{"id":9795,"date":"2022-12-07T09:44:36","date_gmt":"2022-12-07T15:44:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.theclarion.org\/?p=9795"},"modified":"2022-12-07T09:44:36","modified_gmt":"2022-12-07T15:44:36","slug":"thoughts-from-the-bible-96","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/test.theclarion.org\/?p=9795","title":{"rendered":"Thoughts from The Bible"},"content":{"rendered":"

The breaking of bread and the Lord\u2019s supper<\/strong>
\nThe question has often been asked, \u201cHow do we know when the phrase \u2018The Breaking of Bread\u2019 is referring to the Lord\u2019s Supper and when it\u2019s referring to a common meal such as was shared by brethren in Jerusalem in Acts 2:46?\u201d
\nCertainly \u201cThe breaking of bread\u201d is an appropriate description of partaking of the Lord\u2019s Supper. It\u2019s described as the communion of the Body and the Blood of Jesus. 1 Corinthians 10:16 (KJV) \u201cThe cup of blessing which we bless, is it not the communion of the blood of Christ? The bread which we break, is it not the communion of the body of Christ?\u201d<\/p>\n

Note in Acts 2:42 \u201cAnd they continued steadfastly in the apostles\u2019 doctrine and fellowship, and in breaking of bread, and in prayers.\u201d This phrase has the appearance of being in a spiritual context that coincides with 1 Corinthians 10:16 above, whereas later in the chapter a non-spiritual use of the phrase appears to exist: Acts 2:46 \u201cAnd they, continuing daily with one accord in the temple, and breaking bread from house to house, did eat their meat with gladness and singleness of heart.\u201d Does this latter usage refer to the Lord\u2019s Supper or to a common meal? Other translations than the King James use wording that indicates the eating of a meal.<\/p>\n

Other Scriptures shed light on the question. For instance, this latter usage of Acts 2:46 (breaking bread and eating their meat) does not appear at all to be the usage of the phrase when referring to the special gathering of the saints in Acts 20:7, \u201cAnd upon the first day of the week, when the disciples came together to break bread, Paul preached unto them, ready to depart on the morrow; and continued his speech until midnight.\u201d Note the adverbial phrase which defines purpose of coming together: \u201cWhen the disciples came together to break bread.\u201d The purpose of their coming together on the First Day of the Week was \u201cto break bread\u201d and corresponds to the phrase as used in the above citation of 1 Cor. 10:16, \u201cThe bread which we break, is it not the communion of the body of Christ?\u201d<\/p>\n

The breaking of bread of Acts 20:7 was not a common meal. In fact, the church was forbidden to substitute such a meal in place of the coming together to commune with the Lord in breaking bread. Notice 1 Cor. 11:20, 20 When ye come together therefore into one place, this is not to eat the Lord\u2019s supper. 21 For in eating every one taketh before other his own supper: and one is hungry, and another is drunken.\u201d This passage is rebuking them for abusing the purpose of coming together to eat the Lord\u2019s Supper by swapping in its place a common meal. One is not authorized to substitute these two separate practices with each other.<\/p>\n

Both of these expressions, \u201cto eat the Lord\u2019s Supper,\u201d and \u201cto break bread,\u201d were used of what was to occur \u201c upon the first day of the week when the disciples came together\u201d (Acts 20:7). It\u2019s interesting to note that in Acts 20, when Paul came to Troas, he abode for 7 days waiting to meet with the disciples for this designated purpose. If the \u201cbreaking of bread\u201d could be practiced any other time than the First Day of the Week as was the case of the phrase as used in Acts 2:46, \u201cdaily . . . breaking bread from house to house,\u201d he could have had the Lord\u2019s Supper with them at any time without waiting, and then sped on his journey. However, there was a designated time for such gathering, a designated purpose for the gathering, and a designated prohibition of substituting a common meal with that purpose.<\/p>\n

Summary of these thoughts: These passages speak of two different kinds of \u201cBreaking Bread.\u201d One was designated for the first day of the week \u201cEating the Lord\u2019s Supper\u201d \u2013 the communion of the body and the blood of Jesus \u2013 which was the purpose of their gathering on the First Day of the Week. The daily breaking bread and eating meat from house to house does not comply with that standard. Swapping one for the other was forbidden in 1 Cor. 11:20.<\/p>\n

The author can be reached for comments at 256.574.2489.<\/p>\n

-Terry Broome<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The breaking of bread and the Lord\u2019s supper The question has often been asked, \u201cHow do we know when the phrase \u2018The Breaking of Bread\u2019 is referring to the Lord\u2019s Supper and when it\u2019s referring to a common meal such as was shared by brethren in Jerusalem in Acts 2:46?\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[14],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-9795","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-tho"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.theclarion.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9795","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.theclarion.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.theclarion.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.theclarion.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.theclarion.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=9795"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/test.theclarion.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9795\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":9796,"href":"https:\/\/test.theclarion.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9795\/revisions\/9796"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.theclarion.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=9795"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.theclarion.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=9795"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.theclarion.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=9795"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}