Symbolism

When he was at the table with them, he took bread, gave thanks, broke it and began to give it to them.

Luke 24: 30, NIV

We are again still on the same verse as the last post, again I want to repeat myself that reading this verse takes me to Paul’s first letter to the Corinthian church, in which he wrote, “The Lord Jesus, on the night he was betrayed, took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it and said, “This is my body, which is for you; do this in remembrance of me.” (1 Cor 11:23-24, NIV) At the Last Supper, Jesus did four things: took the bread, gave thanks, broke it into pieces, and distributed it to His disciples.

Today, I want to focus on the fact that Jesus broke the bread. At the Last Supper and in this story of the two disciples from Emmaus, He broke this bread. However, He didn’t say these well-known words to the two disciples. And it’s only recorded in Paul’s Letter to the Corinthian Church that Jesus said, “This is my body, which is for you; do this in remembrance of me.” (1Cor 11:24, NIV). The four Gospel stories don’t include these words.

Jesus broke the bread, and he spoke the words. I like the words of the 21st Century version, which clearly states, “Take, eat; this is My body which is broken for you: this do in remembrance of Me.” (1 Cor 11:24, KJ21). This is very clear; as Jesus broke the bread, he said that his body was broken. Not only was it broken, but it was broken for you; for the disciples then, for you and me today. Jesus’ body was not broken because of what he had done, but for us, for what we have done, and what we will do.

John’s Gospel contains a similar metaphor. In addressing the crowds who had sought Him after being fed the previous day, Jesus said, “ I am the living bread that came down from heaven. Whoever eats this bread will live forever. This bread is my flesh, which I will give for the life of the world.” (John 6:51, NIV).

Jesus’ body was truly “broken”: in the violence leading up to and during His execution, His body was wounded and bruised. His flesh and skin were torn off His back when He was whipped and beaten. Isaiah wrote that Jesus was pierced and crushed.

Yet Scripture is careful to state that none of Jesus’ bones were broken (John 19:33–36). As the true Passover lamb, His bones had to remain unbroken. Of course, King David, the prophet, prophesied that no bones would be broken. “he protects all his bones, not one of them will be broken.” (Ps 34:20, NIV)

Jesus identified Himself as “the living bread that came down from heaven” (John 6:51). Just as physical bread must be “broken” or torn apart to be shared with others, so Jesus’ body had to be “broken” or wounded on the cross to benefit the world. Just as physical bread sustains bodily health, so Jesus’ body provides spiritual health for the believer.

The Passover meal is symbolic. Every element of the meal stood for something else. Jesus took two of those elements and infused them with new symbolic meaning, as He was the fulfilment of everything that Passover stood for. From then on, whenever Jewish believers observed a Passover meal, they would think of the new meaning that Jesus had given to the bread and the final cup. And Gentile believers, who had never been partakers of a Passover meal, would observe the “Lord’s Supper.”

Further evidence that Jesus was speaking symbolically appears in the Gospel of John. Jesus said to the multitude, “Very truly I tell you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you. Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise them up at the last day. For my flesh is real food and my blood is real drink. Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood remains in me, and I in them. Just as the living Father sent me and I live because of the Father, so the one who feeds on me will live because of me. This is the bread that came down from heaven. Your ancestors ate manna and died, but whoever feeds on this bread will live forever.” (John 6:53-58, NIV)

When Jesus spoke of eating His flesh in John 6, He had already given the crowd an indication that He was speaking figuratively. Earlier, in verses 32–33, He called Himself bread, comparing Himself to the manna in the wilderness. When the people asked to be given that bread, He declared, “I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never go hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty” (John 6:35). To clear up any misunderstanding, He then distinguished the physical from the spiritual: “It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh is no help at all. The words that I have spoken to you are spirit and life” (John 6:63, ESV).

When Jesus spoke of His “broken” body at the Last Supper, the bread symbolised His body, soon to be sacrificed on the cross. According to John 6:35, one can “eat” Jesus’ broken body by “coming” to Him and “drink” His blood by believing in Him.

As I have just said, the Last Supper is symbolic. We do not partake of Jesus by physically eating His body. “The flesh counts for nothing” (John 6:63). Rather, we partake of Jesus by coming to Him in faith, trusting that His broken body (and shed blood) is the only acceptable sacrifice for our sins. The bread commemorates His body given for us, and when we partake of it, we affirm our faith and fellowship in Christ.