What did Jesus Mean About Eating and Drinking? (Matthew 11:18-19)

As we can see from the context Jesus is speaking about the ministry of John the Baptist, his forerunner, and what people thought about both Jesus and John. There were several differences between Jesus and John that were easy for onlookers to recognize and assess for an opinion. And we can see that Jesus knew about them and summarized them in the verses that we will consider in this sermon. In them, Jesus says, ‘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, “Look at him! A glutton and a drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and sinners!” Yet wisdom is justified by her deeds.

The Son of Man

Jesus refers to himself many times by this title, the Son of Man. Indeed he does this so often that some scholars have deduced that     it was his favourite title for himself. Where did this title come from? It would have come from the Old Testament. There are four uses that we can refer to briefly.

First, there is a reference in Psalm 8 where David is reflecting on the position given to Adam at his creation by God. In that psalm, David is thinking about the goodness of God to someone who was a mere creature. Although he was a mere creature, we should also remember that he was the head of creation, with all other earthly creatures subject to him. So the title ‘Son of Man’ is a claim to being the Lord of creation.

A second use of the title is found in the book of the prophet Ezekiel where God addresses the prophet several times by this title. A prophet in Israel was a divine spokesman, one who passed on to others the will of God. Sometimes the prophet would make predictions and at other times he would remind people what God has said. So the title ‘son of man’ is a claim to be a spokesman for God, and when applied to Jesus it means that he is the spokesman for God.

A third use of the title is found at the close of Psalm 80, in verse 17. In that psalm, the author laments the decline of the kings of Israel. The Davidic line, which had begun with so much promise through David and Solomon, had become very weak. So the psalmist calls on the people to join him in prayer for the ‘Son of Man’ at God’s right hand, that is the ruler of God’s kingdom, a prayer for a king who would fulfill all that was promised.

A fourth use of the title is found in Daniel 7. In that chapter the prophet receives a vision of a future day when one like a Son of Man will approach the eternal throne of God and received from him universal dominion. We know that this vision was actually a prophecy of the ascension and exaltation of Jesus, describing how he would come to have universal dominion.

Of course, Jesus knew those Old Testament passages. Some scholars suggest that he chose the title ‘Son of man’ because it was enigmatic. I am not sure about that suggestion because anyone who knew the Old Testament would be able to make the above connections. In using this title, Jesus was claiming to be the Lord of creation, the spokesman for God, the ruler of God’s kingdom and the inheritor of the eternal kingdom yet to be set up.

Eating and drinking

How would we expect such a dignified person to describe himself? If an important person were to arrange a visit to Inverness he or she would focus on her prominent qualities. Is Jesus doing that here? I would suggest that he is when he says that he came eating and drinking. So what is he saying about himself? Here are four suggestions.

When Jesus says that he came eating and drinking, he was confirming that although he is God he also is a real man. Because that is the case, he needed to have physical nourishment every day. There were occasions when he was hungry and there were occasions when he had a special meal. It is important to recognise the genuineness of Jesus’ humanity.

Jesus is also stressing another important aspect of his humanity, and it is connected to his religious practices, or we might say his consecration to do God’s will. He was very different from his forerunner John, whom he describes as not eating and drinking. Jesus is not condemning John for his practices because some of them were connected to the Mosaic law and the religious requirements of those who were termed Nazarites. But Jesus modelled a religious practice that was connected to the Christian age rather than to the age of the ceremonial law. John announced that a new order was coming, but Jesus both announced it and lived according to its principles.

Nevertheless, Jesus affirmed that, like John, he was criticised by others. John was criticised because he did not eat and drink and Jesus was criticised because he did eat and drink. Here Jesus is saying, is he not, that whenever someone does something for God he or she should expect to be criticised. He is also saying that people should not pay too much heed to such criticisms. Actually, Jesus is saying that when such criticisms occur, just keep on doing what you were doing for God. He did not suggest that John should change, nor did he change his own practice.

We have heard the story of D. L. Moody when someone criticised his methods of evangelism. His response was to ask the critic about his method and the critic revealed that he did not have one. Moody responded by saying that he preferred his poor effort to the non-existent effort of the critic. Sometimes, an adjective is put in front of the noun criticism and by using the word it is assumed that somehow it becomes constructive criticism. No doubt that may happen, but it has been my experience over the decades that what many described as constructive criticism actually were nothing more than hobby horses. How do I know that? Because I did it myself and I am ashamed now of the pointless comments I made about the work that someone else was doing for the Lord. But it has had one benefit. I no longer listen to hobby horses, whether my own or someone else’s.

What else does this self-description of Jesus indicate? It shows us that he loved the company of others. In this he was expressing obedience to the commandment that one should love one’s neighbours and spend time with them when appropriate. People got to know Jesus in a relaxed manner as they listened to and interacted with him at meals.

His choice of friends

We can see from verse 19 that Jesus was aware of what the malicious opinions of his critics were. Yet as we can see, there is a wonderful statement of truth in their accusation, although they did not realise what they were saying. The wonderful statement is that Jesus was a friend of outcasts from the religious community. Tax collectors were outcasts because they worked for the Roman authorities and sinners were outcasts because their behaviour had made them unclean in the eyes of the self-righteous. They were unclean from the point of view of God’s Word, but it encouraged such to repent of their wrongdoing.

How did Jesus show himself to be a friend at those meals? Here are three aspects of what he did. First, he accepted what they did for him, whether they were the hosts or the guests or merely observers. One of the beautiful factors in those meals is the way he appreciated expressions of worship and gratitude from women with whom others would not be seen in daylight. Another occasion in which his grace and willingness to participate is seen is in his strong desire to share in the meal in the home of Zacchaeus, the converted tax collector. Those examples reveal to us that as the friend of sinners Jesus was impartial. They could be rich or poor, socially acceptable or beyond the fringe, for him or against him, he would eat with them.

Of course, Jesus did not go to those meals to discuss earthly situations unless they had a bearing on what he wanted to say about the kingdom of God. His goal and achievement in every such situation was to communicate truth about his mission of mercy, to inform his listeners about the heavenly Father’s great heart of love, and to illustrate, often by stories, of what salvation from sin would mean. In addition to being impartial, Jesus was informative at those meals.

There was a third feature of his participation in meals and it was to invite those with him to become his followers. We can put it this way. Jesus wanted all who sat with him at earthly meals to yet sit with him at the eternal banquet, the marriage supper of the Lamb, and there sit down with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob in the endless feast. Those pictures of heaven remind us of its fullness, its pleasantness, its satisfaction and its participants. I wonder how many of those who sat with him at earthly meals will be with him in new world that he will introduce.