Franklin Church of Christ

Set Free: Devoted to Breaking Bread

When the first Christians had been set free from sin and the Law of Moses, they were devoted to the breaking of bread. Why? How does being devoted to breaking bread help us maintain our freedom?

We must first recognize what this passage referred to. “Breaking bread” is an idiom that simply means eating. That immediately causes us to question what is going on in this particular verse. Is it directly connected to the eating of meals described in vs. 46? I believe we can definitively claim the two different uses of this idiom refer to two different things. In vs. 46, Luke is clearly referring to common meals shared by the Christians. However, considering the message of Romans 14:17: “The kingdom of God is not eating and drinking.” Eating meals together is clearly not what the early Christians were devoted to alongside the apostle’s teaching, fellowship and prayer. What is it then?

I Corinthians 10:16 speaks of the bread which we break which is the sharing in the body of Christ. This is the particular eating or breaking of bread to which those first Christians devoted themselves. We can easily see how the apostle’s teaching, spiritual work with Christians and prayer can help us maintain our freedom in Christ. How does being devoted to the Lord’s Supper?

The first two issues of devotion in this text are constant reminders of what we must do to serve God and be free from sin. This one is a reminder of what God has already done to set us free from sin. It is the reminder of God’s love and grace. It is the reminder that God is working on our behalf. It is our prompt to keep working even when we have botched it, reminding us that God is on our side and will help us.

The Supper reminds us that Jesus has already won the victory over Satan who is the one fighting to enslave us (Hebrews 2:14-15). The Supper reminds that “the accuser” can have nothing to say against us when we turn to Jesus (Romans 8:31-39). It reminds us that if God sent His Son to die in order to save us, how much more will He freely give us what we need to overcome Satan in the time of battle? The Supper reminds us that through Jesus Christ we will be delivered from the wrath of God (Romans 5:6-9). The Supper reminds us that when we do sin, we have an Advocate who died to mediate our case before the Father, forgiving us when we confess (I John 1:8-2:2).

When we take the Supper, devoting ourselves to it, we are constantly reminded that we are not fighting this battle alone. We are not left in our weakness to overcome Satan. Jesus has already overcome Satan and will overcome Satan through us every day when we lean on Him. Think of this when you eat the Supper today.