The Bread In Young Hands | Lessons From Leviticus 3

The Power of Shared Meals

Close your eyes and let your taste buds take you on an adventure. Remember that meal from your past that still fills your heart with joy? Like me, perhaps it was a chilled lunch with your best mate in Randwick, or a sizzling Korean BBQ feast shared with your brother in Newy. These meals from our past aren't just about food—they’re memories of delight. They’re moments of thanksgiving and connection, marked with identity-forming power.

Now, imagine returning to ancient Israel, where meals were not just about sustenance, but rather gatherings full of celebration. In the book of Leviticus, there are little treasures hidden in the form of the fellowship offering. It is not your average meal but an invitation for Israel to dine with her King.

Fellowship and Unity: The Heart of the Meal

But what is this fellowship meal, exactly? The phrase "fellowship offering" in Leviticus 3 comes from the word "selem," and has to do with forming an alliance or friendship, often in the context of a meal. Exodus 24, for example, describes young Israelite men presenting young bulls as fellowship offerings. Following a divine theophany, the Israelites then enjoyed the sacrifice together in the presence of God. In Leviticus 3, we also see that the fat and organs of this sacrifice are described as the "food" of God. Through this ritual, God intended to commune with His people at the bronze altar, where the King and His commonwealth ate in unity.

With this in view, the meal was not solely about individualistic communion with God; it emphasised peaceful fellowship together under God. The peace experienced was both horizontal, fostering unity among covenant members, and vertical, strengthening the bond between the King and His commonwealth. Given the clear divisions today, it is hard to envision such a meal in the presence of God. The truth is that we humans are experts at fostering cliques and divisions, and this is illustrated in the Corinthian Church (1 Corinthians 11:17-34). Unfortunately, the Lord's Supper, intended as a sacred meal of peace, became a symbol of the common societal divisions of the day.

Purity and Sacrifice: The Way to the Table

But there's more to glean from the fellowship offering than the goal of unity. It also required participants to be ritually clean. In Leviticus 3, the Israelites were instructed to present an undefiled animal from the herd, "whether male or female" (3:1). After presenting the beast, the offeror was then required to lay their hand upon the head of the sacrificial victim before it was slaughtered, symbolically identifying themselves with the victim (3:2).

Then as the priests sprinkled the blood of the beast against the altar, the offeror acknowledged their sin and sought reconciliation with God. The innocent animal bore the punishment that the worshipper rightfully deserved, serving as a substitute to enable the worshipper to feast in God's presence. The message is clear: You cannot approach a holy God as an unholy sinner without a substitute.

We see this truth in the gospel of Jesus Christ. Through His sacrificial death, God reconciled sinful humanity to Himself by appointing His sinless Son as the bearer of our sin. Jesus bore the death penalty for humanity, enabling God to declare us holy in His presence. Through Christ's sacrifice, we now gain full access to the table of our holy King.

Celebration and Feasting: Rejoicing at the Table

Besides the unity and purity inherent in the meal, there is one more crucial truth to acknowledge: the joy of feasting. The fellowship offering was a celebratory feast frequently referred to as a "thanksgiving" (7:12). In this eucharistic celebration, there were both "thick loaves" and "thin loaves" of bread for God and the people (7:13). Alongside the breaking of bread, fellowship offerings were accompanied by drink offerings of wine (Numbers 6:17). After the elements were readied, Israel "ate and drank" joyfully with her King (Exodus 24:11).

We see echoes of this meal in the Lord’s Supper. Before Jesus shed his blood on the altar, He gathered His disciples in the upper room to share a joyful meal. In fulfillment of the fellowship offering, He took a "drink offering" of wine and a "thanksgiving offering" of bread. Holding these symbols, He declared, 'This bread is my body' and 'This wine is my blood' (Luke 22:19-20). In His profound wisdom, Jesus communicated His sacrifice through a eucharistic feast. But this meal wasn't solely for the disciples on the eve of His crucifixion. The Lord's Supper is a perpetual ordinance for all generations: ‘Whenever we eat this bread and drink this cup, we proclaim the Lord's death until he comes’ (1 Corinthians 11:26).

Extending the Invitation to Our Sons and Daughters

The fellowship offering is a precursor to the Lord's Supper, symbolising our joyful unity and purity in the gospel. But for many young people, the table isn't synonymous with friendship and delight; instead, it brings up feelings of confusion and even rejection. Within our covenant community of faith, let us, then, discern the body of Christ and extend an invitation to our sons and daughters, for they too are deemed "holy" (1 Corinthians 7:14). By fully embracing them into our fellowship, their faith will flourish deep within the community of faith, rather than on its isolated fringes. In the centre of the body, they will then learn to actively participate and share the bread, finding deep and lasting peace as they are formed into robust gospel men and women.

Conclusion

The bread in our hands is tactile gospel, and what a powerful gift it is to say to our covenant kids, audibly and physically, "You too belong here—in the kingdom of God." They are baptized into the covenant family. They are growing up in familial faith. They belong. Let us then examine ourselves in the context of others, discern those who are truly marked out as holy, and invite them to come and eat at the King’s table when the opportunities arise. The Lord's meal is a family meal—a joyful feast for the whole household of God. Come, let’s eat together.