You’ll love this. In Mark 1:13 we have recorded “…[Jesus] was in the wilderness forty days being tempted by Satan; and He was with the wild beasts, and the angels were ministering to Him.”
I always like to imagine that Jesus was calming the wild beasts with his peaceful presence. Just as Adam named and walked with the animals in Eden, so the second Adam communed with them in the wilderness, even as a cosmic battle for creation (represented by the animals) was ongoing between Satan and the ministry of the angels.
He certainly didn't care for pigs, not in the Holy Land anyway - MATT.8:32. There seems to be no record that YESHUA ate meat or fish or drank wine Himself.
The Last Supper was a Passover featuring a lamb that had been slain at the Temple. Jesus was dipping bread into a lamb dish. Every observant Jew ate meat at least once a year.
Assuming the descriptions of James are historically accurate, there's little reason to think he was "raised vegetarian." In fact the little available evidence shows he turned to ascetecism and a life of holy devotion after joining the Jesus movement.
Along that same note, vegetarianism among some early Jewish Christrians was much more about "purifying the body" and later avoiding the potential for Gentile-meats sacrificed to idols than a more modern concern for animal welfare. As a huge animal lover who thinks later humans will look back at out current treatment of animals with moral disgust, I wish this was not the case. But the available evidence doesn't infer it.
That said, usually empathetic people who care for the downtrodden and persecuted are usually also not people who are cruel to animals. I don’t suspect Jesus would've been either, but there's nothing to suggest from the texts animal welfare was high on his agenda. Outside of the Pythagorans no-one in the ancient Mediterranean world had it on their radar.
You’ll love this. In Mark 1:13 we have recorded “…[Jesus] was in the wilderness forty days being tempted by Satan; and He was with the wild beasts, and the angels were ministering to Him.”
I always like to imagine that Jesus was calming the wild beasts with his peaceful presence. Just as Adam named and walked with the animals in Eden, so the second Adam communed with them in the wilderness, even as a cosmic battle for creation (represented by the animals) was ongoing between Satan and the ministry of the angels.
Interesting, but very speculative. The earliest NT texts give no indication of Jesus or James, His step-brother, being vegetarians.
You've gone and given me another idea for a new essay! Another wonderful addition, Joe. Thanks for writing this.
He certainly didn't care for pigs, not in the Holy Land anyway - MATT.8:32. There seems to be no record that YESHUA ate meat or fish or drank wine Himself.
The Last Supper was a Passover featuring a lamb that had been slain at the Temple. Jesus was dipping bread into a lamb dish. Every observant Jew ate meat at least once a year.
Assuming the descriptions of James are historically accurate, there's little reason to think he was "raised vegetarian." In fact the little available evidence shows he turned to ascetecism and a life of holy devotion after joining the Jesus movement.
Along that same note, vegetarianism among some early Jewish Christrians was much more about "purifying the body" and later avoiding the potential for Gentile-meats sacrificed to idols than a more modern concern for animal welfare. As a huge animal lover who thinks later humans will look back at out current treatment of animals with moral disgust, I wish this was not the case. But the available evidence doesn't infer it.
That said, usually empathetic people who care for the downtrodden and persecuted are usually also not people who are cruel to animals. I don’t suspect Jesus would've been either, but there's nothing to suggest from the texts animal welfare was high on his agenda. Outside of the Pythagorans no-one in the ancient Mediterranean world had it on their radar.
Be of Good cheer. Noah already had that covered in the O.T. 😏