My wife asked me this question last night, and I didn’t know the answer, so I thought I would ask it here.
The question: Besides fish, is there any passage in the Gospels that directly mentions Jesus eating meat?
My assumption is that He would have followed Jewish dietary laws, but I couldn’t think of any specific passages off of the top of my head.
Jesus definitely ate lamb because lamb is eaten at the Passover festival.
Then came the day of Unleavened Bread on which the Passover lamb had to be sacrificed. Jesus sent Peter and John, saying, “Go and make preparations for us to eat the Passover.” (Luke 22:7-8, NIV)
A goat could also be used instead of a sheep for the Passover.
The animals you choose must be year-old males without defect, and you may take them from the sheep or the goats. (Exodus 12:5, NIV)
Jesus was a Jew and Jews are meat eaters. Except the Unclean Animals (pork,snake,shellfish etc.), Jews eat varieties of meat and Jesus was not an exception.
The closest I can think of to a passage that directly talks about Jesus eating meat is where he is described as eating a Passover meal. (Matthew 26, Mark 14, Luke 22). A Passover meal would have included meat. That may not be direct enough for you.
Even if no such mention is made, it is important not to draw any excessive conclusions from this. A non-vegetarian diet would absolutely have been the norm for Jews in those days, and there is certainly no indication that Jesus did not eat meat. Jesus frequently ate with other Jews, with no indication of his having a 'special diet'. Jesus followers clearly did eat meat, and expanded their range of meat eating early in the history of the church. Mention is made of some restrictions on meat eating, which would have been unnecessary if it had been prohibited.
You might also look at this question.
The clearest reference comes in the gospel of Luke, after the resurrection of Jesus. This is important to the doctrine that Jesus actually rose bodily--not just spiritually.
They gave him a piece of broiled fish, 43 and he took it and ate before them. Luke 24:43-43 ESV
Of course, he also ate the Passover meal, which contained lamb.
(I guess you said "besides fish", but at least this references that He did eat fish.
It's not in the gospels, but a manifestation of God ate meat prepared by Abraham in Genesis 18. I'd consider this to likely be a pre-incarnate physical manifestation of Jesus eating meat.
As others have noted, we are specifically told that Jesus ate fish on at least one occasion, so he clearly was not a strict vegetarian. And we are told that he ate a Passover meal, which included lamb. I guess that it is barely possible that Jesus did not eat meat, as nowhere are we specifically told that he did. But then, nowhere are we told that he did not, and the Jewish diet routinely included a variety of meats. As the instructions for the Passover meal specifically command the people to kill and eat a lamb -- Exodus 12:3 -- if Jesus had not done so, one would expect that this would have been grounds for the Pharisees to attack him, and it would likely have been mentioned.
Here is a direct passage of scripture in which Jesus Christ ate fish and honeycomb:
41 And while they yet believed not for joy, and wondered, he said unto them, Have ye here any meat? 42 And they gave him a piece of a broiled fish, and of an honeycomb. 43 And he took it, and did eat before them. (Luke 24:41-43)
During his life on earth, Jesus followed the Law of Moses which required the strict dietary observance of only "clean" meat which included (among other things) lamb, fish, bovine, and fowl. After his death and Resurrection, he appeared to Peter in a vision to tell him that the Law of Moses had been fulfilled and it was no longer requisite to follow the Law of Moses as it had been fulfilled by Jesus every whit. (See Acts 11:7-10 and 3 Nephi 15:4-6)
In 1 Timothy 4:3 we learn that God does not command to abstain from meats and warns us to beware those that do.
no proof that Jesus ate meat of any kind. Starting with genesis 18 abraham prepared for him (jesus) a bread, milk, butter and meat. But you should note that it is customerly when we have special guests we usually prepare for them something delicious most often meat inclusive, but no proof that Jesus or any of his companion angels who visited abraham ate meat as they were saved a variety of food stuff. The angels and heavenly beings eat the heavenly bread (psalms 78:25), they do not feed on meat, so it is most likely that those three abraham's guests from heaven only ate bread and didnt take meat. likewise in Luke 24:42-43 it says: And they gave him a piece of a broiled fish, and of an honeycomb. And he took it, and did eat before them. Now if you are smart enough you will be able to tell what Jesus ate before them. Jesus was given two things, a fish and an honeycomb, but the forewords say ...he took "it" and ate before them. That means he took one of the two things that he was given, and it is obvious that he took "an honeycomb" and not "a fish" and he ate it. Now go to Luke 24:44 you will find that Jesus tells us that it is written in the torah that he will eat of an honeycomb. Prove for yourself by reading Isaiah 7:15. Somewhere else in the Bible wherever you find a verse speaking of Jesus and meat, just be careful to read it fully and you will note that Jesus never ate fish or any meat but rather he prepared and even blessed it for others. The word doesnt say anywhere in the bible that Jesus "ate" fish or Jesus "ate" meat
