The table was a place of peace and purity, be it in the banquet hall of Solomon's palace, or the mealtime gathering of even the humblest folk. This theology of meals has been lost on many of us today. The main food problem in America is not hunger, but obesity. Many families no longer sit down to table together, let alone remember a blessing before and after meals. But the open table of friendship and charity is seldom to be found.
People eat alone, drink alone, are cut off, isolated, without friend or kin.
Meals, or the simple act of eating in Biblical theology were not mere acts of re-fueling, done as quick as possible so that one can return to the video screen or the computer keyboard. No, they were events - events where thanks and appreciation were given for created matter, where the bonds of family and friendship were strengthened, where, above all, God was given due praise, honor and thanks. It is quite natural then, that a joyous banquet would be the symbol of the hope for messianic age. Exegetes will usually divide Jesus' miracles into three categories. The first, called natural miracles, as when He walked on water or stilled a storm, show us that Jesus, like His Father is Lord of all created matter.