Jesus' eating transgressions and social impropriety in the gospel of Mark: a social scientific approach

Biblical Theology Bulletin, Spring, 2000 by Dietmar Neufeld

Abstract

Food events are an integral feature of the Markan narrative. Frequently they provide the occasion during which serious controversy erupts over certain, significant religious practices in Judean society. This article seeks to interpret these food incidences and the debate they generate from the perspective of social-scientific categories. Accordingly, the themes of food, eating, and household are set into the dynamic context of an anthropology of eating, honor/shame, and kinship/household. Eating and food in the world of antiquity furnish a menu in which to debate and redefine intensely held beliefs concerning holiness/purity, gender, and group identity, where honor and shame, their loss and gain, were at stake. Food events provide an opportunity for Mark to portray Jesus in fierce debate with the religious elite from which he emerges an honorable man but for which he is eventually executed. Eating and food are occasions for Mark to present Jesus, not only as popular hero, but also as subversive sage.

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There is a remarkable degree of consensus in scholarship that food, eating and table etiquette play a significant role in the unfolding drama of Jesus' life. In the words of D. Smith, the significance of meals and fellowship "in scholarly reconstructions of the historical Jesus can be seen by the fact that a wide variety of scholars who disagree on virtually everything else include this motif in their respective pictures of the historical Jesus" (466). M. Borg argues that "one of the most conspicuous and controversial aspects of the Jesus movement ... was its table fellowship ... that was perhaps the central feature of his work" (78-79) J. D. Crossan observes that "meals, shared table fellowship, and commensality play an important role in the life of the historical Jesus (Crossan: 341; Klosinski: 3; Bartchy: 796-800). More recently, in a series of articles on meals, food and table fellowship, J. H. Neyrey remarks, "meals, food, table etiquette, and commensality remained a constant problem in the traditions ascribed to Jesus (Neyrey 1996:159).

The following collection of data indicates that Mark paid particular attention to issues of food, eating and table fellowship. Afros (bread) appears eighteen times, scattered evenly throughout the narrative of Mark (Mk 2:26; 3:20; 6:8, 37, 38, 41, 44; 6:52; 7:2, 27; 8:4, 5, 6, 14, 16, 17, 19; 14:22). Oikos (house) appears twelve times (Mk 2:1; 11, 26; 3:20; 5:19, 38; 7:17, 30; 8:3, 26; 9:28; 11:17; 14:14). Esthio (I eat) is mentioned on twenty-five occasions (Mk 1:6; 2:16, 26; 3:20; 5:43; 6:31, 36, 37, 42, 44; 7:2, 3, 4, 5, 28; 8:1, 2; 11:14, 12; 14:12, 14, 18, 22), and deipnon (meal) on two (Mk 6:21; 12:39). Of note is that the themes of food, eating and house arouse considerable passion. These themes instigate fierce debates about questions related to the issues of purity and the Sabbath (Mk 2:23-28; 7:1-6, 17-23). They evoke laughter and ridicule on occasions of healing (Mk 5:35-43). The eating habits of Jesus provoke accusations of sorcery, gluttony and madness (Mk 3:20-30--see Neufeld: 152-62). During the feeding of the crowds the misunderstanding and thickheaded incomprehension of the disciples emerge to the shame of Jesus (Mk 6:30-44; 8:14-21). The themes give rise to expressions of incredulity and astonishment from the hometown folk: "Where did this man get all this? What is the wisdom that has been given to him? Is not this the carpenter, the son of Mary and the brother of James and Joses and Judas and Simon, and are not his sisters here with us? And they took offense at him" (Mk 6:1-3). Ultimately, while Jesus is seated at table in a setting of intimacy and trust, betrayal takes place (Mk 14: 17-21). The responses run the whole gamut from amazement to open hostility and treachery (accusations of madness, rejection, misunderstanding, betrayal and execution). In contrast to Jesus' family, the crowds, the religious elite, and the socially sanctioned eating etiquette they support, the eating behavior of Jesus and his associates constantly lands them in circumstances of conflict.

The author of Mark uses the medium of eating habits, food sharing, and the household to dispute conventional displays of honor in areas such as religious tradition, practices of piety, communal identity, gender, and holiness. At stake is one's honor. The religious elite, therefore, puts to Jesus aggressive public challenges designed to undermine his rising fame, which when unstoppable, eventually leads some of them, on grounds of envy (phthonos), to plot his death and hand him over to the authorities for trial and execution (Mk 15:10).

Food, Eating, and Meals

From an anthropological perspective, the relation between food, food consumption, and domicile is a cross-cultural given. As a growing body of anthropological research shows, preparations and customs regarding food and meals connect to and imitate patterns and conventions of both social systems and familial institutions (Douglas 1997, Goody, Hinz). Food is integrated into all aspects of life, C. Counihan and P. Esterik write; "food touches everything. Food is the foundation of every economy. It is a central pawn in political strategies of states and households. Food marks social differences, boundaries, bonds, and contradictions. Eating is an endlessly evolving enactment of gender, family, and community relationships.... Food sharing creates solidarity ... food is life" (1).