The prayer consists of the following elements: 1. A praise to God (“Blessed are You Lord”) 2. A proclamation of God’s identity as our God (“our God”) 3. A proclamation of God’s identity as the King of all creation (“King of the Universe”) 4. A proclamation of God’s identity as the Creator of our provisions (“who creates fruit from the vine”/ “who brings forth bread from the earth”)
Maybe, like in hamotzi, Yeshua was addressing God’s identity as creator of our provisions. And if that is the case, Yeshua would have been making a bold claim about His own identity. Yeshua may very well have thanked God for being One who “brings forth bread” (or to that effect) and proceeded to do just that! It is very interesting to me that in John 6:23, the location of this miracle is referred to as “the place where they had eaten the bread after the Lord had given thanks.” This tells me Yeshua’s prayer was no small part of the story, not to mention Yeshua is referred to as “Lord” in the same sentence!
With this in mind, I want to explore how the words of hamotzi may shed light on something far beyond food: Yeshua’s identity as He presents it.
Additionally, it wasn’t until Yeshua “gave thanks and broke bread” that His identity as Lord was revealed to the men on the road to Emmaus (Luke 24:30-31). This suggests Yeshua was saying an “identity-focused” prayer like hamotzi. The exact words of Yeshua in these occurrences may not be known, but we do know that the tradition of saying the kiddush and hamotzi goes back at least 1,500 years, far long enough to instill a core value in the Jewish people.
In every gospel account, we read the story of Yeshua miraculously feeding 5,000 people with only five loaves of bread and two fish after “looking up to Heaven” (Matthew, Mark and Luke) and “giving thanks” (Matthew, Mark, Luke and John). We don’t know if Yeshua said the exact words of hamotzi, but from the context we can be confident he was not blessing the bread itself, and instead addressing God directly.
Far from blessing the food God gives us, or even blessing God for the food He gives us, the kiddush and hamotzi reflect the identity of the Jewish people, literally “praisers of God,” as those who bless God for who He is, not what He gives. My prayer is that instead of looking at what’s in our hands, we would, like Yeshua, continue to look up to Heaven and thank the Lord, who is our God, the King of the Universe, and the Creator of all our provisions.
God “creates” and “brings forth” regardless of what we have, and He is therefore worthy of blessing regardless of what we have. When we say the kiddush and hamotzi, we are simply blessing God for who He is.
BIO
Shanna Nichols grew up going to a Messianic synagogue in Atlanta, Georgia before moving down to Macon, GA to attend Mercer University and study Industrial Engineering. Now, she is back in Atlanta working as a Software Consultant and volunteering at her congregation as a drummer, greeting ministry director, and small group leader.
Life and Culture
It took me hearing one too many “bless the chicken nuggets” prayers to really hear the words in these prayers. The more I dwelled on them, the more I liked them. Here’s why.
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