The Broken Bread

John 6:31-35

[31] Our fathers ate the manna in the desert; as it is written, 'He gave them bread from heaven to eat.' [32] Then Jesus said to them, ‘Most assuredly, I say to you, Moses did not give you the bread from heaven, but My Father gives you the true bread from heaven. [33] For the bread of God is He who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world.’ [34] Then they said to Him, ‘Lord, give us this bread always.’ [35] And Jesus said to them, ‘I am the bread of life. He who comes to Me shall never hunger, and he who believes in Me shall never thirst.’” [NLT]

We know today that Jesus is the Bread of Life! And we all know that – bread must be torn and broken in order to eat it. Jesus – the Bread of Life – had to be broken in order for us to fully receive His sacrifice in our lives!

When we receive Holy Communion – and we partake of the bread – oftentimes, I don’t think we fully understand the ramifications of what Jesus endured as it is related to the bread.

We typically have a pretty good understanding of what the wine represents – and how the blood of Jesus bought our salvation.

The breaking of the unleavened bread during the Passover ritual provides an additional and extremely important principle. Since it is part of the annual ceremony, we need to be reminded at least once a year that the true Bread from heaven, which we must eat in order to live, was also broken for us.

First, how was Christ's body "broken"? John writes that the soldiers broke the legs of the two criminals crucified at Jesus' side, to hasten their deaths before the annual Sabbath (John 19:31-32). But Jesus' death was confirmed by the tip of a soldier's spear puncturing His side and spilling His blood on the earth (verses 33-34; see Zechariah 12:10). Not a bone was broken in Jesus' body, as was prophesied (verses 35-37; see Exodus 12:46; Psalm 34:20).

Christ's body was "broken," then, not by the breaking of His bones, but by the breaking of His skin. Besides the spear that pierced His side and the metal spikes that nailed His wrists and feet to the stake, He was subjected to a most severe beating or whipping. This latter torture, foretold in Isaiah 52:14, made Him nearly unrecognizable. His body bore a multitude of welts, skin lacerations, and open wounds, spilling His blood over all His body and to the ground.

Isaiah 53:3-5 [NLT]

“[3] He is despised and rejected by men, A Man of sorrows and acquainted with grief. And we hid, as it were, our faces from Him; He was despised, and we did not esteem Him. [4] Surely He has borne our griefs And carried our sorrows; Yet we esteemed Him stricken, smitten by God, and afflicted.[5] But He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities; The chastisement for our peace was upon Him, and by His stripes we are healed.”

If you were to fully study the concept of OT covenant – you would understand the importance of the work of the shed blood and broken body of Jesus.

A covenant is a life-long binding agreement. The only way a covenant could be broken is when one of the parties died. It was stronger than marriage itself! In Genesis – Abraham had to give his own blood through circumcision. But with the death of Jesus – God’s blood ratified the Abrahamic covenant forever!

We just read in Isaiah 53:5 that it was His stripes that bought our healing. Church – healing IS part of the covenant agreement in Christ Jesus!

We’ve allowed preachers and ministries to confuse us over the years about healing in Christ Jesus. I hope to help you better understand healing that is provided for you and I in this covenant!

Isaiah 53:5 says that by His stripes we ‘are’ healed.

Peter took it a step further when he wrote: we ‘were’ healed. I Peter 2:24

But notice this – where ‘were’ HIS stripes? On His back – in HIS BODY!

Folks – JESUS’ body was broken – the Bread of Life was broken – to bring healing to the Body of Christ – His Church!

Let’s look at God’s Word concerning this:

I Corinthians 11:23-30 [NLT]

[23] “…the Lord Jesus on the same night in which He was betrayed took bread; [24] and when He had given thanks, He broke it and said, ‘Take, eat; this is My body which is broken for you; do this in remembrance of Me.’ [25] In the same manner He also took the cup after supper, saying, ‘This cup is the new covenant in My blood. This do, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of Me.’ [26] For as often as you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord's death till He comes. [27] Therefore whoever eats this bread or drinks this cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty of the body and blood of the Lord. [28] But let a man examine himself, and so let him eat of the bread and drink of the cup. [29] For he who eats and drinks in an unworthy manner eats and drinks judgment to himself, not discerning the Lord's body. [30] For this reason many are weak and sick among you, and many sleep.”