Another name for the Lord’s Supper is communion, and central to communion is the breaking of bread. In every instance of the Lord’s Supper it is noted that the Lord took bread and broke it. In Acts 20:7, instead of saying that they met to celebrate the Lord’s Supper, Luke says that they gathered on the first day of the week to break bread.
In Luke 24 it is noted that the two disciples on the road to Emmaus didn’t know it was Jesus who had joined them and began revealing Himself to them from the Scriptures, but later, when He broke bread and began giving it to them, their eyes were opened and they recognized that it was Him. Rushing back to Jerusalem, the apostles still couldn’t believe Jesus was alive in spite of their testimony, but as they began to relate how Jesus was recognized by them in the breaking of bread, it was at that moment that Jesus Himself stood in their midst and revealed Himself to them all. I would like to suggest that when we break bread together, it is meant to reveal something more about Jesus to us.
Another thing central to communion is relationship. We have communion with those to whom we are most closely related. The closest relationship is a covenant, a sacred and solemn agreement of binding force that unites two as one. Marriage joins a man and woman in a covenant relationship, and every day they have communion around the dinner table with their children and others who are part of their family. Our physical human family relationships point us to our deeper spiritual relationships, especially the New Covenant, or New Testament, that we enter into with Christ. As we are all “in Adam”, ultimately born of the seed that came from him, so are the people of God “in Christ”, for they are born again of His seed, the living and abiding Word of God, which comes from Him. That makes us a part of His family, a part of His body.
Another word for communion that is more often found in our Bibles is fellowship. The Greek word for communion or fellowship is koinonia. It can also be translated as sharing, participation, and in the context of giving, a contribution. When Paul speaks of the contributionthe Gentile churches made to other poor saints in Judea, he was referring to their koinonia.
When we celebrate the Lord’s Supper we are participating or sharing in something with our fellow believers, with the family of God. We are having communion and fellowship with them in remembrance of Jesus and His sacrifice. But we are also having communion and fellowship with Jesus Himself. For we understand that the bread represents His body: When He had given thanks He broke the bread and said, “This is My body, which is for you”.
When most people celebrate communion they associate the breaking of bread with Jesus’ body that was in a sense broken for them. However, this is actually not what the Scripture associates with the breaking of bread. In fact, it seems that God went out of His way to make clear that this is not what we are to associate with the breaking of bread. For it was repeatedly commanded that not a bone of the Passover lamb should be broken, which John specifically notes was prophetic in the case with Jesus: when the soldiers came to break the legs of those upon the cross to hasten their death for the approaching Passover, they saw He was already dead and so pierced His side instead. His body was pierced, but it was not broken.
If you think of the broken bread in terms of Jesus’ body being broken for us, you’re not alone; a scribe in the early church accidentally wrote exactly that when copying 1Co 11:24 so that the KJV came to read, “This is my body, which is broken for you”. But that reading is not in any of the oldest manuscripts, which is why all of our modern versions read simply, “This is my body, which is for you”.
What then does the singular loaf represent, and what is represented by it being broken so as to be shared? Let’s start with what Jesus said about Himself as the Bread of Life:
John 6:33 NAS “For the bread of God is that which comes down out of heaven, and gives life to the world.”
John 6:51 NAS 51 “I am the living bread that came down out of heaven; if anyone eats of this bread, he shall live forever; and the bread also which I shall give for the life of the world is My flesh.”
The early church came to understand that those who partake of the life of Christ, which is represented by the communion loaf, become a part of His body.
1Corinthians 10:16-17 16 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? 17 Since there is one bread, we who are many are one body; for we all partake of the one bread.
1Corinthians 12:12 For even as the body is one and yet has many members, and all the members of the body, though they are many, are one body, so also is Christ.
Ephesians 1:22-23 …And [God] gave Him as head over all things to the church, 23 which is His body, the fulness of Him who fills all in all.
Ephesians 5:29-30 for no one ever hated his own flesh, but nourishes and cherishes it, just as Christ also does the church, 30 because we are members of His body.
In order for the bread to be broken, there must first be a single loaf, which represents the life of Christ. As we partake of His life, symbolized by the loaf, we unite ourselves to Him and become a part of His body. Thus Paul writes,
1Corinthians 12:26-27 26 And if one member suffers, all the members suffer with it; if one member is honored, all the members rejoice with it. 27 Now you are Christ’s body, and individually members of it.
Hebrews 13:3 Remember the prisoners, as though in prison with them, and those who are ill-treated, since you yourselves also are in the body.
And so the single communion loaf of which we partake represents the fullness and unity of the body of Christ, and our little piece of the loaf reminds us of our own unique part in that body as well as what our relationships must be to the other parts of His body:
Ephesians 4:1-6 I, therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, entreat you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling with which you have been called, 2 with all humility and gentleness, with patience, showing forbearance to one another in love, 3 being diligent to preserve the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. 4 There is one body and one Spirit, just as also you were called in one hope of your calling; 5 one Lord, one faith, one baptism, 6 one God and Father of all who is over all and through all and in all.
Ephesians 4:11-13 11 And He gave some as apostles, and some as prophets, and some as evangelists, and some as pastors and teachers, 12 for the equipping of the saints for the work of service, to the building up of the body of Christ; 13 until we all attain to the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a mature man, to the measure of the stature which belongs to the fulness of Christ.
Philippians 2:1-5 If therefore there is any encouragement in Christ, if there is any consolation of love, if there is any fellowship of the Spirit, if any affection and compassion, 2 make my joy complete by being of the same mind, maintaining the same love, united in spirit, intent on one purpose. 3 Do nothing from selfishness or empty conceit, but with humility of mind let each of you regard one another as more important than himself; 4 do not merely look out for your own personal interests, but also for the interests of others. 5 Have this attitude in yourselves which was also in Christ Jesus…
Colossians 3:12-15 12 And so, as those who have been chosen of God, holy and beloved, put on a heart of compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience; 13 bearing with one another, and forgiving each other, whoever has a complaint against anyone; just as the Lord forgave you, so also should you. 14 And beyond all these things put on love, which is the perfect bond of unity. 15 And let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in one body; and be thankful.
But again, our communion is not just with fellow believers in remembrance of Jesus, it is with Jesus Himself. And just like those two disciples who came to recognize Jesus in the breaking of bread, when we enter into communion with Jesus our own eyes are opened to recognize Him as He is today in His body, the Church, so that we understand His words, “As you did it to one of the least of these my brothers, you did it to me.” For we, who are a part of His body, represented by the single loaf, are also given for the life of the world. Paul wrote,
Philippians 3:10-11 10 [I want to know Christ], and the power of His resurrection and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death; 11 in order that I may attain to the resurrection from the dead.
Colossians 1:24 Now I rejoice in my sufferings for your sake, and in my flesh I do my share on behalf of His body (which is the church) in filling up that which is lacking in Christ’s afflictions.
Jesus spoke similarly to those who would follow Him:
Matthew 16:24-25 24 Then Jesus said to His disciples, “If anyone wishes to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me. 25 “For whoever wishes to save his life shall lose it; but whoever loses his life for My sake shall find it.
John 12:24-26 24 “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains by itself alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit. 25 “He who loves his life loses it; and he who hates his life in this world shall keep it to life eternal. 26 “If anyone serves Me, let him follow Me; and where I am, there shall My servant also be; if anyone serves Me, the Father will honor him.
Although we formalize communion here in the sanctuary with the bread and the grape juice, the real communion actually happens before or after the service, in the bus, and on the streets, and at the nursing homes and in the prisons as we give ourselves for the life of the world, and especially in the fellowship hall, our place of koinonia, over a shared meal as the life of Christ is shared among us and we strengthen one another in the faith. It happens every time we lay down our own lives in order that the life of Jesus might come to others.
John wrote, “what we have seen and heard we proclaim to you also, that you also may have fellowship with us; and indeed our fellowship is with the Father, and with His Son Jesus Christ”(1John 1:3). Let us then close then with this description of the early church and how it grew so greatly:
Acts 2:42 And they were continually devoting themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer.
Acts 2:46-47 46 And day by day continuing with one mind in the temple, and breaking bread from house to house, they were taking their meals together with gladness and sincerity of heart, 47 praising God, and having favor with all the people. And the Lord was adding to their number day by day those who were being saved.