Jesus is steadfastly vegan. “I desire compassion rather than sacrifice,” asserts Jesus (Matt. 9:13 NASB) (Note 1). When Epiphanius questions a Jewish Christian as to why he’s a veggie, the Jewish Christian responds simply: "Christ revealed it to me" (Panarion 30. 18.9).
1. Jesus Comes from a Vegan Family
Jesus’ natural brother “was holy from his mother's womb; and he drank no wine… nor did he eat flesh” (Eusebius, Church History 2.23.5–6). If James was brought up vegan, why wouldn't Jesus have been raised the same way? It logically follows that both Jesus and James were brought up by their parents as vegans (cf. Akers 2015). As biblical scholar Prof. Robert Eisenman points out in his monumental work James the Brother of Jesus (2012:392), "Who and whatever James was, so was Jesus."
2. Jesus Warns Against Flesh-Eating
“Now beware in yourselves that your hearts do not become heavy with the eating of flesh…that day will come up upon you suddenly; for as a snare it will come upon all of them that sit on the surface of the earth”, Jesus cautions (Luke 21:34, Evangelion Da-Mepharreshe — Old Syriac-Aramaic Manuscript of the New Testament Gospels). Also, in Saying 87, the Gospel of Thomas, as translated and edited by Stevan Davies (2002), Jesus says, "Wretched is a body depending on a body". Now, how can a body be dependent on another body? Only if the body eats the other body (Note 2).
3. Jesus Cares about Animals
Jesus tells His disciples to preach the Gospel to all creation (Mark 16:15). “Love thy neignhour as thyself,” commands Jesus (Mark 12:31 KJV). Animals are our neighbors and folk on account of the commonality of possessing a living soul (nephesh chayyah) (Genesis 1:20, 1:21, 1:24, 1:30, 9:4), the shared ability to suffer, and their physical proximity to us. “Whatever you did for one of these least brothers of mine, you did for me!” 'asserts Jesus Christ (Matthew 25:40 NAB). “The least of these brothers” will, of course, include animals, as they are definitely the most downtrodden, abused, and tortured among our co-creatures.
Before entering Jerusalem triumphantly, Jesus took the foal and mother donkey together, even though the foal was older than seven days (Matthew 21:1-7). Jesus’ heart for compassion exceeded the demands of the Jewish law, which forbad separating a calf from its mother for only seven days.
According to a Coptic fragment (see Linzey 2010:60-61), Jesus once came across a collapsed mule on a mountain road. The animal had fallen because his master had overloaded her, and now she was being beaten so badly that she was bleeding. After reprimanding the man as well as His own disciples for failing to hear how the poor creature groaned and complained to the Creator, Jesus healed her wounds by way of hands-on-healing, and warned the man against beating her any more.
Jesus challenges the status of animals in the human value system. He remarks, "Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? Yet not one of them will fall to the ground outside your Father’s care." (Matthew 10:29 NIV); and “Then he asked them, “If one of you has a child or an ox that falls into a well on the Sabbath day, will you not immediately pull it out?” (Luke 14:5 NIV).
4. Jesus is Harmonious Relationship with the Wild Animals
In Mark 1:12-13, Jesus is in peaceable companionship with the wild animals. They neither fear Him nor submit to Him nor serve Him. Jesus does not treat them as slaves or private properties. He does not terrorize or govern them. He does not domesticate them; he does not even see them as pets! The notion of humans selfishly dominating or ruling animals is totally absent here. He is just "with" them. The companionship between Jesus and the wild animals bears out the independent worth of animals and their unique status in the eyes of God. Instead of bringing them into the human society, Jesus allows them to be themselves in the wildness, affirming that animals should be left alone in Nature to share the Earth with us.
5. Jesus Died for Animal Liberation
Above all, Jesus is a pioneering martyr for the cause of animal liberation. Prior to the Last Supper, Jesus, in emptying the Temple of animals about to be slaughtered for sacrifice, and in calling the Temple-turned-butcher-shop "a den of thieves", quoting Jeremiah 7:11, debunked the business fraud of animal sacrifice, and disrupted the lucrative revenue stream of the chief priests and scribes, who immediately afterwards conspired to destroy Him (Mark 11:15-18), eventually leading to His arrest, trial, and crucifixion (Akers 2020).
6. Conclusion
In conclusion, Jesus comes from a vegan family. He desires compassion, not sacrifice, and is staunchly vegan. He even died for animal liberation. How could He possibly kill and eat innocent sentient creatures of God, especially when most of His folk were eating bread and veggies only? I would submit that even in a survival situation, He would still die rather than harm other innocent sentient beings, given His self-costly love for all. As put by Rev. Prof. Andrew Linzey (1995:55), “The priestly work of sacrifice is best characterized by the offering of self-costly love as exemplified by Christ Himself…it concerns…the liberation of creation itself from decay and suffering.”
Notes
1. Jesus admonishes the Pharisees, quoting Hosea 6:6, "Go and learn what this means: I desire compassion rather than sacrifice" (Matthew 9:13 NASB). According to Akers (2017), "that would explain why Jesus went into the temple and attacked what he found there", as will be explained below. Similarly, in the Gospel of the Ebionites, Jesus condemns animal sacrifice in the Temple of Jerusalem:- “I have come to abolish the sacrifices, and if you cease not from sacrificing, my wrath will not cease from you” (Panarion 30.16.5). Jesus also rejected the Passover meal :“I have no desire to eat the flesh of this Paschal Lamb with you” (The Gospel of the Ebionites 22.4).
2. Hence, Davies (2002) comes to the conclusion that Thomas is not stating that all bodies are "wretched", just bodies which are dependent on other dead bodies, in other words, meat, for food.
References
Akers, Keith (2022). “Jesus and Animal Sacrifice.” Compassionate Spirit, Apr. 13. https://compassionatespirit.com/wpblog/2022/04/13/jesus-and-animal-sacrifice/
Akers, Keith (2020/2000). The Lost Religion of Jesus. NY: Lantern Publishing & Media/ Woodstock & Brooklyn.
Akers, Keith (2017). “Vegetarianism and Christianity – Are They Compatible?” Compassionate Spirit, Jan. 9. https://compassionatespirit.com/wpblog/2017/01/09/vegetarianism-and-christianity-are-they-compatible/
Akers, Keith (2015). “Was Jesus a Vegetarian?” Compassionate Spirit, Dec. 1. https://compassionatespirit.com/wpblog/2015/12/01/was-jesus-a-vegetarian/
Akers, Keith (2014). "Vegetarian Propaganda." Compassionate Spirit, Jan. 30. https://compassionatespirit.com/wpblog/2014/01/30/%E2%80%9Cvegetarian-propaganda%E2%80%9D/
Davies, Stevan, ed. & trans. (2002). The Gospel of Thomas. Boulder: Shambhala Publications.
Linzey, Andrew (1990). “The Servant Species Humanity as Priesthood.” Between the Species, Summer, 109-120.
Linzey, Andrew (1995). Animal Theology. Champaign: U of Illinois Press.
Eisenman, Robert (2012). James the Brother of Jesus and the Dead Sea Scrolls I. London: The Way Publishing.
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