Luke 14:15-24 — God’s Dinner Party!

READ THIS: Luke 14:15-24

15 When one of those at the table with him heard this, he said to Jesus, “Blessed is the one who will eat at the feast in the kingdom of God.” 

16 Jesus replied: “A certain man was preparing a great banquet and invited many guests. 17 At the time of the banquet he sent his servant to tell those who had been invited, ‘Come, for everything is now ready.’ 18 “But they all alike began to make excuses. 

The first said, ‘I have just bought a field, and I must go and see it. Please excuse me.’ 19 “Another said, ‘I have just bought five yoke of oxen, and I’m on my way to try them out. Please excuse me.’ 20 “Still another said, ‘I just got married, so I can’t come.’ 

21 “The servant came back and reported this to his master. Then the owner of the house became angry and ordered his servant, ‘Go out quickly into the streets and alleys of the town and bring in the poor, the crippled, the blind and the lame.’ 

22 “‘Sir,’ the servant said, ‘what you ordered has been done, but there is still room.’ 23 “Then the master told his servant, ‘Go out to the roads and country lanes and compel them to come in, so that my house will be full. 24 I tell you, not one of those who were invited will get a taste of my banquet.’”

WHAT’S THIS MEAN, ANYWAY?

Have you ever tried to get a group of people together to hang out, but you were only met with “agh, sorry, I am busy right now” and other excuses? Or how about the opposite: have you ever made up an excuse to get out of having to hang out with someone? This parable is all about whether or not we are ready and available for Jesus. In this story, a man has invited many guests for a banquet, but he is met only with excuses for why people can’t come, so he ultimately decides to go out and invite anyone who is interested in coming, no matter who they are, to enjoy the feast.

I think many Christians can think that heaven is going to look like a “good people Hall of Fame.” We think it is going to be full of people who have all done incredible things for good and that we have to do good things ourselves to get in, but that is FAR from the case. Who does God want at His banquet? He wants people who want to be with Him! That’s it! He doesn’t care if we are broken, messed up sinners… God wants people who desperately want to be with Him, and He wants people who would drop anything and everything this world has to offer to be with Him! So… are you one of those people?

THINK ABOUT IT:

1. Have you ever felt like you’ve been one of the people in verses 18-20, making excuses to avoid doing what God has called you to do?

2. God calls us to let go of everything this world has and follow Him. What’s the hardest thing for you to let go of right now?

TRY THIS:

One of the coolest things about Jesus is that He invites everyone to His party, including you and me! This week, our challenge for you is to invite someone you aren’t necessarily close with to hang out, and while you’re hanging out, try to talk about Jesus!

Comments

  1. AnonymousJanuary 18, 2024 at 6:33 AM

    Art would be the hardest thing for me to leave behind-I always think of God in his act of creation and that brings me joy.

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Galatians 2:1-5 — Marathon Training

R EAD THIS:  Galatians 2:1-5 1 Then after fourteen years, I went up again to Jerusalem, this time with Barnabas. I took Titus along also. 2 I went in response to a revelation and, meeting privately with those esteemed as leaders, I presented to them the gospel that I preach among the Gentiles. I wanted to be sure I was not running and had not been running my race in vain. 3 Yet not even Titus, who was with me, was compelled to be circumcised, even though he was a Greek. 4 This matter arose because some false believers had infiltrated our ranks to spy on the freedom we have in Christ Jesus and to make us slaves. 5 We did not give in to them for a moment, so that the truth of the gospel might be preserved for you.   WHAT’S THIS MEAN, ANYWAY? Yesterday, we learned about how Paul went to Jerusalem and shared the incredible things Jesus did, but today, we are hearing about Paul's second time visiting Jerusalem... 14 years later. Paul talks about a bunch of things that happened ...
Read more

Luke 8:19-21 — Jesus's Fam!

R EAD THIS:  Luke 8:19-21 19 Now Jesus’ mother and brothers came to see him, but they were not able to get near him because of the crowd. 20 Someone told him, “Your mother and brothers are standing outside, wanting to see you.” 21 He replied, “My mother and brothers are those who hear God’s word and put it into practice.” WHAT’S THIS MEAN, ANYWAY? Ummmm, hold up, is Jesus dissing on His family here? I mean, I know He is God's Son and all, but at first glance, this passage makes it seem like He is kind of hating on His family! However, if we really look into this passage, it's actually a lot more about us than it is about the family of Jesus.  In case you forgot, the last few passages have features Jesus telling and explaining different parables to a large crowd as well as His disciples. Clearly, the crowd has gotten so large that Mary and Jesus's brothers (yes... Jesus had brothers!) couldn't even reach Him. When someone told Jesus "hey dude, your fam is here an...
Read more

WELCOME BACK! Hebrews Introduction

WELCOME BACK TO DEEPLY ROOTED!!! Greetings fellow Bible readers and Jesus journey-ers! We're stoked to get back in the swing of things with y'all. For any new readers, this section would usually be where our handful of Bible verses will be. The section below would break down what in the world the verses mean. Then, there are some debrief questions for you to dive deeper and an application point. A new addition this year is the Song of the Week! We'll share a song that ties into the theme of the next few verses...if you gaze ahead and have song suggestions, comment below or text! HEBREWS INTRODUCTION: As with any book of the Bible, different Biblical scholars say different things about this letter, but we'll tell you the most probable take. So here it is: Hebrews is a letter written to a group of Jews who were being persecuted for deciding to follow Jesus. It is a letter to encourage them and to show that Jesus truly is the best person to follow despite how hard it was g...
Read more