Although many people believe, and even proclaim, that Jesus was a vegetarian, there is no foundation for this in Scripture. On the other hand, if you want to be hyper-technical, there is only one instance in which Jesus is actually shown eating:
“And while they still disbelieved for joy, and wondered, He said to them, ‘Have you anything here to eat?’ They gave Him a piece of broiled fish and some honeycomb. And He took it and ate in their presence.” (Luke 24:41-43)
However, being both “fully God and fully man,” Jesus obviously ate meals and He is placed in such situations on numerous occasions with His followers (e.g. eating at Zacchaeus’ home, Lazarus’ home, the Last Supper with His disciples, etc) and even proclaims his physical hunger as He searches the fig tree for fruit to eat. Yet none of this shows evidence that He was a vegetarian.
In all reality, Jesus probably grew up eating a strictly kosher version of a typical Mediterranean Diet. This would have included bread, grains, vegetables, fruit, olives, olive oil, wine, cheese, butter, eggs, honey, fish with fins, lamb, and possibly even beef – as a “fatted calf” was also considered kosher. It should be noted, however, that meat of any kind was a rarity at meals and most often reserved only for feasts and special occasions. In other words, they did not subscribe to a “meat and potato” diet, nor could they afford to.
So how can we know if Jesus ate meat? Although we can not prove it per se, we can deduce this through other scriptural references. The gospels specifically mention the fact that during His three-year ministry Jesus celebrated the annual Passover feast. In order to do this and keep that feast, participants were required to eat roasted lamb, bitter herbs, and unleavened bread (Exodus 12:3-4). In addition, scripture records that the entire lamb had to be eaten and any leftovers must be burned (Exodus 12:10). Therefore, if Jesus did not eat lamb during the Passover feast, He would be violating the Old Testament Law and could be accused of sin:
“…according to all the statute of the Passover they shall keep it. But the man who is clean and is not on a journey, yet refrains from keeping the Passover, that person shall then be cut off from his people, because he did not offer the Lord’s offering at its appointed time; that man shall bear his sin.” (Numbers 9:12-13)
So although there is no way to concretely prove that Jesus was a vegetarian, there is enough scriptural evidence to suggest that He did eat meat on some occasions.
