"Do you eat meat?
Do you really kill animals for your enjoyment and convenience?
That is so cruel.
Jesus would never do something like that.
After all, He was a vegetarian."
Maybe you've heard someone say something like this.
Is it true that Jesus was a vegetarian,
and does that mean that all followers of Christ should avoid eating meat?
First, we should understand that while it's true Jesus's life was an example to His followers,
it's often incorrect to demand that His followers should do the
exact same things Jesus did, exactly as He did them.
Just because Jesus did or didn't do something,
doesn't necessarily have any bearing on what we should or shouldn't do.
Jesus did many things that we're under no moral obligation to imitate.
For instance, could we say,
"Jesus rode a donkey into Jerusalem, and so should we?"
Or what about,
"Jesus never rode in a car, and neither should we."
Would we be correct to demand,
"Jesus never had electric lights so cut off your power,"
or "Jesus never sent a text message so stop texting."
You can quickly see the problem here.
While it is the case that Jesus is the perfect example of how all humans should live,
it's not the case that every aspect of His life is something that we should copy.
Paul explained it well in Philippians 2:5 when he said,
"Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus..."
Notice, it is the mind of Christ or His attitude that we are to imitate.
That means that while Jesus was seeking the lost,
He may have gone up on a mountain to preach,
but we may need to use a microphone or a Youtube video.
Or, whereas Jesus walked from village to village,
we may need to drive, fly, or ride a bus.
Just because Jesus wore sandals,
doesn't mean hiking boots are off limits to His followers.
And second, the New Testament makes it completely clear that
Jesus was not a vegetarian. He often ate meat.
In Luke 24:42-43, the text says,
"So they gave Him--Jesus--a piece of broiled fish and some honeycomb.
And He took it and ate it in their presence."
This passage couldn't be more straightforward about Jesus consuming fish.
In addition, Jesus was a Jew, Who faithfully followed the Old Law.
He was commanded to eat the Passover lamb every year.
In Exodus 12:5-8,
we read that all the Jews were to take a Passover lamb,
kill it on the 14th day of the first month, and eat the flesh on that night,
roasted in fire,
with unleavened bread and with bitter herbs.
In the New Testament, we see Jesus arranging this procedure with His apostles.
Luke 22:7-8 states,
"Then came the Day of Unleavened Bread, when the Passover must be killed.
And He--Jesus--sent Peter and John, saying,
'Go and prepare the Passover for us, that we may eat.'"
This was just one of the many animal sacrifices that Jewish people ate on a regular basis.
Third, the New Testament makes it clear that killing
and eating animals is perfectly acceptable to God.
In 1 Timothy 4:1-4, the Holy Spirit foretold
that some were going to depart from teaching the truth and were going to command people
"...to abstain from foods which God created to be received with thanksgiving
by those who believe and know the truth.
For every creature of God is good,
and nothing is to be refused if it is received with thanksgiving;
for it is sanctified by the word of God and prayer."
Notice that in this passage,
the sense in which God calls animals "good,"
is the fact that they are good for food.
Jesus ate meat.
That doesn't mean if you're going to be a faithful follower of Christ you have to eat meat.
It is certainly morally acceptable for Christians to be vegetarians.
His example does prove to us, however, that eating meat is not cruel, unjust, or sinful,
but rather, is a morally acceptable lifestyle.