What is True Messianic Breaking of Bread?

Yeshua HaDerekh

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I didn't want to derail the other one law thread any more so thought this was better to continue the discussion here so we can keep it all together. I think this is a most important subject to discuss.

Now it was being debated just what was meant in the NT by 'breaking Bread'.

So believe it to be a ceremony or ritual others believe it to be something done only at Passover.

I have even seen some (not members here but respected Hebraic teachers) teach that you can do it any time, any where, all alone several times a day even.

But what is the root of this term 'breaking bread'?

It seems that there are recorded in the Talmud what it meant to Jews back then.

The "breaking of bread" is something which is done only in the context of a meal. In fact, the Talmud uses the term only in reference to the blessing at the start of the meal. The one who says the blessing over the bread is referred to as the one who "breaks bread". At every meal, it was, and is the custom to have bread and wine. The blessings over the bread and wine are said at the beginning of the meal. The one who recited the blessing, did so while literally breaking the bread.


aish.com has an article online called
Challah – Breaking Bread on Shabbat


OK, the Committee for the advancement of Torah says: Breaking of Bread and Hamotzi

Over true bread made of one of the five species of grain (wheat, spelt, oats, barley or rye), we say the benediction Hamotzi, and after eating it, we say Grace after meals.
As a token of respect to the benediction Hamotzi, one should break off at the choicest spot of the bread. It is required to have salt set on the table before breaking bread, and to dip into the salt the piece of bread over which the Hamotzi is said.

The Laws for the 'breaking of bread'

And from a Messianic perspective we find this:

1.The New Testament scriptures that speak of breaking bread among early Messianic Jews did not mean the supposed Communion ritual, as many commentators have believed since Rome.

2.The idiom of breaking bread has a long Jewish history, originating with the twelve breads that were broken and shared each Sabbath in the Temple. Messianic Jews understood that the Messiah and his teaching fulfilled this idiom as the 'true bread', the 'bread of life'.
This is what the New Covenant scriptures on breaking bread refer to, and this was the idiom where the phrase “breaking bread” originated


Since these scriptures were originally written from a first-century Jewish perspective but
later misunderstood by Rome to indicate a ritual, we’ll focus first on how breaking bread
developed in the Jewish tradition.
Then we’ll turn to how New Covenant Jewish believers—using their
natural-to-spiritual idiom—built on the existing Jewish idiom of breaking bread in the Temple and in Jewish homes, and went forth “breaking bread” spiritually.

More to come

I can add some things done in probably the most ancient of the Christian Churches, the Eastern Orthodox. When a Bishop comes to the temple, we great him with bread and salt. We, unlike the Romans, use leavened bread as korban. Within Judaism, leavened bread was used all year except at Passover and the days of unleavened. We also do not use the term "easter". We use "Pascha"...Passover. The word for unleavened bread in Greek is AZYMOS. It is used in the Greek New Testament nine times: Mt.26:17; Mk.14:1,12; Lk.22:1,7;Ac.12:3; 20:6; 1Cor.5:7,8. The word for leavened bread is ARTOS. it is used 97 times in the Greek New Testament. The passages where they are relevant for the Mystical Supper are
Mt. 26:26; Mk.14:22; Lk.22:19;24:30,35; 1 Cor.10:16,17(twice);11:26,27,28. In all these places, the writers never say Yeshua took AZYMOS and blessed it, they write that Yeshua took ARTOS, common ordinary leavened bread. There is a type of this in the shew bread that was kept in the temple, the type of the tribes of Israel gathered before the Mercy Seat. When Christ refers to Himself as "the bread of Life," the Living Bread, it is certainly a play on leavened bread.
 
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Lulav

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I can add some things done in probably the most ancient of the Christian Churches, the Eastern Orthodox. When a Bishop comes to the temple, we great him with bread and salt. We, unlike the Romans, use leavened bread as korban. Within Judaism, leavened bread was used all year except at Passover and the days of unleavened. We also do not use the term "easter". We use "Pascha"...Passover. The word for unleavened bread in Greek is AZYMOS. It is used in the Greek New Testament nine times: Mt.26:17; Mk.14:1,12; Lk.22:1,7;Ac.12:3; 20:6; 1Cor.5:7,8. The word for leavened bread is ARTOS. it is used 97 times in the Greek New Testament. The passages where they are relevant for the Mystical Supper are
Mt. 26:26; Mk.14:22; Lk.22:19;24:30,35; 1 Cor.10:16,17(twice);11:26,27,28. In all these places, the writers never say Yeshua took AZYMOS and blessed it, they write that Yeshua took ARTOS, common ordinary leavened bread. There is a type of this in the shew bread that was kept in the temple, the type of the tribes of Israel gathered before the Mercy Seat. When Christ refers to Himself as "the bread of Life," the Living Bread, it is certainly a play on leavened bread.
Thanks for that insight.

When breaking bread as a Shabbat table there is salt in a dish to dip in to remind us that the Shabbat table is like the Altar and it is sacred. Salt was used with all offerings. We in turn are remembering the temple services and that bread we are eating (the Challah) is special and in honor of the Sabbath.

What does the bread and salt mean in your faith tradition?
 
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Yeshua HaDerekh

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Thanks for that insight.

When breaking bread as a Shabbat table there is salt in a dish to dip in to remind us that the Shabbat table is like the Altar and it is sacred. Salt was used with all offerings. We in turn are remembering the temple services and that bread we are eating (the Challah) is special and in honor of the Sabbath.

What does the bread and salt mean in your faith tradition?

Bread sustains
bread salt.jpg
TSOUREKI.jpg
life and salt purifies. It is used as a ceremonial greeting and respect. At Pascha (Resurrection) Tsoureki (Greek, but most all Orthodox have their version of this) is made that resembles Challah. The bread used at communion is made from pure water, flour, yeast and salt.
 
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Alex Tennent

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And here is the Author himself! Welcome Alex! I'm so glad to see you here. I guess there wasn't much discussion happening on this so it got dropped, being summer and all. But I would like to revisit it and to pull up your book on my Kindle. I was really interested in the quartadecimanians angle and wish to explore that more.
You are kind Lulav : ) And I think you are doing well to look into the Quartodecimanian angle. It has been handed down for 1700 years or so that these people were strange heretics, when in reality they were the fellowships that were most closely aligned to the true roots (i.e. the Jewish prophets, the Messiah and the apostles, Eph 2:20). They had carried down the truths from the first-century believers and did not want to go along with the new Roman concepts (that Mary was God's mother, that they should drop and remembrance of Passover and celebrate Easter/Astarte, etc) and so they were branded as heretics. I know you have seen this history Lulav, but for anyone else that might like to read that chapter it can be found here: http://themessianicfeast.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/01/TMF_SettingTable_1.pdf It is titled "The Jewish Disconnect and the Fourteenthers" (Fourteenthers is what Quartodeciman means in English, it referred to the Jewish believers who continued to keep the Passover day as a special event, knowing the Messiah had finished the work on this day). Thank you again Lulav!
 
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You are kind Lulav : ) And I think you are doing well to look into the Quartodecimanian angle. It has been handed down for 1700 years or so that these people were strange heretics, when in reality they were the fellowships that were most closely aligned to the true roots (i.e. the Jewish prophets, the Messiah and the apostles, Eph 2:20). They had carried down the truths from the first-century believers and did not want to go along with the new Roman concepts (that Mary was God's mother, that they should drop and remembrance of Passover and celebrate Easter/Astarte, etc) and so they were branded as heretics. I know you have seen this history Lulav, but for anyone else that might like to read that chapter it can be found here: http://themessianicfeast.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/01/TMF_SettingTable_1.pdf It is titled "The Jewish Disconnect and the Fourteenthers" (Fourteenthers is what Quartodeciman means in English, it referred to the Jewish believers who continued to keep the Passover day as a special event, knowing the Messiah had finished the work on this day). Thank you again Lulav!
I would love for you to add this to a collection of "messianic" history being collected on this thread.. http://www.christianforums.com/threads/messianic-history.4145248/page-21#post-67491651
 
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Alex Tennent

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Alex Tennent

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I can add some things done in probably the most ancient of the Christian Churches, the Eastern Orthodox. When a Bishop comes to the temple, we great him with bread and salt. We, unlike the Romans, use leavened bread as korban. Within Judaism, leavened bread was used all year except at Passover and the days of unleavened. We also do not use the term "easter". We use "Pascha"...Passover. The word for unleavened bread in Greek is AZYMOS. It is used in the Greek New Testament nine times: Mt.26:17; Mk.14:1,12; Lk.22:1,7;Ac.12:3; 20:6; 1Cor.5:7,8. The word for leavened bread is ARTOS. it is used 97 times in the Greek New Testament. The passages where they are relevant for the Mystical Supper are
Mt. 26:26; Mk.14:22; Lk.22:19;24:30,35; 1 Cor.10:16,17(twice);11:26,27,28. In all these places, the writers never say Yeshua took AZYMOS and blessed it, they write that Yeshua took ARTOS, common ordinary leavened bread. There is a type of this in the shew bread that was kept in the temple, the type of the tribes of Israel gathered before the Mercy Seat. When Christ refers to Himself as "the bread of Life," the Living Bread, it is certainly a play on leavened bread.

Yeshua HaDerekh you have some fascinating history behind you. The information you posted is hardly known in the US, but what you say is very true, and is right on point with the chapter in my book titled "The Jewish Disconnect and the Fourteenthers." There was a great schism between Rome and the Eastern churches (called Asiatics) and the Eastern churches refused to go along when Rome decreed that the bread in the ritual be unleavened (around the ninth century). The Eastern churches called the Romans "Azymites" (meaning unleavened ones) and Rome called the Eastern Churches prozymites (leavened ones) for using regular bread in the ritual. That interesting history on the Azymites/Prozymites (and much more) can be found in the chapter titled "The Ritual---Why Didn't the Jewish Disciples Teach it" and can be read here: http://themessianicfeast.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/01/TMF_The-Ritual.pdf
 
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AbbaLove

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Does anyone attend a Messianic Congregation that commemorates the "Lord's Supper" with a fellowship oneg of bread and wine each Sabbath in place of a traditional oneg fellowship meal? When reading and rereading the following verses one gets the distinct impression that Paul was concerned that the "Lord's Supper" of bread and wine wasn't being properly observed at the Sabbath gatherings in some congregations.

i Corinthians 11:17-22 (NIV) ... an abuse of the Lord’s Supper (possibly between Jewish and Gentile brethren?)
17 In the following directives I have no praise for you, for your meetings do more harm than good.
18 In the first place, I hear that when you come together as a church, there are divisions among you, and to some extent I believe it.
19 No doubt there have to be differences among you to show which of you have God’s approval.
20 So then, when you come together, it is not the Lord’s Supper you eat,
21 for when you are eating, some of you go ahead with your own private suppers. As a result, one person remains hungry and another gets drunk.
22 Don’t you have homes to eat and drink in? Or do you despise the church of God by humiliating those who have nothing? What shall I say to you? Shall I praise you? Certainly not in this matter!

1 Corinthians 11:20-21 (CJB) ... imlying the "meal of the Lord" isn't shared/partaken equally among the brethren.
19 (granted that there must be some divisions among you in order to show who are the ones in the right).
20 Thus, when you gather together, it is not to eat a meal of the Lord;
21 because as you eat your meal, each one goes ahead on his own; so that one stays hungry while another is already drunk!

Wouldn't What is True Messianic Breaking of Bread? be incomplete without the inclusion of new wine. The idea of passing just a small loaf of bread and a glass of wine(or grape juice) to each person is inviting. An oneg fellowship meal in observance of His "Last Supper" would be spiritually nourishing each and every Sabbath.​

Mark 2:22 (CJB)
"And no one puts new wine in old wineskins; if he does, the wine will burst the skins, and both the wine and the skins will be ruined. Rather, new wine is for freshly prepared wineskins.”
John 6:53
(CJB)
Then Yeshua said to them, “Yes, indeed! I tell you that unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink His blood, you do not have life in yourselves."
 
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Does anyone attend a Messianic Congregation that commemorates the "Lord's Supper" with a fellowship oneg of bread and wine each Sabbath in place of a traditional oneg fellowship meal? When reading and rereading the following verses one gets the distinct impression that Paul was concerned that the "Lord's Supper" of bread and wine wasn't being properly observed at the Sabbath gatherings in some congregations.

i Corinthians 11:17-22 (NIV) ... an abuse of the Lord’s Supper (possibly between Jewish and Gentile brethren?)
17 In the following directives I have no praise for you, for your meetings do more harm than good.
18 In the first place, I hear that when you come together as a church, there are divisions among you, and to some extent I believe it.
19 No doubt there have to be differences among you to show which of you have God’s approval.
20 So then, when you come together, it is not the Lord’s Supper you eat,
21 for when you are eating, some of you go ahead with your own private suppers. As a result, one person remains hungry and another gets drunk.
22 Don’t you have homes to eat and drink in? Or do you despise the church of God by humiliating those who have nothing? What shall I say to you? Shall I praise you? Certainly not in this matter!

1 Corinthians 11:20-21 (CJB) ... imlying the "meal of the Lord" isn't shared/partaken equally among the brethren.
19 (granted that there must be some divisions among you in order to show who are the ones in the right).
20 Thus, when you gather together, it is not to eat a meal of the Lord;
21 because as you eat your meal, each one goes ahead on his own; so that one stays hungry while another is already drunk!

Wouldn't What is True Messianic Breaking of Bread? be incomplete without the inclusion of new wine. The idea of passing just a small loaf of bread and a glass of wine(or grape juice) to each person is inviting. An oneg fellowship meal in observance of His "Last Supper" would be spiritually nourishing each and every Sabbath.​

Mark 2:22 (CJB)
"And no one puts new wine in old wineskins; if he does, the wine will burst the skins, and both the wine and the skins will be ruined. Rather, new wine is for freshly prepared wineskins.”
John 6:53
(CJB)
Then Yeshua said to them, “Yes, indeed! I tell you that unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink His blood, you do not have life in yourselves."
Hello Abbalove! I would like to post a chapter below concerning the Jewish breaking bread and how these meals pointed forward to a spiritual feast in which the believers partook of the presence of God and a spiritual sharing in the word of God. Here is one snippet from that chapter, and at the end I will add in a link to the whole chapter in case anyone would like to read that. All the best to you! Here it is:

The fact that various Jewish groups kept services in which they first bathed and then ate bread connects back spiritually to those priests gathering each Sabbath in the Temple to break the twelve breads.
The dining table in the family home was revered and seen as more than just a piece of furniture because of its spiritual connection to the Showbread table and its religious uses in the Temple. This partially explains why Jews have a longstanding tradition of washing hands before eating bread and why certain prayers are prescribed before breaking bread in the home.
The following is from Gateway to Judaism:

The table for the Jewish people, with its unique ceremonials, is an essential part of the Jewish religion. It is around the table that the ideals of Israel’s home life find concrete expression. For the Jewish people the table is more than a piece of furniture upon which the daily meals are served. It is a symbolic altar of God.

The religious uses of tables in the Temple lend significance to the table in the Jewish home. The Table of Shew-bread (Leviticus 24:6), the table for the lights (2 Chronicles 4:8), and the table for the sacrifices (Ezekiel 40:39), have a symbolic counterpart in the home.[1]
(end quote)

So we see that the Showbread table in the Temple lends significance to the table in the Jewish home in much the same way as breaking bread in the Temple lends significance to breaking bread in the Jewish home. The Jewish family dinner table became an altar of sorts, as each family meal was seen as an extension of God’s provision in the Temple.

(And here below is another section from that same chapter, after a long list of quotes on breaking bread):

All of these quotes on breaking bread demonstrate that this long Jewish history of eating bread with a meal—to be considered a special occurrence—came from the hallowed Temple service with its table holding the twelve breads. Historical evidence certainly supports this, and examining this in more detail will lead us to understand that breaking bread also represented a spiritual communion to the Jewish Messianic believers.

Breaking Bread Spiritually

In “Setting the Table 4,” we saw a long list of natural (literal) items in the Temple and Tabernacle that were applied spiritually by first-century Messianic Jews. They would frequently speak or write of a natural element or event in the Temple, but its real meaning would be the New Covenant spiritual truth that is pointed to.

Another example we could add to that long list: The natural breaking bread and the sharing of it that occurred in the Temple prefigured the spiritual breaking bread, the bread of life that was shared among New Covenant believers.

As we’ve seen before, the natural-to-spiritual idiom was very common among these first-century Jewish believers. Therefore, it should not be a stretch to understand that when Jews who had accepted the Messiah went out breaking bread, they were doing so spiritually; they were not performing a natural ritual that Jesus and his Jewish disciples neither wanted nor taught.
When the priests gathered in the Holy Place with the Showbread to break bread, this also pointed forward to the spiritual bread that we break:
YLT 1 Corinthians 10:16b the bread that we break—is it not the fellowship of the body of the Christ?

NAS 1 Corinthians 10:17 Since there is one bread, we who are many are one body; for we all partake of the one bread.

The priests who fellowshipped and broke the twelve breads in the Temple pointed to the New Covenant believers and the true bread that we break and share, just as the manna—the “bread” of heaven—pointed to the true bread of which we spiritually partake:
NAS John 6:32 Jesus therefore said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, it is not Moses who has given you the bread out of heaven, but it is My Father who gives you the true bread out of heaven. (end quote from book)

And for anyone who would like to read that full chapter it is titled "The Jewish Idiom of Breaking Bread among the Early Believers" and can be found here: http://themessianicfeast.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/01/TMF_Course_3.pdf


[1] Shulman, Gateway to Judaism, vol. 1, p. 441, s.v. “The table an altar.”
 
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AbbaLove

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I imagine you would love [Oneg] "pot luck" every Sabbath... A lot of people would. It has its benefits. Our congregations has it once a month.
Three local Messianic Congregations i've attended share in the preparing of an Oneg Kosher Meal every Sabbath. However, i'm not aware that they observe the Lord's Meal as a memorial except during Passover.

Do you know of any Messianic congregation that observes "the Lord's Meal (Supper)" as a memorial more often than once a year? The following verses would seem to imply that "the Lord's Meal" was observed more often than just once a year during Passover.

1 Corinthians 11:23-26 (CJB)
23 For what I received from the Lord is just what I passed on to you — that the Lord Yeshua, on the night he was betrayed, took bread;
24 and after he had made the b’rakhah he broke it and said, “This is my body, which is for you. Do this as a memorial to me”;
25 likewise also the cup after the meal, saying, “This cup is the New Covenant effected by my blood; do this, as often as you drink it, as a memorial to me.”
26 For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the death of the Lord, until he comes.

Do you know of any Messianic congregations that observes "the Lord's Meal" as a memorial more than once a year? Paul's instruction (verse 17-26) to Messianic Congregations ... "as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup" does seem to suggest that "the Lord's Meal" (verse 26) be observed other than just once a year during Passover.
 
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AbbaLove

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... And for anyone who would like to read that full chapter it is titled "The Jewish Idiom of Breaking Bread among the Early Believers" and can be found here: http://themessianicfeast.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/01/TMF_Course_3.pdf
Thanks for the link :oldthumbsup:

It does seem that one distinquishing difference between Messianic Judaism and Christianity is how often "the Lord's Meal" is observed as a memorial. Paul's words (1 Cor. 11:17-26) seem to suggest that "the Lord's Meal" was observed more often than once a year by the 1st Century Messianic Congregations that Paul instructed. Do you know of any Messianic Congregation today that observe "the Lord's Meal" every Sabbath or monthly? Is it your understanding that one distinquishing difference between Christianity and Messianic Judaism is that "the Lord's Meal" is only observed by Messianic Judaism once a year during the Messianic Passover Haggadah
 
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AbbaLove

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And for anyone who would like to read that full chapter it is titled "The Jewish Idiom of Breaking Bread among the Early Believers" and can be found here: http://themessianicfeast.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/01/TMF_Course_3.pdf
Your thorough research is very insightful suggesting that "the Lord's meal" should be observed both privately in homes on a regular basis as well as "often" among Jewish Messianic gatherings. For example (pages 113-116) seems to suggest that 1st Century Jewish Messianics met in homes to worship together and observe "the Lord's Meal" on the Sabbath. Reminds me of the persecuted Chinese Church's private underground gatherings that were necessary for security reasons. However, what rationale is there today for not observing "the Lord's Meal" at every Sabbath (within Messianic Judaism) more often than just once a year during Passover.

"Matthew Henry, Matthew Henry’s Commentary on the Whole Bible: They frequently joined in the ordinance of the Lord’s supper. They continued in the breaking of bread, in celebrating that memorial of their Master’s death…. They broke bread from house to house; kat’ oikon—house by house; they did not think it fit to celebrate the eucharist in the temple, for that was peculiar to the Christian institutes, and therefore they administered that ordinance in private houses" … research by Alex Tennet

Why do you think it is that today's Messianic Jews don't observe "the Lord's Meal" as often as they gather together?
 
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Your thorough research is very insightful suggesting that "the Lord's meal" should be observed both privately in homes on a regular basis as well as "often" among Jewish Messianic gatherings. For example (pages 113-116) seems to suggest that 1st Century Jewish Messianics met in homes to worship together and observe "the Lord's Meal" on the Sabbath. Reminds me of the persecuted Chinese Church's private underground gatherings that were necessary for security reasons. However, what rationale is there today for not observing "the Lord's Meal" at every Sabbath (within Messianic Judaism) more often than just once a year during Passover.



Why do you think it is that today's Messianic Jews don't observe "the Lord's Meal" as often as they gather together?
Thank you AbbaLove for your nice comments. What I see with the first-century Messianic Jews is that they were not always speaking about natural meals when they would "break bread," but instead they were using their common idiom of speaking the natural but meaning the spiritual bread. From the things Jesus said about being the bread of life, and having food (spiritual food) that they knew not of, they were often speaking spiritual truths when they were saying various things. Just like when Paul said "we have an altar" and that those who serve the tabernacle have no right to eat of it. He was speaking of the spiritual altar that new covenant believers can partake of. When Jesus took the one bread at the last supper and broke it into pieces, and then said partake, this is my body, he was again speaking spiritual truth in a parable. The disciples understood this because they went out teaching that WE are now the body of Christ, and members of it (1 Corinthians 12:27 Now you are Christ's body, and individually members of it.). Paul says he received special understanding from the Lord (1 Cor 11:23) right in that same context of scriptures that you mentioned earlier. And I believe that the context shows he is again speaking spiritually all through that context (1 Cor chapters 10-12). For instance in Chapter 10 he is speaking about the Israelite's spiritually eating and spiritually drinking (1 Cor 10:3, 4). And soon after that he shows that he understood the Messiah's last supper parables, and that since he broke the one bread and said this is my body the pieces of bread represented the members in the spiritual body, pieces of the bread of life. That's what Paul shows a few verses later: (1 Corinthians 10:17 Since there is one bread, we who are many are one body; for we all partake of the one bread.) Then in 1 Corinthians 12 Paul mentions the "body" of Christ 18 times, and not one time does he refer to Christ's natural body, but every time to the spiritual body, the members, the believers. The reason I bring all this out is to point out to people that the Roman Catholic ritual of eating bread and believing it was Jesus body is not what the Messiah meant, nor is it what Paul meant in 1 Cor 11, and it is not what the Messianic Jews went forth teaching. They knew Paul was also speaking spiritually in Chapter 11, and was not teaching a new ritual (Course 5 of my book goes all into that). I hope you don't mind this long response AbbaLove, but I wanted to try and accurately portray my belief there. Thank you again!
 
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... in Chapter 10 he is speaking about the Israelite's spiritually eating and spiritually drinking (1 Cor 10:3, 4). And soon after that he shows that he understood the Messiah's last supper parables, and that since he broke the one bread and said this is my body the pieces of bread represented the members in the spiritual body, pieces of the bread of life. That's what Paul shows a few verses later: (1 Corinthians 10:17 Since there is one bread, we who are many are one body; for we all partake of the one bread.) Then in 1 Corinthians 12 Paul mentions the "body" of Christ 18 times, and not one time does he refer to Christ's natural body, but every time to the spiritual body, the members, the believers. The reason I bring all this out is to point out to people that the Roman Catholic ritual of eating bread and believing it was Jesus body is not what the Messiah meant, nor is it what Paul meant in 1 Cor 11, and it is not what the Messianic Jews went forth teaching. They knew Paul was also speaking spiritually in Chapter 11, and was not teaching a new ritual (Course 5 of my book goes all into that). I hope you don't mind this long response AbbaLove, but I wanted to try and accurately portray my belief there. Thank you again!
Yes, both practices (observances) of the "Breaking of Bread" have spiritual significance. So there is no disagreement that a spiritual representation of the "Breaking of Bread" applies equally to Paul's instruction when he says, "as often as you eat this bread ..." whether eating the bread at an annual Passover meal or at a Sabbath gathering. The problem was not Paul's instruction (as often as you eat this bread ...), but rather their disregard for it's deep spiritual significance.

1 Corinthians 11:26 (CJB)
For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the death of the Lord, until He comes.

There is reason to believe that the Lord's Meal (Last Supper) was not a traditional Passover meal that the Jews observed. Thus the context of Paul's instruction (1 Cor 11:26) that the "Breaking of Bread" need not be restricted to only once a year at Passover. On another note you previously mentioned, it would seem that in order for John's gospel not to contradict the other gospel accounts one needs to consider the following: That the partaking of the "Last Supper" occurred at the beginning of the day (soon after sunset) and that His arrest and crucifixion took place later that same day as well as His body being placed in the tomb prior to sundown. We agree that His Resurrection occurred on the first day of the week. :)

Think we both might agree that it is truly unfortunate that the history of the RCC has had such a disparaging influence on Messianic Judaism to this day. To the point that frankly certain scriptures in the Ketuvei HaShalichim are misunderstood by MJs in no small part due to the RCC. Again, 1 Corinthians 14:26 can be just as spiritual in its practice as is your spiritual interpretation.

Again, it's more a matter of the intent of one's heart when participating in what one believes is the "true Breaking of Bread." Either observation (Christian or Messianic Judaism) can be presented and/or perceived as a reliigious ritual. Isn't it more a matter of the circumcisim of one's heart and relationship with the Lord rather than what church or congregation one attends?

1 Corinthians 11:27-30 (CJB)
27 Therefore, whoever eats the Lord’s bread or drinks the Lord’s cup in an unworthy manner will be guilty of desecrating the body and blood of the Lord!
28 So let a person examine himself first, and then he may eat of the bread and drink from the cup;
29 for a person who eats and drinks without recognizing the body eats and drinks judgment upon himself.
30 This is why many among you are weak and sick, and some have died!

(i would not disagree that Paul's words more likely apply to Gentile believers than Messianic Jews)
 
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Alex Tennent

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Yes, both practices (observances) of the "Breaking of Bread" have spiritual significance. So there is no disagreement that a spiritual representation of the "Breaking of Bread" applies equally to Paul's instruction when he says, "as often as you eat this bread ..." whether eating the bread at an annual Passover meal or at a Sabbath gathering. The problem was not Paul's instruction (as often as you eat this bread ...), but rather their disregard for it's deep spiritual significance.

1 Corinthians 11:26 (CJB)
For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the death of the Lord, until He comes.

There is reason to believe that the Lord's Meal (Last Supper) was not a traditional Passover meal that the Jews observed. Thus the context of Paul's instruction (1 Cor 11:26) that the "Breaking of Bread" need not be restricted to only once a year at Passover. On another note you previously mentioned, it would seem that in order for John's gospel not to contradict the other gospel accounts one needs to consider the following: That the partaking of the "Last Supper" occurred at the beginning of the day (soon after sunset) and that His arrest and crucifixion took place later that same day as well as His body being placed in the tomb prior to sundown. We agree that His Resurrection occurred on the first day of the week. :)

Think we both might agree that it is truly unfortunate that the history of the RCC has had such a disparaging influence on Messianic Judaism to this day. To the point that frankly certain scriptures in the Ketuvei HaShalichim are misunderstood by MJs in no small part due to the RCC. Again, 1 Corinthians 14:26 can be just as spiritual in its practice as is your spiritual interpretation.

Again, it's more a matter of the intent of one's heart when participating in what one believes is the "true Breaking of Bread." Either observation (Christian or Messianic Judaism) can be presented and/or perceived as a reliigious ritual. Isn't it more a matter of the circumcisim of one's heart and relationship with the Lord rather than what church or congregation one attends?

1 Corinthians 11:27-30 (CJB)
27 Therefore, whoever eats the Lord’s bread or drinks the Lord’s cup in an unworthy manner will be guilty of desecrating the body and blood of the Lord!
28 So let a person examine himself first, and then he may eat of the bread and drink from the cup;
29 for a person who eats and drinks without recognizing the body eats and drinks judgment upon himself.
30 This is why many among you are weak and sick, and some have died!

(i would not disagree that Paul's words more likely apply to Gentile believers than Messianic Jews)
I appreciate and do agree with each of your points AbbaLove. I especially like this one: "Isn't it more a matter of the circumcisim of one's heart and relationship with the Lord rather than what church or congregation one attends?". You also mention that there is reason to believe that the last supper was not the Passover, I would like to post another chapter titled "50 Reasons the Last Supper was not the Passover" which I will link up at the end of this message. One of the huge points of course from a Jewish perspective is that all 10 times they speak about what was eaten at this meal they use the Greek word for regular daily leavened bread (arton). The first-century Jewish believers would not go around Jerusalem proclaiming that they and the Messiah had all eaten daily "bread" at the Passover. And back to the ritualistic observance of this meal as you mention, I think part of how we see it depends on our upbringing. For me, I came to know the Lord about age 22 in a Pentecostal type church, they had very good teaching but twice each year we would have the "Communion" (unleavened bread) ritual and it was hammered in that if we ate unworthily we would really get it from the Lord. As a new believer struggling to walk with God I never really felt "worthy" and so was often feeling condemned. After many years of study and finally solving the controversy of whether the last supper was the Passover I came to realize that they were eating regular daily bread at this meal, and not unleavened bread (azumos in Greek). Then the light went on and I knew the unleavened bread ritual had deceived us and was from the RCC, not from the original Messianic Jews. They had 1500 years of avoiding blood from God's commands to Moses. So they certainly didn't have a RCC Communion ritual of drinking it, symbolically or otherwise. Instead they had to write to the Gentiles to abstain from blood (Acts 15:20, 29). I then knew that when I looked into the Lord's words at the last supper, and Paul's words in 1 Corinthians 11, and looked at them through the eyes of the first-century Jewish believers, that I would see something other than the unleavened bread Communion ritual, and that is exactly what I found (as my book brings out). And again, agreeing with you that there is reason to believe the last supper was not the Passover, and that they were eating regular daily bread at that meal, here is that chapter with 50 reasons the Lord's final meal was not the Passover, but that he was instead crucified as our true Passover: http://themessianicfeast.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/01/TMF_50-Reasons.pdf
 
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