Dining with God: Introduction
Dining with God: Introduction.
“On this mountain in Jerusalem, Mt. Zion by name, the LORD of Heaven’s armies, Yahweh-Sabaoth, will spread an extravagant feast for all the people of the world. It will be a delicious banquet with elegant, well-aged wine and rich, choice meat, a feast of succulent food and the finest of vintage wines. On this mountain He will destroy the shroud of gloom that is draped over the earth, the shadow of death that covers all the faces of the nations. He will swallow up and destroy death forever!” (Isaiah 25:6).
“God and Man at Table Are Sat Down” (as recorded on the “Beloved Disciple” cd)
Food, Glorious Food. Is it true that food might be God’s favorite love language? It doesn’t seem we’d get any argument from Scripture. Creator God has been zealously cooking up every way possible to develop an intimate relationship with every person on the planet, and biblical history reveals that one of His main strategies is dining with us, enjoying a communal meal at the table, generating fellowship with us around food. The Bible time and again points us to the joy God must get when He eagerly creates all these opportunities to use food as the medium for personal communion with us. Is there any doubt that the dining table must be God’s favorite piece of furniture in His house? This only makes sense because, being made in God’s image, we were designed to experience with each other at the table such life-giving qualities as acceptance and forgiveness, nourishment and pleasure, belonging and protection, security and peace. We were made this way because God is this way and knows very well how to grow a friendship with each of us through the joyful ministry of the table.
God’s Word presents one proof after another of His zeal to dine with us and share life with us in this tangible way. He invites us to the Table of…
- Hospitality, such as with Abraham and Sarah in Genesis 18, providing an extravagant feast for three unexpected guests who turned out to be heavenly;
- Trust, such as in the Passover meal in Exodus 12, which was a family feast with roast lamb that was an act of homespun obedience as they sought God’s protection and guidance;
- Fellowship, such as with Jethro, Moses and the Elders of Israel in the wilderness in Exodus 18, enjoying the communal importance of taking the sacrificial meal together;
- Celebration, such as the mystical mountaintop meal on Sinai in Exodus 24, confirming the covenant marriage ceremony between Yahweh and His Chosen People in the mind-boggling presence of the Lord Himself;
- Showbread, the Tabernacle’s ‘Bread of Presence’ in Exodus 34 and Leviticus 24, graphically reminding Israel of God’s nourishing covenant and permanent provision for spiritual survival;
- Discipleship, such as the ‘Shema’ instructions in Deuteronomy 6, highlighting the home table as the family altar and teaching desk for learning about the faith and handing it down from parent to child;
- Renewal, such as the Messianic Banquet in Isaiah 25, celebrating the final fulfillment of God’s plan to redeem the whole world and confirm all the covenant promises of the Lord God;
- Communion, the covenant meal at the Lord’s Table for the Lord’s Supper in Matthew 26, the Eucharistic Feast, with Jesus offering Himself as the spiritual food needed to follow Him into the Kingdom;
- Love, such as the shared meals enjoyed by the burgeoning Jesus movement in the early Church, starting in Acts 2, in which the informal communal meals would include a more formal meal known as the Lord’s Supper;
- Joy, in the ultimate Feast, the Wedding Supper of the Lamb in Revelation 19, completely fulfilling the triumphant destiny of God’s people in His Kingdom’s Banquet Hall.
[Note: All the above biblical examples of God’s yearning to dine with us are discussed in the articles within the category “Dining with God” in this blog… christianrefuge.org].
Lord of the Feast. All the stories above, one way or the other, lead us eventually to the feet of Jesus Christ. Reflecting the very heart of God, the Son of God was all about food on His earthly mission as Savior, Redeemer and Friend. He created food, prepared food, ate food, multiplied food, talked about food, and finally, He became food, the Bread of Life, the Eucharistic Feast. This makes sense when we consider that Jesus was involved with everything basic to human existence. He drank, ate, slept, cried, laughed, worked, obeyed, bled, felt pain, and He died. His life was in most ways like your life and my life, including His dependence upon and appreciation of food… He told inspiring Kingdom stories about banquets, feasts, wedding meals, and prodigal celebrations. He built the reputation, earned or not, of a glutton. He performed His first miracle at a wedding feast in Cana. He invited Himself to lunch with a notorious scoundrel in Jericho. He described Himself as someone who keeps knocking on the door of our heart until we let Him in so He can enjoy a fellowship meal with us. He described Himself as the Hidden Manna and the Bread of Life. He multiplied fish and bread in the middle of nowhere with thousands of hungry listeners. He sat patiently at a couple of dinners as humble and thankful women anointed His feet. He healed a crippled man at a Sabbath meal in the full view of cynical religious leaders. He offered His flesh and blood as spiritual food at a meal, not at a seminar or theological classroom. He scarfed down some broiled fish with His disciples while in His resurrected body. He cooked and hosted a fish barbecue breakfast on the beach for His disciples after His resurrection. He revealed Himself at the breaking of bread in Emmaus. [Note: All these examples above regarding Jesus as ‘Lord of the Feast’ are discussed in the category called “Jesus and Food” in this blog].
“The inclusion of sinners in the community of salvation, achieved in table-fellowship, is the most meaningful expression of the message of the redeeming love of God.” (Theologian Joachin Jeremias, as quoted in Sitting at the Feet of Rabbi Jesus by Ann Spangler and Lois Tverberg).
True Companion. Perhaps the most endearing and powerful description of Jesus was “Friend of Sinners.” Isn’t it wonderful to know that the pure and spotless Son of God didn’t hesitate to embrace that character description? He loved eating with the riffraff, to be at table with them. He thought that sharing a meal was a sacred time of fellowship. It was a way to unite with people, to identify with them, to enjoy social interaction and deepen friendships. It was a natural part of Jesus’ personality that He broke bread with those on the margins and made them the center of His attention. After all, He knew what it felt like to be judged and rejected. Jesus found that the outcasts didn’t have any pretensions, they didn’t pretend to be holy or respectable. He found their authentic honesty to be refreshing. They thought that since they were already being judged for their actions, why bother hiding anything? They were used to living with the reality of their bad reputations, so why pretend otherwise? Jesus accepted them and went out of His way to build a sense of trust with the outcasts. He made it a practice to eat with anyone who invited Him to the table, Pharisee or sinner, clean or unclean. The Pharisees would only eat with the “clean” and those who completely obeyed their strict version of the Law. There were many religious sects, like the Essenes, who limited their table contact to those in their same little sect. But not our dear Savior. He touched the untouchable, He ate with the disreputable, He identified with the blessed forgotten. In terms of eternity, the table manners of Christ were impeccable. Jesus was everyone’s true ‘companion,’ which literally means “bread-fellow,” or “messmate,” or “the one with whom one shares food.” How’s that for revealing the merciful and gracious heart of the eternal God?
Emmanuel at our Table. How can we be assured of the joyous possibility that “God-with-us” includes at our dining table? Do we have to guess at Who is coming to dinner? A rabbinic tradition states that “When three eat at one table and bring up the words of Torah, it is as if they ate from the table of God, blessed be He.” Or put another way here, “Wherever two or three gather together in My name, there I am in their midst.” (Matthew 18:20). When we honor the Lord of the universe at a meal, we can bank on the fact that He is indeed present at our table. When we are thankful to Lord Provider for His provisions and sustenance, He is without any doubt whatsoever with us in our gratitude at the table. When we mentally and spiritually leave a chair open for God to join us at the table, He is more than happy to take His seat with us as we dine together with Him.
“Come, everyone who is thirsty! Come to the water! You without money, yes, come! Buy and eat! Come, buy wine and milk without money – It’s free! Why do you spend your money on junk food? Why do you spend your hard-earned cash for that which doesn’t nourish and gives you no pleasure? Listen carefully to me, and you will enjoy a sumptuous feast, you will delight in the finest of food. Incline your ear, pay attention, and come closer to me. Listen to me, that your whole being, your very soul, may flourish. I am making an everlasting covenant with you, the same promise of faithful mercies that I made with David.” (Isaiah 55:1-3).
Come & Dine (feat. Alex Vitug) (Live) – YouTube
“COME and DINE”
(Refrain) Come and dine, come and dine, you may feast at Jesus’ table all the time.
He who turned water to wine,
To the hungry, still He calls, Come and dine.
(1.) Jesus has His table spread, where the saints of God are fed,
He invites His people, Come and dine.
With His manna He doth feed and supplies our every need,
Tis sweet to sup with Jesus all the time.
(Refrain)
(2.) The disciples came to land, thus obeying Christ’s command,
For the Master called to them, Come and dine.
There they found their heart’s desire, with the fish upon the fire,
And He satisfies the hungry every time.
(Refrain)
(3.) Soon the Lamb will take His bride to be ever at His side,
All the host of heaven will assembled be.
Twill be a glorious sight, all the saints in spotless white,
And with Jesus we will feast eternally.
(Refrain).
(song by Charles Widmeyer, 1907; original title, “Jesus has a table spread”).