I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never be hungry again. Whoever believes in me will never be thirsty. John 6:35 (NKJV)
Food for Thought – The Meal Series – Part 1
Go to PART 1 | PART 2 | PART 3 | PART 4 | PART 5 | PART 6 | PART 7
My daughter is about to turn four, and on Sunday, we are having a small lunchtime gathering to mark the occasion. As I’m planning and preparing for the meal and the celebration I can’t help but picture my table surrounded by love, covered in food, eyes glittering with community spirit, laughter floating on the breeze, and my daughter's vivacious spirit spilling out all over the place infecting the day with joy and four-year-old bliss.
There’s something about sharing meals and gathering together to eat. In Jesus time, the table was a sacred and holy place. So much so, that who you could have at your table, and the customs observed around it and on it, were ritualised and regulated. For instance, a Pharisee wouldn’t share his table with a prostitute, or a Tax Collector. They tended to eat together in accordance to social ranking. What you offered your guests said a lot too. The generosity found in the foods served was a way of honouring guests.
All four of the “Gospel” books in the Bible, which were memoirs written by Matthew, Mark, Luke and John, record a meal Jesus shared with a ‘few’ of his friends.
It had been a crazy season. Jesus had just sent his disciples out, as was the custom in Rabbi training, to exercise what he had been teaching them. And they had returned with much to tell. He had also just learned that his cousin, childhood friend, and the voice who “prepared the way” for him, had been beheaded by Herod. John, whom we affectionally call, the Baptist, had been killed. And the Passover feast was quickly approaching.
Such a contrast of emotion: joy and grief. If I use my imagination, it's hard for me to tell who, at the moment of this feast, was in a state of need more: Jesus, or his hungry followers.
When Jesus disciples returned from their quest mentioned earlier, they tried to slip quietly away. Jesus wanted to be alone. But people caught on to where he was going and they followed him. So Jesus and the disciples spent the day healing and teaching and speaking – pouring themselves out for the thousands who had followed them. Late in the afternoon, someone suggested to Jesus that they should send the crowds away so they could find food and lodging as there was none in the remote place they had congregated.
The people were hungry.
The disciples were tired. Perhaps Jesus was too. Grief-stricken poured out; he, himself, hungry for rest.
Hunger on both sides.
I get the sense that even if the disciples sent the crowds away, they would have ignored their physical hunger, driven by a deeper need for sustenance, and stayed on as long as they could. After all, they had followed Jesus to a remote place – men, women and children. They were listening, they were hungry for more than what their existence was feeding them; their hearts longed to be fed.
As their souls and spirits were being generously nourished, their physical hunger lingered nearby, waiting patiently for its fulfilment.
Jesus replied to his disciples suggestion of sending the people away, “You feed them.”
All 5000 men and their families. (Matt 14, Mark 6, Luke 9, John 6)
It would have been so much easier for Jesus to send the crowd away. How did he expect to feed everyone? AND, they had done their job, right? Taught, healed, loved… they had gone out of their way, changed their schedule, put aside their personal needs to attend to the crowd.
Or maybe Jesus knew what they REALLY needed.
And what he needed at the moment.
There is something holy about breaking bread with someone. Sharing a meal. Talking over food. It's connective. That's why our celebrations are often over food and drink. Like my daughter's fourth birthday party this weekend. The table brings us together. It’s a place of common union, togetherness and nourishment. Sacred and transformative.
What are you hungry for?
John wrote that Jesus said, “I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never be hungry again. Whoever believes in me will never be thirsty.”
St Augustine said, “Christ is bread awaiting hunger.”
Maybe what we need more than anything is to gather around a table, with others, and share a meal. Who knows what we could accomplish if we put aside our differences, bring some food, and sit side by side to eat.
Your turn. How has sharing a meal transformed you? Leave us a comment below.
Go to Part 2 – Wide Eyed Wonder »
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