The Breaking of the Bread..

"He was known of them in the breaking of the bread" (Lk 24:35).

Dr. Mark Hanby visited our church this past weekend, and it was tremendous! He gave a message about "knowing God" that really stuck to my ribs, so to speak. He spoke of "knowing" Jesus to the extreme and full extent that Paul desired. To the Philippians, Paul said, "what things were gain to me, those I counted loss for Christ. Yea doubtless, and I count all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord: for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and do count them but dung, that I may win Christ, And be found in him, not having mine own righteousness, which is of the law, but that which is through the faith of Christ, the righteousness which is of God by faith: That I may know him, and the power of his resurrection, and the fellowship of his sufferings, being made conformable unto his death; If by any means I might attain unto the resurrection of the dead" (Phil 3:7-11).

We hear this collection of Scripture quoted frequently, but it's not expounded upon as often. The lingering question in my heart has always been, "how can I know Jesus to this great extent?" Just being saved, washed in the precious blood of Jesus, and heaven-bound isn't enough for me.. Of course I'm eternally grateful, but that gratefulness has birthed in me a deeper desire too - I want ALL that God has for me. I don't want to simply stop at the brass altar, when there's entire realms of glory beckoning me onward! And if you're taking the time to read this, I'm sure you feel the same way.

So just how can we know Jesus like this?

Interestingly, the Gospel of Luke gives us a glimpse: "He was known of them in the breaking of the bread" (Lk 24:35).

On the road to Emmaus, Jesus appeared to two disciples. However, the Bible tells us that "their eyes were holden that they should not know Him" (Lk 24:16). In other words, because of the un-expectancy of these disciples, they were not able to recognize that it was King Jesus walking and talking with them. When they drew closer to their destination, the two disciples invited Jesus to come and abide with them. He accepted their offer (Lk 24:29). When they all sat down to eat, Jesus began to do what He'd always done: "he took bread, and blessed it, and brake, and gave to them" (Lk 24:30). And immediately, "their eyes were opened, and they KNEW Him" (Lk 24:31)!

Many will say that they simply recognized Jesus' mannerisms, and thus recognized Him as He prayed and distributed the bread. But I believe it's much more than that. Wouldn't the disciples have noticed Jesus' many wounds? If a mere mannerism is all that was required to open the disciple's eyes, they would have recognized Jesus much sooner by the particular stroll of His walk, the tone in His voice, His knowledge of the Scriptures (Lk 24:27), the love that radiated from Him, etc. Rather, this instance must be communicating to us a spiritual truth! The spiritual eyes of these two disciples were shut (Eph 1:17-18).

Bread, in Scripture, is often symbolic. It references Jesus as the Bread of Life, and it also can reference His people. Paul said, "For we being many are one bread, and one body: for we are all partakers of that one bread" (1 Cor 10:17). Therefore, in Jesus' actions with the bread we see a pattern for us as we seek to know Him fully. Do you want to know Jesus? Then allow Him to take you, bless you, brake you and give you away! This is God's method! This is His means by which we're to acquire and cultivate such great intimacy. "He was made known of them in breaking of bread" (Lk 24:35)!

We see this to be true continually throughout Scripture. Men who possessed great intimacy with God were always men who were taken, blessed, broken and given out. Jesus was known to them in their personal breaking - He was known to them in the breaking of the bread!
Abraham was taken from Ur of the Chaldees (Gen 15:7). He was chosen by God to be a patriarch of nations. He was blessed with a tremendous inheritance. However, Abraham was also asked to slay his only son - his self-will was to be utterly cast down; he was being broken. Finally, Abraham was given out as a father of many nations, and a hero of faith. In the end, Abraham was called a "friend" of God (2 Chron 20:7; Isa 41:8) - the intimacy he had with God was acquired by breaking. Jesus was known to Abraham in the breaking of the bread!

Moses was taken and sent down the river to safety by his parents. His name actually means "drawn out". He was blessed in the house of Pharoah. Then he defended one of his countrymen and was sent to the backside of the desert for 40 years - he was utterly broken. Finally, he was given by God as a vessel to set His people free from the land of Egypt and lead them into the Promised Land. After all this, the Bible says Moses knew God's ways (Ps 103:7)! What a wonderful testimony! But this was only afforded to Moses as he endured the breaking of God - Jesus was known to Moses in the breaking of bread!

David was chosen by God and taken from among his brothers. He ended up blessed in the house of the king, victorious, and best friends with Jonathan, the King's son. Later, David ran for his life from this same king who was now trying to kill him - he was being broken. Finally, David was given by God to be the vessel by which the Messiah would come! He was taken, blessed, broken and given - and in all this, David cultivated an intimacy with God that men still marvel at today (Ps 27:4)! Jesus was known by David in the breaking of the bread.

The taking may be fun, the blessing joyous, but the braking is hard, and the giving a trial. But Oh what precious fruit will be rendered! Jesus, we want to KNOW You! We will know You in the breaking of the bread!