Friends, in today’s Gospel Jesus says, "The Son of Man came eating and drinking and they said, ‘Look, he is a glutton and a drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and sinners.’" The Passover meal was decisively important in salvation history. God commands that his people share a meal to remember their liberation from slavery. This supper provides the context for the deepest theologizing of the Israelite community. Both the bitterness of their slavery and the sweetest of their liberation are acted out in this sacred meal. Jesus’ life and ministry can be interpreted in light of this symbol. From...