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He Reclined At The Table With Them - Luke 24
He Reclined At The Table With Them - Luke 24
“When He had reclined at the table with them, He took the bread and blessed it, and breaking it, He began giving it to them. Then their eyes were opened and they recognized Him; and He vanished from their sight. (Luke 24:30-31).
Eating with some in the first century was a big thing! Phillip J. Long commented:
| “Table Fellowship in Judaism was a complex and important issue for the observant Jew, especially those of the Pharisaical party. Jacob Neusner has studied the rabbinical traditions that appear to come from the Pharisees. He notes that of the 341 rulings that go back to the Pharisees, 229 are related to table fellowship. For this reason, he says that the Pharisees might be considered an “eating club!” |
Luke returns to such action by Jesus of eating with others many times!* The public eating together was a sign of approval and acceptance. The world of the first century was enamored with the idea of ‘status’, and eating with someone was a way of showing such. This posed a problem for Jesus as he often ignored social customs such as these. Thus, eating with tax collectors and sinners was unthinkable for a religious leader, except Jesus did it anyway!
On one occasion, Jesus was eating with a bunch of tax collectors. Luke records:
“The Pharisees and their scribes began grumbling at His disciples, saying, “Why do you eat and drink with the tax collectors and sinners?” And Jesus answered and said to them, “It is not those who are well who need a physician, but those who are sick. “I have not come to call the righteous but sinners to repentance.” (Luke 5:30-32).
Jesus did eat with tax collectors and ‘sinners’, and even Pharisees and others, but He used such eating times as an opportunity to try and bring people back to God. He called them to repentance. He showed that they were acceptable to God IF they would return through the way of faith and repentance.
Would Jesus recline at our table with us? Of course, but He would instruct us to repent of any wrongs in our lives. Are you as willing to hear His call to repentance as you would be to eat with Him?
Hugh DeLong
*Here is a chart on eating in the gospel of Luke
Scripture | Meal | Participants |
5:27-32 | Banquet at Levi’s House | Tax collectors and sinners |
7:36-50 | Dinner at Simon’s House | Pharisees, guests, and sinful woman |
9:10-17 | Feeding the 5,000 | Disciples and Crowds |
10:38-42* | Hospitality at the home of Mary and Martha | Mary and Martha |
11:37-52 | Dinner at a Pharisee’s House | Pharisees and Lawyers |
14:1-24 | Sabbath Meal at a Pharisee’s House | Pharisees, Lawyers, and guests |
19:1-10* | Hospitality at the home of Zacchaeus | Zacchaeus |
22:14-38 | The Last Supper | The Apostles |
24:28-32 | Breaking Bread at Emmaus | Two Disciples |
24:36-43 | Jesus Eats Meal in Presence of Disciples | Two Disciples |
* This meal is implied in the narrative.
Chart by Jeremy Sweets, https://theologicalsweets.wordpress.com/2011/07/24/meals-in-lukes-gospel/
