Luke 14:12 He said also to the man who had invited him, “When you give a dinner or a banquet, do not invite your friends or your brothers or your relatives or rich neighbors, lest they also invite you in return and you be repaid. 13 But when you give a feast, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind, 14 and you will be blessed, because they cannot repay you. For you will be repaid at the resurrection of the just.”
This statement is made in between Jesus' two parables about wedding celebrations. The chapter actually begins with Him once again being scolded for healing on the Sabbath: Jesus viewed the man with dropsy as an invitation to heal a member of the family and for the people to demonstrate faith, but the religious leaders refused the invitation. So Jesus began with the first parable about wedding feast, where the moral of the story was to demonstrate humility and thankfulness that one was even invited to the wedding. It was here that Jesus inserts the statement above - to demonstrate mercy and grace by inviting those who would typically be ignored. He then goes on to talk about The Great Banquet that God was (and is) announcing. Many will not respond or refuse the invitation. This of course referred to the self-righteous who refuse His invitation to salvation. Jesus then turns and discusses His invitation for them(and us) to follow Him. It is a call to deny oneself, count the cost, and take up a cross. It requires a willingness to accept God's plan for our lives. Finally, Jesus concludes with a statement about saltiness, which at first glance seems misplaced, but what He is talking about is making a difference. Jesus is inviting us to join Him in a life that makes a difference. Will we accept His offer?
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