Fr. Tony’s Mid-week Message
In the Breaking of Bread
April 23, 2014
The Gospels contain various stories of Jesus appearing to his friends after
his death. They differ in timing,
setting, characters, and details.
But they do all contain the element of recognition: the moment when the disciples realize it
is Jesus they are talking to.
Luke’s story set on the evening of Easter Sunday on the road to Emmaus
has two disciples encounter Jesus on the road (Luke 24). They do not first recognize him. But after a wonderful evening with this
unrecognized stranger of talk about things that matter most, and a shared meal,
their eyes are opened. It is the
way the stranger breaks the bread that brings to their minds the Jesus whom they
knew.
The breaking of the bread is the principal means that we share in
encountering Jesus as a community.
As Saint Paul says, “The
cup of blessing that we bless, is it not a sharing in the blood of Christ? The
bread that we break, is it not a sharing in the body of Christ?
Because there is one bread, we who are many are one body, for
we all partake of that one bread.” (1 Corinthians 10:16-17) It is the sharing of the bread that
matters here, reminding us of Jesus’ open table fellowship with those who,
according to religious rules, least deserved the meal.
As
the Prayer Book’s prayer before communion says, “Be known to us, Lord Jesus, as
you were known to your disciples, in the breaking of the bread.”
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