"Bless this food, Amen." What's that about?

I have often wondered about the tradition of asking a blessing over your meal.  It always seemed to me that it was something that I thought I should try to understand better.  Not just what tradition says, but what the Word of God says.

God blesses through His Word, and His Word is Jesus.  When God blesses something, He voices His faith and releases His goodness or favor into something.  He blessed, Abraham and that blessing has not ceased; it continues today through the Jews and through those who believe in the name of Jesus (Galatians 3:14)

What is a blessing in the context of ‘offering a blessing’.  It comes from the Greek word “eulogeó” which means to speak benefit (or good) over.  It is releasing the power of faith though our words and giving life to those words.  For example, I may bless you by speaking through faith, just as David blessed Nabal at Carmel, ‘May you live long!  May you, your home, and all you have prosper!”  Life and death are in the power of the tongue.  The words that we speak and believe have an impact on lives.  Whether or not you believe the Bible is literal or not, even non-believers believe that speaking good about people can boost their self-esteem and cause tangible changes in a person’s being.

I have often felt strange asking God to do something that he has given us the authority to do.  He says that we have the power and authority to bless and curse.  Knowing that I have the ability to speak blessings over something, should I speak blessings over my food?  You can, I guess.  I can look at my broccoli and speak, “life and not death” or “health and not sickness”.  What does it hurt?  Nothing I guess.  But if you are Christian, we believe that Jesus declared all foods clean in Mark 7:15-19 Jesus said, “...there is nothing outside the man which can defile him if it goes into him; but the things which proceed out of the man are what defile the man. ... Do you not understand that whatever goes into the man from outside cannot defile him, because it does not go into his heart, but into his stomach, and is eliminated?” (Thus He declared all foods clean.)

So if the food we eat cannot defile us, and Jesus has declared it clean, why should we need to speak health into it (or ask God to speak health into what he has already said is clean).  This is very puzzling to me.

But then, recorded in the Gospels, when Jesus led his last Seder with his disciples (our last supper), it says that he took the bread, blessed it, and then broke it giving it to his disciples.  This is most likely where the tradition of blessing our food came from.  We should do like Jesus did right?  

Did you know that Jesus didn’t bless the bread, he blessed the Father for the bread.  Jesus as a Jew would give the following blessing before breaking the Matzah: “Barukh atah Adonai, Eloheinu, melekh ha-olam hamotzi lechem min ha'aretz. (Amein).” Or “Blessed are You, Lord, our God, King of the Universe who brings forth bread from the earth. (Amen)”.  Jesus was blessing God for the food, not blessing the food. (See Seder: Passover Service)

I am probably stepping on a few religious toes here. But, if you want to be more like Jesus when you sit down at your meal and pray “bless this food to our body” because ‘that’s the way we have always done it’, instead, praise God, lift up His name, elevate Him, for the provision and generosity.  Make your prayers perfume to His nostrils, instead of a meaningless religious ritual. Thank him for all the results of the blessings he has already released, such as your health, friends, family, etc.  This doesn’t need to be at the table alone, (or at all), but lift Him up often; He is worthy of our praise!

 Now if you want to speak life and health into your own body ... that's another blog. :o)