Advice at Dinner Today’s guest quote is by John Ortberg, from Who Is This Man?: “Jesus noticed how the leaders picked places of honor at the table. This is simply one more way we value some people over others. We violate Gods Blue Book. So Jesus gave some tongue-in-cheek advice: When somebody invites you to a feast, dont go for the seat of honor. Go sit in the kitchen. Humble yourself. Jesus was essentially saying to the host, Hey, host! Let me give you some advice. Your seating chart is all wrong. You think healing the sick on the Sabbath is wrong and that competing with people for status is right. Let me redo your table assignment. Exalt somebody else. The leaders were all embarrassed; they were all furious. For sure, now they didnt know where they should sit. The host was thinking, I hope Jesus doesnt have any more advice. Jesus turned to the host and said, Let me give you some more advice. Jesus was on a roll now. When you give a luncheon or dinner, do not invite your friends, your brothers or sisters, your relatives, or your rich neighbors; if you do, they may invite you back and so you will be repaid. But when you give a banquet, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind, and you will be blessed. Although they cannot repay you, you will be repaid at the resurrection of the righteous. (If Jesus was saying you should never invite your relatives for dinner, you may have been looking for this verse your whole life long.) Jesus was not giving a law here. He was contrasting Gods Blue Book with ours. Inviting the poor for dinner might be a possibility, if unusual. But the crippled, the lame, and the blind—thats another matter. Anything malformed or defective was considered by Pharisees to be unable to reflect the perfect holiness of God. Therefore, nothing malformed was allowed within the precincts of the temple.
Posted on: Sat, 18 Jan 2014 17:54:45 +0000
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