Continued

1. THE GOSPEL ACCOUNTS

And to what shall I compare this generation? It is like children sitting in the marketplaces, who call out to the other, and say, ‘We played the flute for you and you did not dance; we sang a dirge, and you did not mourn.’ For John came neither eating nor drinking, and they say, ‘He has a demon!’ The Son of Man came eating and drinking, and they say, ‘Behold a gluttonous man and a drunkard, a friend of tax gatherers and sinners!’ And wisdom is vindicated by her deeds (Matt 11.16-19/ Luke 7.31-35).

Jesus was controversial at least in part because of his table manners. His ways of eating and drinking caused offense. Indeed, we see here a hint that certain people in Israel believe Jesus is worthy of death because of his dinner habits (Deu 21.20). Eating and drinking appears to be at the heart of His struggle with His contemporaries in First Century Palestine.

TO BE CONTINUED