In the taking, blessing, breaking, and giving of the bread, the mystery of Christ’s life is expressed in the most succinct way. The Father took his only Son and sent him into the world so that through him the world might be saved (John 3:17) . . . It is in the this life that is taken, blessed, broken, and given that Jesus Christ wants to make us participants. Henri Nouwen
Four simple words: taken, blessed, broken, and given.
As we journey through the Lenten season with Henri Nouwen’s Show Me the Way: Daily Lenten Readings, we’ve been learning about the ways in which God choose to reveal himself to us.
Henri Nouwen says that true joy comes from letting God love me the way He wants (see previous Lent post). During the time Jesus lived on earth, Jesus took bread, blessed it, broke it, and give it to his friends. The breaking of the bread alluded to His own life being taken, blessed, broken, and given to us. It was a demonstration of God’s love for us.
In the same way, we are also taken, blessed, broken, and given to others. This is how we represent the life of God in us.
We’re not just broken. We’re taken, blessed, broken, and given.
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