Bethlehem: 'House of Bread'

“Sleigh bells ring! Are you listening? In the lane, snow is glistening…”

Those lyrics greeted me as I entered the Subway sandwich shop in Aberdeen, N.C., around 5:20 p.m. on a recent Wednesday in December.

Music continued over the Subway sound system: “A beautiful sight, we’re happy tonight, walking in a winter wonderland.”

I thought about a prediction of “ice by tomorrow morning” for the N.C. Sandhills. Our sandy soil grows tall pines, but ice and pines don’t mix well. Ice can lay limbs across power lines.

The song went on, “In the meadow, we can build a snowman….”

I don’t want to build a snowman, I thought. I need to be able to drive to work, tomorrow.

Waiting to order a “foot-long tuna with Monterey Cheddar bread” to share at home with Carol, I watched a young Subway employee put a tray of doughy loaves into a tall “oven” featuring a see-through front. She closed the oven door and set a timer.

When ice or snow is predicted, many folk run to grocery stores for milk and bread. Whatever the weather, bread can usually satisfy human hunger.

“Bread is a staple food prepared by cooking a dough of flour and water and frequently additional ingredients,” according to Wikipedia. “Doughs are usually baked…It may be leavened or unleavened…Bread is one of the oldest prepared foods…and is referred to colloquially as the ‘Staff of Life.’”

Writer Don Mears says, “Whether made from wheat, rye, barley, millet, rice or even potato flour, it (bread) has been the basic diet of common people. Bread has been synonymous with food for ordinary working people of many cultures. As the common food of the average Israelite, it featured frequently in the spiritual consciousness and the ceremonial and sacrificial worship of ancient Israel.”

Jesus was born in Bethlehem, a small town in Israel. Years before Jesus’ birth, Micah said prophetically, “But you, Bethlehem Ephrathah, though you are small among the clans of Judah, out of you will come for me one who will be ruler over Israel, whose origins are from of old, from ancient times” (Micah 5:2 NIV).

In the Hebrew language, “Bethlehem” means “house of bread.”

God caused Joseph and Mary to journey to Bethlehem; Jesus was born there and fulfilled Micah’s prophecy.

We read in Luke 2:1-7: “In those days Caesar Augustus issued a decree that a census should be taken of the entire Roman world. (This was the first census that took place while Quirinius was governor of Syria.) And everyone went to their own town to register.

“So Joseph also went up from the town of Nazareth in Galilee to Judea, to Bethlehem the town of David, because he belonged to the house and line of David. He went there to register with Mary, who was pledged to be married to him and was expecting a child. While they were there, the time came for the baby to be born, and she gave birth to her firstborn, a son. She wrapped him in cloths and placed him in a manger, because there was no guest room available for them.”

The “Bread of Life” was born in a stable in a small town whose name means “house of bread.”

Jesus later fed a large crowd with five loaves and two fish. Many from that group found him the next day, and he told them, “You are looking for me, not because you saw the signs I performed but because you ate the loaves and had your fill” (John 6:26).

They said, “What sign then will you give that we may see it and believe you? What will you do? Our ancestors ate the manna in the wilderness; as it is written: ‘He gave them bread from heaven to eat’” (John 6:30, 31).

"Jesus said to them, ‘Very truly I tell you, it is not Moses who has given you the bread from heaven, but it is my Father who gives you the true bread from heaven. For the bread of God is the bread that comes down from heaven and gives life to the world…This is the bread that came down from heaven. Your ancestors ate manna and died, but whoever feeds on this bread will live forever'" (John 6:32, 33, 58).

During this Christmas season, let’s remember these words from the old hymn "Guide Me, O Thou Great Jehovah”: “Bread of Heaven, Bread of Heaven, feed me till I want no more; feed me till I want no more.”