Thanks to the wonders of Google technology, I was able to share this with my friend Alison who, as the omnivorous daughter of missionaries, had some thoughts I promised to post. If jokes about Jesus being a vegetarian are your bag, then hit the jump.
Alison: But he ate fish! I’m pretty sure that means he was not a vegetarian.
Me: Some vegetarians eat fish. If they don’t know what the word “vegetarian” means.
Me: He’s going to eat that lamb, isn’t he?
Doesn’t Jesus eat fish after the resurrection, help the fisherman catch fish, and serve fish during the multiplication miracle?
First, regardless of whether the fish in these events are actual fish, Christians today must ask ourselves, considering the fact that we have absolutely no physical justification for consuming the flesh of any animals, why we would chose to do so.
Me: Whether they were actual fish?
Alison: can i interest you in a metaphorical fish?
Me: Are they implying that Swedish Fish were common in Roman-occupied Judea?
Additionally, there are no scriptures in which Jesus eats lamb, which he would surely have eaten at Passover, had he not been a vegetarian.
Alison: Have I told you about the meat I’ve eaten today? No? Then by this logic, I must be a vegetarian!
Me: Makes sense to me. Not mentioning it doesn’t mean it’s not there. Plus, the only Passover we see in scripture is the one where Jesus is trying desperately to get the fact that he’s about to be killed into the heads of his disciples. A lot of commentators like to note that the Bible doesn’t mention there being lamb at the table, and say that that’s because Jesus was trying to get them to understand that he himself was the sacrificial lamb.
Me: Steak of life? Can you imagine how expensive that would be for the church?
Alison: How about, “I am the tofu of life,” then, perhaps?
Alison: No, think about it: seitan = Satan. Therefore, Satan is a vegetarian, and thusly Jesus must not be. End of discussion.
Thanks for indulging me and letting me keep the promise I made to post that conversation. I’ll be back later this weekend with something lighter and another entry in 15 Books.