Cooking in my opinion is a dreaded chore, but my late husband had a different perspective. He was the master chef, whose culinary creations were a way to show his love for the folks gathered at our table.
In the Gospels, Jesus also expresses his love at times through food. For example, when he brought a little girl back to life, he immediately told her parents, “Get her something to eat.” He also took pity on a huge, hungry crowd and fed them by multiplying a few loaves and fishes — and promised “Whoever comes to me will never hunger.”
My favorite scene in John’s gospel features Jesus standing on the shore of the Tiberius Sea, cooking fish over a charcoal fire. Seven of the disciples had been fishing all night and caught nothing, so I can imagine how disheartened they were. Then at dawn they spotted a man on the shore without realizing who he was.
“Children, have you caught anything to eat?” the man asks them, and when they say no, he tells them to cast the net over the right side of the boat. When they do this, the net miraculously becomes heavy with fish.
John is the first to recognize Jesus — “It is the Lord” — and Peter is so excited, he jumps from the boat and swims to shore. Jesus cooks some of the freshly caught fish, and adds bread to create a simple breakfast.
After the meal, Jesus asks Peter a somewhat startling question: “Do you love me more than these?” Peter replies, “Yes, Lord, you know that I love you.” Christ replies with a command: “Feed my lambs.”
When the question is repeated, Peter again professes his love, and Christ says, “Tend my sheep.” When Peter hears, “Do you love me?” a third time, he gets distressed: “Lord, you know everything; you know that I love you!” The command now is “Feed my sheep.”
When Jesus was arrested, Peter had three times vehemently denied knowing him — “I tell you, I don’t know the man!” — and afterward wept bitterly, when he realized what he’d done. Now Jesus shows forgiveness by letting him express his love, while also revealing Peter’s mission as head of the church.
Christ called himself the Good Shepherd, whose flocks followed him because they recognized his loving voice. He told his disciples that when they provided for hungry, naked, suffering people, they were ministering to him. “Whatever you do to the least of these my little ones, you have done unto me.”
Taking care of people became the central task of Christianity throughout the ages, and includes clothing, feeding and housing the poor, and nurturing the weak and little ones in the world. From this mission came hospitals, leper colonies, orphanages, homes for cancer and AIDS victims, and hospices.
Mother Teresa followed the mission by opening homes for the sick, destitute and dying. She said simply, “Jesus came into the world for one purpose: He came to give us the good news that God loves us. He wants us to love one another as he loves each one of us.”
Today, God still asks us, “Do you love me?” My prayer is that we will answer yes by helping the suffering people in our lives.
Lorraine’s email address is lorrainevmurray@yahoo.com.
