The bread must be broken. Now, we should put aside any superstitious notion that we must perform some intricately choreographed ritual in order for this ordinance to have any effect. Nevertheless, we should be attentive students to what Paul tells us he received from the Lord Jesus and delivered unto us. The actions which Paul delivers to us regarding the bread are fourfold: taking, thanking, breaking, and distributing.
While each of those actions holds profound significance, I want to focus on the breaking of the bread. In breaking the bread, God reminds us that this bread is Christ’s body, broken for you. But for us to grasp the fullest meaning of this breaking we must go back to Genesis. God always breaks in order to remake. He divides in order to make things new. He takes darkness & breaks it with His command: Let there be light. He takes the waters & breaks them into sea & sky. He takes the light and breaks it into sun, moon, and stars. Finally, He takes Adam; breaks him in two, but then the two are reunited and that reunion brings forth fruit.
So then, when Jesus told His disciples in the upper room that the bread he broke was His body, we should perceive that this breaking was bringing about a new creation. The loaf of Christ was broken so that all His elect might partake of that heavenly bread. And by partaking of broken bread we’re somehow made into one body.
Mankind seeks to remake the world by ripping each other into pieces. But the Father remade the world by sending His Son to be rent in pieces for the deliverance of the Twelve Tribes of Israel. We are the true Israel, and so here is Christ’s body, broken for you. Here is a new world, remade by Christ.
So come in faith and welcome to Jesus Christ…
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