Day 20 - Luke 14

I'm really digging this section of chapters.  Jesus is being so raw and seemingly without a filter.  He kind of reminds me of Dr. House (except the whole hooked on drugs and insanely egotistical character).

Let's dig in!

Read Luke 14 (find it here)

Jesus healing on the Sabbath caused quite a ruckus, but that didn't stop him from doing it again!  But this time Jesus heals a man in the home of a Pharisee (how is Jesus getting these constant invites from these guys?).

Jesus asked them if it was permitted by law to heal on the Sabbath (v. 3). Its a trick question, actually. The law doesn't mention healing, specifically, but in the mind of the current-day religious leaders healing counted as work. However, they didn't have a specific law to point to (especially since none of them were demanded by God himself).

Again, Jesus nails them with their own hypocrisy with this question, "Which of you doesn't work on the Sabbath? If your son...falls into a pit, [won't] you [save] him?" (v. 6) Of course, they have no response to that, either.

Interestingly enough, Jesus does make it to the dinner table. I'm surprised he wasn't kicked out.

All the dinner guests were jockeying for the head of the table.  Jesus feels no shame in offering up some advice.  This is basically what he says: "When you have an opportunity to elevate yourself be humble or you run the risk of being humiliated. If you're humble, most likely, people will give you props for your character (elevate you).

Remember when Jesus challenged his listeners with the thought, “If you love only those who love you, why should you get credit for that? Even sinners love those who love them!" That was from Luke 6:32, btw.  Jesus hits the same vein here in verse 12.  Don't just include your friends, family and people you want to notice you in all of your activities.  

Many times there are rewards from these hanging out sessions. Your family will appreciate it, your friends will think to include you, too and the ones you wanted to impress may notice you more.  Seriously? Do we even have motives for why we hang out with people? I have before and still do sometimes.


Jesus says to hang with those who can't repay us with anything. That's where the true reward lies.  Think about it, have you ever dreaded the idea of serving meals to the homeless or visiting someone in the hospital or nursing home just to discover that you feel much better than expected once its over?  That's the earthly reward that God gives you (there's a eternal reward, too), a peace of mind to know that you've humbled yourself for the benefit of others who cannot repay you.

Just in case we needed to know how God treats the less fortunate, Jesus gives us another parable.  At first the feast is prepared for specific guests (this is symbolism that the gospel was first for the Jews). They all make excuses (very similar to what we read earlier in Luke 9 with the excuses 'let me bury my father first' and 'let me say goodbye to my family first').

When the master hears all the excuses he extends the invitation to "the poor, crippled, blind and lame." (vs. 21, this is symbolism of how Jesus began healing people of all different deficiencies, no matter of their nationality).

Even though all these were invited, there was still more room at the banquet feast. So the master basically gave the green light to invite anyone (symbolism of how God accepts everyone, the gospel being for every person of every nation).

I find it really striking to see how Jesus says, "none of the those I first invited will get even the smallest taste of my banquet." (v. 24) To this day, the overwhelming majority of Jews are not Christ-followers (only 1 of every 400 Jews are Christians).

I want to call your attention to the excuses Jesus heard in Luke 9 again because it is directly related to what Jesus says next.  Jesus says in Luke 14:26, "If you want to be my disciple, you must hate everyone else by comparison -- your father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters -- yes, even your own life. Otherwise, you cannot be my disciple."


Even though Jesus probably has those excuses from Luke 9 fresh on his mind also with the excuses that the first guests of the banquet feast give, too, this challenge isn't easy to swallow.


In fact, it's down right impossible to consider it at first.  Hate my father and mother, my wife?


Before you lose any respect for Jesus, let me bring out one little but HUMONGOUS detail in his challenge. The little detail is found in two words by comparison.


If you love your parents, your spouse, girlfriend or anyone else, let that be a measuring stick to see how much you love Jesus.  If you put someone's desires before your relationship and worship of Jesus, that's very dangerous ground (mind you, Jesus may use you to fulfill their needs). If dating or marrying someone causes you to abandon God, you, most likely, never loved Him much anyway.


If you let someone in authority steer you away from what you KNOW is right and expected of you by God, then you fear and respect that person in authority more than God himself. How jacked up is that?


Don't waste your time with pretending to follow Jesus if someone else can easily steal your attention, focus and loyalty away from God.  Make sense?


Jesus says that you have to think ahead of what following him is going to cost you (friends, popularity, the career you thought you always wanted, etc).  Again, its apparent that Jesus respects our decision. But if we decide on Jesus, he holds us true to our words, we HAVE to be ALL-IN!


When you are all in, you give up everything you own (v. 33) as God's property (He created and gave you everything you have, anyway), free for Him to use as He sees fit.




Questions




1.) Do you tend to humble or elevate yourself? Do you find yourself being humiliated or elevated? How have you done this?


2.) Have you ever given God excuses (as to why you couldn't share your faith, read your Bible, pray, etc) or elevated someone as more important than him? Why (because we all have)? Are you still giving those same excuses? Why or why not?


3.) Are you all in? Are your possessions free for God to use?  Can possessions be deemed as more valuable than God to some people? What can you give up to prove your allegiance?