Many people adhere to a vegan diet in today’s American culture, as it offers benefits for those with certain health issues, sustains the environment, and eases the conscience for those who are concerned about killing and consuming animals. Other people around the world, like Hindus, follow a vegan diet for religious purposes. Vegans do not eat any animals or animal byproducts, so in addition to meat, they abstain from dairy products and even honey.
For Christians who struggle with the ethics of killing and eating animals, and for those who wrestle with what it means to honor their physical bodies as temples for the Lord, it’s only natural that they wonder if Jesus was vegan. If we are called to imitate Jesus, shouldn’t we imitate all parts of Him? Wouldn’t that include His diet and how He responded to animals and the environment?
With these important questions in mind, let’s look at Scripture to better understand whether Jesus adhered to today’s traditional vegan diet.
What Does the Bible Say about What Jesus Ate?
Before we dissect Bible verses, it’s important to remember that Jesus was Jewish and honored Jewish dietary restrictions. Jews abstained from unclean meat, which is any animal that doesn’t have completely split hooves or doesn’t eat cud. Primarily, this includes pig, camel, and rabbit meat, as well as unclean fish, like shellfish, and certain birds (see Leviticus 11 for deeper details).
While Scripture states that Jesus honored the Jewish diet, New Testament passages heavily support the claim that Jesus did eat (clean) meat:
1. In Matthew 26:17-20, we read that Jesus shared His last Passover meal with His disciples. Per Levitical law, the Passover meal has a strict, specific menu. A portion of Jesus’ Passover meal would have included lamb (or goat as a proper substitute). Though Scripture doesn’t blatantly state, “Jesus ate lamb/goat,” it is safe to believe He ate one of these clean meats to honor the Jewish dietary custom.
2. Following Jesus’ resurrection, the disciples wanted further proof that He was alive in a physical body. Jesus provided this proof by asking for a meal to eat. John 21:1-17 shares the specific meal Jesus consumed, which included bread and (clean) fish. In Luke 24:42-43, where this same encounter is recorded, Scripture clearly states that Jesus ate fish: “They gave him a piece of broiled fish, and he took it and ate it in their presence.”
What Role Did Food Play in Jesus’ Teachings and Ministry?
While Jewish dietary laws don’t specifically speak to a modern vegan lifestyle, it is important to note that the Jewish diet included fruits, vegetables, and nuts. Jesus often used many of these foods, most notably fruit, to illustrate His teachings.
In Matthew 11:12-25, we see that Jesus was hungry and approached a fig tree, hoping to find the tree fruiting. It wasn’t in bloom, and there were no figs, so Scripture shares that Jesus cursed the fig tree. It withered, died, and was never fruitful again.
While this might sound silly or a bit like a “hangry” moment, it was neither of those things. Jesus used this opportunity to share with His disciples the importance of faith, of believing in Him to do the impossible. This is the same section of Scripture where Jesus declares, “Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours. And when you stand praying, if you hold anything against anyone, forgive them, so that your Father in heaven may forgive you your sins” (vv. 24-25).
Other key Scriptures where Jesus uses fruit to share important truths include John 15:5-8: “I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing. If you do not remain in me, you are like a branch that is thrown away and withers; such branches are picked up, thrown into the fire and burned. If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. This is to my Father’s glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples.”
So Was Jesus Vegan?
When we look at the Bible, most notably Jesus’ post-resurrection meal with His disciples, it’s impossible to deny that Jesus ate meat. Though He only consumed clean meat, fish is, indeed, a meat, which wouldn’t follow today’s traditional vegan menu.
It’s also important to read Acts 10:9-15: “About noon the following day as they were on their journey and approaching the city, Peter went up on the roof to pray. He became hungry and wanted something to eat, and while the meal was being prepared, he fell into a trance. He saw heaven opened and something like a large sheet being let down to earth by its four corners. It contained all kinds of four-footed animals, as well as reptiles and birds. Then a voice told him, ‘Get up, Peter. Kill and eat.’ ‘Surely not, Lord!’ Peter replied. ‘I have never eaten anything impure or unclean.’ The voice spoke to him a second time, ‘Do not call anything impure that God has made clean.’”
Here, the Lord revealed a vision to Peter, where a sheet descended from heaven, and all animals, even those traditionally unclean per Jewish custom, were now clean. Peter was wary of the Lord’s command to consume the “unclean” animals, but the Lord was clear that no man can corrupt what He has made clean.
Does It Matter if Jesus Was Vegan or Not?
In the grand scheme of Christian living, whether or not Jesus was vegan shouldn’t be the concern so much as the heart behind why Jesus did what He did. Jesus ate meat to honor the Passover, a celebration of God preserving and freeing the Jewish people once enslaved by the Egyptians. Jesus ate meat with His disciples to prove that He was in a resurrected body, assuring His faithful followers, the pillars of the Church, that He was the Messiah, the One worth the ultimate sacrifice many of them would make.
No Bible verses state that it is wrong for the New Testament Christian to eat meat or abstain from eating meat. Therefore, our diet should reflect the personal conviction shared between us and the Holy Spirit, and it shouldn’t be a means by which we judge others or further divide a culture already plagued by hostility and separation.
So often, the Bible leaves many of our questions without specific, modern answers, but perhaps this is so we dig deeper into Scripture, pray with more fervor, and seek out the heart of God. After all, it’s not so much about rules and laws as it is the love, hope, and sacrifice behind them.
Whether you eat all types of meat or are pescatarian, vegan, or vegetarian, remember this:
“Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothes? Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? Can any one of you by worrying add a single hour to your life?” Matthew 6:25-27
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