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The Meaning of the Breaking of Bread
T
he Breaking of Bread is a meeting for the
sustenance, not of the body, but of the
heart and soul. It is a meal for the soul.
“Take, eat, this is my body.” “Drink of it, all
of you, for this is my blood.” After all, the
body is not the only part of man needing sus-
tenance. There is the mind, which is
fed by education, observation
and reflection. And there is
the spirit, which, if it is
to be worth anything,
is to be fed on the
best food. On at
least one occasion
Jesus led his hear-
ers’ thoughts from
ordinary to spiritual
food. The miracle of
the five thousand drew
crowds, but their motive
was open to question: “Ye
seek me, not because ye saw the
miracles, but because ye did eat the
loaves”. And then Jesus taught them the great
lesson that whereas food for the body is of
passing value, there is a food for the spirit
leading to Eternal Life. “Labour not for the
meat that perisheth, but for that meat which
endureth unto everlasting life, which the Son
of man shall give unto you … I am the bread
of life”. This discourse in the sixth chapter of
John was delivered long before the last sup-
per, but there is little doubt that it expresses
a fundamental truth of which the solemn
breaking of bread and drinking of wine is a
most vivid, particular embodiment.
In simple terms, when at the
Judgement a man’s heart is
laid bare, it will be seen
to be mostly Christ,
or mostly of sin. If sin,
then the man has
been feeding on
selfishness, lust,
sloth or indifference
to his God. If Christ,
then he thought a
great deal about Christ
during his probation. He
fed his heart on the words of
Christ, read them, let them sink in
and move him not only to Christ-born
thoughts but to Christ-born deeds. In the
solemn Breaking of Bread, such a Christian is
not only intimately reminded of who and what
his most precious food is, but of how it
became such by that Life and that Death.
Bro J B Norris
“The First Century Ecclesia”
Times of Fear
| Bro Blessing Nwigwe (Mbaise, Nigeria)
W
e live in the days that immediately pre-
cede the return of Jesus back to this
earth. Many people are edgy and anxious
about the future, and troubles abound. Talk to
the people around you. You will find that no
matter what the media has to say, they can’t
believe that the Banks would fail. They aren’t
sure that they will have a job tomorrow, they
may even be afraid to walk down the streets
of their city for fear of being mugged.
For in our world today, men of great prestige
and political power have fears. They must ap-
pear to be courageous and decisive no matter
the type of crisis they face. We can’t go away
and escape the trouble, living in a world that
is not as it should be. However bad political,
economic, or moral conditions are with us, but
we who trust in God have a peace that the
world cannot understand, in which God will
not fail us in these troubled times – to show
that God is not dead but living. Such times
have been prophesied in the gospel of Luke
21:26, “that men’s hearts will fail them for
fear, as they look at those things which are
coming on the earth.” As in Nigeria every year
we hear of disease problems, as of last month
“monkey pus virus” disease has killed many
people in some States. We are praying to God
that we may not be affected, as we are
remembering Him in our prayers to save us
from this.