Hello and welcome to our first series of 2025! At the close of 2024, we hinted at the mindset of feeding on Jesus, a phrase which you might have heard in church settings before, or that you may have heard me mention in the past. This phrasing can mean different things to people depending on upbringing or prior exposure to theologies, but the idea carries a very specific meaning in scripture.
As we saw previously, feeding on Jesus is a vivid picture portrayed in the scriptures in several different ways. So in this series we will look at these examples and explore what feeding on Jesus actually means, including applications in daily life.
Intro to the Story
The concept of feeding on Jesus is not a modern invention, it actually began with Jesus himself. In the Scriptures, we see Jesus telling parables about large banquets, as well as himself being the bread of life. Let’s take a look at these one at a time beginning with Luke 14:16-24:
“ 16Then said he to him, A certain man made a great supper, and bade many:
17And sent his servant at supper time to say to them that were bidden, Come; for all things are now ready.
18And they all with one consent began to make excuse. The first said to him, I have bought a piece of ground, and I must needs go and see it: I pray you have me excused.
19And another said, I have bought five yoke of oxen, and I go to prove them: I pray you have me excused.
20And another said, I have married a wife, and therefore I cannot come.
21So that servant came, and showed his lord these things. Then the master of the house being angry said to his servant, Go out quickly into the streets and lanes of the city, and bring in here the poor, and the maimed, and the halt, and the blind.
22And the servant said, Lord, it is done as you have commanded, and yet there is room.
23And the lord said to the servant, Go out into the highways and hedges, and compel them to come in, that my house may be filled.
24For I say to you, That none of those men which were bidden shall taste of my supper.”
There’s several points to consider here. We see that a man gave a great banquet and he invited many people. What’s interesting are the responses of the invitees. In verse 18, we see that all of those invited began to make excuses as to why they couldn’t come. This is unusual for several reasons… first we see from the previous verse, 17, that they were called to come at supper time — this was not some strange hour. But even more than that, in verse 16, we can see that they were invited. They knew what was going on, and when they were expected to come — so even if all of their reasons for not showing up were completely true, they would’ve known not to schedule things at the time of the invitation.
Now, the intriguing points don’t stop there because their excuses don’t make much sense either. The first invitee says: I bought a piece of land and I must go and see it. While the second invitee says, I have bought five yoke of oxen, and I’m going to prove (or test) them.
I ask you — who in their right mind would buy these things before inspecting them? That would be equivalent of someone buying a car before test driving it!
Another curious detail here is that, in verse 18, it mentions that they began to give excuse all with one consent — which seems to suggest this will all part of some plan or scheme to avoid this banquet. Isn’t that strange? Who doesn’t enjoy free food, and goes to such lengths to avoid it?!
The story really doesn’t make much sense, until we consider the spiritual parallels.
Jesus the Feast of Eternity
As I mentioned at the start, the idea of Jesus being the ultimate spiritual feast is nothing new… He actually taught this idea in various ways. For example, in John 6:35, Jesus says the following:
“And Jesus said to them, I am the bread of life: he that comes to me shall never hunger; and he that believes on me shall never thirst.”
And in John 6:51, again, Jesus says:
“I am the living bread which came down from heaven: if any man eat of this bread, he shall live for ever: and the bread that I will give is my flesh, which I will give for the life of the world.”
Notice that Jesus says that He is the living bread that came down from heaven, and that whoever eats of Jesus’ bread (which is His flesh that He gives) will live forever. So, this is a fairly clear picture of Jesus sacrificial atonement, and the redemption which He brings.
Now, let’s return to Jesus’ parable of the banquet feast, and examine it some more.
The people who were invited with one consent began to make excuse, very similarly to how the Pharisees were in agreement to refuse Jesus (Matthew 12:14) — but still we must ask why this is so; why were they making all of these excuses to get out of the banquet?
Even if they didn’t care much for the host or the other guests, most people would attend, even for a short while, just for the chance at some free food! So this only leaves two likely options… either they didn’t value the food itself, or they saw the banquet is truly unimportant. And this gets to the heart of the issue.
There are those who value other things, even their own self effort above that of Jesus. And likewise there are those who see Jesus as entirely uninteresting and unimportant.
As we continue throughout this series, the goal is for us to truly savor Jesus. This will not be a speed-run, and we will be taking time to thoroughly meditate on several key aspects.
I hope you’ve enjoyed this introduction. And that I look forward to thriving with you again.
Be blessed.
No responses yet