meals with jesus

​By the Rev. Dr. Stacy Smith

If your family is anything like mine, and you’re still elbow-deep in
Thanksgiving leftovers right about now, you may be related to an
“overcooker.” This is my new word for people who habitually prepare
way too much food for any given meal, and Thanksgiving is when the
overcookers really get to shine. My father is a notorious
“overcooker;” one Thanksgiving he made eight pans of dressing, and
there were only three of us! My husband was similar as his rule at
Thanksgiving was always “everyone gets their own dessert.” You were
free to sample all the desserts, but according to Kevin if there were
eight people at dinner, you needed at least eight different desserts.
So if, like me, you are still putting together turkey-roll sandwiches
with a layer of cranberry sauce on the Saturday after Thanksgiving,
you too may be related to an overcooker – or be one yourself!

In preparation for Thanksgiving, we at Westminster Presbyterian Church
have been studying the when, how and with whom Jesus eats, and I’ve
come away with two realizations. First, Jesus loved to eat. He is
constantly at dinner parties and he doesn’t much seem to mind who’s
hosting – the rich Pharisees, the low-down tax collectors, or the
simple home of Mary and Martha are all good locations for a big meal.

And yet for all the meals Jesus shares, and all those he welcomes to
the table, I’ve realized something else: in all the Gospel stories,
Jesus never cooks! He doesn’t put out a big spread himself, or ever
throw a dinner party with the “least of these” as welcome guests.
Instead, Jesus seems to cook at about the same frequency that I do –
which is to say, NEVER.

There are two passages in scripture which might seem to contradict
this idea. The first is a passage in John which indicates that Jesus
might have cooked a little breakfast, but it’s not totally clear that
he did the actual preparation. Rather, he seems to have fed the
disciples a little fish and bread, probably with food he found in the
cupboard or prepared by someone else.

But the second passage where it seems that Jesus did do a LOT of
cooking is the famous story of the feeding of the five thousand – or
the four thousand, or the five thousand men plus women and children,
all of which are listed in the Gospel accounts of this story. It’s one
of the few tales that is retold in all four Gospels, and it’s so
impactful, it’s even mentioned twice in both Matthew and Mark! But in
the Gospel of Luke, this miracle sits center stage, because it’s this
miracle that convinces Peter and the other disciples that Jesus is the
Messiah. Even after witnessing multiple healings and raising someone
from the dead, it’s the feeding of thousands of people with only a few
loaves and fish that finally opens the disciples’ eyes to who Jesus
really is.

And yet again, Jesus doesn’t do the actual cooking at all! In each
version of this story, it is not Jesus who actually performs the
miracle, it’s the disciples. They come to Jesus at the end of the day
and advise that he should send this large group of people to town so
they can find food and lodging for the night. They smartly realize
that they don’t have enough food to feed all of them, and they
couldn’t afford to buy it even if they could find it. But Jesus’s
reply to them is striking; he says, “You give them something to eat.”
The disciples protest, but when they go to hand out food to the
people, they find themselves with more than enough. Jesus may have
blessed the food, but it’s the disciples’ actions that actually enact
the miracle.

In the last few months as the temporary pastor at Westminster, I have
witnessed the miraculous action of many of God’s disciples as this
church lives out our ministry in the community of Auburn. Even in the
midst of scarcity, the Westminster church family continues to live out
the calling of Christ to welcome all people to God’s table. I am so
grateful to have been given a seat, and will continue to enjoy the
bountiful blessings of this community.