The Bible begins not in a flower garden, but in one flourishing with fruits and vegetables and herbs.
Abraham welcomes three heavenly guests with a picnic of fresh bread, roasted meat, and cheese.
Joseph—before revealing his true identity to his brothers—invites them to sit down to what must have been the most extravagant meal of their lives.
The Hebrews’ exodus from Egypt was marked by an intentionally hasty meal.
It’s nearly impossible to think of the wilderness wandering without thinking of manna and quail and water spewing from rock.
Daniel’s vegetarian diet is such a notable feature that it has spawned a popular modern diet.
Jesus began his public ministry by turning water into wine.
Jesus fed thousands of people at a time, and on more than one occasion.
Jesus got in plenty of trouble with the religious elite for his dinner parties with tax collectors and sinners.
More than a few of Jesus’ parables culminate in a raucous feast.
His final Passover Meal with his disciples’ was the institution of the Sacrament of Holy Communion.
The risen Jesus prepares breakfast on the beach for his friends.
And the great eschatalogical hope, as expressed in Revelation, can only be best described as a wedding banquet.
Again, there is a lot of food in the Bible. I say this as plainly as I can only to hopefully make the point unmistakable: If it’s there, it’s there for a reason. If we rush past all the smells and tastes and textures, if we pass over meals as mere colorful details in order to get on to the more “important” or “spiritual” matters, I suspect we may miss much of the point.
Food is much more than nourishment.
Robert Farrar Capon says it best:
To be sure, food keeps us alive, but that is only its smallest and most temporary work. Its eternal purpose is to furnish our sensibilities against the day when we shall sit down at the heavenly banquet and see how gracious the Lord is. Nourishment is necessary only for a while; what we shall need forever is taste. The Supper of the Lamb
See Exodus 12:29-42.