Was Jesus Christ a vegetarian?

by Eymard de Silva Wijeyeratne

Though Jesus requested his disciples to prepare the Passover meal according to Jewish tradition
gospel narrative only indicates that He broke and shared the unleavened bread and shared a cup
wine (Matthew 26: 17, 26 -27, Mark 14-22, Luke 22: 7–20). Yet, the absence of any reference to m
in the ritual ordering of the Passover meal is no proof that Jesus was a vegetarian, who eschewed a diet that
included meat.

Meat

I refer to Dr. D. P. Atukorale’s (DPA’s) article titled "Was Jesus a Vegetarian?" published in the Island of 27th
It is not my intention to provide arguments that undermine the foundations of vegetarianism or to call into qu
the good faith of the author in presenting his thesis. While I do concede that the consumption of animal meat
have adverse effects on the cardiovascular system and perhaps on other organic functions of the human anato
consider it improper that this position should be supported with a deviant interpretation of sacred scripture. T
killing of animals even for purposes of food may be interpreted as being abhorrent on the grounds that killing
se is a destructive act. We need to respect this position because other religious persuasions hold animal life to
par with human life as far as the right to life is concerned. Yet, these sensitively cultured forms of humanism
justify the provision of lexical solutions to matters that are umbilically connected to the meat of real life situa
I refer in particular to the statement that "the word meat (which has been used metaphorically) is found 19 tim
the Holy Bible" and the statement that the "Greek word translated into meat does not give the meaning of mea
it stands for nourishment". I will not dwell on the support sought by the author from Oxford Thesaurus and
Webster’s New College Dictionary because those references are limited to the English word ‘meat’. The use o
word ‘meat’ to denote food or nourishment in general is not metaphorical because it fails to make a distinctio
between the literal and the non-literal use of language. The word count of 19 does not serve the cause of
vegetarianism because the 19 words are not indicated and their support for the cause of vegetarianism is not
demonstrated in specific contexts.

Meaning in a Given Context

I will now focus attention on the reference made by Dr. Atukorale to verse 21:5 of John’s Gospel. The story ru
follows. While the disciples were fishing in the Sea of Galilee in Tiberias, Jesus appeared to them on the shor
called to them and asked them "paidia me ti prosphagion echete"?" (John 21: 5). (Children do you have anyth
eat (spare food)? The Greek word ‘prosphagion’, which is derived from the Greek word ‘esthio’ to eat, when
combined with the prefix ‘pros’ is accurately translated as ‘anything to eat’ or ‘food’. This word had been
erroneously translated as ‘meat’ in a few English versions of the Bible. The New King James Version of the B
and many other versions provide the correct translation. Jerome’s Latin translation of the same verse found in
Vulgate reads as "pueri numquid pulmentarium habetis"? (Children do you have any food to eat?)". The Latin
‘pulmentarium ‘stands for food or relish (a form of food eaten to add flavour to a bland food like bread. When
disciples replied in the negative, Jesus asked them to cast their nets on the right side of the boat. When they d
they found it difficult to draw in their net because of the large catch of fish (ichthu?n) (John 21:6). When they
approached the shore with a heavy load of fish, they saw a coal fire burning, with fish (opsari?n) laid on it, an
bread to go with it. The Greek word ‘opsarion’, which is a diminutive form of the word ‘ops?n’ stands for coo
meat, fish or sauce: especially a form of fish-relish that is eaten with bread (Manual Greek Lexicon of the Ne
Testament). Jesus then asked them to bring some of the fish they had caught and thereafter invited them to
breakfast. The context of the narrative makes it abundantly clear that Jesus and his disciples partook of a brea
consisting of bread and barbecued fish. There is no suggestion whatever in this sequence of events that Jesus
vegetarian unless fish-eaters are classed as vegetarians. The other incidents relevant to this issue also relate to
of bread and fish. Late one evening a multitude had gathered to listen to Jesus in a deserted place in the city o
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