The hungry Christ

Photo: iStock

WHEN we look at the Resurrection appearances of Jesus, we are often transfixed by those of the first morning – the garden scenes. Or the appearance in the Upper Room. Or the delight that is the story of the Road to Emmaus.

At the end of Luke’s Gospel after the Emmaus story when Jesus appears to His followers at some late hour, scaring the wits out of them yet again, Jesus seeks to convince them that He is real and present. ‘Get a hold of Me’, He challenges them.

If that were not enough, Jesus goes on to say: “Have you anything here to eat?”

They give Him a piece of grilled fish, which He took, and ate. If we take the story at face value, it’s the first thing Jesus ate since the Last Supper four days before.

At the end of John’s Gospel, some time after Easter Day and this time by the Galilee, Jesus is on the shore, grilling fish in the morning for breakfast, which He then shares with the wondering disciples.

In the way we live our faith, if hospitality is to play its part, we not only have to contend with the hunger and thirst of all God’s children and their need to be fed and found a place at the table, we also need to contend with the hungry Christ. Read through the gospels and count up the number of times Jesus is found eating.

In the fields, in the houses of pharisees and friends, at a supper in an upper room, a home in Emmaus, a sea shore with grilled fish. Dying on the cross, Jesus said He thirsted. In the upper room on Easter evening, Jesus said He was hungry.

What do we do with the thirsty, hungry Christ? How do we respond to the thirsty, hungry Jesus?

We feed Him. We invite Him to our tables. We sit down and eat with Him, and talk, and listen, and share, and bless. We find ourselves not only feeding Him, but feeding those around Him. In the act of hospitality, we meet the needs of our guests, and in meeting their needs, we meet our own.

Guest and host, provider and provided for, are caught up together in the act of hospitality. If we do it for the least of them, we do it for Christ Himself.

Hospitality, ours and Christ’s, addresses real needs: hunger and thirst. The practice of hospitality is found throughout the gospels, with Jesus playing the roles of a stranger, a host, and a guest. We are given examples of how to do a better job of welcoming our neighbours into the life of our Church and our community. It is a challenge that is particularly daunting in a society that appears increasingly fractured generationally, culturally, economically and politically. It is challenging to keep inviting people to join with us to eat and drink who are suspicious of our motives and will often continue hungry than eat with us. Life is a banquet, but most people are still starving to death for nourishment of the body, mind, heart and soul.

Christ not only shows us that we should provide for others through our hospitality, but that it is all right to acknowledge His hunger, and our own, and to meet that hunger when and where we can. For food and drink; for forgiveness and hope; for peace and kindness; for justice and love.

We have much to learn from the hungry Christ. ¤

The Very Rev Dr Derek Browning is minister at Edinburgh: Morningside