<p>11:24- see on Jn. 6:51.</p><p><em>And when he had given thanks- </em>Paul saw the breaking of bread prefigured in Christ's feeding of the 4000 after taking the bread and blessing it, and then distributing to the disciples and they to the crowds (Mt. 15:36 = 1 Cor. 11:24). The connection surely show that the breaking of bread was not based upon any closed table ideology, but was radically open.</p><p><em>He broke it, and said: This is my body, which is for you. This do in remembrance of me- </em>Some manuscripts add &quot;which is <em>broken</em> for you&quot;. &lsquo;Broken&rsquo; can imply divided and shared out. The gruesome record of the Levite cutting up his wife&rsquo;s body and sending parts of the body throughout all Israel has much to teach us of the power of the memorial service. It was done so that all who received the parts of that broken body would &ldquo;take advice and speak their minds&quot; (Jud. 19:30). It was designed to elicit the declaration of their hearts, and above all to provoke to concrete action. Splitting up a body and sharing it with all Israel was clearly a type of the breaking of bread, where in symbol, the same happens. Consider some background, all of which points forward to the Lord&rsquo;s sufferings:<br />- The person whose body was divided up was from Bethlehem, and of the tribe of Judah (Jud. 19:1)<br />- They were &lsquo;slain&rsquo; by permission of a priest<br />- They were dragged to death by a wicked Jewish mob<br />- They were &ldquo;brought forth&quot; to the people just as the Lord was to the crowd (Jud. 19:25)<br />- &ldquo;Do what seemeth good unto you&quot; (Jud. 19:24) is very much Pilate language<br />- A man sought to dissuade the crowd from their purpose- again, as Pilate.<br />There should be a like effect upon us as we receive the emblems of the Lord&rsquo;s &lsquo;broken body&rsquo;- the inner thoughts of our hearts are elicited, and we are provoked to action.</p><p>Considering how the bread represents the body of Christ leads us to a common query: 'Seeing that &quot;a bone of Him shall not be (and was not) broken&rdquo;, how can we say that we remember the <em>broken</em> body of Jesus by <em>breaking </em>the bread?'. First of all, it must be understood that 'breaking bread' or 'eating bread' is simply an idiom for sharing in a meal (Is. 58:7; Jer. 16:7; Lam. 4:4; Ez. 17:7; 24:17; Hos. 9:4; Dt. 26:14; Job 42:11). 'Bread' is used for any food, just as 'salt' is used in the same way in Arabic. The breaking of a loaf of bread is not necessarily implicit in the phrase (although it can be). However, we must also be aware of a fundamental misconception which one feels is held by many; that the physical blood and body of Christ are <em>all</em> that we come to remember. This notion is related to that which feels that there is some mystical power in the physical bread and wine in themselves. Robert Roberts makes the point in <em>The Blood of Christ</em> that &quot;it is not the blood as literal blood that is precious or efficacious&quot;. And the same might be said about the Lord's literal body. His body and blood were no different to those of any other man.</p><p>The fact that we are asked to symbolize His broken body, when it is stated that His literal body was <em>not</em> broken, is proof enough that Christ's body is to be understood as something more than His literal flesh and blood. Indeed, 1 Cor. 10:16,17 seems to suggest that the &quot;body of Christ&quot; in which we partake through the bread is a symbol of the whole body of believers, just as much as His actual body which enabled this salvation. Likewise the Passover was not intended to commemorate the red liquid which flowed from the first Passover lambs, but to remember the salvation which God had achieved for <em>all Israel</em> on account of that. Christ bore our sins &quot;in his own body on the tree&quot; (1 Pet. 2:24)- and it was more in His mind and mental awareness that this was true, rather than our sins being in (e.g.) His arms and legs. Other uses of &quot; body&quot; which require reference to our whole mind and being, rather than our literal body, include Mt. 5:29,30; 6:22-25; Jn. 2:21; Rom. 7:4; 1 Cor. 6:19; 9:23. Luke's record of the Last Supper shows how the Lord spoke of His body and blood as parallel with His whole sacrifice: &quot;This is my body... this do in remembrance of <em>me</em> (His whole way of life- not just His physical body). This cup is the new testament in my blood, which <em>is</em> shed for you&quot; (Lk. 22:19,20). Col. 1:20 likewise parallels &ldquo;the blood of the cross&quot; with &ldquo;him&quot; (the man Jesus). Rom. 7:4 puts &ldquo;the body of Christ&quot; for the death of that body; He was, in His very person, His death. The cross was a living out of a spirit of self-giving which <em>was</em> Him. The cup of wine represents the promises (&quot;testament&quot;) of salvation which have been confirmed by Christ's blood. Note how Jesus quietly spoke of &quot;my body which <em>is</em> (being) given for you... my blood which <em>is</em> shed for you&quot;. The pouring out of His life/blood was something ongoing, which was occurring even as He spoke those words. The cross was a summation of a lifetime of outpouring and breaking of His innermost being, or &quot;body&quot;. It is this that we remember at the breaking of bread. The Passover was comprised of the lamb plus bread. The breaking of bread, the Passover for Christians, is wine and bread. The lamb was thus replaced in the thought of Jesus by His blood / wine. He perceived that His blood was Him, in that sense.</p><p>It is also worth reflecting how the Hebrew writer saw the torn veil as a symbol of the Lord&rsquo;s flesh. It is just possible that the physical tearing of the Lord&rsquo;s flesh at His death through the nails represented the tearing of His flesh nature, symbolized in the physical tearing of the veil. But the tearing of the veil was something essential and far reaching- not a surface rip. The Lord&rsquo;s death is surely to be understood as a tearing apart of the flesh nature and tendencies which He bore; and it is this we remember in breaking the bread which represents His flesh. Note that to break the bread in a place was an idiom for breaking the life there (Ez. 4:16; 5:16; 14:13; Lev. 26:26). This was what the Lord asks us to remember- not the physical breaking of His body, but the breaking of His life for us and sharing it with us (Is. 58:7).</p>