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Mauro Pesce and Adrianna Desto,Encounters with Jesus: The Man in
His Place and Time.
Fortress Press, 2011.
Chapter Four
Jesus seems to have spent a lot of time at the table and he
related a number of parables in the
context of meals and in meal settings (banquets, etc.). Hence,
in this chapter, he and D.
investigate the importance of Jesus and eating (with his
followers and others).
P.and D. wish us to know that
Jesus custom of eating along the road is particularly important
(p. 85).
Why? Because it illustrates both Jesus constant movement and his
interest in including asmany as possible in his circle of
fellowship. So he is found, according to Luke, not washing his
hands and thereby not distinguishing himself from the common
people to which he wishes to
appeal.
In the Gospel of John the first of Jesus signs is in the setting
of a banquet and the final
redactional move posts him in another meal setting. This
indicates, it seems, that for John
The shared meal is the most appropriate symbol to express [the
life that Jesus
leads in common with his followers| (p. 90).
Interestingly, when it comes to their look at the feeding of the
multitude, P.and D. opine
The supreme ideal in Jesus eyes seems to be that anyone who is
in distressshould be able to have his needs supplied through the
work of God. The question
of righting the imbalances in society is absent (p. 91).
As an aside, it seems quite plain that P. is perfectly correct
and Jesus had no interest in
transforming society. He wished to transform people.
Before the chapter concludes P. and D. drop something of a
bomb:
Jesus may well have regarded commensality as the strongest form
of social
gathering. In other words, it was more important even than the
gatherings in
the synagogue and the Temple. Jesus regarded eating as the
principal context for
inclusion rather than exclusion (p. 96).
Too, Jesus is seen to be the authentic originator of a special
commemoration which came to be
known as the Eucharist.
Many will find the bold claims of P. and D. nearly unpalatable
but their reasoned argumentation
and substantive evidence (which of course are only glanced at
and not fleshed out here in a
