Southern people love to get together and eat. I suppose it is popular everywhere, but since I am from the South, I know it is true here! Barbecues, picnics, family gatherings, church fellowship meals, any excuse to get together and eat!
   But, good, respectable Southern folks wouldn't be caught dead eating without asking the blessing on the meal! Young folks who forget this and start eating too early often get a well deserved slap up side the head by their Mother or Grandmother. Yes, I know this firsthand, too!
   We base this tradition (um… the blessing, not the slapping) on the Bible. Everyone knows Jesus Christ asked the blessing before He ate or gave to others to eat. But, did He ask or say the same thing we so religiously adhere to?

Let's begin our study by going to Luke:  
Luke 9:16-17
16.  Then he took the five loaves and the two fishes, and looking up to heaven, he blessed them, and brake, and gave to the disciples to set before the multitude.
 17.  And they did eat, and were all filled: and there was taken up of fragments that remained to them twelve baskets.

Here Christ had compassion on the multitudes of people following Him and made sure they had something to eat. Not only should we notice the compassion He had and the miracle of feeding so many people with a couple of fish sandwiches, we should also notice what He did and said. It says He "blessed" the loaves and fishes and then gave them to be eaten.
   When He "blessed" them, what did He do? The word here in the original Greek is:
G2127 - eulogeō (yoo-log-eh'-o)
From a compound of G2095 and G3056; to speak well of, that is, (religiously) to bless (thank or invoke a benediction upon, prosper): - bless, praise.

Looking at the definition, there was no reason to speak well of this bread or fish, was there? There was no reason to invoke a benediction on the loaves and fishes for a blessing for their future, was there? They were about to be eaten! In this context, it actually means that He was thanking God for this food. It was about to be a blessing for those who were hungry!
   Did you notice that in verses 16-17 above that it does not say that Christ "thanked" God for them? Actually, that is exactly what He was doing when He "blessed" the food. We should understand that the food we are about to eat does not need the blessing, it is God that we should be blessing or thankful to for providing for us!

Let's now go to Matthew to explain this further.
Matthew 15:36-37
36.  And he took the seven loaves and the fishes, and gave thanks, and brake them, and gave to his disciples, and the disciples to the multitude.
 37.  And they did all eat, and were filled: and they took up of the broken meat that was left seven baskets full.

Did you notice that Jesus gave thanks here, but nothing about a "blessing" is recorded? That is because in this context, they are the same thing! We would do well to notice in our study of this subject, that everywhere in the New Testament where they were going to eat, it says they "thanked" God for it, OR they gave "blessing". Not ONE SCRIPTURE records that they did both!
 
Let's read a few more examples to prove this point.
Matthew 14:19
19. And he (Christ) commanded the multitude to sit down on the grass, and took the five loaves, and the two fishes, and looking up to heaven, he blessed, and brake, and gave the loaves to his disciples, and the disciples to the multitude.

Acts 27:35
35.  And when he (Paul) had thus spoken, he took bread, and gave thanks to God in presence of them all: and when he had broken it, he began to eat.

These two scriptures also show that they either "blessed" or "thanked", but not both! It is because they mean the same thing! We can see further proof of this by comparing Matthew 26 to Luke 22. These scriptures discuss the Passover service.

Matthew 26:26-28
26.  And as they were eating, Jesus took bread, and blessed it, and brake it, and gave it to the disciples, and said, Take, eat; this is my body.
 27.  And he took the cup, and gave thanks, and gave it to them, saying, Drink ye all of it;
 28.  For this is my blood of the new testament, which is shed for many for the remission of sins.

Here, Christ "blessed" the bread and gave thanks for the cup.  Now let's read the parallel account in Luke.

Luke 22:17-19
17.  And he took the cup, and gave thanks, and said, Take this, and divide it among yourselves:
 18.  For I say unto you, I will not drink of the fruit of the vine, until the kingdom of God shall come.
 19.  And he took bread, and gave thanks, and brake it, and gave unto them, saying, This is my body which is given for you: this do in remembrance of me.

We read here in Luke that He gave thanks for both the cup and the bread! Is this a contradiction to Matthew 26? No! They mean the same thing! Instead of "asking a blessing" on the food, we should be thanking and blessing God for providing it for us!

   Don't we have to ask God to "bless" the food and take out any impurities or toxins before we eat it? Actually, the answer is NO, IF you are a believer!

Mark 16:17-18
17.  And these signs shall follow them that believe; In my name shall they cast out devils; they shall speak with new tongues;
18. They shall take up serpents; and if they drink any deadly thing, it shall not hurt them; they shall lay hands on the sick, and they shall recover.

As God's people, we have special protection on a regular basis. You can read another witness to this fact in 2 Kings 4:39-41. Obviously, as God's people, that means we follow His health laws and do everything to the very best of our ability to eat and be healthy. IF we are Godly, IF we are believers, we don't need to ask a blessing. Instead, we need to give a blessing to God and thank Him for providing for us. So, the next time you are called upon to "ask" the blessing on the meal, simply thank God as your provider! Oh, and you might want to explain this study to your family so you don't get that slap up side your head for doing it wrong!