Matt.15:35 – “And He directed the people to sit down on the ground; and He took the seven loaves and the fish; and after giving thanks, He broke them and started giving them to the disciples, and the disciples gave them to the crowds.”
Matt.26:27 – “And when He had taken a cup and given thanks, He gave it to them, saying, “Drink from it, all of you…”
Today’s verses both speak to us about the very reason Christ became a man. He clearly teaches that His body is pictured by the bread in the communion meal. He spoke about this after multiplying the fish and bread and feeding the multitudes as well as at the last supper, the Passover meal He ate with His disciples the last night He was with them. In both instances Jesus gave thanks to the Father for this bread. The word that was used in the scripture is eucharisteo, to give thanks obviously pointing to His sacrificial death. He was thanking the Father for His coming death that would complete the purpose He came to fulfill. He died that we could know Him and be with Him forever, that is what this bread is all about. Here is how Calvin describes this.
“But we must recollect what I lately noticed, that this thanksgiving is connected with a spiritual mystery. While it is true that believers are commanded to give thanks to God, because he supports them in this fading life, Christ did not merely refer to ordinary eating, but directed his view to the holy action, in order to thank God for the eternal salvation of the human race. For if the food which descends into the belly ought to persuade and arouse us to praise the fatherly kindness of God, how much more powerfully does it excite and even inflame, us to this act of piety, when he feeds our souls spiritually?”
Today we can have fellowship with the Father and His Son because of His death at Calvary. We stop in our tracks as we think about this and give thanks to the Lord. This is our greatest privelege, to know Him intimately and walk closely with Him. It is in the breaking of His body that we discover life, this is the place that we discover the blessing of Thanksgiving. Thanksgiving is our way of life, we give thanks to the Lord because He is good and His mercy endures forever.