pathoflifedevotions Devotions, May 18

May 19 “Invited”

Invited

An invitation to a wedding is an honor extended to the invitee and a grace flowing from the one doing the inviting.
This was real life in that day of arranged marriages. Jesus chose an event this common and this important to teach about the Kingdom of God. Here is the elaborate parable: The one whose son is getting married is not some ordinary guy—he is a king. Everyone knows his name and lives in his shadow. It would follow that an invitation to the wedding of a prince would be treasured by all who were chosen.

Rejection in the Kingdom
Such was not the case. The guest list was a large one as servants hand delivered invitations throughout the kingdom. For a reason we are not given, those invited to the wedding refused the invitation. The king sent more servants to the chosen ones with details of the royal preparations. It was time to come to the feast. They made fun of the king and went about the more important details of their self-centered lives. They even killed the king’s messengers. It is not good to reject and then insult a king and then kill his men. He sent an army to destroy both them and their city.

Highway and Hedges
Rejected by the elites in his kingdom, the king turned to strangers who happened to be on their way somewhere else, inviting them to the wedding feast. The banquet hall was filled and the king made some new friends. There was great rejoicing among the common folk who had never attended a royal banquet before. They had never eaten so well and had never been entertained as wonderfully well. The frowning faces of the king’s “friends” were soon forgotten as the king enjoyed the feasting of a whole new set of friends. With the city of those who rejected him destroyed, he was going to need new leaders! He started scanning the crowd for untapped talent.

The Wedding Garment
There was one person who came unprepared, willfully insulting the king by accepting the invitation and then choosing to dress improperly. At issue was something called a wedding garment. The details of this are lost to ancient history. The king spoke kindly to the man, calling him “friend.” He asked why he had refused the king’s required garment but the man had no answer. This pushed the king too far and he dealt harshly with the unprepared man.

Our Invitation to the Feast
The application of this parable is easy to see. We have been invited to feast with heaven! Just as the Israelites ate manna in the wilderness on their way to the Promised Land, we may feast daily on manna from heaven—the Word of God and the presence of King Jesus! All are invited to this feast but many refuse the invitation. Their refusal of the divine invitation eliminates them from the fellowship of the saints. They want to enjoy the benefits of the banquet without putting on the wedding garment. What is the wedding garment for us? It is the salvation of our souls by the Lord Jesus Himself, Master of the Feast. We need the robes of righteousness only He can provide. If we depend on our goodness, we will be cast out of the feast. With the Robes of Righteousness from Jesus, we can pull up a chair!

Scriptures:
Matthew 22:1-14
And Jesus answered and spoke to them again by parables and said: “The kingdom of heaven is like a certain king who arranged a marriage for his son, and sent out his servants to call those who were invited to the wedding; and they were not willing to come. Again, he sent out other servants, saying, ‘Tell those who are invited, “See, I have prepared my dinner; my oxen and fatted cattle are killed, and all things are ready. Come to the wedding.”‘ But they made light of it and went their ways, one to his own farm, another to his business. And the rest seized his servants, treated them spitefully, and killed them. But when the king heard about it, he was furious. And he sent out his armies, destroyed those murderers, and burned up their city. Then he said to his servants, ‘The wedding is ready, but those who were invited were not worthy. Therefore go into the highways, and as many as you find, invite to the wedding.’ So those servants went out into the highways and gathered together all whom they found, both bad and good. And the wedding hall was filled with guests. “But when the king came in to see the guests, he saw a man there who did not have on a wedding garment. So he said to him, ‘Friend, how did you come in here without a wedding garment?’ And he was speechless. Then the king said to the servants, ‘Bind him hand and foot, take him away, and cast him into outer darkness; there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’ “For many are called, but few are chosen.”

Prayer:
Lord Jesus, I have received Your invitation to the Feast. I joyfully take my place at Your table today. Fill my hungry soul with delightful things from Your Word and with the sweetness of the fellowship of the saints. As the scriptures invite me, “O taste and see that the Lord is Good!” this is my plan for today. As You lead me through the highways and hedges of this life, help me extend Your invitation to those who do not know they are invited to this feast. I will tell them of the beautiful wedding garment of salvation, the only covering for their sins. Help me make new friends today—all for the feast You have prepared for us! Amen.

Song:
Come to the Feast
Words: Charles H. Gabriel; Music: W.A. Ogden

1. “All things are ready,” come to the feast!
Come, for the table now is spread;
Ye famishing, ye weary, come,
And thou shalt be richly fed.

Refrain:
Hear the invitation,
Come, “whosoever will”;
Praise God for full salvation
For “whosoever will.”

2. “All things are ready,” come to the feast!
Come, for the door is open wide;
A place of honor is reserved
For you at the Master’s side.

Refrain

3 “All things are ready,” come to the feast!
Come, while He waits to welcome thee;
Delay not while this day is thine,
Tomorrow may never be.

Refrain

4 “All things are ready,” come to the feast!
Leave ev’ry care and worldly strife;
Come, feast upon the love of God,
And drink everlasting life.

Refrain

Semper Reformanda!
Stephen Phifer

© 2018 Stephen R. Phifer All Rights Reserved

TheJesusStory devotions are also found at KingdomWinds.com.
pathoflifedevotions Devotions, July 18

July 11 “Supper”

Supper

In the teaching of Jesus, a great metaphor for inclusion in the Kingdom of God was a dinner with invitations.
A shared meal is an important means of fellowship in the Kingdom of God. Under the Old Covenant, the remembrance of God’s miraculous deliverance from Egyptian bondage was the Passover Meal. Each week the families of Israel kept their faith alive from generation to generation with the Seder meal on Friday evenings. In the New Covenant, the Lord’s Table, also called the “Eucharist,” meaning, “The Great Thanksgiving,” and “Holy Communion,” is a ceremonial shared meal that renews the Covenant.

A Sabbath Meal
It happened that one of the rulers of the Pharisees invited Jesus to a Sabbath dinner at his own home. This was done with a hidden purpose; to catch Jesus in some violation of Sabbath tradition. A man suffering from edema, a condition arising from congestive heart failure causing swelling in the soft body tissues, was also there. It is possible he was a plant to test Jesus. Seeing the set-up, Jesus asked,

“Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath?”

The Pharisee did not answer. In short order, Jesus healed the man and sent him on his way. He asked another question:

“Which of you, having a donkey or an ox that has fallen into a pit, will not immediately pull him out on the Sabbath day?”

The Pharisees had no answer so Jesus told them the parable about dinner placement, warning His listeners not to take the place of honor until it is offered. The principle?

“…whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted.”

Kingdom Hospitality
Using the metaphor of an invited supper, Jesus turned polite society on its head. Do not invite those who are already your friends—reach out to those who are outside of your fellowship.

“…the poor and the maimed and the lame and the blind.’

To invite those in great need who cannot repay pleases the Lord. God will bless you when you include the disadvantaged in your feast.

The Parable of the Great Feast
A minimalist at the dinner declared that what really counted was just getting to eat the bread of the Kingdom. In other words, “Let me get mine. I don’t care about anyone else.” This brought one of the great parables from the lips of Jesus.

An important man gave a huge, by-invitation-only-feast. Many people were invited so he sent a servant at the startup time to bring the people in. Instead of guests, he got excuses, lame excuses. So he sent his servant to the disadvantaged. This was the same list Jesus had already given.

“…the poor and the maimed and the lame and the blind.’

These invited ones responded joyfully and there was still room for more. The next invitation provides us with a well-known description of the needy people of the world. The servant was told to go to “the highways hedges and compel them to come in.” There was no discrimination, no selection criteria, and no means-testing. It was pure grace. At last the house was filled and the great supper was served.

Life Lesson? People who are self-sufficient, self-satisfied, and self-centered will miss out on the good things of the Kingdom. Those who know they have need of God will be the ones who feast at His great supper.

Scriptures:
Luke: 14:1-24
Now it happened, as He went into the house of one of the rulers of the Pharisees to eat bread on the Sabbath, that they watched Him closely. And behold, there was a certain man before Him who had dropsy. And Jesus, answering, spoke to the lawyers and Pharisees, saying, “Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath?” But they kept silent. And He took him and healed him, and let him go. Then He answered them, saying, “Which of you, having a donkey or an ox that has fallen into a pit, will not immediately pull him out on the Sabbath day?” And they could not answer Him regarding these things. So He told a parable to those who were invited, when He noted how they chose the best places, saying to them: “When you are invited by anyone to a wedding feast, do not sit down in the best place, lest one more honorable than you be invited by him; and he who invited you and him come and say to you, ‘Give place to this man,’ and then you begin with shame to take the lowest place. But when you are invited, go and sit down in the lowest place, so that when he who invited you comes he may say to you, ‘Friend, go up higher.’ Then you will have glory in the presence of those who sit at the table with you. For whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted.” Then He also said to him who invited Him, “When you give a dinner or a supper, do not ask your friends, your brothers, your relatives, nor rich neighbors, lest they also invite you back, and you be repaid. But when you give a feast, invite the poor, the maimed, the lame, the blind. And you will be blessed, because they cannot repay you; for you shall be repaid at the resurrection of the just.” Now when one of those who sat at the table with Him heard these things, he said to Him, “Blessed is he who shall eat bread in the kingdom of God!” Then He said to him, “A certain man gave a great supper and invited many, and sent his servant at supper time to say to those who were invited, ‘Come, for all things are now ready.’ But they all with one accord began to make excuses. The first said to him, ‘I have bought a piece of ground, and I must go and see it. I ask you to have me excused.’ And another said, ‘I have bought five yoke of oxen, and I am going to test them. I ask you to have me excused.’ Still another said, ‘I have married a wife, and therefore I cannot come.’ So that servant came and reported these things to his master. Then the master of the house, being angry, said to his servant, ‘Go out quickly into the streets and lanes of the city, and bring in here the poor and the maimed and the lame and the blind.’ And the servant said, ‘Master, it is done as you commanded, and still there is room.’ Then the master said to the servant, ‘Go out into the highways and hedges, and compel them to come in, that my house may be filled. For I say to you that none of those men who were invited shall taste my supper.'”

Prayer:
Lord Jesus, rescue me from pride and position! Help me take the lower place in public, leaving the place of honor to others. Save me from hard-hearted assessments of my fellow human beings. May I never see others us unworthy and myself as deserving of honor. Lord Jesus, send me to the highways and hedges and help me compel the lost to come into the feast You have prepared. It is for them, prepared with love from Your skillful hand. For Your glory, Lord! Amen.

Song:
Come to the Feast
Words: Charles H. Gabriel; and Music: W.A. Ogden.

1. “All things are ready,” come to the feast!
Come, for the table now is spread;
Ye famishing, ye weary, come,
And thou shalt be richly fed.

Refrain:
Hear the invitation,
Come, “whosoever will”;
Praise God for full salvation
For “whosoever will.”

2. “All things are ready,” come to the feast!
Come, for the door is open wide;
A place of honor is reserved
For you at the Master’s side.

Refrain

3. “All things are ready,” come to the feast!
Come, while He waits to welcome thee;
Delay not while this day is thine,
Tomorrow may never be.

Refrain

4. “All things are ready,” come to the feast!
Leave ev’ry care and worldly strife;
Come, feast upon the love of God,
And drink everlasting life.

Refrain

Semper Reformanda!
Stephen Phifer

© 2018 Stephen R. Phifer All Rights Reserved

TheJesusStory devotions are also found at KingdomWinds.com.