Devoted: The Breaking of Bread

The Breaking of Bread. Of all the things that the early disciples devoted themselves to, the breaking of bread together may have been the simplest of them but just as formative as any of them. In the breaking of bread we can capture two different images that has one shared central truth. The first image is that those early disciples devoted themselves to eating meals together, forming a bond and community while doing something that everyone needed to do: eat. It didn’t need to be a fancy meal, in fact, it could have comprised of just some bread and wine. There was significance on display in these simple meals. Around the table you would find the rich and the poor, the social elite and the social servants and yet they all broke bread from the same loaf together in, especially in that day, a powerful act of unity.

Another image that comes to mind is that of the Last Supper, the Lord’s Supper, or Communion that Jesus established with his disciples before his death and resurrection. Jesus asks his disciples to “do this in remembrance of me.” In this Jesus is asking his disciples to remember him even in the simplest of meals, that Jesus does not need complexity or great expense in order to be remembered but a simple meal, simple, elements, simply around the table.

There is a shared core truth to both of these images: it makes it easy for Jesus to be remembered as the center of our lives. Eating is in the regular rhythm of our lives, which means Jesus can be too. Every-time that we “break bread” no matter how simple, is not too common for the remembrance of Jesus and who he is. We can also live in the example of Jesus and use the table and breaking bread as a place of unity and sharing Jesus with others. The table can be a powerful place, because all were welcomed when Jesus was at the table. Devotion to the breaking of bread is not just about the Lord’s Supper or eating together it is about the powerful truth that Jesus can be known in our most simplest movement’s and it is in those simple moments that we can remember Jesus as the center of our lives.

1. Have you ever had a meal with someone that you remember as being significant in your life?
2. What might it look like in your life to “break bread” regularly with fellow followers of Jesus?
3. What do you think was added to the community of those early disciples as they devoted themselves to this?
4. The next time you break bread with someone, how could you being Jesus to the table with you?
5. What does it look like for you to remember Jesus every time you break bread?

What’s Next?

• As you break bread with family and/or friends think through how you migh bring Jesus to the table or remember him in that time?
• Not sure where to start? Join us at Common Table as a way to practice this devotion. 
• Work to find Jesus in the simplicity of life even in the act of eating a meal.