Immerse: Messiah - Flipbook - Page 50
38
IMMERSE
•
MESSIAH
13:34–14:19
“O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the city that kills the prophets and stones
God’s messengers! How often I have wanted to gather your children together as a hen protects her chicks beneath her wings, but you wouldn’t
let me. And now, look, your house is abandoned. And you will never see
me again until you say, ‘Blessings on the one who comes in the name of
the Lord!’”
One Sabbath day Jesus went to eat dinner in the home of a leader of the
Pharisees, and the people were watching him closely. There was a man
there whose arms and legs were swollen. Jesus asked the Pharisees and
experts in religious law, “Is it permitted in the law to heal people on the
Sabbath day, or not?” When they refused to answer, Jesus touched the sick
man and healed him and sent him away. Then he turned to them and said,
“Which of you doesn’t work on the Sabbath? If your son or your cow falls
into a pit, don’t you rush to get him out?” Again they could not answer.
When Jesus noticed that all who had come to the dinner were trying to sit
in the seats of honor near the head of the table, he gave them this advice:
“When you are invited to a wedding feast, don’t sit in the seat of honor.
What if someone who is more distinguished than you has also been invited? The host will come and say, ‘Give this person your seat.’ Then you
will be embarrassed, and you will have to take whatever seat is left at the
foot of the table!
“Instead, take the lowest place at the foot of the table. Then when your
host sees you, he will come and say, ‘Friend, we have a better place for
you!’ Then you will be honored in front of all the other guests. For those
who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves
will be exalted.”
Then he turned to his host. “When you put on a luncheon or a banquet,”
he said, “don’t invite your friends, brothers, relatives, and rich neighbors.
For they will invite you back, and that will be your only reward. Instead,
invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, and the blind. Then at the resurrection of the righteous, God will reward you for inviting those who could
not repay you.”
Hearing this, a man sitting at the table with Jesus exclaimed, “What a blessing it will be to attend a banquet in the Kingdom of God!”
Jesus replied with this story: “A man prepared a great feast and sent
out many invitations. When the banquet was ready, he sent his servant
to tell the guests, ‘Come, the banquet is ready.’ But they all began making
excuses. One said, ‘I have just bought a field and must inspect it. Please
excuse me.’ Another said, ‘I have just bought five pairs of oxen, and I want
