The Jesus Meal

There is something intimate about eating a meal with others. As one that has cooked professionally, I also understand the supreme value in serving others a meal that has been the culmination of much work. I used to work in a restaurant that would reflect many different nationalities and cultures but as they gathered at tables there would be more intimacy. There was a sense of knowing at each table. There is something special about a table.

This was true for those that gathered as the early church. One of their primary ways of reflecting their community was to gather around a table. This was for a variety of reasons. One, because they had already instilled in their culture a pattern of feasts. These feasts were replaced by the early church as a chance to also gather and share the eucharist (thanksgiving) meal. A second reason was that pattern set by Jesus with his disciples at the Last Supper. There was also a practical sense in which the gathering for a meal would mask the ulterior motives of worshipping to those that would do harm to Christians.

Whatever the reasons these Christians learned that intimacy at a table is not easy to achieve. Early on in the city of Corinth there were divisions among rich and poor. There were divisions between Jew and Gentile in other cities. The welcome of Jesus bringing the poor and destitute to the table was not always remembered. Which is why it was important to celebrate communion at meals. The bread and wine would be shared as a beginning and end to the meal of the gathered Christians. They would know that they were not just eating a meal but that they were sharing a "Jesus Meal".

This practice reminded them that their vices have been cured, their temptations have been turned, their passions restrained, grace has been dispensed freely, faith strengthened, love deepened, and forgiveness tasted.

Sure there were struggles. But then just as now God's gathered people wrestle through the differences to find unity in Christ Jesus. They remember his sacrifice, his obedience, his compassion, his redemption.

This is why the meal that is called communion, the Lord's Supper, the eucharist, is rightly the "Jesus Meal". A meal that is too important to be withheld from one another more than a week. It is an exercise in receiving grace that demands our attention.

This remembering is the foundation of our community and it is the beginning of our spiritual growth.