early church’s worship experience. We have dropped the food portion of this original practice and placed each other in rows where we stare at the back of another person’s head. This is hardly a sharing posture.

Communion is designed, however, to remind us that our life and sustenance as believers comes from Christ. We are who we are because of what He did. He was qualified to do what He did because of Who He was. His payment is our security.