banquet

Harmony #81: The Feast of the King (Matthew 21:23 – 22:14)

At the beginning of Matthew 21, Jesus is welcomed as a Zealot Messiah when he arrives in Jerusalem, which causes him to weep for the city. The path of the Zealot was not going to bring his people peace. That urge was going to bring destruction, which happens in A.D. 70 when the Temple, the priesthood, and the Zealots are destroyed by Rome.

When Jesus entered Jerusalem, he promptly cleansed the temple and withered a fig tree, which we noted was a visual representation of the lack of fruit of the Sadducees and a foreshadowing of the withering of the religious rulers (Sadducees) and the shift from the Temple in Jerusalem as the center of God’s fruit-bearing plan to the church, the new Temple of God, the new spiritual nation with a priesthood of all believers. (1 Peter 2:9)

To no one’s surprise, the Sadducees are going to promptly question his authority. This brings us into today’s text.

Jesus entered the temple courts, and, while he was teaching, the chief priests and the elders of the people came to him. “By what authority are you doing these things?” they asked. “And who gave you this authority?”

When Jesus went back into the temple he had just cleansed (#bold), the Sadducees basically asked, “Who made you a rabbi?” People couldn’t appoint themselves into that position. They would have trained for years under another rabbi who would then appoint them if he considered them worthy. The most likely rabbi of Jesus was John the Baptist, an Essene who had left the Sadducees because of their corrupt connection with Rome.

Jesus replied, “I will also ask you one question. If you answer me, I will tell you by what authority I am doing these things.  John’s baptism—where did it come from? Was it from heaven, or of human origin?”

They discussed it among themselves and said, “If we say, ‘From heaven,’ he will ask, ‘Then why didn’t you believe him?’  But if we say, ‘Of human origin’—we are afraid of the people, for they all hold that John was a prophet.”

So they answered Jesus, “We don’t know.” Then he said, “Neither will I tell you by what authority I am doing these things.”

After this, Jesus goes into three parables that stay on the theme started with the cleansing of the Temple and the withering of the fig tree. God’s plan for His Kingdom is going to be handed off to those who will actually build the Kingdom, who will actually display the fruit of righteousness for the world to see.

“What do you think? There was a man who had two sons. He went to the first and said, ‘Son, go and work today in the vineyard.’ “‘I will not,’ he answered, but later he changed his mind and went. “Then the father went to the other son and said the same thing. He answered, ‘I will, sir,’ but he did not go. “Which of the two did what his father wanted?” “The first,” they answered.

Jesus said to them, “Truly I tell you, the tax collectors and the prostitutes are entering the kingdom of God ahead of you. For John came to you to show you the way of righteousness, and you did not believe him, but the tax collectors and the prostitutes did. And even after you saw this, you did not repent and believe him.”

“Listen to another parable: There was a landowner who planted a vineyard. He put a wall around it, dug a winepress in it and built a watchtower. Then he rented the vineyard to some farmers and moved to another place. When the harvest time approached, he sent his servants to the tenants to collect his fruit.[2]

 “The tenants seized his servants; they beat one, killed another, and stoned a third.[3] Then he sent other servants to them, more than the first time, and the tenants treated them the same way. Last of all, he sent his son to them.[4] ‘They will respect my son,’ he said. “But when the tenants saw the son, they said to each other, ‘This is the heir. Come, let’s kill him and take his inheritance.’  So they took him and threw him out of the vineyard and killed him.

 “Therefore, when the owner of the vineyard comes, what will he do to those tenants?” “He will bring those wretches to a wretched end,” they replied, “and he will rent the vineyard to other tenants, who will give him his share of the crop at harvest time.”

The listeners would know the parable was about God and his people because of Old Testament imagery, such as that found in Isaiah 5. However, Jewish listeners would not think they were the tenants in this parable. The tenants would be evil people - the Romans, who were trampling God’s vineyard. They were “wretches who deserve a wretched end.” Then, finally, the Sadducees will be in their full glory of leadership! But...

Jesus said to them, “Have you never read in the Scriptures: “‘The stone the builders rejected has become the cornerstone; the Lord has done this, and it is marvelous in our eyes’? [5] “Therefore I tell you that the kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to a people/nation[6] who will produce its fruit.[7] Anyone who falls on this stone will be broken to pieces;[8] anyone on whom it falls will be crushed.”[9]

This is almost a direct quote from Isaiah 8, in which Isaiah described what happened when the people put their trust is Assyria rather that Yahweh, much like the Sadducees had put their trust in Rome. First, God gave them what they wanted – Assyria, who invaded them and almost won. The Sadducees got what they wanted – Rome – which is about to destroy them. Jesus was warning them in good rabbinical fashion not to forget what history had shown about seeking the power of empires rather than the power of God.

When the chief priests and the Pharisees heard Jesus’ parables, they knew he was talking about them. They looked for a way to arrest him, but they were afraid of the crowd because the people held that he was a prophet.

Jesus spoke to them again in parables, saying: “The kingdom of heaven can be compared to a king who gave a wedding banquet for his son. He sent his servants to summon those who had been invited to the banquet, but they would not come.

“Again he sent other servants, saying, ‘Tell those who have been invited, “Look! The feast I have prepared for you is ready. My oxen and fattened cattle have been slaughtered, and everything is ready. Come to the wedding banquet.” ’

But they were indifferent and went away, one to his farm, another to his business. The rest seized his servants, insolently mistreated them, and killed them. The king was furious! He sent his soldiers, and they put those murderers to death and set their city on fire.[10]

Then he said to his servants, ‘The wedding is ready, but the ones who had been invited were not worthy. So go into the main streets and invite everyone you find to the wedding banquet.’ And those servants[11] went out into the streets and gathered all they found, both bad and good, and the wedding hall was filled with guests.

“But when the king came in to see the wedding guests, he saw a man there who was not wearing wedding clothes.[12]And he said to him, ‘Friend, how did you get in here without wedding clothes?’ But he had nothing to say. Then the king said to his attendants, ‘Tie him up hand and foot and throw him into the darkness outside, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth!’ For many are called, but few are chosen.” [13]

* * * * * 

1. Jesus’ primary concern is for the purity of His people.

He didn’t show up and cleanse a Roman temple filled with pagan worship. He cleansed His temple of its sinful mold. There is sooo much he could have said about the terrible fruit of Artemis and Zeus. He talked to the Sadducees about their terrible fruit; he told the Pharisees they were making disciples of Gehennah.

God’s plan for the world, starting with the children of Israel, was to place a holy group in the world that would be the center of a grassroots expansion of the lived-out Kingdom of God into all the world. They were to be a light to the nations; they were to be salt in society.

But Jesus once warned that if light becomes darkness, that darkness would be great. If God’s people aren’t the kind of people who represent God well, then a moldly kingdom could permeate all of society to the destruction of both the church and the culture. Making disciples under the banner of “Jesus” doesn’t guarantee that we are actually making disciples of Jesus.

 “Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of My Father who is in heaven will enter. Many will say to Me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in Your name, and in Your name cast out demons, and in Your name perform many miracles?’ And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; leave Me, you who disregard God’s law.’” (Matthew 7:21-23)

This is what is happening with the dude who had the wrong wedding clothes on.[14] In Jesus’ time, there was a code for wedding dress. Often the host would provide everyone with clothes so that the guests were clothed on the host’s terms. A guest didn’t get to say, “I’d like to join the feast on my terms.” We cannot have the kingdom on our own terms. The kingdom must shape our identity so that we have a whole different set of priorities, loves, and perspective as we surrender our heart, soul, mind and strength to the formation of the King.

Everyone was invited, but to feast, they had to put on the robes of the King, which are the righteousness provided through Jesus:

·  “Let your priests be clothed with righteousness,and let your saints shout for joy.” (Psalm 132:9)

·  “I will greatly rejoice in the LORD; my soul shall exult in my God, for he has clothed me with the garments of salvation; he has covered me with the robe of righteousness.” (Isaiah 61:10)

Righteousness = living in right relationship with God and others. Alec Motyer defines “righteous” as those “right with God and therefore committed to putting right all other relationships in life.” It’s God’s heart change demonstrated by a life change. God transforms our souls, and we express it in our skin. Amos 5 and Job 29 parallel righteousness with justice. Paul wrote,

Therefore, as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience. Bear with each other and forgive one another if any of you has a grievance against someone. Forgive as the Lord forgave you. And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity. (Colossians 3:12-14)

That’s what we will look like if we have indeed responded to the gospel invitation by dressing ourselves the way the King would have us dress.

What is the feast that nourishes us? Maybe think of the food as: 

·  Jesus, the Bread of life (John 6:35). We taste and see that the Lord is good. We commune with him like we commemorate when we take communion. We pray; we talk to God; we follow in His path to learn the goodness of His ways.

·  God’s Word taken seriously, ingested, digested, nourishing us. (Jeremiah 15:16)

·  The Fruit of the Spirit: love, joy, peace, patience, kindheartedness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. (Galatians 5) When we display that fruit, those around us feast on the fruits of our presence.

Bottom line: the wedding guests are living in God's space where God is king and where everything that is done is God's will. [15]

If we are not willing to be in spiritual space where God is king and we are committed to aligning ourselves with God’s will, we are not at the feast. We are always invited – many are called - but not all will take their seat – far too few take their place among the guests. 

Weddings were typically at night in Jesus’ time. Jesus gives this image of someone who wants to be part of the celebration being put out into the darkness, forced to watch the party from a distance. [16] I suppose he can put on the proper wedding attire that the king offers at any time – I assume the invitation is still open – but until then, the King will not compromise on the kind of robes one must have to sit at his table. It must be the King’s attire, on the King’s terms.

Initial responses are not ultimate responses. An initial refusal does not have to stay a refusal, and an initial agreement is not enough. The response to the invitation must be lived.[17] Do we live in an ongoing spiritual space where God is king and we are committed to aligning ourselves with God’s will? Are we dressed in the fashion of the King?

Jesus’ primary concern is for the purity of His people. The plan as I understand it is that God’s people, as salt and light, will carry that righteousness with which the King has covered them into all the world so that the world is, in fact, transformed. But that starts in the House of God. That starts in the Temple. That starts with us, in us.

2. The King’s servants gathered both bad and good.

·  Bad: “properly, pain-ridden, emphasizing the inevitable agonies (misery) that always go with evil.” (HELPS Word Studies) In Luke, the substitute guests are explicitly the poor and disabled (14:13), the marginalized of society. Jesus mentions tax collectors and prostitutes.

·  Good: “(agathós) describes what originates from God and is empowered by Him in their life, through faith.” (HELPS Word Studies)

You might think, “If they are both there, this is the opposite of what you just said. This doesn’t look like a consistently righteous crowd.” The king called the good and the bad, yes, but what do they all have in common now? The King has dressed them all  in righteous robes. They are with the King, at the King’s invitation, on the King’s terms.

I have been pondering something this week: do I, as a servant of the King, invite those “pain-ridden with the agony that comes from evil” into the Kingdom knowing that Jesus invites them into the Kingdom?

Do I live like Jesus by “eating with sinners” as part of the invitation to enjoy not only an earthly feast but a heavenly one? The kingdom is a banquet at which the expected are often absent and the unexpected are often longing to be present.[18] Am I so focused on what the unexpected currently look like covered in their current robes of sin, that I don’t think about what they couldlook like covered in robes of righteousness? To use a Prodigal Son analogy, am I so busy sneering at those lost in mud and finding their food in the garbage of the wages of sin that I forget our Heavenly Father longs to throw a party for the lost who have been found?

“The witness of the church should be characterized by the joy of inviting people to the banquet God has prepared, a banquet that is both present and future. Far too often the joy has been so muted that people are left with no pointers to the presence of the kingdom.   Do we not have the responsibility to offer the invitation with the announcement that all is ready? Should not the joy of the celebration of the kingdom be so evident that the invitation becomes compelling?   And should we not be alert enough to know that the invitation to those on the margins, whom we would not normally think of inviting, is essential?”  Stories With Intent: A Comprehensive Guide To The Parables Of Jesus, Klyne Snodgrass

 ____________________________________________________________________________

[1] This description echoes Isaiah 5, in the context of which Israel was the vineyard (Isa 5:7). The “tenants” are the chief priests and the elders.

[2] Which means the vineyard was bearing fruit. This parable is not going to condemn Judaism as fruitless; it’s going to condemn the Sadducees, the Jewish leaders in the Temple, reminiscent of the cursing of the fig tree i.e the Sadducees.

[3] Beatkilledstoned is what the prophets experienced throughout OT history (1 Kings 18:4Jer. 20:1–2).

[4] “Ancient hearers would have expected the landowner to seek to destroy the tenants before this point, and would regard the gesture of sending his son as naively gentle.” NIV Cultural Backgrounds Study Bible

[5] A quotation from Psalm 118:22-23.

[6] Check out Isaiah 61:1-6, which ends with. “Strangers will shepherd your flocks. Foreigners will work your fields and vineyards, and you will be called priests of the Lord.” In other words, a different people – Gentiles - will have the privilege of bringing in the harvest.

[7] The leaders have failed to carry out their obligations to God. Therefore their privileged role is being taken away and given to a people producing its fruits. The church will be a new “people” consisting of both Jews and Gentiles.

[8] Isaiah 8:13-15 “The Lord Almighty is the one you are to regard as holy, he is the one you are to fear, he is the one you are to dread. He will be a holy place; for both Israel and Judah he will be a stone that causes people to stumble and a rock that makes them fall. And for the people of Jerusalem…Many of them will stumble; they will fall and be broken, they will be snared and captured.”

[9] On the stone as a messianic image, see Isa 28:16 and Dan 2:44-45.

[10] Snodgrass says, “Israel’s past is the lens through which the parable announces a warning of urgency and judgment on all those who oppose God.” Adam Clarke says, “Our Lord caused them to pass that sentence of destruction upon themselves which was literally executed about forty years after.”

[11] “The first group (v. 3) is interpreted to be Moses and those with him, while the second group (v. 4) is composed of the prophets…The third group (v. 9) represents the apostles sent to the Gentiles, those not initially invited, but now called.” Interesting perspective from the Orthodox Study Bible

[12] Proper clothing was often provided by the king (see Genesis 45 and Esther 6. Zephaniah 1:7-9 notes, “The Lord has prepared a sacrifice, he has invited his guests. And it shall come to pass, in the day of the Lord's sacrifice, that I will punish the princes, and the king’s children, and all such as are clothed with strange apparel.”

[13] As Jennings put it, “All are called to enjoy the feast, but not all are willing to trust the Giver to provide the robe that fits for the feast.” Believers Bible Commentary

[14] “This might insinuate a person who wants to be a part of the celebration but not recognize God’s desire, design, or authority. He wants to be a part of God’s will, he just doesn’t want to do it God’s way.” (Marty Solomon)

[15] That’s the Bible Projects definition of the Kingdom of God/Heaven.

[16] “The Jewish marriages were performed in the night season, and the hall where the feast was made was superbly illuminated; the outer darkness means, therefore, the darkness on the outside of this festal hall; rendered still more gloomy to the person who was suddenly thrust out into it from such a profusion of light.” Adam Clarke

[17] Stories With Intent: A Comprehensive Guide To The Parables Of Jesus, Klyne Snodgrass

[18] Matthew 7:21-23/Luke 13:25-27; Matthew 8:11-12/Luke 13:28-30; Matthew 11:25/Luke 10:21; Matthew 21:28-32, 43; 25:1-12, 31-46).

Harmony #68: The Feast Of The Kingdom (Luke 14:1, 7-24)

Imagine you are invited to a meal in 1st century Palestine. The fact that you are invited means several things:

  1. You matter.

  2. You are at least close to the same socio/economic class.

  3. You are ‘okay’ in that the host doesn’t mind being seen with you.

But once you get there, it’s not just about the honor of being a guest. The game is afoot!

  1. The closer you are seated to the host, the more important you are. You might get an almost entirely different meal consisting of much better food, or you might even be in a separate room with the host while everyone else is in a different room. If you are seated at the end – sure, it was good to be there, but stay in your last place lane if you know what’s good for you, and good luck with the Ramen noodles. A Roman poet named Martial who loved him some satire criticizes the different quality of food served to guests: “Since I am asked to dinner ... why is not the same dinner served to me as to you? You take oysters fattened in the Lucrine lake, I suck a mussel through a hole in the shell; you get mushrooms, I take hog funguses…Golden with fat, a turtle-dove gorges you… there is set before me a magpie that has died in its cage. Why do I dine without you, although Ponticus, I am dining with you?”

  2. The closer you were, the later you arrived, just so everyone could see you get ushered to the front. If you assumed you would be last, you could get there early and try to claim a place close to the front, but you ran the risk that when the really important people got there later, they would move you to the bottom in front of everyone. Rabbi Akiba said, “Go two or three seats lower than the place that belongs to thee, and sit there till they say unto thee, ‘Go up higher’; but do not take the uppermost seat, lest they say unto thee, ‘Come down’: for it is better that they should say unto thee, ‘Go up, go up’; than that they should say, ‘Come down, come down.’” (Adam Clarke)

It turns out meals – especially feasts on special occasions – were a lesson in merit and distinction that revealed your social, economic and maybe even religious status in the eyes of others.[1] This brings us to today’s text.

One Sabbath, when Jesus went to eat in the house of a prominent Pharisee…and noticed how the guests chose the places of honor, he told them a parable.

“When you are invited by someone to a wedding feast, do not take the place of honor, because a person more distinguished than you may have been invited by your host. So the host who invited both of you will come and say to you, ‘Give this man your place.’ Then, ashamed, you will begin to move to the least important place.

“But when you are invited, go and take the least important place, so that when your host approaches he will say to you, ‘Friend, move up here to a better place.’ Then you will be honored in the presence of all who share the meal with you.For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but the one who humbles himself will be exalted.” [2]

But when you host an elaborate meal, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, and the blind. Then you will be blessed/blissful, because they cannot repay you, for you will be repaid at the resurrection of the righteous/just.”[3]

I don’t think Jesus was saying that we shouldn’t invite our friends over for meals.[4] Luke’s story is about more than social circles or proper etiquette with guests. 

 In Jesus’ time, there were serious economic, political and religious problems wrapped normal-looking moments. What should have been a time of fellowship became a time of pride and competition. What should have brought people together pushed people apart. What should have added value to people’s lives actually judged their value.[5] Paul talks about this in his advice to the church in Corinth (1 Cor. 11: 17-33).

In the following directives I have no praise for you, for your meetings do more harm than good. In the first place, I hear that when you come together as a church, there are divisions among you, and to some extent I believe it. No doubt there have to be differences among you to show which of you have God’s approval. 

So then, when you come together, it is not the Lord’s Supper you eat, for when you are eating, some of you go ahead with your own private suppers. As a result, one person remains hungry and another gets drunk. 

Don’t you have homes to eat and drink in? Or do you despise the church of God by humiliating those who have nothing? What shall I say to you? Shall I praise you? Certainly not in this matter...So then, my brothers and sisters, when you gather to eat, you should all eat together.

Paul goes on to say that people are sick and some have even died because of this problem. There are a number of ways that passage has been interpreted; I lean toward a very practical application. People were having sometimes fatal health issues because they lacked proper nourishment – or had too much. Paul called this “despising the church of God by humiliating those who have nothing.” It is vitally important that church communities have a keen eye for those in need, while avoiding the kind of self-indulgence we see in this passage.

This leads to what is called The Parable of the Great Banquet.

When one of those at the meal with Jesus heard this, he said to him, “Blessed is everyone who will feast in the kingdom of God!” But Jesus said to him, “A man once gave a great banquet and invited many guests.[6] 

At the time for the banquet he sent his slave to tell those who had been invited, ‘Come, because everything is now ready.’ But one after another they all began to make excuses. The first said to him, ‘I have bought a field, and I must go out and see it. Please excuse me.’ Another said, ‘I have bought five yoke of oxen, and I am going out to examine them. Please excuse me.’ Another said, ‘I just got married, and I cannot come.’ 

Okay, these are all terrible excuses.

First, there would have been an RSVP sent out far ahead of time for a date to which these folks committed. (Say, Tuesday, the 25th of June.) The servant went out on the day of the event to tell them it was time. This wasn’t a surprise. It’s just that the food was hot and it was time to eat on the previously agreed upon date.

Second, the quality of the excuses are terrible.

  • “No one buys a field in the Middle East without knowing every square foot of it like the palm of his hand.” (Kenneth Bailey). This dude had certainly seen that land already.

  • Same with the oxen. Five yokes was…a lot. Bro was rich. He did not get rich by not knowing what he was buying.

  • No way was the marriage happening at the same time, because no one would schedule a major banquet at the same time as a wedding. Meanwhile, men were exempt from military service for their first year of marriage (Deut. 20:724:5), but this is not a war.

 Bottom line: they didn’t want to go. They were fascinated by the things right in front of them and didn’t want to be distracted, so they made excuses. Jesus had just lamented this in Luke 13:34-35, reminding them “how often I have longed to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, and you were not willing. Look, your house is left to you desolate.” 

“So the slave came back and reported this to his master. Then the master of the household was furious and said to his slave, ‘Go out quickly to the streets and alleys of the city, and bring in the poor, the crippled, the blind, and the lame.’ Then the slave said, ‘Sir, what you instructed has been done, and there is still room.’  

So the master said to his slave, ‘Go out to the highways and country roads and urge[7] people to come in, so that my house will be filled.  For I tell you, not one of those individuals who were invited will taste my banquet!’ “[8]

I think we have to be careful with this parable and not make it bear more weight than is intended. It doesn’t fit cleanly with “Jesus is throwing the party” because that would imply that Jesus first invited his friends and important people, and then when they couldn’t come, he went with his back-up plan of the marginalized and outcast. He had JUST WARNED against this kind of favoritism, so I am confident we should not read the parable in a way that supports a favoritism reading.

Some dude at the meal  - so, someone who is part of the “in” crowd - had just said, ““Blessed is everyone who will feast in the kingdom of God!” Then the text says, But Jesus said,” as if he is going to contradict him. He doesn’t contradict his statement; he contradicts his expectations by clarifying who will be at that feast.

The audience expected it to be the deserving –specifically, them. But Jesus’ responded, “Everybody is invited to the great banquet. It is the Father’s good pleasure to give the Kingdom to all who respond to the invitation of Jesus.  

But you have to accept the invitation to enter in. Your title, your family background, your standing in the synagogue, your reputation, your past good works, the fact that you are at that meal with all the prestigious folks – none of those things mean you are or will be at the feast of the Kingdom.

The point isn’t that the “poor and crippled and blind and lame” (v. 21) and those who live in the “highways and country roads” (v. 23) were a back-up plan. What was scandalous to his proud audience was that are just as welcome. They probably didn’t expect these people to even respond to the message when they heard it (like the “tax collectors and sinners” Jesus had been eating with recently). Twice already, we have read where the people assumed it was sinners who were sick (John 9) or on whom calamity fell (Luke 13).

The Pharisees were those who assumed they were invited to the feast of the Kingdom. They were put together, healthy, religious, prosperous. They sat at the top of the table. Of course they would be invited. God was lucky to have such amazing followers. Jesus is about to tell the parable of the Prodigal Son (The Two Brothers). This is the older brother in that parable, the one who lived on the father’s land and missed the feast.

Then there are the Prodigal sons, those who assume they would not be invited: poor, crippled, blind, lame, living on the margins of society where unwanted people lived. This invitation was too good to be true.

When the parable says they were urged (‘compelled’ in many translations), they weren’t forced; a better translation is that they were lovingly persuaded to join the feast. There was a place already prepared for them. They were wanted. They mattered.[9]  It was the Father’s good pleasure to give them the Kingdom.

Side note: we might be shocked to know who is ready to respond to the invitation of the Kingdom. Our culture is a spiritual battlefield, no doubt, but it’s also a relational mission field that’s ripe for harvest. I love how Jesus embodied how to do both when he ate with tax collectors and sinners. Surely, the Kingdom of God was storming the gates of hell in that moment.

“The witness of the church should be characterized by the joy of inviting people to the banquet God has prepared…both present and future.”[10]

We see in this parable that the law-keepers who knew the most in their heads about the kingdom were the most calloused and non-committed to the invitation to actually “taste and see that the Lord is good.” (Psalm 34:8)  It was those they assumed who knew the least and lived the worst who turned out to be hungry for the goodness of the feast that is Christ and his kingdom.

I wonder how much the church would grow in the United States if we were characterized by going out of our way to befriend those who look to be the furthest from Christ, who appear to be the least likely to follow Jesus, and joyfully inviting them to the feast that Jesus is hosting?

  • What if we worked with and cared for mothers considering abortion and offered them physical, emotional and spiritual hope rather than putting a sign in their face and yelling at them? Which approach matches the approach of Jesus?

  • What if we brought a loving, engaged presence full of truth and grace to schools whose curriculum or philosophy concerns us – mentoring kids, helping in the library, being a teacher’s aide, helping with a campus ministry – rather than angrily disrupting school board meetings?

  • I wonder how Jesus would be present with people wrestling with gender identity? I just can’t picture him as a keyboard warrior posting snarky memes. I can picture him inviting them to a meal, validating their worth as an image bearer of God, and introducing a righteous presence full of grace to walk with them through their confusion and into the freedom of truth.

Surely, in those moments, the servants of the king are going into the highways and country roads and offering a compelling reason for others to join the feast Jesus offers in the Kingdom.

Let’s talk about that feast and the Kingdom. In the Kingdom, God gives us a feast of salvation and sanctification, the guidance of His Word and His Spirit, the fruits of the Spirit, the gifts of the Spirit, the beauty of living in communion with God and righteous community with others.

“Whatsoever things are true, honest (honorable), just, pure, lovely (acceptable and prized), and of good report (repute)…think on these things.” (Philippians 4:8)

“The Holy Spirit produces this kind of fruit in our lives: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control.” (Galatians 5:22-23)

“Supplement your faith with a generous provision of moral excellence, and moral excellence with knowledge, and knowledge with self-control, and self-control with patient endurance, and patient endurance with godliness, and to godliness, mutual affection; and to mutual affection, love.” (2 Peter 1:5-7)

That’s the kind of thing that characterizes the Kingdom.  That’s a compelling list. It is the Father’s good pleasure to give us these things when we follow Jesus into the Kingdom of God in response to the Spirit and the Word of God.

It doesn't’ mean that life will be easy or perfect. It’s just that the more we experience the work and presence of Christ in our life, the more these things will begin to characterize our life in Christ and with others. And when entire communities begin to increasingly be characterized by these things, we start to see what it means that “your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.”

We are going to share communion today. From 1 Corinthians 11:

For I received from the Lord what I also passed on to you: The Lord Jesus, on the night he was betrayed, took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it and said, “This is my body, which is for you; do this in remembrance of me.”  In the same way, after supper he took the cup, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood; do this, whenever you drink it, in remembrance of me.” For whenever you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes.

The early church combined communion with fellowship meals. The wealthy brought more or all of the food in that setting; I suspect those struggling to eat well got to take the leftovers home. It’s a practical image of how God gives provision in His Kingdom. It’s a reminder that God’s plan for provision through Jesus’ sacrificial death was meant to be embodied by the generous, loving, sacrificial presence of His people: financially, emotionally, relationally, practically.

We are a body, together. As we take communion today, let’s remember that that the sacrifice of Jesus has made us onewithChristwhile drawing us into a Kingdom that makes us onewith each otherthroughChrist. And in righteous church community, we will see why God is so pleased to give us the Kingdom as we experience God’s provision.


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[1] “The early church struggled against traditional and societal pressures to maintain such social distinctions (see 1 Cor. 11:1734.)” (Zondervan Illustrated Bible Backgrounds Of The New Testament) Keep in mind that the Gospels were written after the letters of the New Testament. I suspect certain episodes from the life of Jesus were highlighted for a reason.

[2] His words echo the prophecy of Ezekiel, who predicted that there would be a day when, “the lowly will be exalted and the exalted will be brought low.” (Ezekiel 21:26) Similar guidance appears in a popular Jewish book at that time. “The greater you are, the more you must humble yourself; so you will find favor in the sight of the Lord.” (Sirach 3:18)

[3] The first clear reference to the resurrection of the righteous appears at Daniel 12:2

[4] “What he [inspires] here is charity to the poor and what he condemns is those entertainments which are given to the rich, either to flatter them or to procure a similar return; because the money that is thus criminally laid out properly belongs to the poor.” (Adam Clarke)

[5] “Experience has shown that seeking the chief seats leads to corruption, with exploitation of the poor and oppressed.” (Africa Bible Commentary)

[6] “On this mountain [Zion] the Lord Almighty will prepare a feast of rich food for all peoples ...” (Isa. 25:6) Isaiah makes it clear that the messianic banquet is for “all peoples,” there was a tendency in Judaism to reject the notion that Gentiles would be included. The first-century b.c. Psalms of Solomon offers a prayer that the Messiah will “purge Jerusalem from gentiles” and “will destroy the unlawful nations with the word of his mouth. At his warning the nations will flee from his presence.” Jesus is about to radically alter this exclusive view of messianic salvation. (Zondervan Illustrated Bible Backgrounds of the New Testament)

[7] “By prayers, counsels, entreaties. No other kind of constraint is ever recommended in the Gospel of Christ every other kind of compulsion is antichristian, can only be submitted to by cowards and knaves, and can produce nothing but hypocrites.” (Adam Clarke)

[8] An interesting parallel to this story appears in the Jerusalem Talmud. When a village tax collector named Bar Ma’jan dies, the whole town comes out to mourn. Why? He had invited the city officials to a banquet, and when they failed to come, he gave orders that the poor should be invited so that the food would not be wasted. (Adam Clarke)

[9] Believer’s Bible Commentary

[10] Stories With Intent: A Comprehensive Guide To The Parables of Jesus, by Klyne Snodgrass