Banquet for Beggars

Heavenly Father, once again we have gathered because we are a forgetful people.

We need to remember your loss.

We need to remember how you have been faithful.

We need to remember your grace, remember your love.

So please now speak to us through the reading and preaching of your word.

That our lives may be governed by you.

And so we might live in a way that pleases you as humble people who praise your glorious grace.

In Jesus' name we pray. Amen.

Luke 14, 1-24

One Sabbath, when he went to dine at the house of a ruler of the Pharisees, they were watching him carefully.

And behold, there was a man before him who had dropsy.

And Jesus responded to the lawyers and Pharisees, saying,

Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath or not?

But they remained silent.

Then he took him and healed him and sent him away.

And he said to them,

Which of you, having a son or an ox that has fallen into a well on the Sabbath day, will not immediately pull him out?

And they could not reply to these things.

Now he told a parable to those who were invited.

When he noticed how they chose the places of honor, saying to them,

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.

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.

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.

For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled.

And he who humbles himself will be exalted.

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.

But when you give a feast, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind.

And you will be blessed because they cannot repay you.

For you will be repaid at the resurrection of the just.

When one of those who reclined at table with him heard these things,

He said to him, Blessed is everyone who will eat bread in the kingdom of God.

But he said to him, A man once gave a great banquet and invited many.

And at the time for the banquet, he sent his servant to say to those who had been invited,

Come, for everything is now ready.

But they all alike began to make excuses.

The first said to him, I have bought a field and I must go out and see it.

Please have me excused.

And another said, I bought five yoke of oxen and I go to examine them.

Please have me excused.

And another said, I have married a wife and therefore I cannot come.

So the servant came and reported these things to his master.

Then the master of the house became angry and said to his servant,

Go, go out quickly to the streets and lanes of the city and bring in the poor and crippled and blind and lame.

And the servant said, Sir, what you commanded has been done and still there is room.

And the master said to the servant, Go out to the highways and hedges and compel people to come in.

That my house may be filled.

For I tell you, none of those men who are invited shall taste my banquet.

This is God's holy and authoritative word.

In a New York Times article entitled, Not to Leadership Material.

Good.

The world needs followers.

That's the title of the article.

Susan Cain writes and mentions that in 1934 there was a woman, a young woman named Sarah Pollard,

who applied for admission to Vassal College.

In those days, parents were asked to fill out a questionnaire about their children who were applying to college.

And she, unfortunately, had a very honest dad.

That's actually a good thing.

And he wrote on the questionnaire, she's really more of a follower type than a leader.

Which, if you know that virtually every college in the U.S. lists leadership as one of the main qualities that it looks for in admission,

of course, is not the kind of thing you want on your application.

But Sarah, surprisingly, was admitted to Vassal, whose admissions officers wrote her a personal note,

explaining that they had enough leaders at Vassal.

In fact, they needed more followers.

In her article, Cain continues to argue that the popular notion of leadership centers too restrictively on this political or business power.

And it's seen as just ordering people around.

That's what people see as leadership.

In contrast, she notes that there is actually a growing emphasis nowadays on what organizational psychology calls followership.

And a good follower is defined as someone who is courageous, honest, and credible,

and is committed to a purpose or a principle or a person that's outside themselves.

And Cain continues to argue that a disproportionate glorification of leadership skills

has emptied leadership of its meaning so that, quote, she writes,

It attracts those who are motivated by the spotlight rather than by the ideas and people they serve.

It teaches students to be a leader for the sake of being in charge

rather than in the name of a cause or idea they care about deeply.

The admissions officers at Vassal College somehow intuitively understood this back in 1934.

In our passage for today, we see a similar phenomenon.

Like the high school students preparing for college admission by padding their resumes with leadership roles,

so-called leadership roles that they care nothing about.

The Jewish religious leaders were engaging in religious hypocrisy,

padding their resumes for admission to heaven with their legalistic observances of the law

when their hearts were actually far from God,

when they really didn't care.

And these religious leaders, they believed that surely if anyone is admitted to the kingdom of heaven,

we would be.

We're the leaders.

We're the qualified ones.

But in this passage, Jesus systematically dismantles their false assurance

and makes the point that it's those who humbly acknowledge their unworthiness before God

that will be seated at God's banqueting table.

That's the main point of this passage.

And Jesus exposes the hypocrisy of the Pharisees

and denounces them for pursuing legalism rather than love,

honor rather than humility,

prosperity rather than those who are impoverished, poverty.

So let's look at their pursuit of legalism rather than love.

In last week's passage, Jesus taught that the door to enter the kingdom of God is narrow

and the time left to enter is short

and that many who think that they are entering are mistaken.

And in verses 1 to 6 of our passage,

Jesus points out that one reason why the Pharisees are mistaken in their assumption

that they will be admitted to the kingdom of God

is that their religion is a legalism, not love.

And by contrasting legalism and love,

I'm not echoing the popular kind of shallow slogans like

love wins or love is all you need.

It's popular to criticize Christians who teach people to live according to God's laws as legalistic.

But a Christian that tries to obey God's laws is not legalistic.

They're just law abiding.

And they deserve to be commended.

A legalist is someone who strictly adheres to the letter of the law

while violating the spirit of the law, the heart of the law.

Someone who keeps the law in superficial appearance only and not in actual substance.

That's what a true legalist is.

And that's what the Pharisees were doing.

Which is why Jesus denounced them earlier in Luke 11, 39 to 44

for outwardly washing their cups for the sake of ritual purity,

but then inwardly in their hearts being full of greed and wickedness.

Legalism is the mask that hypocrisy wears.

The two are intimately related.

So with that in mind, let's look at the Pharisees' legalism,

what it looked like in verses 1 to 2.

One Sabbath, when he went to dine at the house of a ruler of the Pharisees,

they were watching him carefully.

And behold, there was a man before him who had dropsy.

So this is now the fourth Sabbath controversy in the Gospel of Luke.

The command to observe a Sabbath day of rest once a week

was an important command for faithful Jews.

And the Pharisees objected to the fact that Jesus frequently healed people on the Sabbath

because they considered that work and therefore a violation of the Sabbath.

And here, as Jesus is dining with the ruler of the Pharisees,

all the other religious leaders present were all observing Jesus carefully.

Maybe he'll do the same thing again.

They're watching and lurking in the back

and ready to pounce in the event that Jesus would take the slightest misstep on the Sabbath.

And perfect timing, almost as if this were a setup,

behold, there was a man before him who had dropsy.

Dropsy is a condition where fluids accumulate abnormally underneath the skin.

And sometimes it's so their body literally swells up like this.

And it causes severe pain.

And the ancient Jewish rabbis argued that dropsy was caused by sin,

that it was a divine judgment for sin, especially sexual sins.

So this man not only had a physical deformity,

he also represents for the other guests spiritual uncleanness,

an object of divine judgment.

What would Jesus do in this situation?

A man is clearly in dire need of his compassion and healing,

but it's the Sabbath.

And Jesus is dying with the ruler of the Pharisees of all people.

Perhaps detecting a trap, Jesus issues a preemptive strike in verse 3.

And Jesus responded to the lawyers and Pharisees saying,

Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath or not?

Notice the word respond.

The Pharisees haven't said anything yet,

but Jesus already responds to them

because he is the Son of God,

the ultimate prophet who knows people's hearts,

he knows what they're thinking,

and he responds to them.

And remember that Jesus already rebuked them

for their hypocrisy regarding the Sabbath.

It's not unbiblical to heal on the Sabbath.

It was only a violation of the human traditions

that they have added to it.

And so Jesus has already taught them this,

but still they have not learned their lesson

because they are silent.

This is the silence of defiance,

silence of pride,

reluctance to admit that they're in the wrong

and to submit to Jesus.

And so Jesus, it says,

took the man with dropsy

and healed him and sent him away.

And he said to them,

Which of you, having a son or an ox

that has fallen to a well on the Sabbath,

they will not immediately pull him out?

The expected answer is yes.

Of course they would immediately rescue their son

or their ox that has fallen into a well on the Sabbath.

If you see a child drowning in the lake,

would you not ignore the sign that says,

No swimming,

and go in and jump in to rescue the child?

No.

Surely that's an emergency

for which an exception should be made,

that no swimming sign is there for people's sake,

and someone's drowning,

clearly that something needs to be done

about that person.

It's not unlawful to heal on the Sabbath,

but even the Pharisees made exception

for extenuating circumstances.

So even the Pharisees

who added all kinds of unnecessary

and excessive regulation around the Sabbath,

they made allowances for rescuing

a person or an ox that had fallen into a well.

It's common sense.

It's basic decency.

And Jesus says,

Likewise,

it is lawful and good

to heal this man on the Sabbath.

In Luke 11, 32,

Jesus charged the Pharisees

with legalistically observing

the minutiae of the law

while neglecting the more important parts of the law,

neglecting the justice and the love of God.

And the same charge applies here,

because while trying to observe the Sabbath

in their extreme and excessive attention to detail,

they were neglecting love for their neighbors,

which is part of the greatest commandment.

Their religion was a mere legalism without love,

and for that reason,

they're disqualified from entry into the kingdom of God.

And the Pharisees,

after all this,

it says in verse 6,

could not reply to these things.

They're now silent in shame.

Then in verses 7 to 11,

Jesus highlights another aspect

of the Pharisees' hypocrisy

by exposing the way they seek honor

rather than humility.

It says in verse 7

that Jesus told this parable

when he noticed how those who had been invited

chose the places of honor as they arrived.

Social status is carefully observed

in most human cultures,

even in supposedly egalitarian contexts like ours.

But this was especially the case

in the ancient world.

So for this reason,

social status played a big role

when it came to formal banquets like this,

and the seating arrangement was very important.

The most honored seats at the banquet

were seats that were next to

or near the host of the party.

And the seating order was determined

by a person's age or rank.

In this case,

it seems it was by rank

because they chose the places of honor

and those who are more prominent.

He mentions those who are more prominent.

And so guests were arriving,

but they were choosing for themselves

the seats of honor.

And Jesus' observingness

says this to them

in verses 8 to 10.

When you are invited by someone

to a wedding feast,

do not sit down in a place of honor.

Let someone more distinguished than you

be invited by him.

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.

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.

So Jesus is teaching,

this is an allusion to Proverbs 25, 67.

And it's pretty straightforward, right?

At a wedding feast,

don't take the seat of honor

just in case someone

that's more prominent

than you have a higher rank

than you comes.

And then the host will say,

well, please, actually,

that seat's reserved

for someone else.

Please get out.

And if you have to get out

after the party's already begun

because all the other seats

are already taken,

the seats that you could have occupied

are all taken,

now you have to take

the lowest seat.

And this is described

very graphically.

It says you will have to begin

with shame to take

the lowest place.

You can just picture this person

as shamefully getting up

from the seat

that he was sitting on

and then walking down

that wall of shame

all past all the chairs

to the last seat.

But if you sit in the lowest place,

from the beginning,

Jesus says,

your host will ask you,

please move up higher.

And you will get to move up

and be honored

in the presence

of all the other guests.

And from that,

Jesus concludes

with the general principle

in verse 11,

for everyone who exalts himself

will be humbled,

and he who humbles himself

will be exalted.

This is true of human relationships

and people who are accustomed

to bragging,

pulling rank,

or seeking prominent positions

in society

should take note

of this command.

Jesus rebuked the Pharisees

for loving the best seat

in the synagogues

earlier in Luke 11.

They wanted to be highly regarded.

They wanted to be seen

as important.

They wanted to be honored

by men

rather than seeking

the honor from God.

They sought men's approval

rather than God's approval.

But Jesus is teaching here

that it's those

who humble themselves

will be exalted by God,

and so we ought to be humble

in our relationship

with one another.

It's pride that goes

before a fall.

Humility comes before honor.

But these verses

are not dealing

merely with the importance

of humility

in human relationships.

Please look at verse 7

again with me.

It says,

Now Jesus told a parable

to those who were invited.

So this is a parable.

It's a metaphor

or a similitude

that uses something

that is well known

to illustrate something

that is less known.

So while it is applicable

at the literal level

in interpersonal relationships

among humans,

Jesus shares it

in response to people

choosing,

Jesus is responding

to the people

who were choosing

the honor seats

at the party.

But this principle

applies not only

to human banquets

but also to the banquet

of God.

Just as we ought

to relate humbly

to our human hosts,

we ought to relate humbly

to our divine host.

And we see this point

in several details

of the parable.

Jesus could have chosen

any kind of feast

to illustrate his point,

but he intentionally

chooses a wedding feast.

Why?

That's not an accident

because throughout

the Old Testament,

God describes himself

as the husband

or the bridegroom

of his chosen people.

For example,

it says in Isaiah 54,

5-6,

For your maker

is your husband,

the Lord of hosts

is his name,

and the Holy One

of Israel

is your Redeemer,

the God of the whole earth

that he is called.

For the Lord

has called you

like a wife,

deserted and grieved

in spirit,

like a wife of youth

when she is cast off,

says your God.

So God here

is described

like a husband

who redeems

and calls to himself

an unfaithful wife

that has been cast off.

So what's in view here

is a marriage supper

of God

described in Revelation 19.

It's a picture of heaven.

And we can see this point

also in the word invite.

If you scan verses 7-24

in our passage,

you will notice

that the word invite

is repeated many times.

And the Greek word

that is translated here

as invite

is actually the same word

that is often translated

as call,

that God calls us.

Early in Luke 5-32,

Jesus said,

I have not come

to call the righteous

but sinners to repentance.

God calls sinners

to repentance

and calls sinners

into his kingdom.

And God calls

his chosen people

to enter into covenant

relationship with him

as his bride.

So then the point

that Jesus is driving home

in this parable

is this,

only those who humbly

acknowledge their unworthiness

unworthiness

will be seated

at God's banqueting table.

If you want to be honored

in the kingdom of God,

humble yourself

before God.

Acknowledge your sins.

Admit your unworthiness.

Don't show off

your credentials.

Don't vaunt

your service activities.

Instead,

humble yourself before him

and then he will

exalt you.

At this point,

we might think to ourselves,

well, at least,

even if prideful people

get humiliated

in front of all

the other guests,

hey, they still get to sit

at the lowest place

at God's marriage supper,

right?

So you might say that.

So does that mean

that these Pharisees

will be saved?

That they'll be part

of the kingdom of God?

If we say that,

I think we're pressing

the incidental details

of the parable

a little too far.

I don't think

that this parable

is intended

to make that point.

Everyone who exalts

himself will be humbled

and he who humbles

himself will be exalted.

That's an echo

of what Jesus said earlier

in Luke 13, 28-30

where he warns

that the Pharisees

will see people

from east to west

and from north and south

all enter

in the kingdom of God

and recline at table

with him,

but then

find themselves

excluded

and cast off.

And then Jesus says

to them,

behold,

some are last

who will be first

and some are first

who will be last.

And there,

the last doesn't mean

that you're least

in the kingdom of God.

It means that you are excluded.

You're cast out

from the kingdom of God.

So I think the same meaning

applies here.

To be humiliated

at the banquet

and asked to

empty your seat

for someone else

is a sign of exclusion.

The point of,

and this point

is confirmed

in the last part

of our passage.

When Jesus saw

the Pharisees,

their disapproval

of Jesus healing

a man with dropsy

on the Sabbath,

he denounced

their legalism

in contrast to love.

And then he also

denounced their pursuit

of honor

rather than humility.

And now Jesus

makes another observation,

namely that

the ruler of the Pharisees

had invited

his friends,

brothers,

relatives,

rich neighbors,

prominent members

of society,

but not

the poor,

the crippled,

the lame,

the blind.

The man with dropsy

after he had received

healing left.

Jesus uses this

as an opportunity

to teach that

the kingdom of God

belongs,

figuratively speaking,

not to the prosperous

but to the poor.

So let's read

verses 12 to 14 together.

I'll read out loud

if you would follow along

with me.

Verses 12 to 14.

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.

But when you give

a feast,

invite the poor,

the crippled,

the lame,

the blind,

and you will be blessed

because they cannot

repay you.

For you will be repaid

at the resurrection

of the just.

As sinful human beings,

we are by nature

selfish,

so our natural inclination

is to do favors

for people

who can return

the favor.

We call it networking,

right?

We size people

up and down

to see if they have

something that they

can offer us.

Is this neighbor

nice enough,

rich enough,

successful enough

to be worth

building a relationship

with?

Is this fellow student

smart enough

to be helpful

in my studies?

Does this person

work at a firm

or a company

that I might like

to work at

in the future?

Can this professor

help me

secure a grant

or write a strategic

recommendation letter

for me?

Is this person

powerful enough,

influential enough?

And once we have

determined that the

answer is yes,

then we lavish them

with compliments,

show interest

in their work,

take them out to coffee,

invite them over

for dinner.

But such social gifts

we offer to people

are not gifts

at all.

Rather,

they are loans

that we expect

repaid.

They're investments

that we expect

the return from.

And Jesus is here

teaching us

to give without

expecting anything

in return.

To be generous

and hospitable,

especially toward

those who offer

no return

or payment.

And why

does Jesus

do that?

When you give

to those who

can return

your favor,

you have already

received your reward

here on earth.

But if you're

generous to those

who cannot repay,

if you do a favor

for those who

cannot return

the favor,

God says,

I will see to it

that you are

repaid at the

resurrection

of the just.

So then,

we don't need

to virtue signal

to everyone around

us about all

the good work

that we're doing.

We could do

good deeds

even when

no one is looking

because God

sees it

and He promises

to reward it.

In a world

where everyone

is selfish

and looking out

for their own

interests,

give and take

is the natural

really only

sustainable policy.

But as citizens

of the kingdom

of God,

as people

who believe

that God

sees everything,

that He will

reward every

good work

that we do

in His name,

we can give

without taking.

We can serve

without badges

and accolades.

We can love

without expecting

anything back.

That's the

functional effect

of our belief

in God

and the

resurrection

of the

just.

And Jesus'

previous parable

about a wedding

feast,

as well as

His ongoing

banquet imagery

and what He

says here

about the

resurrection

of the

just,

prompt one

of the

guests

to think

about

the ultimate

banquet

that God

promises

His followers.

In verse 15,

He says,

Blessed is

everyone

who will eat

bread in the

kingdom of God.

God.

The underlying

assumption of

this guest

is likely

that He

and others

like Him,

the prominent

members of

society at

this banquet,

that they

will be the

ones who

eat bread

in the

kingdom of

God.

But then

Jesus shatters

that expectation

again in

verses 16

to 17.

He gives

another parable.

He says,

A man once

gave a great

banquet and

invited many.

And at the

time for the

banquet,

he sent the

servant to

say to those

who had been

invited,

Come,

for everything

is not ready.

So this is a

great banquet,

much like the

wedding feast

that preceded

this parable.

And the host

invited many

people,

and it seems

that these

people RSVP'd

saying,

Yes,

they'll come.

Because when

the party is

ready,

everything is

ready,

he sends a

servant telling

them,

Hey,

it's ready,

so come now.

You said you

would come,

now come,

everything is

ready.

But it says

in verse 18,

they all alike

began to make

excuses.

The first said

to him,

I have bought

a field,

and I must go

out and see it.

Please have

me excused.

And another

said,

I have bought

five yoke of

oxen,

and I go

to examine

them.

Please have

me excused.

And another

said,

I have married

a wife,

and therefore

I cannot

come.

They all

initially told

the host

that they

would come,

but when the

final date

was announced,

they had

scheduling

conflicts,

and they

informed the

host that

regrettably

they cannot

come anymore.

And we've

all done

this before,

and all

three of

these people

have seemingly

reasonable

objections.

They have

legitimate

reasons.

The first

person just

purchased a

field,

which back

then was a

source of

livelihood for

most families.

It's probably

as significant

as choosing

or as closing

on a house

nowadays.

It's a

significant

purchase.

And after

such a

significant

purchase,

usually there's

plenty of

things to

do.

Inspection,

cleanup,

planning,

etc.

And the

second person

just bought

five yoke of

oxen.

This too is

a significant

purchase.

To a

farmer back

then,

oxen were

the primary

tools of

the trade.

And five

is a large

number.

Usually farmers

in this day

and age only

had one or

two oxen.

So it's

kind of like

a modern

day Uber

driver buying

an expensive

new car that

he intends to

use for his

work.

And when you

buy something

that's significant,

you have to

test drive it.

You have to

make sure that

everything is set

up.

It requires

time.

It's a busy

season for this

person as well.

And the third

person I think

has the best

excuse of them

all.

I have

married a

wife.

There are

a few

things in

life that

are as

momentous

and life

altering as

getting married.

So this

man thinks

his excuse

is so good

he doesn't

even bother

to ask

formally to

be excused.

He just

says,

I've

married a

wife and

therefore I

cannot come.

And these

three reasons

together represent

the essential

preoccupations of

life.

property,

job,

family.

But even

these

concerns

are not

valid

reasons

to stay

away from

the kingdom

of God

and refuse

to partake

in the

banquet.

And this

should be an

important warning

for all of us

because what

keeps people

away from

the heavenly

banquet here

in this

passage is

not some

shocking

scandal

or heinous

crime

but the

normal and

socially

acceptable

commitments of

life.

Sure,

being an

unrepentant

thief can

keep you out

of the

banquet,

that's true.

But you

can also be

too distracted

tempted by

building honest

wealth and

enjoying the

security and

luxury that

it can buy,

that you

dismiss the

invitation to

the great

banquet of

God.

Sure,

yes,

being an

unrepentant,

lazy,

glutton that

doesn't do any

work but lives

off of other

people's hard-earned

money or

taxpayers'

dollars,

yes,

that can keep

you out of the

banquet if you

don't repent.

but you

can also be

so busy

being a

hard worker

trying to

provide for

yourself and

for your

family that

you miss out

on the

great eternal

banquet.

Sure,

being an

unrepentant,

chauvinistic

wife abuser

can keep you

out of the

banquet.

but you

can also be

a devoted

husband that

spends all

his available

time trying

to please his

wife and

raise his

kids that he

neglects the

pursuit of

God and

misses out on

the kingdom

of God.

Think about

it this way,

imagine two

drivers,

both get

into a fatal

car accident.

One of them

got into a

car accident

because he

was texting

while driving

and he

was texting

his dying

mother on

her death

bed.

It's like the

last thing

he could send

to her.

He got into a

car accident

and died.

The other

driver also was

texting while

driving but he

was texting

LOL to some

recent acquaintance

that he doesn't

care anything

about.

Maybe one is

more justifiable

than the other.

it's more

acceptable than

any other.

But they

both ended

up dying.

In a life

or death

situation,

it doesn't

matter what

the excuse

is.

It's an

excuse.

And when it

comes to the

matter of the

kingdom of

God,

when it

comes to

your eternal

fate,

it doesn't

matter how

good your

excuse is.

It's an

excuse.

And you

must make a

decision to

follow Christ.

there is no

alternative.

We can be

socially accepted.

We can be

praised by the

whole world.

Yet because of

the cares and

the riches and

the pleasures of

life,

fail to enter

the kingdom of

God and the

banquet God has

prepared for us.

So that's what

happened to these

people.

But the master of

the house is not

going to reschedule

to accommodate

these guests.

The time has

been set and

the decisions

have been made.

But this master

will also not

have an empty

banquet.

So it says in

verse 21,

so the servant

came and reported

these things to

his master.

Then the master

of the house

became angry and

said to his

servant,

go out quickly

to the streets

and lanes of

the city and

bring in the

poor and

crippled and

blind and

lame.

The first round

of guests,

the genteel

people,

the noble

people,

the prominent

people,

they've all

received their

invitations,

have declined

to come.

Despite the

fact that they

had previously

indicated they

were coming.

And so the

host sends a

servant to the

streets and

lanes of the

city.

So now he's

going,

inviting people,

not just from

their homes,

he's going out

into the city

streets and to

the back alleys,

to the shady

places.

The riffraff of

the city.

The poor,

the crippled,

the blind,

the lame.

And this is a

radical statement

that Jesus is

making that

deviates from

this traditional

Jewish teaching

during his time.

For example,

a Jewish sect

at Qumran,

they taught

that the

Messiah will

bless the

righteous who

participate in

God's great

banquet, but

only after

excluding the

Gentiles, the

ritually unclean,

and the

physically disabled.

But Jesus

here says,

those who

come to the

kingdom, but

the poor, the

crippled, the

blind, the

lame.

And this is

not merely

a reference to

the physically

poor, crippled,

blind, and

lame, but to

a general

category of

people who

are of

humble estate.

At the

beginning of

his ministry

in Luke 4,

Jesus cited

several passages

from prophet

Isaiah to

declare that

his mission

on earth is

to proclaim

good news to

the poor,

to proclaim

liberty to

the captives,

and recovering

of sight to

the blind, to

set at

liberty those

who are

oppressed, to

proclaim the

ear of the

Lord's favor.

That's Jesus'

mission.

And throughout

the gospel of

Luke, Jesus

has ministered

to several

demoniacs,

demon-possessed

people, a

woman with a

high fever,

about to die,

a leper, a

paralytic, a

man with a

withered hand,

a notoriously

sinful woman that

people refused to

associate with,

a woman with

the discharge of

blood that made

her ceremony

unclean, a

dead girl that

had raised to

life, he

ministered to a

mute man, a

woman who was

disabled and was

a hunchback, and

finally here, a

man with dropsy.

All people who

were rejected by

society, people

whose physical

infirmities were

viewed as

evidence of

God's rejection,

of spiritual

defilement,

sinners who are

unworthy of the

kingdom of God,

and that's

exactly Jesus'

point.

Only sinners who

humbly acknowledge

their unworthiness

will be seated at

God's banqueting

table.

Jesus said early in

Luke 5 to the

Pharisees who

criticized him for

associating with

these sinners, he

told them, those who

are well have no

need of a physician,

but those who are

sick.

I have not come to

call the righteous,

sinners, but sinners

to repentance.

Ironically, it's the

Pharisees who think

that they have no

need of a physician,

who think that they

are righteous, who

see themselves as

spiritual superiors.

They are those who

are unworthy of

acceptance by God,

and they find

themselves on the

outside looking in at

the banquet.

have you come to

church today as a

self-righteous person?

Do you think that

you have earned entry

to the kingdom of

God?

Do you imagine

yourself worthy of

heaven?

If you do, you will

miss Jesus' invitation

to the kingdom of

God.

Because those who

get to sit at the

banquet are sinners

who acknowledge their

unworthiness.

this trend continues

with the third round

of invitations in

verses 22 to 24.

And the servant

said,

Sir, what you

have commanded has

been done, and

still there is room.

And the master

said to the servant,

Go out to the

highways and hedges

and compel people to

come in, that my

house may be filled.

For I tell you,

none of those men

who are invited

shall taste my

banquet.

I love how this

reveals God's

heart.

Sometimes people

imagine that God's

this exclusivist,

stingy person.

Let's see how

high, like how

difficult I can make

it for these people

to come in.

God's heart is to

fill his house.

He says there's not

enough people.

He wants to fill the

house.

His arms are open.

He wants you to

come.

Come.

After having gone

through the city

streets and back

alleys, the servant

is now ordered to

go out to the

highways and the

hedges.

He's now going

outside the city

walls, even to the

highways, and

bringing in the

homeless beggars who

frequent the hedges

and fences around

vineyards and houses

located outside the

city.

This is probably a

reference to inviting

to the kingdom, not

just the needy people

among the Jews, but

also the Gentiles.

And the master

says, compel people

to come in, that my

house may be filled.

And the word

compel does not

refer to kind of

angrily forcing

people to come

against their will.

It's referring to

the fact that people

who are invited to

banquets like this

unexpectedly are,

you know, and they

recognize their

unworthiness and

they're hesitant to

go.

And this reflects an

ancient Near

Eastern practice

when a resolute

host insists, I

insist you come, and

takes the reluctant

and hesitant guest by

the hand, by his

hand, and takes

him, shows him the

way and takes him to

the banquet.

Compel them to come.

Tell them the host

insists.

God insists.

Tell them that they

are invited.

You can imagine, it's

the gesture of a host

that refuses to take a

polite no as an answer.

And it's a wonderful

picture of God's

gracious and generous

hospitality towards

sinners like us.

God's grace.

And this is the most

important point to take

away from this entire

passage.

All of humanity has

sinned against God.

We have all lived for

our own purposes and

priorities rather than

seeking God and

glorifying Him.

We have all violated

His laws, some more

egregiously than others,

but we have all violated

His laws and we are

disqualified from entry.

But God sent His only

Son, Jesus Christ, to

preach good news to the

poor.

He sent Jesus to die on

the cross for our sins.

We are the ones that

should have been the

castoffs.

Barred, bounced from the

party with no access, but

Jesus instead in our place

was cast off and died on

the cross.

So that by believing in

Him, we might be forgiven

of our sins and we might

be received into the

kingdom of God.

And so Jesus comes and

He sends His followers.

He searches the city

streets and the back

alleys.

He roams the highways and

the hedges on the

escorts of the city.

He looks for sinners

unworthy of acceptance.

The poor, the crippled,

the blind and lame, the

Gentile heathens to

compel them to come.

It doesn't matter what

kind of sinner you are.

It doesn't matter how

sordid your history is.

You might look upon your

own sinful rags and then

shake your head mournfully

at Jesus.

Sir, I can't go like this.

Sir, that's not my part.

It's not for people like

me.

You might say, Lord, I'm

blinded by my sin.

I'm crippled by my sins.

I'm poor.

But Jesus, the servant of

the Lord, looks on you.

He looks you in the eye and

He says, I have been sent

by the King.

I have made a way.

If only you are willing to

leave your life of sin, then

I will take you by the hand,

lead you into the back of it

God.

A poet, English poet from

the 17th century puts it

this way.

Humble we must be if to

heaven we go.

High is the roof there, but

the gate is low.

Will you humble yourself

before God and receive

His lavish grace?