English translations frequently say that Jesus "sat" at a meal, but the underlying setting of many banquet scenes is reclining at table. Diners could lie on couches or cushions with the body angled toward the food.
This arrangement explains details in the Gospel narratives that can seem awkward when imagined around a modern table.
Reclining at formal meals was widespread in the Greco-Roman world and had also become part of Jewish banquet practice. A diner normally reclined with the head nearer the table and the feet extending away from it.
That physical arrangement helps explain how someone could approach a diner's feet, how one disciple could recline close to another, and why positions at a banquet could communicate status and honor.
Reconstructing the posture changes the mental picture of several Gospel scenes. The Last Supper, meals with Pharisees, and accounts involving anointing or washing feet become spatially intelligible.
It also makes references to places of honor more concrete. Meal posture and position were part of the social world in which hospitality, rank, and fellowship were publicly displayed.