Thanksgiving

10 Lessons from Jesus' Table

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.

Most of us eat three meals a day. Over the span of a year, that’s 1,095 meals. In the book of Luke alone, there are 10 stories of Jesus dining with various people. Let’s look at each of these meals and what they could mean for you. 1. Dining with the enemy — Luke 5:27-32 In Jesus’ time, tax collectors were pretty much hated by the people. These were Jews who were taking advantage by collecting Rome’s taxes plus a surcharge to line their own pockets (Luke 19:8). To many, they were considered “outsiders” and just as much enemies as the Romans. Jesus eating a meal with a tax collector would be like you having dinner with a loan shark. How would your friends and family react to that? We know that Jesus wasn’t just responding to an invitation; he sought Levi out and had a purpose in mind: “Later, as Jesus left the town, he saw a tax collector named Levi sitting at his tax collector's booth. ‘Follow me and be my disciple,’ Jesus said to him” (Luke 5:27, NLT). Jesus wanted this man — this enemy of the people — to be saved. Each of us, before we came to Christ, were God’s enemies (Romans 5:10). But God loved us so much that he not only wanted to make us friends, but he also wanted to make us family (Ephesians 1:5). Think about it... 2. The uninvited guest — Luke 7:36-50 Have you ever hosted a dinner party only to have someone unexpected (and possibly unwanted) show up? Jesus went to Simon the Pharisee’s house for a prestigious dinner, where topics of the day were to be discussed. Since the dining areas in the homes of the elite were often partially open to the street, the public could listen to the conversations.

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Enter the “sinful woman” (7:37). She crossed the invisible barrier into the invited, elite space and shocked all in attendance with her actions. Although self-righteous Simon was indignant, Jesus welcomed her because he saw her heart. She was coming to seek forgiveness. Jesus was often interrupted in his ministry — from those who called out for help from the sidelines or touched him in a crowd. He wasn’t angry with any of them for messing with his agenda. Instead, he had compassion and stopped to meet their needs. Think about it... 3. Feeding the hungry — Luke 9:10-17 In Luke’s account, 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. In Matthew 25 Jesus reveals that those who truly know him serve others in very real ways, such as feeding the hungry and giving a drink to the thirsty. This can apply to serving food to the homeless or simply finding out if someone who’s visiting you might be thirsty. Meeting the basic physical needs of people often ministers more than words and ultimately gives you a kind of integrity that can lead to a deeper conversation. Think about it... 4. Smell the roses — Luke 10:38-42 Just like us, Jesus had friends. Siblings Lazarus, Mary and Martha were dear to him and no doubt he enjoyed getting together with them. Martha — the hostess with the mostest — was working hard to prepare a good meal for Jesus. 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. The problem wasn’t the work. It was that she was so busy she was going to miss the purpose: spending time with Jesus. Whether you’re having friends over for dinner or serving at church, make time to enjoy the people you’re serving. Consider taking that five-course meal down a notch, because it’s the laughs and the meaningful moments that are most memorable. Think about it... 📷 5. 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. Jesus, always perceptive, saw their error wasn’t about hygiene but about the heart: “You Pharisees are so careful to clean the outside of the cup and the dish, but inside you are filthy — full of greed and wickedness! Fools! Didn’t God make the inside as well as the outside?” (Luke 11:39-40, NLT). When your guests come over — or when you’re considering whether to invite someone — what are you looking at? The perception of holiness is sadly often tied to outward appearance. The heart of a godly or truth-seeking person isn’t subject to clothing, style or even personal care. 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 (Ephesians 5:26). Think about it... 6. Consider your conversation — Luke 14:1-24 When Jesus accepted a dinner invitation to the home of a Pharisee, he came prepared to speak on the hot topics of the day: working on the Sabbath, places of honor (at the table) and who gets to sit at God’s banquet table. Hot topics and touchy subjects still come up at the dinner table today. How do you deal with them? When Jesus had a point to make on a difficult subject, he didn’t go into a long, drawn-out monologue. He asked well-thought-out questions that engaged people and told interesting stories (parables) to make a complex subject understandable.

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His words were grounded in a solid understanding of the Word and a deep desire to bring people into right relationship with God. Think about it... 8. Put your guests first — Luke 22:14-38 Jesus’ last supper — the Passover meal — with his disciples is filled with meaning. The scene that is set reveals that Jesus is the lamb of God, that in Christ there is a new covenant, and that we are to remember his sacrifice through communion (Luke 22:14-38). Jesus is clearly the center of this meal. Yet 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. Think about it... 10. Serve comfort food — Luke 24:36-43 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. Then Jesus “opened their minds to understand the Scripture” (Luke 24:45, NLT). 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 work day or soothing an aching heart. Think about it...

Jesus’ table calls all to come and dine, to feast on who he is and learn

One of my favorite meal scenes in all of Scripture occurs on the banks of the Sea of Galilee after the resurrection of Jesus. It’s recorded in John 21. After a futile night of fishing, the disciples encounter Jesus, who calls out to them from the shore. Acting impulsively, as always, Peter dives into the water fully clothed in an effort to get to Jesus. As he emerges from the sea, dripping wet, he moves toward Jesus, who has made a fire on the beach. And at that moment he smells a hauntingly familiar smell. The word that John the storyteller uses to describe the fire that Jesus made is a word that occurs in only one other place in Scripture—earlier in his own story (John 18:18). There the word used is of the fire where Peter and the others warmed themselves on the night of Jesus’s arrest and trial. The charcoal fire of John 18:18 was the place of Peter’s denial. For Peter, shame had a smell—that of burning charcoal. But the charcoal fire of John 21 is the place of Peter’s restoration. The simple invitation of Jesus to his friend is, “Come and have breakfast” (21:12).

The table is the place where broken sinners find connection and belonging. Despite our best intentions, we all, like Peter, stumble after Jesus. We desperately need people who will journey with us in our stumbling. We need to recover table fellowship as a spiritual discipline in order to strengthen the bonds of spiritual friendship among believers who are walking together on the road of discipleship