Acts2:46

Some of those present were from Galilee or other distant places so they stayed with relatives and enjoyed these meetings as long as they could before being forced by life’s demands to return home and start meeting with people at home and in their local synagogue. Those who lived in or around Jerusalem had jobs or farms, so they had to work during the day. These meeting probably took place in the evening. The fact that they took place every evening indicates the level of intense passion and commitment demonstrated by these followers of Jesus. They were not told to join together; they wanted to be together.

The meetings at the temple were for every believer who wanted to be there and for every onlooker who was curious about what was going on. So these were large meetings. This verse also mentions that they met in homes; these would probably have taken place on the Sabbath for those who had a long distance to walk to get to the temple, or when going to the temple was not possible due to work schedules they could not control. These house meetings probably consisted of extended family members and possibly a few neighbors who did not have any such group with which they could meet. In Paul’s letters he implies the existence of meetings of differing sizes, but he never states it plainly. Here we read that remembering the sacrifice of Jesus was done in the home setting rather than during the large meetings in the temple courts. To them the home setting was the natural place to do so because everything they needed was already there.

First of all the group of believers naturally followed the system of leadership that had been part of their culture since the time of Adam – the oldest, most experienced men acted as leaders. But in this case, experience in life did not count as much as experience with Jesus, thus the meetings were led by the men who had been with Jesus. There were men present who were older than the disciples/Apostles, men with social authority, but here it was spiritual authority that mattered most. Thus the oldest men who had been with Jesus. It is thought by some that Peter was older than the other disciples; I believe that explains why he often acted as their spokesperson during those early days. It was not just his personality. In those days personality did not influence these matters as much as the social norms did.

This passage mentions “breaking of bread” twice and it also mentions partaking of food in a general way. I believe that the phrase “breaking of bread” refers to how they replicated the Passover meal with a focus on the sacrifice of Jesus, and the “partaking of food” refers to a simple act of eating a meal together and enjoying fellowship together. Fellowship is one of the priorities mentioned in the first verse of this section (v. 42). We all know that there is something about food that can unite us. But the ancient Jews (as well as others of ancient times) did not eat with anyone they were not already in harmony with. So for them the act of eating together was used to cement an already harmonious relationship. Thus this was a sign of unity on top of the statement earlier in this verse that they were of “one mind.” Notice that this verse ends with the phrase “without stumbling stones.” Many relationships are characterized by friction and strife, but the early followers of Jesus did not have that problem because they did not allow anything into the relationship that would cause friction, hindrance or encumbrance. They really were of one mind, sharing a common purpose, united; they didn’t just say they were of one mind.