Jesus tells this story in response to a comment about how wonderful it would be to attend a feast in God's kingdom. This story details who will eat at such a feast and it's not necessarily who you'd think!
he highways and byways are like the gentiles.
It is worth noting that the host wanted the meal to be enjoyed and his house full. Ultimately the feast was open to anyone who said “yes” and showed up.
Today this passage of Scripture spoke to me about priorities. The excuses the original guests gave were legitimate but caused them to miss out on what God had prepared. I don't always see or realise what God has on offer. Heck God himself is at the table, my name is on a place setting and I'm not there for one reason or another! It's not just the food or God's provision that I miss out on but time in His presence. Time just hanging out together.
Dear God, help me to value time with you and not let the stuff of life preoccupy me, amen.
A great lesson to slow down and listen to where God is inviting us to each day. Fancy missing out on a party with God!
Jesus noticed that the guests picked the places of honour at the table. This would not have come as a surprise to Him. This, unfortunately, is basic human (flawed) nature- to want the best for yourself without considering others. You see it very early on in young children fighting over a toy or something else they want. And so we have to work hard (with God's help) to train ourselves out of this tendency to grab for the best for ourselves.
'good' work can have a selfish motivation.
Firstly, the parable challenges my motivation in wanting to feel important and get recognition. Am I happy to serve even if no one (besides God) ever notices or thanks me for it?
Secondly, the statement following the parable challenges my motivation in relating to people. Am I only relating to the people that I enjoy hanging out with, or am I reaching out to people in need who may not be able to give me anything in return?
Lord, may you continually help me to serve in a way that brings honour to You. Help me to show Your love to those You have called me to with a pure motivation.
Thanks Shelley, I am struck by a new insight on grace – giving to those who can never repay us. Not only do we not receive the punishment we deserve from God, but we receive blessing beyond what we can repay. I pray that in Gods strength I can do this for the ones he puts on my heart, with joy.
14 One Sabbath, when Jesus went to eat in the house of a prominent Pharisee, he was being carefully watched. 2 There in front of him was a man suffering from abnormal swelling of his body. 3 Jesus asked the Pharisees and experts in the law, “Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath or not?” 4 But they remained silent. So taking hold of the man, he healed him and sent him on his way. 5 Then he asked them, “If one of you has a child or an ox that falls into a well on the Sabbath day, will you not immediately pull it out?” 6 And they had nothing to say.
What I find striking in this passage is that we can have an agenda that completely closes us off to the need and suffering that is around us.
These Pharisees were watching Jesus closely. They were completely set on trying to trick him, or find a fault of flaw in his teaching, or find a reason to accuse him. They completely ignored the present need and suffering of the distressed man in their midst.
Jesus’ response to their agenda was to completely ignore it, and move with compassion and power to meet the need that was right under their noses; the man with abnormal swelling in his body.
ously perfect, I am warned by this passage that I will find myself under the spell of all kinds of agendas that rob me of true compassion and the true power of God to help this broken world.
I need Jesus to keep me from agendas other than His that steal my heart away from truly seeing and meeting the human need that is around me with the compassion and love of Jesus.
Lord, keep my eyes on what truly needs to take place…the healing and restoration of a broken world. That is what is right. That is right theology. That is right exercising of grace. That is what you demonstrate here. Help me live it too!
Jesus knew what Herod was capable of; he built two cities, Tiberius and Sepphoras. He collected taxes to satisfy his own whims and that of Rome. He was morally bankrupt, he wanted to divorce his wife and marry his brother’s sister. He also had Jesus’ cousin John thrown into prison and because he could…. he beheaded him. It was also Herod’s father—also called Herod—who had all the male babies of Bethlehem massacred when Jesus was born. Jesus knew Herod and what he was capable of, but more importantly Jesus knew himself, His ministry and why He came. Jesus was not going to be manipulated and controlled by political pressure or opposition. He determined His walk based on the will of God and by doing so He would fulfill His entire ministry.
s it that they didn’t want Jesus upsetting the status quo and spoiling favours they had wrangled from Herod?
Have we sold out to the political correctness of our world, or do we miss the voice of Jesus on behalf of the lost, broken and the hungry?
When Jerusalem rejected Jesus, they set themselves up for destruction. Jesus longs to bring us under the wings of His protection and bless us beyond what we can imagine. When people reject Jesus’ grace, they bring sorrow and destruction into their lives.
When we are faced with opposition, my prayer is that I never waver from what God has called me to do. That I would follow Christ with courage and integrity and that I would serve Him with a confidence that my today and my tomorrows are in the hands of my God.
“Work hard to enter the narrow door to God’s Kingdom” that assails my view of grace. Isn’t salvation a work of God’s grace, not my effort?
Jesus response to the question about how many will be saved is quite arresting.
Jesus is clearly speaking to people who think they will be in heaven; they even had meals with the Lord and were taught by Him.
w of Jesus or do I know Jesus? Am I truly engaged in a relationship with Him or merely associated with Him.
My work is the work of relationship, expressed through loving and love filled actions of faith which demonstrate the reality of my relationship with Jesus.
Father may my ‘work’ in relating to you be from a true heart.
Jesus had just set free a woman who had a disease for eighteen years on the Sabbath day, He was then challenged by the ruler of the Synagogue, so He made two comparisons of what kingdom of God like.
One is a mustard seed and the other is yeast. People may have different explanations about those two comparisons, but what I believe is that both mean such a “small” element can become or affect a “big” body.
amount of yeast can leaven the whole dough.
Today, there are many things happening around us (family, church, work place..), can I see it through Jesus’ eye?
In this passage, Jesus heals a crippled woman on the Sabbath. An argument then developed between a Pharisee and Jesus about the Sabbath law. It is not really about a healing, but the Pharisee used this as a platform to dispute the works of Jesus.
The Sabbath and the crippled woman’s healing is the will of God, Jesus also points to the Pharisee’s hypocrisy, and inconsistency in his interpretation of the law; i.e. they would treat their animals with greater respect than the people they were to care for. Rabbinic interpretation allows them to untie their animals for a drink, but at the same time the Pharisees interpretation of the law stops them from untying this woman from her infirmity.
of God’s work of creation, and rest for the labourer. It was for good, not harm; it was to be a blessing for people. When Jesus healed the woman on the Sabbath, He recreated, restored, returned her to health and glory and praise was given to God.
Food for thought: we rescue beached whales, we have laws to protect our animals from cruelty, but our laws uphold the murder of our unborn babies. We also spend millions on gourmet dog and cat food, but do we give the same thought to the hungry poor in the world. Do we get angry at petty things that only affect our lives, or do we get angry at the way the devil has killed, stolen, destroyed and caused immeasurable suffering in the world?
God created each of us with a purpose. He is waiting and looking for us to bear fruit.
In this parable Jesus is the gardener. When we don’t bear fruit he pleads on our behalf (intercedes for us). He also fertilises the tree. In those days there was no superphosphate! Fertiliser was manure heaped around the tree. Sometimes God lets us go through hard (pooey?) times to lead us towards repentance and aligning our hearts with his will so that we will be fruitful.
assage also says that the gardener paid special attention to the tree during the year of waiting for fruitfulness. When we go through unfruitful times we are not bereft. Jesus is paying special attention at those times to help us through them.
I think it is encouraging that we are so loved that Jesus goes to all this trouble to help us fulfil our purpose. As we are told in Proverbs the Lord disciplines those he loves.
In the face of tragedy and disaster, Jesus knows that we have questions and that we get anxious about death and suffering. These are things out of our control.
omes to what we deserve. Without repentance the reality is that we all perish. We all have a choice between 2 things – to repent or perish.
While we can't control tragedy, accidents and disaster, we can control and change our eternal outcome by choosing to accept His gift of eternal life, received when we repent.
In the middle of warning the people to be ready for the Son of Man, Jesus is obviously frustrated: They can interpret complicated things like the weather, but they can’t see what God is doing all around them.
He told a story about a servant who should be waiting for his master’s return. If he waits faithfully he will be rewarded, but he usurps his master’s position and is caught by surprise when he returns. How could this happen? Did he forget he had a master? Did he think he wouldn’t return?
So often we see what we want to see. Our hearts rule our senses. The faithful servants were looking, hoping for their master’s return and they see it. The unfaithful servant obviously didn’t want his master to return and misses it.
So what things make it hard for me to see what God is doing? How much do I want him to come, or to act in my life, or am I comfortable the way things are? Do I ask him what he’s doing, or do my plans get in the way?
Lord, speak to me. Show me what you are doing. Open my heart and mind to see it, and to be part of whatever you are doing. Break through whatever clouds my sight.
41 Peter asked, “Lord, are you telling this parable to us, or to everyone?” 42 The Lord answered, “Who then is the faithful and wise manager, whom the master puts in charge of his servants to give them their food allowance at the proper time? 43 It will be good for that servant whom the master finds doing so when he returns. 44 Truly I tell you, he will put him in charge of all his possessions. 45 But suppose the servant says to himself, ‘My master is taking a long time in coming,’ and he then begins to beat the other servants, both men and women, and to eat and drink and get drunk. 46 The master of that servant will come on a day when he does not expect him and at an hour he is not aware of. He will cut him to pieces and assign him a place with the unbelievers. 47 “The servant who knows the master’s will and does not get ready or does not do what the master wants will be beaten with many blows. 48 But the one who does not know and does things deserving punishment will be beaten with few blows. From everyone who has been given much, much will be demanded; and from the one who has been entrusted with much, much more will be asked.
ng God's sovereignty and the need to take care of the things which God has entrusted to us.
When I am faced with a situation in life that seems confusing, do I become frustrated and confused? Do I do what the disciples may have done and try to get someone else to approach God on my behalf to ask for clarification? Am I bold enough to seek God in the confusion and wait on Him for His peace?
What about the issues of salvation, sovereignty and stewardship? Do I have a real understanding of these concepts and am I fulfilling what this passage is calling: To be ready for the Master's return and to recognise all possessions as truly His?
Be dressed & ready to go! This whole passage is talking about being ready but with a Kingdom perspective. Jesus uses an example of the slave/master relationship. The slaves are praised for being ready to serve at any time, even the middle of the night, which really they should be, but then there's a twist. Because the slaves were ready the master then serves them.
I'm still getting my head around what this twist means … I immediately think of the 2nd coming and the marriage feast of the Lamb, but I doubt this would have had that meaning to the disciples who were his audience at the time?
now that I need to take the warning .. I do not want the 'thief' to steal any part of my relationship with Jesus because I’m not prepared. I want to be ready; my heart in an open & giving place to respond positively to any request Jesus makes of me – whether that’s serving behind the scenes or serving out front in ministry and not just when it suits me or my plans. I want to be dressed & ready to go, my light on & not hidden.
Lord it is my prayer that my heart would always be ready both for your return and to serve you.
22 Then Jesus said to his disciples: “Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat; or about your body, what you will wear. 23 Life is more than food, and the body more than clothes. 24 Consider the ravens: They do not sow or reap, they have no storeroom or barn; yet God feeds them. And how much more valuable you are than birds! 25 Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to your life[a]? 26 Since you cannot do this very little thing, why do you worry about the rest? 27 “Consider how the wild flowers grow. They do not labor or spin. Yet I tell you, not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. 28 If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today, and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, how much more will he clothe you—you of little faith! 29 And do not set your heart on what you will eat or drink; do not worry about it. 30 For the pagan world runs after all such things, and your Father knows that you need them. 31 But seek his kingdom, and these things will be given to you as well. 32 “Do not be afraid, little flock, for your Father has been pleased to give you the kingdom. 33 Sell your possessions and give to the poor. Provide purses for yourselves that will not wear out, a treasure in heaven that will never fail, where no thief comes near and no moth destroys. 34 For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.
What is my life’s ultimate pursuit? Is it food…clothing…or the Kingdom of God.
According to Jesus, my life is for more than simply eating food, and my body is for more than clothes.
If I know that a computer is able to do more than play my music…then to use the computer simply for playing music is to undervalue and under utilise the potential of my computer.
To live only for the food we can gather and eat, and the clothes we can purchase and wear, is to undervalue our lives and our potential according to God.
life is shaped around the priority of living for his Kingdom, and bringing others into His Kingdom.
The wonderful promise in pursuing His Kingdom is that the other priorities of food and clothing are taken care of “as well.” But not just taken care of. The promise in these passages is that God will care for us much more than He does the ravens he feeds, and much more than the flowers of the field he dresses in greater splendour than that of King Solomon.
To make sure they get the message He tells them a sobering story. The message is as relevant and sobering today as it was when Jesus told it.
The question is… What am I stockpiling?
Is my barn full of self… Self-reliance, self-confidence, self-competence, self-trust?
God help me fill my barn with… God-reliance, God-confidence, God-competence, God-trust.
Yes. If we trust/have faith in God, we know what to fill in barn. Thanks Linda.
ide me at all times.
For God to do that all day every day deserves my respect of Him – I need to acknowledge His help to myself and to others – its only right. Its easy to do it to myself but it depends who the others are as to whether its “OK” to talk about God. That’s not great respect and something I need to fix.
How amazing that you are by my side and interested in all the stuff I do every day! Thank you that I have numerous examples I can think of where its obvious that you are there. Help me to do better at acknowledging You and Your help to others.
Love the thoughts, thanks, Therese!
* Thousands of people surrounded Jesus, yet he spoke these words specifically to his disciples.
* Jesus warns the disciples about the hypocrisy of the Pharisees. Jesus refers to it as the “yeast” of the Pharisees. Yeast may be good for bread but not for the disciple of Christ ie. avoid being light and fluffy or lacking in substance and fake.
The phrase “lip service” jumps to mind here! God so desires truth in our hearts and lives. That we be true to him and ourselves ie. our words and actions are aligned. We don't say one thing and think or do another.
Lord help me to live an honest life in thought, word and action before you and others, amen.
37 When Jesus had finished speaking, a Pharisee invited him to eat with him; so he went in and reclined at the table. 38 But the Pharisee was surprised when he noticed that Jesus did not first wash before the meal. 39 Then the Lord said to him, “Now then, you Pharisees clean the outside of the cup and dish, but inside you are full of greed and wickedness. 40 You foolish people! Did not the one who made the outside make the inside also? 41 But now as for what is inside you—be generous to the poor, and everything will be clean for you. 42 “Woe to you Pharisees, because you give God a tenth of your mint, rue and all other kinds of garden herbs, but you neglect justice and the love of God. You should have practiced the latter without leaving the former undone. 43 “Woe to you Pharisees, because you love the most important seats in the synagogues and respectful greetings in the marketplaces. 44 “Woe to you, because you are like unmarked graves, which people walk over without knowing it.” 45 One of the experts in the law answered him, “Teacher, when you say these things, you insult us also.” 46 Jesus replied, “And you experts in the law, woe to you, because you load people down with burdens they can hardly carry, and you yourselves will not lift one finger to help them. 47 “Woe to you, because you build tombs for the prophets, and it was your ancestors who killed them. 48 So you testify that you approve of what your ancestors did; they killed the prophets, and you build their tombs. 49 Because of this, God in his wisdom said, ‘I will send them prophets and apostles, some of whom they will kill and others they will persecute.’ 50 Therefore this generation will be held responsible for the blood of all the prophets that has been shed since the beginning of the world, 51 from the blood of Abel to the blood of Zechariah, who was killed between the altar and the sanctuary. Yes, I tell you, this generation will be held responsible for it all. 52 “Woe to you experts in the law, because you have taken away the key to knowledge. You yourselves have not entered, and you have hindered those who were entering.” 53 When Jesus went outside, the Pharisees and the teachers of the law began to oppose him fiercely and to besiege him with questions, 54 waiting to catch him in something he might say.
Jesus has just been teaching about letting God’s light reach into the darkest corner of our lives. One of the Pharisees invites him to eat a meal.
Jesus walks in and sits down to eat without doing the hand washing ceremony. It’s not that he’s forgotten. Jesus hasn’t finished teaching and he has a point to make.
His host is focused on a ceremony of cleaning, but Jesus has seen into his heart. He has invited all the ‘important’ people that he hopes to impress, all of whom probably had no lack of food, but there is no-one there who really needed feeding. Jesus leaves no doubt about what is wrong and what needs to be done to fix it.
in his own life, but his response is not to repent – he’s insulted. The others become hostile, hoping to divert attention from their own failings by finding fault in Jesus.
How do I respond to having my faults exposed by God’s light shining into the dark corners of my life? Am I glad that a hidden sin has been revealed and can be dealt with? It’s often so easy to become defensive, to try to justify myself or to attack the one who has revealed me.
Lord, shine your light into my darkest corners. Find any sin lurking there. Thanks that you’ve already paid for it. Help me to get rid of it so that every corner of my life can happily receive your light.
t will be as a floodlight filling every corner of my being!
So how do I tell if the light in my life is light or dark? I think Jesus means is my life honouring to Him, reflecting His glory – for surely a life of darkness would absorb His glory! Do I think honouring thoughts about Jesus, others and myself? That is light. I so do not want darkness filling my life.
So I pray, Jesus you are the light of the world, fill my life with Your light for I so need it!
29 As the crowds increased, Jesus said, “This is a wicked generation. It asks for a sign, but none will be given it except the sign of Jonah. 30 For as Jonah was a sign to the Ninevites, so also will the Son of Man be to this generation. 31 The Queen of the South will rise at the judgment with the people of this generation and condemn them, for she came from the ends of the earth to listen to Solomon’s wisdom; and now one[a] greater than Solomon is here. 32 The people of Nineveh will stand up at the judgment with this generation and condemn it, for they repented at the preaching of Jonah; and now one greater than Jonah is here.
Amazing things, demand a response.
Jesus uses 2 examples from Jewish history. The Ninevites, who were a much feared and hated gentile people and the queen of the south – queen of Sheba – a gentile woman. Neither of these missed what God was doing in their day and responded even though they were not apart of God’s people.
yet, the Ninevites and the queen of Sheba would judge them for it!
Today, am I in danger of missing and responding what Jesus is doing in my time, or in my life, because it doesn’t look like I think it should or expect? Am I missing what the Holy Spirit is doing?
Father help me to always be open to see you at work. I don’t want to miss what you are doing because it doesn’t look like I think it should.
Wow, most of us would think how blessed Jesus’ mother Mary was to have been chosen to bear the Son of God. We would hardly dare to compare ourselves to her in the special blessing she received with that calling. But Jesus turns it around here in this statement and says to each one of us that we can be just as blessed if we will do one thing (well, two things actually): hear the word of God and obey it. Really??
ot found in position or status, but simply in doing what God has called us to do.
Significance is one of our deepest longings. We all want to feel like our life will count for something here on earth, and in this simple statement Jesus has just given us the answer. You will have a significant (blessed) life if you hear God’s word and obey it.
That inspires me and challenges me. What is God calling me to do today? Am I working to my own agenda or am I listening to the voice of the Spirit and obeying Him?
Lord, help me to listen to Your voice and obey. Help me to align myself with your plans and your calling for me and to find my significance in You and nothing else.
This passage is about Jesus’ authority. Is he casting out demons by Satan’s authority or God’s?
Jesus soundly refutes the argument that he is casting out demons by Satan’s power, but then presents them with an alternative. If he is doing it by the “finger of God”, then the kingdom of God has come upon them. He is issuing a challenge, demanding a response. No response, or sitting on the fence, means that they are against him – “whoever is not with me is against me”. This theme continues in vv 24 – 26. A demon cast out, but not replaced, is able to return to the void left behind. However, if this space is filled with the Holy Spirit instead the demon is unable to return. Again, a response is required.
I had two thoughts about this passage. One is a reminder that Jesus is always in authority, and is more powerful than Satan. He has “overpowered the strong man”. Secondly, he requires a response from us. Do I read scripture and not let it affect or change me in any way, or am I always looking to grow because of what I read?
In these verses from Luke 11, Jesus is speaking about the power of prayer & how we should never stop praying. We need to keep asking, knocking and seeking – not giving up until we hear from God.
One of Jesus disciples noted the way in which Jesus prayed. He may not have heard what was said but he knew Jesus had a special and deep relationship with his heavenly Father. The disciple also wanted to pray like this, hungry for a relationship with God. Jesus was willing to give him some direction.
The Lord’s prayer is a very well known piece of Scripture outlining and prioritising what we should include in our prayers.
It is interesting to note the order of items in the Lord’s prayer. Revering God’s holy name is first and then God’s will on earth. Our needs come in about half way! Reading this today has given me fresh perspective on honouring his name and praying his will on earth. At the same time it reminds me to bring God my own needs and to ask for forgiveness regularly.
Martha and Mary offered hospitality to their friend Jesus. Martha is busy preparing the food while Mary sat listening to Jesus as he talked. Martha is grumpy that she’s left with all the work. Upset, Martha asks Jesus if He doesn’t care that she is doing all the work, she presumes to tell Jesus what to do. Jesus answers by saying she is distracted and worried by many things, but there is need of only one thing which Mary has chosen, Mary was letting Jesus tell her what to do.
Martha saying my sister has left me to do all the work, could suggest that Mary had previously joined Martha in caring for Jesus. Both sat before Jesus, though it appears that Martha felt that feeding Jesus was more important than waiting upon His word. I’m certain Martha loved Jesus and felt her service to Him came from what she felt was important. Mary was also breaking the rules of the time where study, listening at Jesus feet, was reserved for only males. Martha was not just asking for help, she was demanding that Mary keep to the traditional way of behaving. Martha thought serving was the right way to serve Jesus. Jesus wasn’t saying that Martha’s servant heart was unimportant. He was saying that being a disciple, learning His ways, is even more important.
Are there opposing forces pulling at our lives? How do we put the important things first? Are our acts of caring, responses of loving God and our neighbours? As I sit at the feet of Jesus, I pray I hear what the right priorities are for my life and those around me.
Such a great parable of Jesus, with everyday application and implication.
A man who gets attacked and robbed finds himself in sudden, unforseen, and desperate need. And the Samaritan man – unlike the other two smugly sanitised and aloof religious figures – gets alongside him straight away to help him. On his way doing what was probably a normal travel route, he discovers someone in sudden, unforseen, and desperate need, and he moves straight into action to help.
This is love for ones neighbour. Costly, inconvenient, but wonderfully dignifying.
Here, Jesus calls me to a life of love that dignifies. Love that costs, for certain. But love that dignifies, and heals. This is the right kind of heart focus for my day to day life.
As I go about my normal daily business, as the Samaritan man was, Jesus teaches me to keep my eyes out for opportunity to love my desperate neighbour in such a way that restores their dignity, and brings them healing.
I may not find a bloodied robbery victim. But I may find a desperate divorced mum. I may find a stretched and stressed work colleague. I may find a hurting and confused teenager. Maybe my “bandages, oil and wine” are instead a coffee, a listening ear, an offer of heartfelt and ongoing prayer and presence.
This is still love that dignifies the desperate. That heals the hapless. God, help me live each day with this as my heart focus.
God wants to turn things upside down because He values all of us not just the powerful. He speaks to those who are willing to listen. How cool that the disciples got to see and hear Jesus. They got to ask questions, they got to hear the answers. How do you think they felt? Do you think they realised and appreciated the special position they were in? I am sure if I had been there I would have potentially missed how amazing the situation was.
Jesus speaks to each of us today too – if we are willing to listen and want His help. Do we understand how amazing that is? That the creator of the universe wants to help us live life well. I know there are lots of times I forget. I want to get better each day at appreciating the opportunity of interacting with Jesus.
Thank you Lord that you are available to all of us and help me to really engage in that relationship more each day.