Last week we considered the fact that Jesus would eat with sinners. As we continue our meditation on this, we should realize that this is a simple extension from the fact that He would eat with anybody.
The gospels are full of occasions where Jesus would eat in disreputable ways, and He told a number of His parables to involve meals and/or sinners. The meals are holy, but that does not mean they are cordoned off. The meals are holy, but the guest list sure isn’t.
Jesus calls Levi, a low-life tax-collector, to be a disciple, and attends a big blowout hosted by Levi (Mark. 2:13-17), and attended by a roomful of his collaborator friends. Jesus feeds the five thousand and the four thousand, and that would have been a mixed crowd for sure (Mark 6:30-44; 8:1-10). As we noted last week, Jesus was accused of being a glutton and a drunkard (Matt. 11:19), and this is not a reputation that one gets from living in a hermit’s cave. Jesus even eats with a Pharisee (Luke 7:36-50), and then a disreputable woman comes there to anoint Him. This is just a small sample.
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Jesus ate with the downtrodden and outcast. Jesus ate with those who patriotically hated their oppressors. Jesus ate with those oppressors. Jesus would eat with anybody.
This does not mean that you can live any old way you please and come to this meal—but not because you have to achieve a certain status before you come. You can be the worst loser ever and come—just read the gospels. But you cannot come and eat without being fed. And if you are fed, then you will be transformed. This is food for the recovering sick, and not the catered meal right before we hand out the trophies. This food is grace for you, not strict merit to you. So come then, and welcome.