Do you think that\u00a0Acts 20:7\u00a0was talking of a common meal? Why or why not?<\/p>\n\t
The text in question states, “Now on the first day of the week, when the disciples came together to break bread, Paul, ready to depart the next day, spoke to them and continued his message until midnight<\/em>” (Acts 20:7).<\/p>\n From this passage, we learn that the disciples came together for the purpose of breaking bread. The phrase “break bread” is an idiom referring to the partaking of a meal. It can be seen in the Old Testament in\u00a0Jeremiah 16:7\u00a0when Jeremiah predicted that people would stop eating meals because of their deep sorrow. It is also seen in the New Testament in\u00a0Acts 2:46, “Day by day continuing with one mind in the temple, and breaking bread from house to house, they were taking their meals together with gladness and sincerity of heart<\/em>.”<\/p>\n The confusion arises from the Lord’s Supper. It is a memorial meal that is partaken by the disciples to remember the Lord’s death. “For I received from the Lord that which I also delivered to you: that the Lord Jesus on the same night in which He was betrayed took bread; and when He had given thanks, He broke it and said, “Take, eat; this is My body which is broken for you; do this in remembrance of Me.” In the same manner He also took the cup after supper, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in My blood. This do, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of Me.” For as often as you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death till He comes<\/em>” (1 Corinthians 11:23-26). Since it is a “supper” that features the breaking of bread, the same idiom that refers to a common meal can refer to the Lord’s Supper. This is seen in I Corinthian 10:16, “The cup of blessing which we bless, is it not the communion of the blood of Christ? The bread which we break, is it not the communion of the body of Christ?<\/em>“<\/p>\n So how do we distinguish a common meal from the Lord’s Supper? The answer lies in the context in which the idiom is used. Look once again at\u00a0Acts 2:46. Here we find:<\/p>\n I Corinthians 11:22\u00a0and\u00a034\u00a0tell us that the Lord’s Supper was not a common meal to be eaten individually in people’s homes. Compare this to\u00a0Acts 2:42, “And they continued steadfastly in the apostles’ doctrine and fellowship, in the breaking of bread, and in prayers.<\/em>” Here the breaking of bread is listed among items of worship: Learning God’s word, assembling, and praying. In\u00a0Acts 2:42, the phrase refers to the Lord’s Supper.<\/p>\n Now, concerning\u00a0Acts 20:7, what do we learn from the context? First, it was done on Sundays when the disciples came together for the purpose of breaking bread. Whatever the meal was, it was something that only occurred once a week. If it was a common meal, you would not expect it to be restricted to a single day of the week. After all, in\u00a0Acts 2:46\u00a0we see that sharing meals was sometimes a daily event. But this particular meal made Sundays an important day of the week. Second, it required the disciples to come together to partake of this breaking of bread. This calls to mind Paul’s discussion of the Lord’s Supper in I Corinthians 11. Notice how often the phrase “come together” appears in this discussion (I Corinthians 11:17, 18, 20, 33). Third, while some early churches meet in a disciple’s home, the group in Troas meet in an upper room (Acts 20:8). Once again, we see that this is a special gathering, separate from the home.<\/p>\n The conclusion can only be that\u00a0Acts 20:7\u00a0is referring to the partaking of the Lord’s Supper.<\/p>\n Even with this answer, it is sometimes asked whether\u00a0Acts 20:11\u00a0refers to this same meal or another. Here the verse states, “Now when he had come up, had broken bread and eaten, and talked a long while, even till daybreak, he departed<\/em>.” Notice the additional qualification to the breaking of break is that Paul had eaten. This indicates it was a regular meal used to satisfy the appetite. Hence, it would not be the Lord’s Supper given Paul’s statements in\u00a0I Corinthians 11:22\u00a0and\u00a034. Also, notice that only Paul is mentioned as having eaten. The Lord’s Supper is something that is done by a congregation together (I Corinthians 10:16-17). Hence, we conclude that\u00a0Acts 20:11\u00a0is referring to a common meal.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Question: Do you think that\u00a0Acts 20:7\u00a0was talking of a common meal? Why or why not? Answer: The text in question states, “Now on the first day of the week, when the disciples came together to break bread, Paul, ready to depart the next day, spoke to them and continued his message until midnight” (Acts 20:7).…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[20],"tags":[144,145,147,146],"class_list":["post-727","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-answer","tag-acts","tag-breaking-bread","tag-communion","tag-lords-supper"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":65447,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/was-the-lords-supper-taken-only-once-a-year\/","url_meta":{"origin":727,"position":0},"title":"Was the Lord’s Supper taken only once a year?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"January 6, 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Good day. A friend of mine told me that the breaking of bread in Acts 20:7 is not the Lord's Supper or Passover because it is only a breaking of bread without the grape juice as stated in the context. The breaking of bread is a celebration of Jesus'\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":7057,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/didnt-the-christians-in-troas-worship-on-the-sabbath\/","url_meta":{"origin":727,"position":1},"title":"Didn’t the Christians in Troas worship on the Sabbath?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"August 14, 2006","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: You will realize that in Acts 20:7 the meeting and breaking of bread were done in the night, meaning, or if we may presume, that these people had been worshiping together on the Sabbath. Since we know that a day then started at sunset, so Paul did preach to\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":13410,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/is-sunday-the-only-day-of-worship-or-can-we-worship-god-any-day\/","url_meta":{"origin":727,"position":2},"title":"Is Sunday the only day of worship or can we worship God any day?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"December 20, 2007","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Is Sunday the only day of worship or can we worship God any day? I have read in the second chapter of the book of Acts, verse 46, that the Christians worshiped daily in the temple. Answer: \"So continuing daily with one accord in the temple, and breaking bread\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":20504,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/does-the-bible-say-the-church-worshiped-on-sunday\/","url_meta":{"origin":727,"position":3},"title":"Does the Bible say the church worshiped on Sunday?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"October 16, 2009","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: I have a few questions and comments concerning the texts given as proof of Sunday worship outlined in the article: \"Is sex on the Sabbath a sin?\" The verses are Acts 20:7 and I Corinthians 16:1-2. Acts 20:7 speaks of an act that is done on any day, and\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":55833,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/did-the-church-come-together-for-a-common-meal-in-acts-20\/","url_meta":{"origin":727,"position":4},"title":"Did the Church Come Together for a Common Meal in Acts 20?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"November 16, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"by Greg Gwin A question has been asked about 'eating' in Acts 20:6-11: \"And we sailed away from Philippi after the days of unleavened bread, and came unto them to Troas in five days; where we abode seven days. And upon the first day of the week, when the disciples\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":24573,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/does-worship-have-to-be-on-sunday\/","url_meta":{"origin":727,"position":5},"title":"Does worship have to be on Sunday?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"September 18, 2010","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: I was discussing with someone about coming to church on Sundays. What day should we meet? Does it matter which day during the week? Under persecution, you might not be able to meet Sundays, so I was wondering: does it matter the day the church meets? I do know\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/727","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=727"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/727\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=727"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=727"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=727"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}\n