Parable of the Great Dinner

July 29, 2018 Background Scripture: Luke 14:15 – 24 Lesson Passage: Luke 14:15 – 24 God has a way of handling indifferent people. If God does not matter to those who are indifferent, then they do not matter to His kingdom. The occasion of the parable in today’s lesson is a very unlikely one. Jesus was a guest in the home of a Pharisee on a Sabbath. Every moment was a teaching moment for Jesus. On the surface, it really seems as though Jesus was a rude unappreciative guest. But beneath the surface, he was helping the host and the other guests. He rebuked his host for not being flexible when it comes to helping strangers on the Sabbath when they would help their family or livestock, if needed. Then he criticized the other invited guests for choosing the best seats at the dining table. Finally, before giving the parable, he criticized the dinner host because of the guest list they used for the invitations. He admonished the host to not be guilty of inviting people that could return the favor rather than those who could not. It was this last criticism that seems to have prompted one of the other invited guests to comment about the blessing of being on the invitation list to dine in the kingdom of God. Jesus responded with the parable of the Great Supper. Invitations were sent ahead of time and when the meal was ready, the guests were summoned. Many of the invited guests offered various excuses for not coming even though they apparently had previously accepted the invitation. The excuses seemed to lack validity which indicates that the guests were indifferent about going to the meal. In his anger, the head of the household sent his servant to retrieve people from the streets and lanes of the city who were poor and needy. When this task was completed, the servant reported it to the householder who then sent the servant beyond the city to compel others to come to his dinner. The head of household made it clear that he wanted his house to be filled with guests by whatever means of invitation that was required to accomplish it. Furthermore, he did not want the original invitees to be a part of the dinner because of their indifference. Jesus’ parables had immediate application for that environment and specifically the people who heard them. Likewise, the parable contained kingdom principles that are relevant throughout the Church Age. Perhaps the immediate application was prompted by some empty seats at the table in the Pharisee’s house. This could have been indicative of the indifference of some of the original guests who gave excuses when they were summoned to the meal. On the other hand, Jesus knew that he encountered many hungry people on his journey who would have been glad to be at the table eating. The Pharisee’s house could have been filled with guests if he did not have such a restrictive list of invitees. For those of us living in the Church Age, the parable is instructive. In it, we see that God’s invitation goes out to “whosoever will”. God’s invitation is not for a special elite group nor is it restricted to those who are already close to Him. God’s invitation extends into the streets and lanes as well as into the highways and hedges. Whosoever will, let them come. Robert C. Hudson July 2, 2018

The Widow and the Unjust Judge

July 15, 2018 Background Scripture: Luke 18:1 – 8 Lesson Passage: Luke 18:1 – 8 Sometimes, a parable of Jesus will just fly right over my head. The parable may seem logical and I know it should have a moral in it that makes spiritual sense. But I don’t always reach the “Aha!” moment and that can be very troubling to me. I’m reminded of Jesus’ question to his disciples: If you don’t understand this parable, how can you understand all parables? In other words, how can I assist others when I don’t understand the parable myself? In those cases, I follow the example of the disciples and seek Jesus for the answer. He often leads me to extract as much as I can from the parable, and then see how to summarize it. The parable in today’s lesson is very short and Jesus stated up front what the principle is that should be learned from the parable. The principle is that prayer should be a continuous part of a Christian’s life. The parable only had two active characters: a widow and a godless judge. The widow went to the judge seeking vengeance because of her adversary. The judge refused to take up her case because he simply didn’t want to. The judge was not afraid of God or man so there were no consequences for ignoring the widow’s request. However, the widow was persistent in her request and sought justice both day and night from the judge. The widow’s persistence was overbearing to the judge, so he relented and decided to avenge her of her adversary. Jesus’ summary of the parable is that God, who is the only “Just Judge”, will likewise avenge His elect because they cry out to Him day and night. In attempting to come to the same conclusion that Jesus did, I recognize at least five concepts from the parable that together might amount to the same thing. First, if an unjust judge can avenge a person to prevent that person from worrying him, then a righteous God will certainly avenge His elect who seek Him for vengeance against their enemy. Second, the unjust judge avenges to prevent the widow from troubling him, but God avenges to keep His elect from being troubled by their adversary. Third, if an unjust judge can do that which is good and against his nature, then certainly a just God who is good will always do that which is His essence. Fourth, if we can convince an unjust judge to do that which is good, then we should readily seek the only truly just Judge, God, to do that which is good. Finally, if we can go to unjust people over and over attempting to win their favor, then we should consider it a small matter to continuously seek God’s face considering the grace He has extended to us. Although this parable is brief, there is much more that can be said about it. Back to the principle that Jesus gave us about this parable: Prayer should be a continuous part of a person’s life. If constantly seeking can get results from unjust people, then that’s enough to encourage us to constantly seek our loving Father in prayer. Prayer is a matter of faith. If the just are to live by faith, then prayer is always in order for the just. Robert C. Hudson May 31, 2018