The Breaking of Bread

n Lesson 2 we saw that baptism marks the end of our old life and the beginning of a new life in Christ. We become members of God’s family, His sons and daughters, and so become brothers and sisters together in Christ. We become the disciples (the word means a student or pupil) of Jesus and commit our lives to following his words and his example. “Greater love has no one than this, that someone lays down his life for his friends. You are my friends if you do what I command you. No longer do I call you servants, for the servant does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends, for all that I have heard from my Father I have made known to you.” John 15:13-15 This is very important; our relationship with Jesus depends on doing what he commands us to do. One of the most important things he has commanded us to do is to meet regularly with our brothers and sisters to share bread and wine together in remembrance of him. “The Lord Jesus on the night when he was betrayed took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it, and said, "This is my body which is for you. Do this in remembrance of me." In the same way also he took the cup, after supper, saying, "This cup is the new covenant in my blood. Do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me." 1Corinthians 11:24-26 The worship together of true Christians is very simple and, apart from baptism, this is the only ritual act the Lord Jesus Christ has asked us to do – we must take it very seriously indeed. We know that, after the ascension of Jesus, the disciples met daily in the homes of disciples to share bread and wine in remembrance of him (Acts 2:46-47). Later the ecclesias met weekly, on Sunday, the first day of the week, to do this. “On the first day of the week, when we were gathered together to break bread, Paul talked with them.” Acts 20:7 Under the Law of Moses the Jews met together on Saturday, the last day of the week, for a day of rest – the Sabbath. The disciples of Jesus decided to meet on the first day of the week as this was the day on which Jesus rose from the dead. This decision to meet weekly in this way probably looked to the Scriptural example of the weekly meal of the Shewbread by the priests in Old Testament times (Leviticus 24:5-9). When Jesus said ‘do this in remembrance of me’, he used quite a rare word which is also used in the Greek version of the Old Testament in Leviticus 24:7 where it is translated ‘memorial’ in our English version. Just as this meal was holy and precious to the priests in Old Testament times – only they were allowed to eat it, so the Breaking of Bread meal is holy and precious for the true disciples who share it together today. They do not share it with other ‘Christians’, only with those who truly are their brothers and sisters in Christ. Throughout the whole world, Christadelphians meet every Sunday to share bread and wine together in this way. They usually do this in a hall or rented room but sometimes in the home of a believer. The place is not important. The service is always very simple and is very similar wherever in the world it is held. It is the most important part of our fellowship together and Christadelphians know that wherever they are, they can go to an ecclesia to share bread and wine with those who worship there. Jesus gave us a number of instructions about this service and we shall consider them individually.