Tomato and Orange Soup

So, can I find tomato and orange soup in the Bible? I’m afraid not. But it does mention soup in a few places.

• Genesis 25: Esau famously traded his birthright for a bowl of this “red soup”—often interpreted as lentil stew. That was nice soup though – nothing like mine 😀.
• Judges 6: Gideon prepared meat and soup for the angel of God. I wouldn’t want an angel to taste my tomato and orange soup. But the soup was actually poured out as an offering.
• 2 Kings 4: Elisha told his servant to make soup for the sons of the prophets during a famine. One of the men unknowingly added poisonous wild gourds to the pot, prompting the famous line: “There is death in the pot!” In fairness, my tomato and orange soup wasn’t poisonous.

For unpalatable food or drink, I can think of a verse that speaks of unpleasant, lukewarm water:

Revelation 3:15-16 
I know your deeds, that you are neither cold nor hot. I wish you were either one or the other! So, because you are lukewarm—neither hot nor cold—I am about to spit you out of my mouth. 

This is a strange and surprising statement, given how loving and patient Jesus is. But maybe it touches on our own reaction when we go to drink something. For example, I remember being in Killarney one very hot day and I longed for a cold drink. I finally found a little shop with a fridge and grabbed a can of coke, but to my surprise, it was warm! Clearly, so many people had been buying cold drinks that the fridge had only just been restocked 😀 . Or if it’s a cold day you might long for hot soup. You mightn’t appreciate it if someone serves you lukewarm soup.

Jesus goes on to explain what he means. He’s clearly pointing to people who are mere nominal Christians, and who don’t really engage with God. So, they don’t bring him any joy at all. They’re a bit like my tomato and orange soup 😀. With Scripture verses, it’s always good to explore the context. In the following verses, Jesus explains what he means.

Rev 3:17-20
You say, ‘I am rich; I have acquired wealth and do not need a thing.’ But you do not realize that you are wretched, pitiful, poor, blind and naked. I counsel you to buy from me gold refined in the fire, so you can become rich; and white clothes to wear, so you can cover your shameful nakedness; and salve to put on your eyes, so you can see. Those whom I love I rebuke and discipline. So be earnest and repent. Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with that person, and they with me.

It seems that the church in Laodicea had been doing fine in material terms. Maybe, it’s a little like the Western church. Materialism and consumerism can cause us to turn our focus away from God. I suspect that the very earliest Christians were very aware of their sin and how much they needed a Saviour. But maybe as time went on, people drifted into the churches for all kinds of reasons. Perhaps it was a good place to find friends, sales opportunities etc. And so, maybe some churches ended up with nominal people who were outwardly religious but didn’t really take it all that seriously.

Jesus asks that we be willing to engage with him and learn from him. This is part of John’s vision of Jesus in the book of Revelation. Some modernists might accuse the writer of putting words in Jesus’s mouth, but even in the gospels, Jesus often used hyperbolic language to get people to sit up and listen. But at the end of the day, it’s not about us earning a place in heaven by good works, but it’s about us trusting in and relying on the Saviour.

John 6:28-29
Then they asked him, “What must we do to do the works God requires? Jesus answered, “The work of God is this: to believe in the one he has sent.”