Becoming peanut butter

Jesus, help me think about where my food comes from! Amen.

Jesus talked about His death, saying, "Unless a piece of wheat dies, it's just a piece of wheat. But if it dies -- if it's harvested and made into food -- it helps many people. I'm worried about dying, but that's why I came into the world. When I'm lifted up to heaven, I'll pull everyone on earth closer to me."

If you're having peanut butter and jelly for lunch, imagine where that sandwich came from. Maybe the peanuts were grown in the state of Georgia; the strawberry jam started out as strawberries in a South American country, picked by Spanish-speaking farmworkers.

Peanuts and strawberries were sent to factories to be made into peanut butter and jelly, then trucked to grocery stores across the country -- including the one where your family bought them. That's not even including the bread.

That's one complicated sandwich!

Jesus made the same point in this week's Gospel (John 12:20-33): to remember where we came from and where we're going. He reminded us that wheat is just brown stuff growing in a field, unless it's cut down and made into bread. Then it feeds lots of people.

Jesus compared Himself to the wheat that becomes food. He pointed out that wheat has to die to become something we can use -- just like Jesus had to die on the cross to save the world.

It's weird to think about plants dying to become your peanut butter sandwich! But Jesus said that dying in one way means living in another way. When peanuts and wheat are harvested, they become peanut butter and bread that keeps you from going hungry.

And when Jesus died, He showed us that we'll live in heaven with God someday, just like He did. That brought everyone a little closer to heaven!