Getting to Know Jesus Even Better #7

As we have seen the last two days, in Luke 14 Jesus was a guest at a dinner given by a Pharisee with a lot of his fellow Pharisees and scribes:

12 Then Jesus said to his host, “When you give a luncheon or dinner, do not invite your friends, your brothers or sisters, your relatives, or your rich neighbors; if you do, they may invite you back and so you will be repaid. 13 But when you give a banquet, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind, 14 and you will be blessed. Although they cannot repay you, you will be repaid at the resurrection of the righteous.”

15 When one of those at the table with him heard this, he said to Jesus, “Blessed is the one who will eat at the feast in the kingdom of God.”

16 Jesus replied: “A certain man was preparing a great banquet and invited many guests. 17 At the time of the banquet he sent his servant to tell those who had been invited, ‘Come, for everything is now ready.’

18 “But they all alike began to make excuses. The first said, ‘I have just bought a field, and I must go and see it. Please excuse me.’

19 “Another said, ‘I have just bought five yoke of oxen, and I’m on my way to try them out. Please excuse me.’

20 “Still another said, ‘I just got married, so I can’t come.’

21 “The servant came back and reported this to his master. Then the owner of the house became angry and ordered his servant, ‘Go out quickly into the streets and alleys of the town and bring in the poor, the crippled, the blind and the lame.’

22 “‘Sir,’ the servant said, ‘what you ordered has been done, but there is still room.’

23 “Then the master told his servant, ‘Go out to the roads and country lanes and compel them to come in, so that my house will be full. 24 I tell you, not one of those who were invited will get a taste of my banquet.’”

This banquet was a big event. There was a long list of pre-invited guests who were told it was coming, They had been told about it long in advance, but when the time came to actually respond to the banquet, they all made excuses; they all felt their plans were more important than those of the host. So this host did what Jesus told the host at the table to do: invite those who were poor and undesirable, then those who were untrusted outsiders, those who could never pay them back. They came willingly and joyfully.  God is the Host. Jesus is the Servant who came announcing: "It is time, come." What kind of invitee are you?