Luke 14

The traditions of Pharisaic religion needed to be challenged. We cannot look at these matters as unimportant. There are many things that people contend over that are not worth the fight. Some people seem to love every skirmish, no matter how small the issue at stake may be. Jesus is not such a person. He knows when to speak and when to keep silent. He knows what issues are worth discussing and at which times a word of challenge is most consistent with a love of the truth. He knew that the issue over Jewish legal traditions was no small matter. It struck at the heart of His mission and at the center of biblical revelation. More than once, He confronted those who objected to His healing on the Sabbath by pointing out their hypocrisy. They showed Sabbath generosity to their own children, and even to their cattle, but they did not love the Lord’s people who were in need of healing, and accused the Lord of Love concerning His violation of their man-made spiritual customs.

Pharisaic habits of self-interest require no special explanation. It seems to be a very natural thing among people to protect what they own, and to care for their reputation and personal interests. The way of the Servant of the Lord is different than this normal way. He is willing to take the low place, that one day He might be given the call to come up higher. He is willing to show care for the despised, knowing that God can repay at what Jesus calls here “the resurrection of the just.”

Our Lord is speaking here about great things that are coming. There will be a great banquet in the kingdom of God, and the celebration is even beginning now as guests are in the process of being invited. Many are too busy to enjoy table fellowship with the Lord of the universe. They have important family matters and business concerns to attend to. The despised of this world are more likely to respond to the Word that invites them to draw near to God. Even many of them will not answer the outward call of the Lord’s church. We are sent forth by Christ to speak with urgency about these matters, knowing that finally, one day, the house of God will be filled. It is those who have been given a heart to receive the Lord’s call who will be there with Him when He comes to rejoice with His beloved people.

The matters of the Lord’s kingdom should be more important to us than anything else. Why is it that everything else seems more urgent and more real to so many? No answer to this question is adequate, but the question does reveal the seriousness of our rebellion against God. Jesus calls us to love Him and His kingdom as the greatest of all good things, so much so that our right enjoyment of other blessings could be termed hate in comparison. If we want to be disciples of the Lord we need to prefer Him far above every relation, and far above our own comfort. This is the life of cross-bearing that Christ calls us to. It is a life of great delight, though we suffer, because we have come to know that we have chosen the One who is of the greatest worth. Our love for God, and even our service of Him in trial, is not so much charity as it is enlightened spiritual self-interest. We have come to delight in the One who calls us to be near Him and to serve Him.

The way of Christian service is not for the man who quickly responds with a yes to everything without considering the cost. If we do that we will only be shown to be fools when we run away from our commitments in the middle of our work. Like a man who builds a foundation but has no resources left to complete the building, we will be the subject of the scorn of those around us. Like a country that goes off to war without considering the chances of victory, we will be shown to have undertaken serious and ill-considered endeavors.

We have a task before us. We are being called out of a decaying world in part, in order to see the kingdom clearly, only to be called back into that same world in order to be the salt of the earth. This is a very serious undertaking – a global enterprise of salvation and restoration. It is not a job for the faint of heart.

At the head of our army of love is our great Warrior-King. He carefully considered the task before Him in the eternal covenant of grace. He did not enter upon His mission lightly, expecting that something would just turn up that would make it all doable. He came with a right assessment of the cost. He knew the humiliation before Him, even the death of the cross, and He not only was true to His calling, He also has called us into that same dedication of life that He showed to us with His own body and blood.

This is something that we could never accomplish without the presence of God with us, still leading this enterprise. As disciples of Jesus Christ, we do not follow the memory of a great man. We follow the great Man Himself, for He is alive. His Law-Keeping and His cross have satisfied the demands of God for our salvation. The Pharisaic alternative that He spoke against so vigorously is not worth dying for. The path of Christian faith and service is. Whatever trial you face in His Name is small compared to the prize He has won for you. The argument in favor of Christian grace and against Pharisaic custom-keeping is worth the fight.