The Breaking of Bread

 

In scripture it is called “The Breaking of Bread” (Acts 2). It has been a part of the Church from the very beginning. When present in Church, most of us receive “The Breaking of Bread”, but do we really know Who we are receiving? What is the true meaning? Why do we receive at all?

This study is going to explore what the scripture has to say about the Breaking of Bread.

The Breaking of Bread has its historical beginning with St. Abraham in the Old Testament (Genesis 14-15). A priest appeared to him and offered him Bread and Wine. The priest was Melchizedek. We are not told much about him except that he was a king and priest of Salem and that he blessed Abraham with this offering. Abraham gives to Melchizedek a tithe (10% of all his earnings). The book of Hebrews tells us that Jesus was of the priesthood of Melchizedek (Hebrews 6).

The next place in scripture that the Breaking of Bread appears is during the life of St. Moses. St. Moses, the greatest Prophet of the Old Testament, is told by God to have a sacrificial meal with his people. At that meal, a sacrificial lamb was killed, and its blood was applied to the doors of the people’s homes. Death passed over their homes and they were saved. During that meal, unleavened Bread and Wine was shared throughout the meal at different times as a blessing to God’s people (Exodus 12-13). 

Throughout the Old Testament, bread and wine is seen as life-giving food that God gave to His people. In the desert God sent down Bread from Heaven to feed His people (Exodus 16-17).

When Jesus began His ministry, His first miracle was turning water into wine (St. John 2). He also multiplied bread to feed thousands of people. He blessed the bread and distributed it. Miraculously the bread was multiplied, and thousands were able to eat (St. John 6). 

Whenever Jesus spoke of bread, He referred to it personally. He said, “I am the bread of life”. “I am the bread that has come down from heaven”. He is the perfect bread from Heaven. He is the bread of life (St. John 6). 

In the sixth chapter of St. John’s Gospel, Jesus talks about His body as the true bread. He not only explains that He is the bread of life, but He adds that the bread and wine become His body and blood, and we must eat His body and drink His blood. This was such a powerful teaching that many of His disciples left the ministry. How could one eat His body and drink His blood? 

We must consume Him into our minds, our bodies, and our spirits. He must become the very nourishment of our being. He must live in us and through us. Body, blood, soul, and divinity- Him we must consume. He was telling His disciples that God must not only dwell with you in your teaching, doctrine, and religion, but also that God must live in you and through you in every thought word and action (2 St.Timothy 1).  

This teaching culminates at the last supper Jesus had with His disciples. It was Passover. Jesus takes the bread and blesses it. He doesn’t say, I am the bread. Instead, he says, “This is my body”. “This is my blood”. He then tells His disciples to do this whenever they gather as a commemoration of Him. He left us a miracle so that whenever we gather, we can experience Him not only with us, but in us. The bread and wine become His body and blood (St. Matthew 26), (St. Luke 22). 

On the road to Emmaus, two disciples met Jesus. They didn’t recognize Him until the breaking of bread. During dinner He took the bread, blessed the bread, and gave it to the disciples. At once their eyes were opened and they knew it was Him (St. Luke 24).

In the book of Acts, it states that they came together each day for the reading of the Word and the Breaking of Bread. This occurred daily. They would come together and read the Word of God. The Presbyter (“priest” is the English translation of “Presbyter”) would then preach the gospel to the people. They would then have a time of prayer. The priest would then take the bread and wine and say the words of Jesus. The priest would then distribute the body and blood of Jesus and then dismiss the people by sending them into the world to tell others about Jesus (The word “sent” translates “Mass” in Latin) (Acts 2) (St. James 5) (1 Corinthians 11). 

In the letter of St. Paul to the Corinthians, Paul teaches the believers that they must discern the Body of Jesus when taking Holy Communion. The people of Corinth were treating the Breaking of Bread as if it were just a meal, or just a memorial, but St. Paul corrects them by explaining that this is not just a meal or a memorial. It is truly the body and blood of Jesus, and we must receive Him discerning this in our hearts. When we receive, we are receiving Jesus into our hearts and minds. If the breaking of bread were merely a memorial meal, why would people get sick if they consumed it without discerning (recognizing and understanding) that it is the Body and Blood of Jesus? It is in Paul’s writings that the Breaking of Bread begins to be called “The Lord’s Supper” (1 Corinthians 11).

When we come together for the breaking of bread, we come discerning His Body and Blood. What we receive is no longer bread and wine. We are receiving Jesus. Jesus said, “Unless you eat my body and drink my blood you cannot have eternal life”. Why is it so important to receive Jesus into our hearts and lives? It is important because Jesus gave Himself to us. The Early Church had the breaking of bread. The Church has done this for over 2,000 years. The early Church Fathers all speak about it and make clear that it is the Body and Blood of Jesus. As early as 100-110 AD, St. Ignatius, taught by St. John the Apostle, states that it is the Body and Blood of our Jesus. St. Paul in the scripture states it is the Body and Blood of Jesus. By receiving the breaking of bread, we are receiving Jesus. Whenever we receive, we say “Lord Jesus come into my heart and life. Save me, live in me, live through me.” To receive the Body and Blood of Jesus, we are saying we believe Jesus is our Lord and Savior. Each time we partake of the breaking of bread, we are saying we receive Jesus- body, blood, soul, and divinity- into our being. We consume Jesus completely. We are His and His alone (St. John 14). 

Can we be saved without receiving the body and blood of Jesus physically in the breaking of bread? Yes- if the body and blood is not present or we cannot get to a Church to receive it, we can make a spiritual communion in our hearts. Wherever we are, we can make a Spiritual Communion by asking Jesus into our hearts. If, however, we have the Lord’s Supper available to us, we should receive (St. Luke 23). 

The breaking of bread is the receiving of Jesus into our hearts and lives both physically and spiritually (St. John 6).

There are many sects of Christianity that have taught that the Lord’s Supper is not the body and blood of Jesus. That it is only a meal or memorial. This is heresy. 

Today we call the breaking of bread “The Lord’s Supper”, “The Eucharist” (meaning “thanksgiving”), and “Holy Communion” (our communion with God). It is the receiving of Jesus spiritually and physically. At the Passover the people received the Lamb into their homes, and they ate it with gladness- for the salvation of the Lord was at hand. We do the same. Jesus is our Lamb Who takes away the sin of the world.

It is the source and summit of our faith, and we celebrate it with our Lord whenever we gather in Church. Jesus asked us to do this until He comes again. “Commemoration” means “celebration”.

In the book of Revelation (The Apocalypse), there is a wedding feast of the Lamb where we now get to be with Jesus, face to Face, at the Heavenly meal. This is where we finally pass over into eternal life with Christ our Lord and King and live forever with Him (The Apocalypse 19).