Across all cultures, special occasions typically include a meal, snack, or at the very least, a cup of coffee. Food has a unique way of bringing people together, and this is clearly seen in religious traditions.

Jesus, the pioneer of the Christian faith, gathered around the table often. He shared meals with his disciples (those who apprenticed under Jesus as their Rabbi) and the marginalized of society, a practice that was looked down on by the religious leaders. Through eating with people of different backgrounds, ethnicities, and socio-economic statuses, he served a taste of a meal by which we are still nourished today.

On the night he was betrayed by a close friend, Jesus and his disciples ate the Passover meal, a Jewish celebration of deliverance from slavery and death. They remembered events from long ago when God offered salvation to His people. While honoring this feast, Jesus implemented a new meaning to the table. He gave the symbols of bread and wine for his followers to remember his life, death, and resurrection. Christians commonly refer to this gathering as the Lord’s Supper.

When we encounter Jesus at His table, it changes how we perceive ordinary meals. The focus shifts from the physical act of consuming food to the opportunity for spiritual connection. At its most basic form, the table is where we find life. While eating is necessary for physical survival, a shared meal sustains our spirits. The table is set for guests to bring the tragedies and triumphs of life and find order. It is a place to know and be known. Trials are paused. Burdens are shared. Both laughter and tears are allowed to flow even in the same moment.

As life becomes busy, food is often consumed in passing out of necessity. This is very real for our family in the middle of the farming season. Meals shared with friends are viewed as a luxury, something we would enjoy if time allowed. But I think it should be the other way around: the busier we are and the heavier life becomes, the more we should gather, not less. I have never regretted making time for the Lord’s Supper or lingering over dinner because it is here we receive life. We arrive in the beauty of brokenness and leave with both physical and spiritual nourishment.

The table is a place to come together and an event to be experienced. It has become a respite and one of the few places I can be fully present and lose track of time. It’s easy, normal even, to become overwhelmed with tasks and demands, but here, we return to the basics: life from food and community. While we may arrive with different opinions or from various walks of life, the table is set around our commonalities. As we linger, our conversations deepen, normalizing struggles and offering hope moving forward. Sharing a table is a life-giving practice worth every effort to make happen, for it is here that we taste the nourishment of connection to both Jesus and people.

All good meals start with an invitation, so here we are invited to remember Jesus’ sacrifice through food and community. The table is far more than bread and drink but is a place of acceptance, forgiveness, salvation, and transformation, of connection with Jesus and those to our right and to our left. Here, in a very tangible way, we taste of His goodness.

This has been my experience. I extend the invitation that has been offered to me countless times before: In a community of faith, come taste and see that the Lord is good. If you are looking for a table, I know of one that always has an empty seat.