"Have you anything here to eat?"
Jesus has died and risen. The disciples are not at all sure what’s happened, because they knew he’d died and been laid in the tomb. Some returned to them explaining he’d returned but they could not believe. Or they dared not.
In the midst of this confusion, grief, disbelief, cautious hope, Jesus appears to the eleven. His first words to them? “Peace be with you”. Familiar words from him, and yet so ironic at this moment. He tries to convince them of his genuineness by showing them his pierced hands and feet. He says he’s not a ghost, as he has flesh and bones. They are increasingly believing him.
This is all hard for the disciples to believe. Hard for me to believe. To make this story stranger, Jesus then asks if they have something to eat. On one hand, if he’s human, it would make sense that he’s hungry. He’s had a busy few days presumably without food. On the other hand, if he’s God incarnate and has been raised from the dead, you’d think he been raised with a full stomach. Or at least without that pesky hunger.
They gave him fish and bread, and he ate in their presence. I can imagine they were more than a little perplexed, with this reincarnate teacher, flesh and bones, holes in his hands. After eating with them, Jesus opened their minds to the scriptures.
This odd detail, the “I’m a hungry reincarnated man”, makes me wonder about food and feeding.
Isn’t it us who are hungry? Who need to be nurtured by God’s word and Jesus’ presence? Was this Jesus’ way of showing us what our job is after he left his mortal life? We are to not only seek to be fed by God’s word, but also turn and offer that bread of life to anyone who asks? In this simple statement that Jesus is hungry, he gives the disciples their first opportunity to be the bearers of the food, to share the bread.
Which leads me to my other thought. Food and hunger are universal. Every family, language, people and nation have bread and have known hunger. Coming together with food is always a holy thing, even when we don’t say grace, or eat in the car with the kids on the way to soccer. God is always present when we gather to eat. This is what we believe when we celebrate Eucharist. Sometimes I wish it looked more like a feast. But Eucharistic feasts happen every day, with or without the consecrated bread.
Today, I want to be mindful of Christ’s presence at every meal. In every morsel of food I have and I share. I want to respond as the disciples did when Christ asks, “have you anything to eat?”
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