“LET’S EAT!” The Significance of Sharing Meals Together
They broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts… – Acts 2:46
The “APPETIZER”
… CULTURE’S perspective
Rabbi Yehiel E. Poupko – “Jewish tradition recognizes a meal as a time for intimacy, fellowship, and significant conversation. Kindness is the basic mood of the Jewish meal. People are fed and nourished, and in this intimate setting people talk with each other about what matters.”
Dr. David Black – “The Jewish dinner table, far from being just a place to eat, was an opportunity for family fellowship, praise, worship, and instruction in the Word of God. With the family reclining at table, the father led in prayer, in the singing of songs, and in the instruction of the Torah. In other words, mealtime was a time of “doctrine, fellowship, the breaking of bread, and prayers”! … This may well strike us as odd in a day when family mealtimes have become rushed and sporadic. Our fast-paced lives have transformed the traditional mealtime from a time for family, food, and spiritually-minded fellowship into a come-and-go buffet table, often accompanied by one’s favorite TV program.”
The “MAIN COURSE”
… GOD’S perspective
Matthew 11:2-5 & 18-19 2 When John, who was in prison, heard about the deeds of the Messiah, he sent his disciples 3 to ask him, “Are you the one who is to come, or should we expect someone else?” 4 Jesus replied, “Go back and report to John what you hear and see: 5 The blind receive sight, the lame walk, those who have leprosy are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the good news is proclaimed to the poor… 18 For John came neither eating nor drinking, and they say, ‘He has a demon.’ 19 The Son of Man came eating and drinking, and they say, ‘Here is a glutton and a drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and sinners.’…”
Luke 15:1-2 1 Now the tax collectors and sinners were all gathering around to hear Jesus.2 But the Pharisees and the teachers of the law muttered, “This man welcomes sinners and eats with them.”
Luke 19:5 5 “Zacchaeus, come down immediately. I must stay at your house today.”
Luke 7:39 39 “If this man were a prophet, he would know who is touching him and what kind of woman she is – that she is a sinner.” – Pharisee after woman anoints Jesus feet
WAS THIS A TEST? WHAT WAS A SINFUL WOMAN DOING IN A
PHARISEE’S HOUSE? HOW DID SHE GAIN ACCESS?… HMMM.
THE LAST SUPPER
Acts 2:42 & 46 42 They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer… 46They broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts… (The early Church’s powerful beginning!)
The “DESSERT”
… OUR perspective
“THE LORD’S Table” (COMMUNION)
JESUS WELCOMES/INVITES US ALL AS SINNERS TO EAT WITH HIM
OUR tables!
WE ARE ALL SINNERS WELCOMED TO EAT WITH THE LORD TOGETHER.
WE INVITE YOU TO CONTINUE TO FELLOWSHIP WITH US IN THE DAYS TO COME… AND TO BE “NOURISHED” BY THE LORD WITH US!
“This man welcomes sinners and eats with them.”