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?

Getting to Know Jesus Even Better #6

As we saw yesterday in Luke 14, Jesus is having dinner with a Pharisee, who had invited a number of his friends who were scribes and Pharisees.  He shut them up when He healed a man with a serious illness, even though it was the Sabbath, pointing out to them that their hearts had grown cold to people in need. They had totally ignored the man.

verse 7 Now he told a parable to those who were invited, when he noticed how they chose the places of honor, saying to them, 8 “When you are invited by someone to a wedding feast, do not sit down in a place of honor, lest someone more distinguished than you be invited by him, 9 and he who invited you both will come and say to you, ‘Give your place to this person,’ and then you will begin with shame to take the lowest place. 10 But when you are invited, go and sit in the lowest place, so that when your host comes he may say to you, ‘Friend, move up higher.’ Then you will be honored in the presence of all who sit at table with you. 11 For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted.”

The biggest problem this group of men had was pride.  Even though they were all there together for dinner, they were all vying with one another for position, popularity, and power. They were deciding for themselves who was most important. In God's kingdom, that system does not work. He is the Host, and He will decide who gets the positions of honor. What He is looking for is totally different: it is humble service.  That one difference will make all the difference in the world in how one lives life. 

Getting to Know Jesus Even Better #5

Today in our study, we move into Luke 14:

One Sabbath, when he went to dine at the house of a ruler of the Pharisees, they were watching him carefully. 2 And behold, there was a man before him who had dropsy. 3 And Jesus responded to the lawyers and Pharisees, saying, “Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath, or not?” 4 But they remained silent. Then he took him and healed him and sent him away. 5 And he said to them, “Which of you, having a son or an ox that has fallen into a well on a Sabbath day, will not immediately pull him out?” 6 And they could not reply to these things.

In one sense, this seems like the same story we have seen before: Jesus gets invited to dinner at the house of a Pharisee, which was simply a ploy to watch Him more closely to see if He did or said something that they could charge Him with. One thing we find different here is that Jesus takes the offensive: asking them before He heals the man if it was okay.  Crickets. Jesus had a way of stopping a party in its tracks. He then asks why they would think it was wrong to heal on the Sabbath if they were willing to do something similar for an animal. Again, crickets.  Something was wrong with their priorities, and they were too proud to admit it.  What misplaced priorities do you have in your live today? Are you responding with repentance or silence?

Getting to Know Jesus Even Better #4

In Luke 13, Jesus had just announced that many of those in Jerusalem and Judea who had come out to hear Him and see Him would not be among those to enter the banquet hall of the Kingdom of Heaven, while many of those whom they considered "less" - the Galileans and the Gentiles, would. 

31 At that time some Pharisees came to Jesus and said to him, “Leave this place and go somewhere else. Herod wants to kill you.”
32 He replied, “Go tell that fox, ‘I will keep on driving out demons and healing people today and tomorrow, and on the third day I will reach my goal.’ 33 In any case, I must press on today and tomorrow and the next day—for surely no prophet can die outside Jerusalem!
34 “Jerusalem, Jerusalem, you who kill the prophets and stone those sent to you, how often I have longed to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, and you were not willing. 35 Look, your house is left to you desolate. I tell you, you will not see me again until you say, ‘Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord.""

These religious leaders wanted Jesus to go away, and they were hoping that the fear of Herod would help Him decide He would. They were wrong. Jesus was not in the least bit intimidated by the corrupt leader. In fact, knowing men's hearts, He knew that Herod was afraid of Him.  Jesus was going to press on into Perea, the region across the Jordan, where Herod's rule was strong, before returning to Jerusalem for His last time.  He alone would decide when to go up to Jerusalem for His final journey, where He knew He would die. As He looked toward the city He cried out with a heart of sorrow, noting that they had rejected Him, and though they would cry out their Hosannas, their hearts were far from Him and His Kingdom.

Getting to Know Jesus Even Better #3

Luke 13 begins with Jesus' admonition to repent or perish. His message and call seem to be becoming more and more challenging, leaving some serious questions:

22 Then Jesus went through the towns and villages, teaching as he made his way to Jerusalem. 23 Someone asked him, “Lord, are only a few people going to be saved?”
He said to them, 24 “Make every effort to enter through the narrow door, because many, I tell you, will try to enter and will not be able to. 25 Once the owner of the house gets up and closes the door, you will stand outside knocking and pleading, ‘Sir, open the door for us.’
“But he will answer, ‘I don’t know you or where you come from.’
26 “Then you will say, ‘We ate and drank with you, and you taught in our streets.’
27 “But he will reply, ‘I don’t know you or where you come from. Away from me, all you evildoers!’
28 “There will be weeping there, and gnashing of teeth, when you see Abraham, Isaac and Jacob and all the prophets in the kingdom of God, but you yourselves thrown out. 29 People will come from east and west and north and south, and will take their places at the feast in the kingdom of God. 30 Indeed there are those who are last who will be first, and first who will be last.”

That is quite a question: Are only a few people going to be saved? True to form, Jesus answers with stories, but before He does, he gives an exhortation: Make every effort to enter through the door now. Why? because many will try to enter in the future and not be able to. Jesus' call is not something to put off. There came a time every day when the head of the house would take a head count and close the door to keep his household safe; everyone else was shut out. There was only so much room and so much time. The time to trust and follow Him is now, not later.  You don't want to miss out on what God has in store. 

Getting to Know Jesus Even Better #2

Fortunately for us, Jesus often doubled up on His parable illustrations to reinforce the point He was trying to make, like in Luke 13:

18 Then Jesus asked, “What is the kingdom of God like? What shall I compare it to? 19 It is like a mustard seed, which a man took and planted in his garden. It grew and became a tree, and the birds perched in its branches.”
20 Again he asked, “What shall I compare the kingdom of God to? 21 It is like yeast that a woman took and mixed into about sixty pounds of flour until it worked all through the dough.”

First, when is "then"?  Jesus had just healed a woman on the Sabbath. When the religious leaders strongly objected, Jesus humiliated them in front of the crowds, showing how self-centered they were. Now He could get back to the task at hand - the reason for which He came: to tell them about the Kingdom of God. It starts small and grows big; you put a little in and it permeates throughout this mound of flour.  He was talking about faith - trusting in God, and what happens when we allow Him to rule and reign in our lives. It all starts with small steps in following a big, big God. 

Getting to Know Jesus Even Better #1

We have seen throughout Luke's account people coming to Jesus for healing. But sometimes they did not have to ask - like in chapter 13:

10 On a Sabbath Jesus was teaching in one of the synagogues, 11 and a woman was there who had been crippled by a spirit for eighteen years. She was bent over and could not straighten up at all. 12 When Jesus saw her, he called her forward and said to her, “Woman, you are set free from your infirmity.” 13 Then he put his hands on her, and immediately she straightened up and praised God. 14 Indignant because Jesus had healed on the Sabbath, the synagogue leader said to the people, “There are six days for work. So come and be healed on those days, not on the Sabbath.” 15 The Lord answered him, “You hypocrites! Doesn’t each of you on the Sabbath untie your ox or donkey from the stall and lead it out to give it water? 16 Then should not this woman, a daughter of Abraham, whom Satan has kept bound for eighteen long years, be set free on the Sabbath day from what bound her?” 17 When he said this, all his opponents were humiliated, but the people were delighted with all the wonderful things he was doing.

Jesus initiates things, taking care of both the cause and symptoms of her illness.  Rather than taking Jesus to task for violating the Sabbath, the synagogue leader yelled at the people. Jesus comes to their defense: they are not the ones violating the Sabbath; the synagogue leader and those like him were. They cared more about their animals than fellow Jews in need of healing and hope. There was no better day for healing than on the Sabbath.  Not only was it okay for people to come to hear and be healed; it was exactly what should be going on, and the leaders were standing in the way.