Jesus confronts the Pharisees about the legality of healing on the Sabbath as he travels with them to have a meal. He asks a simple question about the legality of healing on the Sabbath, and when his question goes unanswered, he heals a man who had dropsy. (Dropsy has been defined as an unusual swelling or accumulation of body fluids.) Jesus then turns to the Pharisees and asks them a question meant to clarify his position, "If one of you has a child or an ox that has fallen into a well, will you not immediately pull it out on a sabbath day?" Luke 14:5 NRSV. I think I often fail to see this central motivation in so many of God's actions around me - I am God's child, and God cares for me. So, sometimes God blesses me for no apparent reason, save that God delights in blessing me! Sometimes God chastens me because God desires my maturity and obedience. But God is a loving compassionate parent - the lover of our souls!
Don't pass over the next section, it is Kingdom etiquette! This section ends with a rather heart breaking teaching on a King who set a feast, and no one was willing to come. How often do I stand up the Creator of All Things! God has called and invited me to walk and talk, and I wander off into other distractions and sin.
As chapter 14 draws to a close, Jesus is calling us to place our love and loyalty for God above all other loyalties. We must love the Lord with all we are or will be if we want to be disciples. Lord, help me to tear down the idols I have built up and let me worship you alone!
About Me
- Pastor Bill
- I am a committed follower of Jesus Christ, a happy husband, father and grandfather!
4 comments:
I used to get confused concerning the feast parable. Who would invite just poor, downtrodden people to a wedding?
As usual, I would spend a few minutes on it, get confused and speed on past, racing to get to a passage I could understand.
Then I read a simple take on it.
The poor and the maimed and the lame and the blind are us Gentiles - specifically, it is me.
God had prepared a feast for his chosen people - the Jews. But they refused to come to Him.
The invitations were extended to include me and the rest of the Gentiles.
I suppose I should kiss the feet of every Jewish man and woman I meet today.
I would rather thank the Jewish population than judge them - I know it took me 45 years to make it to the table myself.
But praise God, my bib is on and I am ready to fill myself on His Word and His Love!
Hoo Rah!
Right on track friend. Move over and pass the grace this way!
Bill
Haha! My Bib is on too, MW.
God has such great grace - he has prepared a table for us. How often do we choose to have only the select people we want at our tables and celebrations, but we really need to extend a hand to those in need. Even when we plan outreach events, we often have specific people we want to show up.
The sabbath thing again makes me happy. Jesus always seems to have the right answer- you'd save your ox or your child if they were heart on the sabbath, so why not save this guy?
We can always save people on the sabbath, share the grace of God with them!
I need to remember the story of the big table more often. I know that I need to be more humble. It's so hard sometimes when people make me feel like I'm such a great person because they're so bad and I'm so not like them - weird, eh? Then I surround myself with people who follow God's path and I become much more humble.
If we think of ourselves as directly next to the King, we're probably sinning in just neglecting to see what we have left to work on.
I'll gladly take the place at the other end of the table anytime, before I'm asked to by Him.
God bless,
Marshall
I love all the meal and food related teachings Jesus has - tying what we need to know about God to something that ties us all together anyway - the need to eat!
"none of you can become my disciple if you do not give up all your possessions." Hm. Not many ways to interpret that that I can think of...
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