Thoughts On Breaking Bread

Introduction

Welcome to everyone this evening. I must just say a word about Ernie’s comments this morning after my lesson. I appreciate so much what he had to say. I was observing this morning to my family that we have been here at Decker Prairie for about the same amount of time we were in Auburn, Alabama. It’s hard to believe that we have matched the nearly three years, not quite three years yet, that we were there. But one of the things that was quite discouraging while I was there is perhaps partly because we did not have elders like we do here. I would preach sermons. Sometimes I would do, I thought, really well at times, and nothing was ever said about the lesson to commend it to the people, to commend it to all those young college students.

And I thought, after a while, it didn’t affect me for a while, and then I thought as time went on, boy, these lessons could probably do a lot more good if somebody would put a stamp of approval on it, saying, This is good, pay attention to this. And when you have shepherds doing that, it means so much. And the amens that I received, I did get amens in Auburn from time to time, but that is such an important thing, and I appreciate the words that our elders have said from the pulpit about my work and Ernie’s comments today. And he got teared up over a sermon on legalism. I don’t know. That’s that was the interesting part. But I do very much appreciate all of you and the words of encouragement that you’ve given me.

1. A New Spiritual Feast During the Passover

Sometimes I do get tired. And I wear myself out in this sometimes. Sometimes I’ll sit down on Sunday night. I don’t know if you’ve noticed. I think maybe the Brumfields have seen me since they sit across the aisle. I’m just, I’m just plum out of gas sometimes. And feeling a little tired tonight. But some thoughts tonight I want to share with you on the important subject of the Lord’s Supper. So many questions relate to the practice of partaking the Lord’s supper. So many different practices in the religious world. And questions that even disciples raise about this matter. Jesus introduced a new spiritual feast during the observance of the Jewish Passover. And just thinking about what the Passover was about in connection with the plagues upon Egypt, in particular the tenth plague, the death of the firstborn.

And that’s where this supper, this Passover supper has its beginnings. How much it must have meant to Jesus especially. As a witness of the plagues. You know, the people in his first century ministry had heard the stories. They had read the Old Testament scriptures, but to Jesus, he had witnessed the plagues firsthand, being in heaven as God. How much more they must have meant to them. Him and the unleavened bread and the fruit of the vine, which was associated with that meal, would now come to represent his blood. And the connection is made for us in 1 Corinthians, his body and blood, rather. In 1 Corinthians chapter 10, but first in chapter 5 and verse 7, when he says, Paul says, clean out the old leaven that you may be a new lump, just as you are in fact unleavened, for Christ, our Passover, also has been sacrificed.

He is our escape from death, like the original initial Passover was part of their escape from that plague of death. He is our Passover. And in chapter 10, verses 16 and 17, he says, Is not the cup of blessing which we bless a sharing in the blood of Christ is not the bread which we break a sharing in the body of Christ. I can spend the rest of our time talking about the significance of those questions. And our partaking of those two emblems and all that they mean. Since there is one bread, we who are many are one body, for we all partake of the one bread.

2. Why Luke 22 Reads Cup, Bread, Cup

That he was going to read either Matthew 26 through 29, or Luke 22. We had a 95% chance that one of those two verses was going to be read. Have more to say about that in a minute. And 75% of the time, when one of those two selections were made, it was the text in Matthew 26. And I think there’s a reason why. In Luke 22 and verse 14, when the hour had come, he reclined at the table and the apostles with him. And he said to them, I have earnestly desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer. For I say to you, I shall never again eat it until it is fulfilled in the kingdom of God. And when he had taken a cup and given thanks, he said, Take this and share it among yourselves.

For I say to you, I will not drink of the fruit of the vine from now on until the kingdom of God comes. And he keeps emphasizing that. This kingdom that he’d been talking about. It’s very near. And when he had taken some bread and given thanks, he broke it and gave it to them, saying, This is my body which is given for you. Do this in remembrance of me. And in the same way, he took the cup after they had eaten, saying, This cup which is poured out for you is the new covenant in my blood. What? Cup. Bread. Cup. We got two cups in Luke 22. And I would just suggest to you, that’s why I think most of the time the guy’s read from Matthew 26.

Where there’s only bread and fruit of the vine. That first cup isn’t found in Matthew’s account. Verses 29 and 30. And just as my father has granted me a kingdom, I grant you that you may eat and drink at my table in my kingdom. And he tells the apostles, you will sit on thrones judging the twelve tribes of Israel. So a question is raised about this text in Luke 22. Where does that extra cup come from? Well, we’re not very familiar with the Passover observance. There were six basic parts of the Passover Supper as it was observed, beginning with a prayer and a message of thanksgiving, and then a first cup. And you may notice that within the Passover observance, there were four occasions when they would drink of the fruit of the vine.

There would be the partaking of bitter herbs, and then there would be somewhat of a question and answer session, why the Passover, and then the father’s response.

And bread, and then a third cup. And then there would be more singing, Psalm 115 to 118, and a final cup. Well, obviously, then, the Lord’s Supper was instituted in the midst of this Passover supper, most likely, starting, well, those arrows actually should be down. Should be on the second cup is the first one that’s mentioned in Luke 22. Then the bread, I don’t know how I overlooked this. Okay, this arrow is not here, it’s here. And then the bread here would be the unleavened bread, which is his body, and then the next cup would be the fruit of the vine, which is his blood. But the reason why Luke mentions cup, bread cup, is because he also says something significant at the second cup in terms of the timing of this memorial and the ushering in of his kingdom.

3. The Significance of the First Day of the Week

So that’s a little bit of explanation about why the Luke 22 text reads differently. And of course, I mentioned this morning Acts 2 and verse 42, so tonight we’re going to look at another thing to which the early disciples were committed. And that is to the breaking of bread. So to the partaking of this memorial. They were committed. If we’re going to talk about the Lord’s Supper, we need to talk briefly about the significance of the first day of the week. We had a sermon on this very recently, so I’m not going to spend as much time here. You remember it, I know. The Lord’s day. Remember that sermon very recently. Alright, well, let’s start at 1 Corinthians 11, 26. This was the other passage that would often be read, where Paul reiterates Jesus’ words, quoting him about the body being the bread being his body, and the fruit of the vine, or the cup being his blood.

And then he says this interesting thing in verse 26 for as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes. There’s nothing mentioned in regard to the day of observance here, but what we do have implied here is the frequency or a repetitive act in which they would be engaged. Remember, the early disciples were devoted to the breaking of bread. And so there was a frequency of observance. There was a repetitive act involved, for as often as you do this. Well, but that’s not all the New Testament has to say about the significance of the first day of the week and how it might relate to the Lord’s Supper. I mentioned to you in the sermon on the Lord’s Day that every one of the gospel accounts draws attention to.

I have a pointer here, let’s see if it works. No, it doesn’t work. Draws attention to the first day of the week. Matthew does in Matthew 28 and verse 1. Mark does in Mark 16 and verse 2. Luke in the first verse of his last chapter of his gospel. And in John’s account, John 20 and verse 1, now on the first day of the week. Notice how each of these four, and I make this point in the sermon on the Lord’s day, each of them point to the significance of the resurrection occurring upon the first day of the week. Another thing that is significant here beyond the four gospel accounts is that the day of Pentecost, the day on which the church was established, the day of Pentecost would always fall on the first day of the week.

50 days after the Passover was observed. Now, how does this tie in to the Lord’s Supper? In Acts 20 and verse 7, probably you might be familiar with this verse, we have the example of Troaz. Several of Paul’s companions had already gone on and were awaiting him in Troas. And in verse 6, Luke is still with Paul, when he says, and we sailed from Philippi after the days of unleavened bread, and came to them at Troaz within five days. And there we stayed seven days, interestingly enough, and on the first day of the week, when we were gathered together to break bread. Paul began talking to them, including to depart the next day, and he prolonged his message until midnight. And what further is interesting in conjunction with Acts 20 and verse 7 is 1 Corinthians 16, 1 and 2.

I mentioned this also in that sermon on the Lord’s Day. When Paul is instructing the church at Corinth to do as the churches in Macedonia had done to collect money for the poor saints in Jerusalem and in Judea. He says in verse 2, on the first day of every week, let each of you put aside and save, as he may prosper, that no collections be made when I come. To my knowledge, this is the only instruction that pertains to giving, being on a particular day, the first day of the week. Why choose that day? Why tell them to set aside and save every first day of the week? It stands to reason in conjunction with all of these points about the first day of the week and the example of Troaz that they were already meeting every first day of the week to break bread, to partake of the Lord’s Supper, especially with its connection to the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ.

And finally, we have the reference in Revelation 1 and verse 10, when John was in the Spirit on the Lord’s Day. If it is not the day of this weekly memorial, then it can hardly make any other sense. And so, if we’re going to try to honor the Lord, what other day? How often? You know, we saw the frequency of 1 Corinthians 11 and verse 26, for as often as you eat this bread and drink this cup, if we’re going to honor him and submit to him, what other day would we choose? How often, when we see these examples all put together, we see the reason why the supper should be taken every first day of the week. And there are certain static truths involved in the partaking of this supper.

4. Four Static Truths

I don’t use the word static very often. It simply means not moving. Stationary, unchanging. And there are four static truths involved in the partaking of this memorial, the Lord’s Supper, and this is important. Number one, the day, the first day of the week. Number two, the elements, which Jesus made abundantly clear, the unleavened bread representing his body and the fruit of the vine representing his blood, and then Paul reiterating those two things where there was a problem in the church at Corinth, and we’ll get to that in a moment. So the static truths are the elements involved. We must not add anything to the observance beyond those elements, the place. Not a particular geographical location, but the assembly of the saints. It was to be done when they came together as his people on the first day of the week, the assembly.

And then also this static truth, and that is it is an individual observance. Though we are partaking as a group. And I think this is very important. The person who does not discern the Lord’s body in 1 Corinthians chapter 11. You’ve heard that verse before, it does what? Drinks judgment or condemnation to himself. If one person does that doesn’t mean that the entire group has done that. Hopefully, none of us do that, but that we all invest ourselves in worship as we partake of the supper, recognizing what these emblems represent and what they mean to us in our lives as sinners who have been forgiven by the sacrifice of Jesus. But it’s not one of those where one person partakes unworthily, and the whole group is thus partaking in an unworthy manner.

This is individual, though it’s done as we are together as a collective group. There are a lot of instructions in the New Testament. Though they are addressed to a group, have individual application. And that’s called distributive action. Though it is mentioned as a group, or we, it is done individually. A case in point, and this is also a misunderstood verse. Galatians 6 and verse 10. As we therefore have opportunity, let us do good to all men, especially unto those of the household of faith. That passage has been wrongly used to justify collective activity in regard to almost anything that we can label as good. We can take the Lord’s treasury, funds that have been collected, and as long as how we’re using them is good, it’s okay.

There’s our authority. Galatians 6 and verse 10. But that’s not what Paul is talking about. As we as a group, therefore have opportunity. He’s talking about we and then you taking advantage of opportunities to do good. It’s distributive. I know that from the previous verse. Where he says, in due time we shall reap if we do not faint. We do not reap as a group. Yes, we will be judged in relation to how we have acted within the group, but we’re going to be judged individually. Just because a we is used does not mean that we’re talking about collective action. This is distributive, and the Lord’s Supper is observed distributively as we do it on Sunday morning. Have you ever noticed how it takes about, well, 10 to 15 minutes sometimes to partake of the Lord’s Supper?

5. Let It Never Be an Afterthought

And it could be five to ten minutes between the time I partake it up here on the front row if I’m served first and not overlooked. No, I’m not ever overlooked. But you know what’s sometimes difficult for our guys as they pass to go to both sides, and every now and then there’s some kind of problem because of the way people are seated. But if I’m one of the first ones partaking it or Ernie, it could be ten minutes before Dave. Partakes it back there. Or somebody back over here in this corner. So we’re all not partaking of it at exactly the same time, but we’re observing this observe this supper as a group. Now, some questions are raised about the Sunday night serving of the Lord’s Supper.

We had several times. People bring this up when I was in Auburn. I’d never really dealt with it much before. Those who had objections to serving the Lord’s Supper on Sunday night. And it was brought up in the men’s meeting, and finally it was decided that we would have a study and invite anybody who wanted to come to the study. And so I attended that, and then I decided to preach a sermon about the second partaking of the Lord’s Supper. Here are some of the objections that were raised about the second serving or the serving on Sunday night of the Lord’s Supper. Well, it’s treated just like it’s an afterthought or something. We don’t attach much significance to it. And it seems sometimes like we’re in such a big rush to get it over with, because the preacher went until 6.55 or 555 in this case.

And, you know, we’re just trying to get through it because there’s a handful of people that need to partake it, and it’s just like we’re in a big rush. It’s not as important as it was Sunday morning. I think that’s a legitimate objection.

I mean, if those who are partaking it on Sunday night were not able to be here on Sunday morning, it’s their only time to partake. And just as it was significant to me on Lord’s Day morning, it should be significant to them. If we’re going to offer the Lord’s Supper on Sunday night, let it never be an afterthought in our assemblies. It should not be treated as an afterthought by those who are serving it or officiating or leading it. But neither should it be an afterthought by those who are partaking. And here’s what I mean by that. Well, I’m just really tired here on Sunday morning, and so I think I’m just going to sleep in, and hey, they always offer the Lord’s Supper on Sunday night.

I can take it then. You know, in a college town, that’s probably a bigger issue. College students are very tired on Sunday morning. And if you don’t believe me, try teaching their class on Sunday morning versus Wednesday night. It’s like, who are these people? It’s an entirely different class. And so somebody could say, well, you know, since they are, they serve it on Sunday night, so just take it in. Well, it obviously didn’t have a lot of significance to them either, if that’s the case. So not only should those serving it not treat it as an afterthought, but those partaking of it as, well. And so I want to encourage the men who officiate. You don’t have to speak for a very long time to give an event solemnity.

And sometimes people in talking too long take the solemnity away from it. But it does need to be special every time that we partake. So I was talking just a minute ago about the verses that we read. Put a little thought into it. Do something different. What about reading Philippians 2, 5 through 8? If you were doing it on Sunday morning and Sunday night, this would be a really good idea. You could leave, you could read Philippians 2, 5 through 8 that talks about Christ leaving heaven’s glory and making himself a servant, became obedient unto death, even the death on the cross. You don’t hear Philippians 2, verses 5 through 8 very often. But that’d be a good read. And then if you were officiating again on Sunday night, you could read verses 9 through 11 that now he has a name that is above every name.

And that had his name, every knee should bow, emphasizing the resurrection part of that passage. That would be a good thing to do. What about Hebrews chapter 1 through 4 that talks about Jesus being the exact representation of his nature, and he now sits at the right hand of the Majesty on eye? There are a number of passages that we could choose that talk about Jesus’ great work in redemption that would work. So, young guys who’ve been working on leading in our assemblies, and Scott’s going to put them to work very soon in that regard, maybe next Sunday night, I think. Think a little bit. Look at some other texts, use those so that we don’t just get into the habit of always reading Matthew 26.

I’ll tell you what was common in Albert. I think at least maybe three weeks in a row at one point, the person got up and read Isaiah 53. Well, that’s creative from the standpoint it’s not Matthew 26 and 1 Corinthians 11 all the time. Isaiah 53 pictures the suffering of Christ. Oh, that’s a very appropriate passage. But then week after week after week, the guys were reading the same passage. Okay, a little variety might be helpful here. And so those are some thoughts to not make this an afterthought that we are doing, though fewer are partaking. And along this regard, what I’m saying to you about variety, and it doesn’t have to be that long to give it solemnity, men and young men. And this is a little extra to your class, Scott.

A little extra thrown in. All that we do in leading these assemblies, we should be thinking, how can I do this the best way that I can so that people will be edified? So that people will be built up and strengthened. How can I do this effectively, this job or this task that I’m given to do among the Lord’s people? And it’s significant. Let all things be done for edification. Paul said, in that assembly where spiritual gifts were being abused in 1 Corinthians chapter 14, he says, look, remember, it’s all about edifying. It’s about strengthening the body. And so don’t forget that. Not an afterthought. But secondly, are we just doing this because? And I had to ask myself this question because I grew up with the practice of a partaking of the Lord’s Supper in the second assembly.

6. Blindly Loyal to Tradition?

Are we just doing this because we are being blindly loyal to tradition? I guess because I’m 49 and I’ve been preaching for 28 years, some might think he’s pretty set in his ways by now. And so it’s hard to teach an old dog new tricks. Yes, Ernie, they might even say it about me. Rather than you and Bill. But I want to assure you, I don’t want to embrace something merely because it’s a tradition. If that’s all it is, and if it’s not for edification, or if it’s a violation of New Testament teaching, then we need to change our practice. Is it something that we’ve just grown comfortable with because it’s our tradition? So we said, well, it’s an issue of conscience with me because I don’t read anything about a second observance on the first day of the week.

It’s an issue of conscience with me about my involvement in it in any way. I just don’t think I should do it. I don’t think I have scriptural precedent for it. There’s also an issue of conscience that works the other way. What does this mean, this opportunity to partake tonight to someone who was unable? Perhaps they were sick in the morning. We talk about being providentially hindered. We’re not talking about the slothful and the lazy and the slumbering spiritually. We’re talking about people who were actually hindered, who wanted to assemble, but for some reason they could not. What about their issue of conscience? What about their opportunity on the first day of the week to partake of the supper? Now that is an issue as well.

If it is justifiable by scripture, wouldn’t I want to give them an opportunity? And that’s where all this started in the first place. Giving them an opportunity to commune with the Lord in the Supper. If we could do that scripturally, wouldn’t we want to do that? To give, wouldn’t you want that opportunity as well? And remember, all the static truths are present. The day, the first, we’re still the first day of the week. The place, the elements, same elements as we had this morning. The place, the assembly. Individual observance. So we said, well, but you know, there’s been six hours past since we partook of the Lord’s Supper. Well, my question about that has always been what’s the difference whether there’s ten minutes or six hours?

Really? It’s an individual observance. We’re all not partaking, and I know I have a slide on this, I think. We are all not partaking. Partaking was simultaneity. Oh, if Stephen was only here tonight to hear that. Simultaneously. It’s an individual observance. We’re all not doing what, yes, at the same period in our assembly, but we all don’t hold our cups as we’re taking of the fruit of the mind and say, oh, everybody ready now? And we all do it simultaneously. It’s an individual observance. And so whether there’s ten minutes between our observance or six hours, it’s still the first day of the week. Now turn to 1 Corinthians 11 quickly. What’s going on here? I have a lot of questions about the book of 1 Corinthians.

Jared and I were talking about this recently. About the questions they wrote to Paul, and we don’t have a copy of the questions. All we have is Paul’s answers, and he’s addressing the problems that are in Corinth. And there was a problem over the Lord’s Supper. And he said it was tantamount. He says, You come together to eat the Lord’s Supper. Notice they were. That’s how you do it. You come together to eat the Lord’s Supper. It’s the place, it’s the assembly. You come together, but it’s not to eat the Lord’s Supper. What? Why is it not to eat the Lord’s Supper? Because in your eating, each one takes his own supper first, and one is hungry and another is drunk. That is not saying that the fruit of the vine was wine and they were all getting intoxicated.

It is saying that some were eating a meal and getting full, and others went without and had nothing. And he says, Or do you despise the church of God? There were two issues here. One, the Lord’s Supper had become a lavish meal that was more about them filling their bellies than it was worship. And that’s why he says, Have you not houses to eat and drink in? You mean they didn’t just pinch a little piece of bread in the first century? Probably not. It was probably an unleavened loaf. And apparently they could turn that into a full meal. You mean they didn’t drink out of a little glass like this, like we do? You mean they might actually had a more substantial eight ounces or something.

Sixteen ounces of fruit of the vine? Very possibly. All I know is that some were getting filled while others were going without. And Paul says, we can fix this. Let’s send the meals home where meals are eaten normally and regularly, and let’s make this an act of worship. Just unleavened bread and fruit of the vine. And so he talks about the worthy manner in which you were to partake, because that wasn’t going on in Corinth, but then this interesting statement, when he says, So then, my brethren, when you come together to eat, wait for one another. Now I get the significance of that, because some were getting all full, and then there’s some that they didn’t get any. How did that work exactly? You know, you started serving the bread, and Ernie take a really huge piece.

And Tony took a really huge piece because he was front. By the time it got to the back, there wasn’t it. Remember, this was a meal, the way they were observing. In the first century, the first day of the week was not an off day for everybody. In our culture, though that’s changing, especially in our plants around here that do the four on and four off, and even in the medical industry, four on and four off, the ones that do that. I mean, yeah, Sunday’s not sacred anymore. But there was a time in this country where most people had the first day of the week off. Not so in the first century. Especially in the Jewish economy, what day did you get off? The Sabbath. The seventh day.

And so when the Lord’s Supper became a feast upon the first day of the week, boy, that made the time of assembling a challenge, didn’t it? And while we have no record of a second assembly, there’s no passage that would suggest they do as we do, meeting for a second time. Perhaps in their assembly, as the Lord’s Supper was being observed, all were not present. Others would come in later when they finished their workday. Perhaps their assemblies were a lot longer than ours. And perhaps by the time, and those who had to work might be those who were the poorer of their group. Who would be dependent upon those with more to provide the unleavened bread and the fruit of the vine. And so they show up.

Nothing left for them. The latecomers had nothing. If that’s not what was going on, I really fail to see what this passage could mean. So then, my brethren, when you come together to eat, wait for one another. I mean, I really have a hard time thinking, well, I’m going to take my big portion now, and by the time it gets to the back, well, poor Micah, he’s just not going to get anything. Not anything left for him. No, I think it’s one of those things where they had turned this into a feast, and everybody was eating, and they thought that met the requirements of the Lord’s Supper, and they were eating it all and drinking it all, and there was nothing left for those who came later.

That’s a thought to think about in regard to 1 Corinthians chapter 11. So here’s the thing.

Conclusion

On the one who died for us and the one who loves us. And so those are some thoughts tonight about breaking bread. And as we do it even tonight, in a few moments, and perhaps only a few will partake, let it have the same kind of solemnity and importance that it does earlier in the day when most of us have partaken. And in that sense, let us wait on one another as we observe the supper. The significance of the supper is to believers, those who have been cleansed by the blood of Jesus Christ, and whose sins have been rectified by that great sacrifice of our Lord. Have your sins been forgiven by your coming to Him in faith and obedience. And if you need to respond to His invitation, come now as we stand and sing together.