October 27: Luke 14-15

October 27, Luke 14-15

Luke continued…

Luke 14 Jesus Heals another man on the Sabbath. Jesus was having dinner with the ruler of the Synagogue and they were watching Him carefully. Side note - we can take a note of Jesus’ playbook here - He didn't play it safe and hide out. He knew that the Pharisees were trying to kill Him, and yet here He is having dinner with them! How could He reach all that God had for Him if He was not bold in His calling? back to the Sabbath and the Pharisees… There was a guy there with a disease and jesus asked the Pharisees before healing, “Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath, or not?” But they remained silent.” Then Jesus healed him anyway. Then Jesus, being very practical and intentional, said, “Which of you, having a son or an ox that has fallen into a well on a Sabbath day, will not immediately pull him out?” How true is that? We judge others by other standards than we judge ourselves and Jesus called them out in that. 

The parable of the wedding feast. Jesus told them a story about attending a big party and the lowest seat at the party and the greatest. Even in our day and age, picture the head table and we know that the most important people sit there… What was the point of the whole parable? “For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted.” Let the others promote you, don’t do it yourself. Humble yourself. 

The parable of the great banquet. Again, Jesus told another story about a big party. Jesus starts out by saying don’t just invite people that will invite you back when they have a party. Instead, invite those who cannot repay your goodness and you will be blessed. You will be repaid by God when Jesus returns. Continuing on with the conversation, Jesus hears from one of them who chimes in, “Blessed is everyone who will eat bread in the kingdom of God!” Sounds all good, and then Jesus throws in a but… He tells a story about a guy who throws a massive party and when it was time to party, all the people that were invited did not show up. They had excuses, valid as they may be, they are still excuses for what they had committed to. The man was furious! He told his servants to go out into the alleys and and bring in the ‘low lifes’ and invite them. They had already done that and there was still going to be room at the banquet. The man said, “Go out to the highways and hedges and compel people to come in, that my house may be filled.” Then Jesus finished it up, “For I tell you, none of those men who were invited shall taste my banquet.” There is much to be said about that verse. From Bakers NT Commentary, ‘Probable, therefore, is that here the parable stops. Its central lesson surfaces. Jesus himself is saying to all present at that dinner, including the man who uttered the exclamation (verse 15), and further to everyone who reads or hears this parable down through the ages, that refusal to accept God’s gracious invitation of salvation by grace through faith will result in being excluded from the blessings and joys of the new heaven and earth, the kingdom in its consummation, the church triumphant.

When Israel, as a whole, rejects Christ (verses 18–20), God’s plan is not abandoned. Even among the Jews in the old dispensation and during the period of Christ’s earthly ministry there were genuine believers (verse 21). There was always that little remnant (1 Kings 19:18; Isa. 14:32; 29:19; Luke 6:20; Rom. 9:27; 11:5).

The cost of Discipleship. Jesus must be 1st. I will say it again, Jesus must be 1st. He must be before yourself, your mom and dad, siblings, spouse, business, everything. Jesus must be first. Count the cost of following Jesus - yes, salvation is free. But the cost is putting Jesus first in everything (well worth it!). “So therefore, any one of you who does not renounce all that he has cannot be my disciple.”What does Jesus want from us? All of us. Not once a week, or everything but ______. It is an all or nothing item. Are you in? You willing to completely put Jesus 1st and pursue Him and spend eternity with Him? Don’t like your life so much that you don't need Him, because that is a trick of Satan. 

Useless Salt. In light of what Jesus just said about us having to wholly desire and give up everything for Him, He tells us about worthless salt. They got their salt out of the Dead Sea and it had impurities in it. Once processed, it would be good salt. If it sat around, it would lose its taste and become worthless - not even good enough to put in the fertilizer pile. Again, from Baker, ‘The implication is clear. Just as salt having lost its saltiness cannot be restored, so also those who were trained in the knowledge of the truth but who then resolutely set themselves against the exhortation of the Holy Spirit and become hardened in their opposition are not renewed unto repentance.’ Either you are active for Christ and worthy, or you are not. 

Luke 15 The Parable of the Lost Sheep & the Lost coin. Again, the Tax Collectors and sinners were drawing near to Him (not to test Him or trap Him, but to hear from Him), likewise the Pharisees and the scribes were there as well, grumbling that Jesus hangs out with sinners. Jesus told them a parable about a man who has a 100 sheep and loses one. He leaves the 99 and goes in search of the 1. When he finds it, he carries it and rejoices. “Just so, I tell you, there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who need no repentance.” That is awesome truth! 

“Or what woman, having ten silver coins,[a] if she loses one coin, does not light a lamp and sweep the house and seek diligently until she finds it? 9 And when she has found it, she calls together her friends and neighbors, saying, ‘Rejoice with me, for I have found the coin that I had lost.’  Just so, I tell you, there is joy before the angels of God over one sinner who repents.” There is great joy when one repents and comes to Christ! 

 The Parable of the Prodigal Son. A famous Christian parable. Let’s look at it together… This is God’s Sovereignty on display. Short version: A dad has 2 sons. One asks for his inheritance early, leaves his father, and goes and squanders all of it. God sends a famine and the young man had nothing left. He is broke and destitute. He realized that his dad’s servants had it better off than he did. He humbled himself and decided to seek his dads forgiveness and come home. He came home and the dad was elated and threw him a huge party. They all celebrated his return except for the other brother. He was mad because he had been loyal to his dad and he never got a party. Well, what can we learn from this parable? 

• God sends ‘famines’ to accomplish many things. One of which, is to bring us back to where He wants us. Famines can be literal in life or there can be famines in our own life that draw us to God. Remember, we are reading in the context of the parable of people losing things and finding them and rejoicing. 
• It is often that when we are destitute that we realize how much we need Jesus. 
• He confessed his sins. He sinned against his father and God. He needed forgiveness from both of them. If you sin against somebody, go for their forgiveness as well as Gods. 
• There is great rejoicing when there is a person who repents and comes to Jesus! Celebrate it!
• Don’t be angry when somebody who has lived a worthless life is blessed enough to have Jesus at a certain point. Rejoice! The loyal ones already have all that Jesus offers. 

It ends this way, from the dad, “It was fitting to celebrate and be glad, for this your brother was dead, and is alive; he was lost, and is found.”

To sum it all up: 

• How could Jesus reach all that God had for Him if He was not bold in His calling? What about you? Are you getting out of your ‘comfort’ zone to be obedient to what Jesus is calling you to? What is holding you back if you are not? If Jesus can have dinner with people that wanted to kill Him, how much more can we do to emulate Him?
• It is better to be humble and to be praised than to praise yourself and be humbled
• Do not reject the invite of Jesus Christ. Join Him. There is no other way either in this life or the next. It is all about Jesus.
• Either you are active for Christ and worthy, or you are not. Harsh as that may sound - think of the implications of being worthless to Jesus. 
• If the religious people grumbled against Jesus for hanging out with sinners, does that make you want to do and be like Jesus or the religious leaders?
• Rejoice when sinners come to Christ and become saints
• Famines. Is God bringing things/events into your life to draw you to Him? If so, be like the prodigal son and return to Him! There is nothing you could do that could separate you from the love of Christ Jesus. In addition from Brother Paul in Romans 8, “For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.”