It was a familiar site...
Illustration
Object:
It was a familiar site in every village through which Jesus and his disciples walked: The conical clay ovens, fired with wood, in which the women of each household would bake the daily ration of bread. These ovens were located out back, behind the houses, to offset the risk of fire. Early each morning, the baker-women would sweep out the ashes from the day before and stoke the ovens with dry sticks. They’d light the fire and direct a child to keep feeding dry branches into it, until the required temperature was reached. While this was happening, the women would go through the familiar ritual of bread-making: preparing the dough from flour and water, kneading it, adding the yeast, waiting for the dough to rise, then pounding it down — only to have it rise again. When it reached the desired consistency, the bakers would press it out flat and slide it into the clay oven. What came out was a warm, bubbly loaf very much like pita bread. It was the staff of life, indeed. Other food items might come and go with the seasons — and with the success of those who hunted or fished for it — but bread was the staple that got them through feast and famine alike. People of our culture have all but lost the sensory experience of eating fresh-baked bread. The bread we buy in the supermarket is baked in some central factory facility many miles away, is packed in plastic, and sliced to fit the toaster. Not so for the bread Jesus’ disciples would have known. That bread was baked fresh daily and often eaten warm from the oven. Break open a loaf, watch the steam rise from out of its center, let the rich, yeasty smell penetrate your nostrils. Taste and see that — indeed — it is good. The Lord is good!
