Jesus dinner

The concept grew out of circumstances.   Part of my duties at the U included going out to the Geriatrics center at East Ann Arbor (EAA).  Thursday afternoon was my clinic, and as I plied my way home along Plymouth Road, I passed by Plum Market, an upper crust grocery store.   I began to stop there, pick up a nice piece of fish from their counter, then a chunk of bread, maybe some wine, and venture home.  There, I’d throw the fish on the charcoal fire, then eat the result pushed around by the bread and washed down with the wine.  It didn’t take long for us to realize, who else eats like this?  All believers recall the post-resurrection Jesus encountering his disciples by a charcoal fire cooking fish (John 21:9).  And references to Jesus, bread, and wine are scattered throughout the gospels.

I haven’t been to EAA for close to 4 years. But Jesus dinner persists. Sometimes we venture outside the dietary laws and have shrimp or other shellfish, but Jesus never thought much of those laws (Mark 7:14-23). Our favorite dinner is salmon steaks, and I don’t think Jesus and his pals were pulling big pink fish out of the Red Sea. But the spirit lives on, and two juicy salmon steaks are on the grill as I type this. A loaf of Zingerman’s sourdough awaits, and we’ll pull some pinot out of the cellar. Of course, we’ll eat on the deck overlooking Northwest Ann Arbor when weather permits (like today) and enjoy the best music Spotify has to stream.

Praise God from whom all blessings flow.