Dear Sisters and Brothers in Christ,

Most of us eat three meals a day. Over the span of a year, that’s 1,095 meals. During this season in Lent, we are looking at Jesus and how he used food in his ministry to help, to heal, and to love others.

Jesus often used meals to engage with people and teach important lessons. And he continues to call us to his table to feast on who he is and learn more about him through his Word. Jesus’ example provides an opportunity to invite friends, outcasts and even enemies to know God’s story of love and salvation.

 In the gospel of Luke alone, there are 10 stories of Jesus dining with various people. Jesus often dined with those that we might consider the enemy. In Jesus’ time, tax collectors were pretty much hated by the people. Jesus eating a meal with a tax collector would be like you having dinner with a loan shark. Jesus sought out Levi in Luke 5:27, while he was sitting at his tax collector’s booth and said to him, “Follow me and be my disciple.” Jesus wanted this man — this enemy of the people — to be saved.

Jesus hosted uninvited guests. In Luke 7:36-50, Jesus went to Simon the Pharisee’s house for a prestigious dinner, the “sinful woman” entered and shocked all in attendance with her actions. Although self-righteous Simon was indignant, Jesus welcomed her because he saw her heart.

Jesus fed the hungry.  In Luke’s account (Luke 9:10-17), Jesus fed 5,000 people (not including women and children) who had come to hear him speak. He didn’t have to feed them. After all, they were getting fed truth. Wasn’t that enough? Jesus knew they also had physical needs. He reminds us to look to see if someone around us is hungry or thirsty?

Jesus wants us to “smell the roses.” In Luke 10:38-42, Jesus eats at the home of his friends, Lazarus, Mary and Martha. When Martha complained about her sister, who was just sitting and listening to Jesus, she was probably surprised when he rebuked her. Essentially, he said that Mary’s choice to sit and listen to him was better than all the work she was doing. Whether you’re having friends over for dinner or serving at church, make time to enjoy the people you’re serving because it is the laughs and the meaningful moments that are most memorable.

Jesus knew to wash what matters, (Luke 11:37-53) Life is messy. In Jesus’ time the roads were dusty and traveling guaranteed a certain measure of dirt on your person. When he was invited to dine with a Pharisee, he was criticized for not washing. They weren’t talking about washing your hands before dinner. They were judging him because he didn’t perform their complex washing ritual. When your guests come over, or when you’re considering whether to invite someone, what are you looking at? Don’t judge what you can’t see. Instead, wash your own heart to love and accept all as they are so God can use you to wash them with the water of the Word.

Zacchaeus was curious about Jesus but only expected to observe him from afar. The “wee little man” climbed a tree to catch a glimpse. He was probably surprised when Jesus noticed him. As the chief tax collector, he was even more surprised, and excited, when Jesus wanted to have a meal at his house. Is there someone who needs you to reach out?

Jesus’ last supper, the Passover meal with his disciples, is filled with meaning revealing that Jesus is the lamb of God (Luke 22:14-38). Jesus is clearly the center of this meal. But Jesus didn’t host this dinner for himself. He was thinking of his disciples, who had very little time left with him to understand the significance of what was about to happen. His death and resurrection were going to change their lives and the world itself. He could have talked about his terrible suffering to come, but instead focused on what they would need to remember from that night. Do you see meals as a way to serve others’ spiritual needs?

Even after his resurrection, Luke 24:28-32, Jesus appeared to two of his followers on the road to Emmaus. With his identity cloaked by God, he talked with them about all that had happened and explained the significance through the Scriptures. They couldn’t get enough of what he was saying and implored him to continue at dinner. As soon as he gave thanks for the bread and broke it, as he had at the last supper, their eyes were opened. They were dining with the risen Savior! Not only that, but they had been taught to understand the Scriptures.

And then, when the two from Emmaus went back to tell the disciples, suddenly Jesus appeared. They were very afraid — they thought they’d seen a ghost! But Jesus reassured them with a simple gesture; he sat down and ate with them.

By eating, Jesus wasn’t just proving that he wasn’t a ghost. He was doing something familiar to put their minds at ease. Like the ultimate comfort food, Jesus was ministering to his disciples’ weary hearts. Meals still can work that way, melting away a frazzled workday or soothing an aching heart.

Join us in Bible study and in service to explore if there is someone you can comfort and uplift through a meal? Jesus’ table calls all to come and dine, to feast on who he is and learn more about him through the Word. His example provides us with an opportunity to invite friends, outcasts and even enemies to know God’s story of love and salvation.

Yours in Christ, Pastor Bonnie

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