Have you ever been unsure of who to sit beside in a cafeteria? Maybe you grabbed your tray of food and started walking toward a table then realized that you didn’t know anyone. Or maybe the people you knew didn’t have an open seat beside them. We like to eat with people we know—people we want to talk to, people we want to spend time with.
Eating with Jesus
Who you ate with was even more important in the ancient world. People in Israel were extremely picky about their dining company. Except for Jesus.
The Pharisees—one of the leading religious groups—were upset when they saw Jesus eating with tax collectors and sinners (Mark 2:15–16). Tax collectors were considered to be traitors and thieves. They worked for the Roman occupiers and they often demanded more money than they were required to collect. Sinners were people who broke God’s law either intentionally or unintentionally. Eating with tax collectors and sinners was scandalous behavior to the Pharisees. They would never associate with those kinds of people.
But Jesus didn’t only eat with the outcasts of society—he also ate with the big shots. In Luke 7, one of the Pharisees invited Jesus to dinner and Jesus went to his house and ate with him (v. 36). Four chapters later, Jesus receives the same invitation from another Pharisee and he eats with him as well (11:37). Keep in mind that Jesus had harsh things to say against the Pharisees, so by eating with them he wasn’t approving of everything they represented. But he was showing that he was willing to spend time with anyone who welcomed him.
As Jesus says in the last book of the Bible, “Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with that person, and they with me” (Revelation 3:20 NIV). Notice the word anyone. Jesus will eat with anyone who wants to eat with him. He doesn’t discriminate. And notice that he waits for us to open the door. He doesn’t force himself on us.
Even after Jesus was raised from the dead he still waited to be welcomed. As he walked with two of his followers “Jesus continued on as if he were going farther. But they urged him strongly, ‘Stay with us, for it is nearly evening; the day is almost over.’ So he went in to stay with them” (Luke 24:28–29).
What’s the big deal?
Jesus’ Birth
After narrating the angel’s message to Joseph about Jesus’ birth, Matthew quotes Isaiah’s statement, “They will call him Immanuel (which means, God with us)” (Matthew 1:23). The baby who became the young boy, who became the teenager, who became the adult, was God with us.
The opening chapter of John makes the same point by asserting that “the Word was with God and the Word was God” (John 1:1). “The Word was God.” But what else do we know about the Word? Thirteen verses later John states, “The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us” (v. 14). The Word, who is God, became human and lived with us. And that Word is Christ. As Paul says, “For in Christ the whole fullness of the Deity lives in bodily form” (Colossians 2:9). God came to be with us in the person of Jesus of Nazareth.
So the big deal with Jesus’ eating behavior is that it’s God’s eating behavior. God waits to be welcomed and God doesn’t discriminate.
Jesus’ Teaching
Ultimately, Jesus didn’t come to earth just to have a quick bite with us and then depart. When the time came for Jesus to ascend to his Father he commanded his followers to “go and make disciples of all nations.” And just like he assured the patriarchs and Moses and Joshua and Gideon, he assured his disciples, “I am with you always, to the very end of the age” (Matthew 28:20). So for the rest of their lives the disciples were assured that Jesus was with them although they could no longer see him.
Notice that Jesus said, “to the very end of the age” and not just “for the rest of your lives.” The promise of his presence goes far beyond the life span of the first disciples. The same presence of Christ that was with the disciples is with his followers today. God’s presence is not limited to a time period or a place. Though physically Jesus has left, he is with us by his Spirit whom he sent to take his place (John 14:15–18).
While God is with us now by his Spirit, Jesus promised his followers, “I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am” (John 14:3). Thirty years wasn’t enough; he wants to be with his followers forever. And just think of who these followers were. They were full of doubt—Jesus rebuked them for their lack of faith; they were proud—arguing about who was the greatest and trying to stop children from coming to Jesus; they were undisciplined—sleeping when they should have been praying; they were fearful—running away when Jesus was arrested, and they were disloyal—Peter denied that he knew Jesus. And these are the people that Jesus is going to prepare a place for and the people he wants to be with forever. Jesus wants to be with sinners who welcome him into their lives. And he wants to stay with them, forever.
Jesus’ prayer in John 17 gives us a glimpse into his heart. He prays, “Father, I want those you have given me to be with me where I am, and to see my glory” (v. 24). Can you feel his intense desire to be with his people in that statement? “Father I want them to be with me.”
The Book of Revelation
Finally, the Bible ends on a grand crescendo of this theme. After John sees the new heavens, the new earth, and the new Jerusalem coming down from heaven, he hears something.
And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Look! God’s dwelling place is now among the people, and he will dwell with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God” (Revelation 21:3).
Three times in this one verse the voice announces that God is finally and fully going to make his home with people. So here it is – a reason for all of human history, a reason for creation, a reason for suffering, a reason for the cross and resurrection of Christ. So God could be with us. And why? Because he loves us. Don’t you want to be with people you love?
God with us means God eating with sinners like us and God living with sinners like us. It means God making his home with us forever. That is the goal of human history. Why? Because God wants to be with us. From Genesis to Revelation, from the Garden of Eden to the eternal city of God, the entire Bible expresses this divine desire.
*This reflection is a part of The Heart of Scripture: God with Us.
After graduating from Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary, I served as a high school Bible teacher in Asia. I enjoy traveling, writing, and playing the drums. For a deep dive into church history and the character of God, see my book Surprised by Hell.