Sr. Mary Karita Ivancic, S.N.D.
February 22, 2000
CRITICAL REVIEW of Eugene LaVerdiere, Dining in the Kingdom of God

Dining in the Kingdom of God by Eugene LaVerdiere (Liturgy Training Publications, 1994) is a biblical-liturgical exegesis of ten "meal stories" found in the Gospel of Luke. The author actually provides a fairly comprehensive discussion of the Third Gospel, since he contextualizes each pericope within a broad literary framework and shows how various parables, miracles, and other narrative material relate to the target passage.

LaVerdiere's main thesis is that the Christian Eucharist is a Gospel event which must be interpreted within a broad biblical context: "The Eucharist as a gospel event [is] the high point of Jesus' life, and a compendium of the whole gospel." (2). Rather than speaking of the institution of the Eucharist as a single event at the Last S upper, LaVerdiere speaks of the origins of Eucharist in the entire life, ministry, and spirituality of Jesus. He focuses on the Gospel according to Luke, since the Third Gospel is so closely related to the earliest Eucharistic tradition as recorded by Paul in 1 Cor. 11:23-26. Further, Luke's Gospel recounts a broad spectrum of meals, which punctuate the entire public ministry of Jesus.

The ten meal pericopes of Luke represent symposia as well as hospitality meals and present Jesus as both guest and host. Further, the Lukan meals occur within Jesus' Galilean ministry, his journey to Jerusalem, at the Last Supper, and in post-Resurrection gatherings of disciples. Jesus is progressively seen as prophetic teacher, Christ (Messiah), and Risen Lord. Moreover, each specific community assembled in table fellowship is taught important attitudes, values, and rituals which not only characterize the disciples of Jesus but which also elucidate the deeper meaning of Christian Eucharist.

In summary: the following three passages focus on Jesus' Galilean ministry and present him as the great prophet:

These meals challenge their participants to metanoia, reconciliation, and a willingness to collaborate in Jesus' mission -- all of which are necessary prerequisites for Christian discipleship.

The next set of four meals also presents Jesus as the great prophet en route to Jerusalem with his disciples:

These meals present the primacy of listening to the Word over external activism, inner purification over external observance, service and inclusivity over self-service and exclusivity, and hospitality over judgmentalism. These attitudes are necessary for sincere and fruitful eucharistic participation.

The climactic meal pericope is, of course, Lk. 22:7-38, the Last Supper, which recapitulates the entire historical life of Jesus, especially as presented in the foregoing meals. It also anticipates his suffering, death, and resurrection. Hence, the Last Supper becomes the Lord's Supper, "dining in the Kingdom of God." Set within the context of the Jewish Passover, the Last Supper recalls the sacrifice of the Old Law which prefigures the sacrifice of the historic Jesus. As the Lord's Supper, this supremely important meal inaugurates a new age. It is therefore both historical and eschatological. Luke's community, moving into a time of persecution, is challenged to embrace the full Paschal Mystery of Christ's suffering, death, and resurrection as necessary for entry into the Kingdom of God.

The final two meals in Luke's Gospel are post-Resurrection celebrations with the Lord:

Both of these passages focus on the Christian community's very real but spiritual experience of the Risen Lord at Eucharist. Their challenge is to recognize him in Word and Sacrament, presider and assembly, and, thus energized in faith, to witness his presence in "the liturgy of the world."

Dining in the Kingdom of God is indeed a masterful anthology of Lukan meal stories presented in their biblical and liturgical context. LaVerdiere applies an impressive array of critical methods to each passage. His exegetical tools include textual, grammatical, literary, form, tradition, redaction, social-historical, and liturgical criticisms. His line of argumentation is crystal clear and well supported by internal evidence drawn from the Third Gospel itself as well as by external confirmation from such eminent scholars as Joachim Jeremias, Joseph Fitzmyer, Johannes Betz, and Raymond Brown. Despite the depth of his scholarship, LaVerdiere manages to present his material in very readable language and with a pastoral focus. Illustrative of this is his own summary-statement of his research and reflection:

For Christians in the Lukan communities, the Eucharist was a gospel event displaying the full range of gospel experience and demanding fully as much as the gospel itself. To know and live Eucharist, indeed to be eucharist, was to know, live and be the gospel of Jesus Christ, our Lord and Lord of all. So it must be for communities in the church today (198).

This major work truly opens doors for both biblical and liturgical scholars to continue tracing the origins of the Christian Eucharist.