Thursday, November 10, 2011

Eating With Jesus as Entering the Kingdom

Anderson Gardens,
Rockford, Illinois
Richard Bauckham writes:

"While the Pharisees turned ordinary meals into a practice of ritual holiness, Jesus turned ordinary meals into a practice of the coming of God’s kingdom. They were especially suitable for this purpose because a familiar image of the messianic age to come was the great banquet that God would host, where all his faithful people would sit together with the patriarchs Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. In Jesus’ practice of meal fellowship, he, so to speak, goes ahead with the love of God to welcome to the banquet everyone who will accept the invitation. Eating with Jesus was virtually tantamount to entering the kingdom and sitting at table with the patriarchs." (Bauckham, Jesus: A Very Short Introduction, pp. 46-47; emphasis mine)

I'll be breakfasting with Jesus to begin my day.