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by Sandy Shaw
In these opening verses in Luke Chapter 14, Jesus had been invited to a meal in the home of a religious leader and He had healed a sick man on the Sabbath. There was increasing tension around that dinner table!
Now Jesus had watched as the guest came in, and they all made for the top table. Jesus had been watching them, even before they had begun to cast their eye in His direction.
Jesus takes over the conversation, and begins to teach again - "When you are invited to a wedding breakfast - don't scramble to get to the top table - in case you are in the seat of someone more honourable - and you have to get up and give up your place - and go to the least important place - and - you are humiliated."
When you go to a wedding or a meal - sit at the lowest place. Be prepared to sit there, and if you are found to be in the wrong seat, your host will say, "Come and sit up here." And you will be honoured.
Inviting Jesus Christ into your home, and to your table, can produce unexpected surprises. Jesus does not always approve of everything He sees in our lives. At times He points out things which can make us uncomfortable - things over which we might even be a bit sensitive.
Now, by this time, any superficial conversation around that table was dead! And, the reason on this occasion was - that people had gathered out of a wrong motive - for a wrong reason.
It can be possible to invite Jesus Christ for the wrong reason.
In verse 11, we see that Jesus is really teaching about humility. Jesus calls us to be humble, because He does not want to see us being humiliated. And Jesus teaches, “Humble yourself”. Do not ask to be made humble. Never pray 'make me humble'. Jesus says - do it yourself - humble yourself.
Jesus does not stop there. He goes on. He takes it further. "Don't just invite your friends and neighbours. They may invite you back and you will be repaid. Invite the poor - the maimed - the social outcasts - the lame - the blind. They will NOT be able to pay you back, but you will be blessed. You will be repaid at the resurrection of the righteous.
The question which arises here is, "Do we want to be repaid by man, or repaid one day by the Living God?" This again is a searing word - a piercing penetrating word - but note those to whom Jesus is speaking.
Verse 15. Somebody at the table so agreed with Jesus that he became all religious, and assumed that he was going to be in the kingdom. Jesus takes it yet a stage further, as if to say, "And will you be there?" O how was that said?
What do people mean when they say to us - 'O just keep to the words of Jesus'. I mentioned that some weeks ago. People do say, ‘I wish the Church would just stick to the words of Jesus’. Yes, but which words?
Alexander 'Sandy' Shaw is pastor of Nairn Christian Fellowship in Nairn, Scotland. Nairn is 17 miles east of Inverness - on the Moray Firth Coast - not far from the Loch Ness Monster!
Gifted as a Biblical teacher, Sandy is firmly committed to making sure that his teachings are firmly grounded in the Word.
Sandy has a weekly radio talk which can be heard via the Internet on Saturday at 11:40am, New Orleans time, at wsho.com.
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