Acts 2:42,43 – And they continued steadfastly in the apostles’ doctrine and fellowship, in the breaking of bread, and in prayers. Then fear came upon every soul, and many wonders and signs were done through the apostles.
Breaking bread together speaks to us of the very heart of the fellowship of this brand new body of Christian believers. It wasn’t their ethnic or cultural experience that was the heart of this spiritual union, it was their organic union with Jesus Christ Himself Who was the very source and substance of their relationship. When Christ had come into their souls by the power of the Holy Spirit they were joined in oneness with the Lord, that oneness brought them into a deep spiritual bond with one another. This bond was celebrated as they gathered daily in their homes and broke bread together. Augustine describes this beautiful union in his comments about the body and blood of Jesus.
“Or think of it this way: Whereas people desire meat and drink to satisfy hunger and thirst, real satisfaction is produced only by that meat and drink that make the receivers of it immortal and incorruptible. He’s talking here about the fellowship of the saints where there is peace and unity, full and perfect. Therefore … our Lord has chosen for the types of his body and blood things that become one out of many. Bread is a quantity of grains united into one mass, wine a quantity of grapes squeezed together. Then he explains what it is to eat his body and drink his blood: “He that eats my flesh and drinks my blood dwells in me and I in him.” So then to partake of that meat and that drink is to dwell in Christ and Christ in you. Whoever does not dwell in Christ, and in whom Christ does not dwell, neither eats his flesh nor drinks his blood; rather, he eats and drinks the sacrament of it to his own damnation.”
So if Christ is living in my heart and He is living in your heart there is a deep and permanent bond of His life and love joining us together. The early church recognized the power of Christ alive and living in each of them and they chose to celebrate and deepen this union by breaking bread together every day. This unity was seen in the power of signs and wonders flowing out from His church. Maybe there is something here the Lord wants to show us in order to touch this generation.
