You are what you eat

What come to your mind when you hear the phrase “You are what you eat”? Perhaps an image like this:

I guess that expression is primarily rooted in concerns about health. But eating also has some roots in concerns about spirituality according to the Bible.

For example, during the exile, the Jews found it practically impossible to avoid eating ritually unclean food. In that situation, the Jews were subject to a pagan authority that dismissed their concerns over preparing food according to their own laws. Imagine the physical, psychological, and spiritual experience of eating ritually unclean food and then sitting with it inside you digesting! So the idea of “you are what you eat” in these contexts underscored notions of purity, intimacy, and devotion to God.

But another perspective worth knowing involves a social custom from ancient Jewish culture. Ray Vander Laan writes here about first century betrothal practices. He notes that:

…when a young Jewish man reached marrying age and his family selected an appropriate wife for him, the young man and his father would meet the young woman and her father to negotiate the “bride price,” the figurative cost of replacing a daughter. The price was usually very high.

With negotiations complete, the custom was for the young man’s father to pour a cup of wine and hand it to his son. His son would turn to the young woman, lift the cup and hold it out to her, saying, “This cup is a new covenant in my blood, which I offer to you.” In other words, “I love you, and I’ll give you my life. Will you marry me?”

At this point, the young woman had a choice. She could take the cup and return it and say no. Or she could answer by drinking the cup - her way of saying, “I accept your offer, and I take your life into mine (perhaps an allusion to “the life is in the blood” cf. Lev. 17:11) and will follow you.”

With Holy Communion, the concrete experience of eating the bread and drinking the wine/juice can be further enriched by such symbolism and imagery. It is as though we respond to Christ by saying, “Yes, I accept your pledge and your sacrifice. I take your life into mine and choose to follow you all the days of my life.”

References:

Ray Vander Laan, “His Body, His Blood”, Retrieved September 6, 2010 from http://www.metrovoice.net/www.metrovoice.net/2004/0404_stlweb/0404_articles/his_body.html. See more at Vander Laan’s website, http://www.followtherabbi.com/Brix?pageID=2092