And Jesus Ate

I have now had a series of posts on whether Jesus ate animals – or, at the very least, enabled others to eat animals. And how the eating of animals featured in Jesus’ parables and stories.

I have noted that while many places portray Jesus eating bread and drinking wine, nowhere clearly states that Jesus ate an animals … until now.

There is only one place in the canonical gospels that shows Jesus eating an animals: Luke 24:42-43, but to really understand what is happening, let’s look at the broader passage.

It reads:

While they were talking about this, Jesus himself stood among them and said to them, “Peace be with you.” They were startled and terrified, and thought that they were seeing a ghost. He said to them, “Why are you frightened, and why do doubts arise in your hearts? Look at my hands and my feet; see that it is I myself. Touch me and see; for a ghost does not have flesh and bones as you see that I have. And when he had said this, he showed them his hands and his feet. While in their joy they were still disbelieving and still wondering, he said to them, “Have you anything here to eat?” They gave him a piece of broiled fish, and he took it and ate in their presence.”

Luke 24:36-42

And so, here we have it. The only place in the gospels that clearly articulates that Jesus ate an animal. What’s odd is that it only occurs in the post-resurrection appearances. Nowhere in the gospels does the reader find Jesus eating animals in his “regular” life. I would wager that the reason for not portraying Jesus eating animals before his death was that there was nothing special in him doing so; it would have been unremarkable. What would be the point of bringing it up? Here there is a clear point in bringing it up, however. Jesus appears to people after they know he had died. They have a very natural reaction to it: they think he is a ghost. Like to Thomas in the Gospel of John, he invites them to touch him to prove he is not a ghost. That is not good enough, so he asks for food and eats: something a ghost cannot do. The broiled fish also reminds one of the end of John, when Jesus cooks fish for his disciples – again after his resurrection (John 21:9-13).

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