Dr. Harrison Speaks on "Jesus, the Bread of Life"

Sheboygan, Wisconsin, 1950

Speaking on "Jesus, the Bread of Life", Dr. Paul W. Harrison continued the series of Autumn Religious Festival programs on Tuesday night at North High auditorium. The crowd again was large because this great medical missionary has a message each night that is impressively delivered.

Dr. Harrison, who ably pictures Biblical scenes for his listeners, chose the one of Jesus feeding the crowd of 5,000, who were on their way to the Passover in Jerusalem. Jesus, their host, looking at them realized that their need was to be brought close to God. People were tremendously impressed by this great miracle and they reacted naturally. They decided to take Jesus by force and make Him king. After He had sent His disciples to Capernaum by boat, he went into the mountains alone to pray, to fight back Satan and his glittering temptation.

Another miracle performed then was Jesus walking on that rough sea to overtake His disciples. That miracle was performed to reinforce the badly shaken loyalty of His disciples.

Jesus taught the people about God's salvation, and the lesson was aimed at those who do the honest work in this world. These people were willing to reach out and take charity from God's hand even though they didn't deserve it. They were so obsessed with their desire for a free meal, so preoccupied with their empty stomachs that they could not think a spiritual thought, even if they tried. It was then that Jesus told them, "I am the bread of life," and that sentence is one of the most profound and wonderful things that He said.

Dr. Harrison said to his audience, "We get the earthly kind of bread by buying it. The heavenly bread is far closer than that. There are three steps necessary to get the bread of life. First, one must admire it and want it. Next, we must take those words and the story of that life, think about it, meditate on it, until we understand it. Then, when the matter is in your heart, you accept it."

The speaker suggested that when the bread of life is eaten and becomes a part of the soul we will organize our lives. "Mission fields," he said, "are full of people who have taken Christ in that manner. Let us not forget it is the bread of life that gets us entrance into the kingdom of heaven."

"Let us take the life of Jesus as an example to study, to imitate. What we want to do is to take this human life of Jesus and join with the common people that take of this bread — they shall live forever," he said in concluding his third message.

—Sheboygan Press-Telegram, Sheboygan, Wisconsin, October 18, 1950, page 18.