STUDY NOTES on previous study
Table Behavior and
a Dinner Invitation (Luke 14:7-24)
The moments Jesus uses to teach are indeed enlightening. Dallas Willard comments that Jesus’ teachings
are always concrete and contextual. They
are teachings that derive from real life.
Jesus was always concerned with the context of deepening people’s
understanding of the kingdom – so when occasions arrived which provided
opportunities to teach, Jesus took advantage.
If you’ve never seen “status seating” in action, it is indeed
fascinating. I had the opportunity to
travel to an eastern country to negotiate some possible educational
opportunities and traveled to several cities there. Status seating was very much an issue. At several official meals, the host first
chose his seat. Then he offered the rest
of the seats in appropriate order according to his perceived value of the
guests. While it meant little to me, it
was easy to see how important it was to those of that country. This is what Jesus is observing as he begins
His parable.
By now we are familiar enough to know He isn’t actually providing a
strategy for gaining a deeper sense of self importance! Can you imagine Jesus telling you to sit at
the children’s table so that the host would say, “Where is ‘so and so?’ Oh, he’s at the table with the children! How could this happen? Please, come and sit here in this place of
honor!” Does that sound like Jesus? Surely this is Jesus demonstrating how the
whole issue of status determined by where one sits is laughable! But even though Jesus makes fun of their
desire for importance, He ends His treatment of this subject with two truths –
only through humility can one find true exaltation, and those who seek
exaltation will be humbled.
The next paragraph might be really useful if only it were intended as a
literal teaching! We are not to invite
our in-laws for dinner! Actually, all we
would invite to our table are excluded.
Jesus is not commanding us to not invite family to our table. He is inviting us to participate in kingdom
life by inviting people who have no way of repaying us to sit at our tables and
feast on our generosity. Jesus is gently
calling us to change our “quid pro quo” way of living (I do this for you, you
do this for me) and step into the wonderful kingdom of unconditional love and
hospitality. Do we ever have “by-way”
dinners? What would happen if we would
intentionally invite people to our table who have nothing to offer in
return? Jesus says we would be blessed
by repayment at the final day of accounting.
It is important not to get lost in the specific example of “inviting one to
dinner.” In Jesus’ day this was the
way of offering favor with the expectation of a returned favor. The principle Jesus is teaching is bigger
than a dinner party for the underprivileged, though that would be a great thing
to do. Jesus is calling us to live in
the image of God, who does not call us to His table because of what we can
offer Him. He abundantly blesses us
because that is His nature. It is a
tragic commentary on our hearts that we are so cautious in our extending
hospitality and the offering of our money to those in need. Clearly, our quest for status affects who
receives the benefits from our love.
Jesus invites us to fully reject the very idea of status, which is
reflected in giving to anyone in need, not just those who can repay.
The parable of the great dinner gives us rich insight into the heart of
God. It is clearly a warning to some,
but a teaching that brings great joy to those who think of themselves as
unworthy to sit at God’s banquet table.
Jesus had just finished saying those who invite the non-inviteable to their table will be blessed in the end. One of the guests said in response, “Blessed
is anyone who will eat bread in the
Jesus’ response is once again very challenging. There are a number of interpretations of this
parable. Some suggest the great banquet
parable is a description of one who actually experienced the transformation
Jesus had just described. A great man
offered a feast to his friends, who in turn had excuses as to why they couldn’t
come. The man did not want to waste his
food, so he invited the very ones Jesus said should have been invited in the
first place.
The difficulty with this reading is its failure to take into account the
immediate context of the dinner guest’s beatitude “blessed is anyone who will
eat in the
Indeed, they were invited. The
practice of that day was to issue invitations well before a feast was
offered. It would literally take days to
prepare for such a feast. When it was
finally ready, the host would send our servants to call those invited. As the story goes, each of the invited guests
has an excuse as to why he could not come.
One had to do with purchased land, another with purchased animals – both
of these seem indefensible. Who would
buy land without seeing it, and purchase oxen sight unseen? Clearly, these just did not want to come to
the banquet. But how
about the third excuse? It seems
justifiable, doesn’t it? I mean, come
on! The man had just been married, wouldn’t we expect him to complete his honeymoon?
But none of the excuses were deemed justifiable. The owner of the house invited all those who
normally would never be invited to such a feast. The poor, the crippled, the blind, and the
lame were brought to the feast table.
And after all of these came, there was still room. So the master sent his servants out again,
for the table was to be filled, and those first invited would never taste the
dinner.
There are several crucial lessons here.
I believe we must see this parable as applicable to the final feast in
the presence of God. Those first invited
had clearly shown they had interests other than God’s. The ministry and teaching of Jesus, inviting
us to the table of God (the
Lesson one: nothing is worth missing the invitation to God’s feast –
which is among us now and will be fully realized at the second coming of Jesus.
Lesson two: the invitation is now open.
We accept it by offering the open generosity of God to those around
us. By refusing to live by the standard of “How will this
benefit me” and instead serving all, we walk joyfully into the feast of the
kingdom.
Lesson three: the feast will not be wasted. The joy of the banquet and the delicious
nature of the feast does not depend on us. Just because we think we are invited doesn’t
mean we will taste God’s dinner. The
truly blessed are those who understand the nature of the feast, and participate
in that feast now by living the life Jesus came to model for us.
Table Behavior and
a Dinner Invitation (Luke 14:7-24)
1. Maybe we no longer use the table as a place
to declare “status”, but what are other criteria our culture uses to prove one
person is better than another? Are we
influenced by these criteria?
2. To whom is the feast table of God available?
3. To whom are our tables available?
The Cost of Discipleship (Luke 14:25-35)
Read Luke 14:25-27
1. Why do you think Jesus chose this particular
time to teach such a difficult teaching?
2. What do you think Jesus meant by “hate” in
this context?
3. How can one hate one’s own life?
4. What is the cross we are called to carry?
Read 14:28-30
1. Why do you think Jesus used the example of
building a tower?
2. What would cause the tower builder ultimate
embarrassment?
3. What application does this have to us and
discipleship?
Read 14:31-33
1. What does the example of a king waging war
add to Jesus’ teaching about commitment in discipleship?
2. What might Jesus be saying about discipleship
when He suggests it is similar to a king who would be better off conceding
defeat if he can’t win?
3. Do you believe Jesus actually meant we must
give up all our possessions or we cannot be His disciple?
Read 14:34-35
1. How does salt loose its taste?
2. What does this have to do with Jesus’
teaching on discipleship?
3. What does Jesus want us to hear in these
verses?