01/31/2023
Good Morning and actually Happy Wednesday
As I looked for something small to eat this morning, just to hold me over a few hours the thought of breaking bread came to mind. What is the breaking of bread, I thought? Is it just eating with someone? It does rightly go with eating, but I’m sure there’s much more to it. Let’s look at some scripture…
Acts 2:46 - Every day they continued to meet together in the temple courts. They broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts,
Matthew 26:26 - While they were eating, Jesus took some bread, and after a blessing, He broke it and gave it to the disciples, and said, “Take, eat, this is My body.”
Luke 24:35 - They began to relate their experiences on the road and how He was recognized by them in the breaking of the bread.
Acts 2:42 - they were continually devoting themselves to the apostles teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer.
Acts 20:11 - When he had gone back up and had broken the bread and eaten, he talked with them a long while until daybreak and then left.
Luke 22:19 - 20 - And he took bread, gave thanks and broke it, and gave it to them, saying, “This is my body given for you; do this in remembrance of me.”In the same way, after the supper he took the cup, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood, which is poured out for you.”
1 Corinthians 10:16-17 - is not the cup of blessing which we bless a sharing in the blood of Christ? Is not the bread which we break a sharing in the body of Christ? Since there is one bread, we who are many are one body, for we all partake of the one bread.
One more…
Matthew 14:19 - Ordering the people to sit down on the grass, He took the five loaves and the two fish, and looking up toward heaven, He blessed the food and breaking the loaves He gave them to the disciples, and the disciples gave them to the crowds (multitudes, probably 5000+) . In Matthew 15:36 He (Jesus) took seven loaves and some fish and fed the people (multitudes again, 4000+).
Yes, I’d say there’s a lot of meaning to “breaking bread.” Looking back into some history, bread was much harder back in biblical times. It was not easily torn, but instead broken in order to eat/ share. In the Greek language, the term breaking bread was a simple act of sharing bread with a stranger that says, “welcome to my home.” The Greek word artos means “bread” or “loaf”. The word Klao means “to break” or “to break off pieces”, and klasis refers to the act of breaking, so it was the “breaking of bread into pieces.
In some cases, the breaking of bread in scripture refers to “The Lord’s Supper” and is a revelation to Christ and what He has done to save us all from our sin and death without God. One man was broken for the many, and as we partake of the pieces of bread at communion, giving thanks to God for “this bread of life” There are 69 bible verses that say that Jesus is The Bread Of Life. (He said, “I am the bread of life, whoever comes to me shall not hunger and whoever believes in me shall never thirst). As Jesus took the bread, broke off pieces and gave it to the disciples, He gave thanks to God and blessed it…He thanked God for this “mission” He had come to go through on that cross for us. We see many examples of His giving thanks to God.. There is no way He (Jesus) could be just a good teacher or a prophet, no way. The breaking of bread…it’s no simple thing, is it?
And in other places in the Bible, the breaking of bread is a simple act of people sharing bread or food with others. Jesus' example though teaches us that breaking of bread is a simple, yet acknowledging means of remembrance.It’s a time to give thanks to the One true giver of life and abundance, the giver of eternal life at His side when we believe, trust and obey. Perhaps, we should let this run across our minds as we partake of each bite we eat, and of each crumb we share. Where does our bread come from? John 6:35…Jesus answered,” I am the bread of life, no one who comes to Me will ever be hungry and no one who believes in Me will never thirst.”
In John 6:5 Jesus looked up and saw a great crowd coming toward Him. He said to Philip, “where shall we buy bread for these people?” He asked this only to test him, for He already had in mind what He was going to do.
Philip answered Him, “It would take more than ½ a year’s wages to buy enough bread for each one to have a bite!”
Another of His disciples, Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother spoke up, “Here is a boy with 5 small barley loaves and 2 small fish, but how far will they go among the many?”
Jesus said, “Have the people sit down.” There was plenty of grass in that place, and they sat down (about 5 thousand men were there).
Jesus took the loaves, gave thanks, and distributed to those who were seated as much as they wanted. He did the same with the fish.
When they had all had enough to eat, He said to his disciples, “Gather the pieces that are left over. Let nothing be wasted.” So they gathered them and filled 12 baskets with the pieces of the 5 barley loaves left over by those who had eaten.
So where did the bread come from? They had 5 small loaves and 2 small fish! Yet Jesus, yes Jesus broke and fed them all til they had enough and then 12 baskets full were collected/left over. He truly is the Bread of Life! Our bread, our hope, comes from the LORD! Never forget….and remember to share…. Break bread and remember….
Happy Tuesday!
Lots of love,
Betty
