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Published online by Cambridge University Press: 01 January 2024
This paper explores the meal scenes in Mark's gospel and examines the theme of Divine Hospitality in the Old Testament. In doing so, a connection is made between the table fellowship of Jesus and the Kingdom of God. The article concludes by reflecting upon ecclesiological practices of the Eucharist in light of the inclusivity of table fellowship. The argument is that by attending to the meal scenes in the gospel of Mark, an understanding of the Kingdom of God manifests and should shape the way the Church practices hospitality.
1 Bartchy, S.S., “Table Fellowship,” in the Dictionary of Jesus and the Gospels, eds. Green, Joel B., McKnight, Scot (Downers Grove: IVP Press, 1992) p. 796Google Scholar.
2 See Chart in Neufeld, Dietmar, “Eating, Ecstasy, and Exorcism (Mark 3:21),” in Biblical Theology Bulletin Vol. 26, (1996) p. 158. 3CrossRefGoogle Scholar.
3 esthio 27x in Mark 1:6 (Baptist asceticism); 2:16 (Jesus & disciples contrasted to John), 26; 3:20 (not eating); 5:43 (ordered the girl something to eat); 6:31, 36, 37, 42, 44 (feeding of the 5,000); 7:2–5 (not following custom), 28 (Jesus’ response to Syrophoenician Woman); 8:1–2, 8; 11:14; 14:12, 14 (feeding of 4,000), 18 (eating with the betrayer), 22. Alongside these simple meanings, the verb can be translated to reflect its social element as have a meal, dine; See also Balz, and Schneider, , Exegetical Dictionary of the New Testament Vol 2 (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1993) pp. 58–60Google Scholar.
4 Stallman, Robert C., Divine Hospitality in the Pentateuch: A Metaphorical Perspective on God as Host, PhD Dissertation (Westminster Theological Seminary, 1999) p. 271Google Scholar. Cf. Stallman, , “Divine Hospitality and Wisdom's Banquet in Proverbs 9:1–6,” in The Way of Wisdom: Essays in Honor of Bruce K. Waltke, ed. Packer, J.I. & Soderlund, Sven, pp. 117–133 (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2000)Google Scholar; See also, Pohl, Christine D., Making Room: Recovering Hospitality as a Christian Tradition (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1999) pp. 27–29Google Scholar.
5 Bartchy, p. 796. This view is prevalent also in Chilton, Bruce D., A Feast of Meanings: Eucharistic Theologies from Jesus Through Johannine Circles (Brill Academic Publishers, 1997) pp. 13–74Google Scholar.
6 Neyrey, Jerome H., “Ceremonies in Luke-Acts: The Case of Meals and Table Fellowship,” in The Social World of Luke-Acts: Models for Interpretation (Peabody: Hendrickson, 1991) p. 364Google Scholar. See also Kingsbury, Jack DeanConflict in Mark: Jesus, Authorities, Disciples, (Minneapolis: Fortress, 1989) pp. 11–21Google Scholar.
7 Sanders, E.P., Jesus and Judaism (Philadelphia: Fortress, 1985) p. 187Google Scholar. Contra Jeremias’ claim that “all Pharisees were haberim and all haberim Pharisees.”
8 Sanders, p. 210. The haberim handled and ate food in ritual purity, but they did not think that the failure to do so was a sin.
9 Thank you to Jeffrey T. Byrnes for his rigorous editing, Nathan Kerr, and one anonymous reader who provided helpful feedback on and earlier draft of this essay; I am grateful to each.
