Friday, August 23

To download an audio version, click here.

Who Am I!

“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.” Luke 14:13

“Do as I say, not as I do,” is an expression that we have all become very familiar with. Chances are, we have either all said this at one time or another, or had these words spoken directly at us. These are words that we would never hear from Jesus. 

This passage of the Great Banquet is marked full of the life of Jesus being portrayed through his teaching. Jesus gives the instruction on whom to invite to a banquet to the Pharisee who is hosting the meal that Jesus is presently attending. He then continues with the Parable of the Great Banquet and we see that it is the poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind, and the outcasts who actually accept the invitation to the Great Banquet. 

Have you ever considered yourself to be one of those listed in this category? I often find myself searching to see which of the Pharisees I have been as of late. Feeling guilty for not living like Jesus, and falling short of his standard. In reality, I am actually one of the poor, often times blind, at other times crippled, even lame. Regardless of our “position” we should each rejoice in the fact that we are sitting at His table! None of us are deserving, and none of us could ever repay Jesus the price he paid for us. Nor could we ever offer such an invitation as he has given to us. Jesus invites us, in our lowly state. His reward awaits him at the resurrection of the righteous. Yes, he was rewarded his seat at the right hand of God once his work here on earth was “finished.” But, Jesus was sent, by his Father, because of the Father’s love for his lost children. It was this reunion at the resurrection of the righteous that was his “joy that was set before him” as he endured the cross (Hebrews 12:2). You are his reward! That is just as humbling as it is exciting.

 And what is it that Jesus asks in return of you? Only that you would love the Father with all of your heart, and that you would love people the way that he loved them. And so, just as the Father sent the Son to tell of the wonderful news he had for all mankind, the gospel as we call it, so too, have you and I been sent. What better way to love people is there than to tell them of the One who loved them so much that He sent His Son to die in their place? 

You have been fully equipped by the Holy Spirit to preach this good news to all people. You have the example of Jesus and the teachings of Jesus as a model. 

Therefore, Go, in the love of the Father, the joy of the son, and the power of the Holy Spirit, and make disciples of all nations. Pray, asking the Lord of the Harvest to send workers into the fields that you cannot “harvest” in. And, be prepared at all times, preaching the word in and out of season.  

Jonathan Goble