Book Review: Dining with Jesus by Kate Jackson

Kate Jackson’s brilliant book reads like a treasure hunt – each chapter is filled with new gems delicately placed across the pages for the reader to discover and enjoy. Seven chapters, seven meals with Jesus. And much we can we learn. There are the excellent personal and small group questions, well-placed quotes from Biblical scholars, useful cultural insights and the thoughtful reflections of the author herself. At the end of the treasure hunt, there is the prize waiting for the reader – Jesus in His mysterious splendour, “the untameable, untrainable Messiah”. The book is marketed as “A Seven Course Bible Study” and it will be well received by Small Group leaders everywhere. It could just as easily be A Packed Lunch to Take Anywhere and Enjoy with Friends”. The final section of each chapter Jesus and You is worth reading the book on its own. Countless times the reader is encouraged to pause and reflect on another stunning sentence. The genius of the book it that the author manages to bring Jesus up close, for us to look at Him again and be asked compelling questions: “Do mercy and love come first, or does the need to ‘fix’ the other person take over?...Is there something you have been putting off doing which God has told you to do?” – more gems to take away. There are some places where the author becomes so consumed by the subject matter and the nature of detailed Biblical argument and discovery than it seems the chicken needs to stop searching and scratching (author’s metaphor), look up and see where the rest of us are. That said, there will be more Kate Jackson books with more jewels to discover…and more meals taken more seriously and thoughtfully in the meantime.