What foods did Jesus eat?
I recently had this discussion with someone. We guessed at various things, agreed on most, and disagreed on a couple. It can be an interesting thing to speculate about. I finally got around to googling it and found this little slideshow. It’s got what you’d expect – bread, grapes, lamb, olives, etc. Your typical first century Holy Land menu. One warning though: the picture of lamb is definitely a picture of chicken.
Actually, I think the more interesting question has to do with all the foods that Jesus didn’t eat during his earthly life. I mean, there’s a lot of stuff he never had. Popcorn, lasagna, cheeseburgers, popsicles, bratwurst, Hershey’s Kisses, Miller High Life…the list is endless.
Okay, so Jesus never had pizza. Not that interesting, you say. Fine, but – what if he did have pizza?
I mean, not down on earth, but after he ascended into Heaven. After all, Christ is fully human and has entered into our human experience to the utmost. He knows us more intimately than we do ourselves – our wants, our needs, our gifts, our sorrows – everything. So he must know our tastes too, including what foods give us the most happiness. Therefore (I know, this is some Summa-like logic at work) Jesus must at some point have tasted every food that any human has ever tasted. And really, truly, physically eaten it and chewed it and swallowed it.
Can’t you just picture the scene? It’s in Heaven. Jesus, Abe Lincoln, and Ricardo Montalban are sitting in center field playing legos and listening to the Eagles. St. Peter enters through a door in the ivy-covered brick wall of the outfield and walks over to Jesus.
“Okay, here’s a new one you have to try.”
“Why, what is it?”
“It’s good. They just invented it.”
“Who did?”
“Taco Bell.”
“Give it to me.”
Well, maybe. Who knows? Food for thought. Food for prayer too, because Jesus.