Jesus did not only attend social functions but encouraged His audience to do so when invited and are disposed. In addition to this, He established some social ethics for such functions. On precedence, He recommended that people should not choose eminent seats for themselves. A lower seat should be preferred until one is invited to the high table. What we have as our text is another pointer to ethics. The wiseman counselled against being swept off one’s feet when in contact with the king’s lavish table. He described it as deceptive. If there was ever any place to show moderation, it must be at the king’s table.

There is no place where the greed of man is better revealed than in the context of the free supply of things…indiscipline with regards to food and contracting of diseases go together.

What makes the king’s meat deceptive? Firstly, because everything is provided in abundance and freely too, the temptation to throw away caution is rife. There is no place where the greed of man is better revealed than in the context of the free supply of things. People will generally take more than their fair share if the goods are free of charge. Secondly, the table set may be an occasion for fact-finding. In a festive mood, people throw banters and divulge information that are unnecessary and may turn round to haunt them. Finally, if the king intended to check you out for possible assignment, the indiscipline shown at the table may disqualify you. On a different note, indiscipline with regards to food and contracting of diseases go together. In our last meditation, we noted that the stripes of Jesus makes healing available to the believers. However, if we fail to rein in on the appetite, we can render the stripes of Jesus ineffective.