Breaking Bread

Re:Verse passage – Mark 6:30-44 (day four)

Jesus wasn’t just filling a physical need when he broke the bread and multiplied the meal that day. He was instilling what would become an important tradition in the family of God.

Consider the subsequent times Jesus engages with others over food. At the Last Supper, he takes the bread, blesses it, breaks it, and gives it to those around the table as a sign of the sacrifice he would soon make on their behalf. That meal became a core memory for everyone present. After his resurrection, Jesus appears to the disciples on the beach and cooks them a holy breakfast, also involving a miracle of multiplication. That meal provided restoration of friendship and soothed the disciples’ souls. When Jesus multiplied the loaves and fish to feed the hungry crowd, he was showing the disciples what was possible in the new rules of the Kingdom of God.

In Acts 2, in the earliest days of the church after Jesus had ascended to heaven and sent the Holy Spirit at Pentecost, notice what the disciples do. They devote themselves to certain things: teaching, fellowship, breaking of bread, and prayer. The disciples had been watching. Jesus showed them that it was about more than food, it was about building a new, beloved community over that which satisfies the soul.