The Love Feast

The “love feast” or agape meal is mentioned several times in the New Testament. Following the example of Jesus’ Last Supper, believers in the early church would bring food to the church and eat together, regardless of wealth or social status. This was known as a “love feast.” After sharing the meal, the believers would break bread to remember Jesus’ suffering (Acts 2:44-46). Later, after Stephen’s martyrdom and intense persecution, the disciples were scattered. As a result, the practice of sharing everything and eating together gradually ceased, and they only broke bread during their gatherings to remember Jesus’ redemptive death and blood sacrifice (1 Corinthians 11:23-29).

Today, the love feast is a very popular event in many churches, where people can fellowship, communicate, and share with one another. This is perhaps a partial emulation of the practice of the apostolic era, when “day by day, attending the temple together and breaking bread in their homes, they received their food with glad and generous hearts, praising God and having favor with all the people. And the Lord added to their number day by day those who were being saved” (Acts 2:46-47).

Eating together or sharing food, in both Eastern and Western cultures, is more than just a meal; it is an opportunity for sharing and communication. In Christian culture and biblical teaching, eating together is a way of fellowshipping in the Lord, sharing life and love.

The Bible records:

(Jude 12) “These are hidden reefs at your love feasts, as they feast with you without fear, shepherds feeding themselves; waterless clouds, swept along by winds; fruitless trees in late autumn, twice dead, uprooted” .