Today’s Invitation: Matthew 22:1-14

Focus Passage: Matthew 22:1-14 (NIV)

Jesus spoke to them again in parables, saying: “The kingdom of heaven is like a king who prepared a wedding banquet for his son. He sent his servants to those who had been invited to the banquet to tell them to come, but they refused to come.

“Then he sent some more servants and said, ‘Tell those who have been invited that I have prepared my dinner: My oxen and fattened cattle have been butchered, and everything is ready. Come to the wedding banquet.’

“But they paid no attention and went off—one to his field, another to his business. The rest seized his servants, mistreated them and killed them. The king was enraged. He sent his army and destroyed those murderers and burned their city.

“Then he said to his servants, ‘The wedding banquet is ready, but those I invited did not deserve to come. So go to the street corners and invite to the banquet anyone you find.’ 10 So the servants went out into the streets and gathered all the people they could find, the bad as well as the good, and the wedding hall was filled with guests.

11 “But when the king came in to see the guests, he noticed a man there who was not wearing wedding clothes. 12 He asked, ‘How did you get in here without wedding clothes, friend?’ The man was speechless.

13 “Then the king told the attendants, ‘Tie him hand and foot, and throw him outside, into the darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’

14 “For many are invited, but few are chosen.”

Read Matthew 22:1-14 in context and/or in other translations on BibleGateway.com!

When reading this entry’s passage, I often wonder about the people who were originally invited. In each case, those who received an original invitation – which almost sound like an exclusive invitation, give an excuse and ask to be excused from attending the celebration. These original invitees were offered everything almost exclusively, but chose to reject the invitation, which was really also rejecting the king, in favor of doing their own thing.

Verses 5 and 6 tell us their response when receiving the king’s invitation: “But they paid no attention and went off—one to his field, another to his business. The rest seized his servants, mistreated them and killed them.

The two possible responses from the king’s invitation are indifference and hostility.

Many of the original invitees were too interested in what they were currently doing to pay attention when the king called. When the call came in, they were not finished building their business, taking care of a client, saving enough to weather retirement, or with their goals-checklist – and they placed these things as more important than the king’s wedding banquet for his son. These original invitees lived like they were their own boss and like their personal priorities were their highest priorities.

Other original invitees hated the king, and so when the call came to them, they refused it simply because of who the king was. The passage also says that these haters mistreated the king’s servants, and some even went so far as to kill the servants who were sent to them. These original invitees picked themselves to be kings of their own life because they didn’t want to submit to the actual king.

In every case an invitation is given in this passage, there does not appear to be a cost involved. No one has paid to purchase a seat/plate at the king’s table, and this truth reveals something else that is interesting about human nature: We discount the value of free gifts we have received, regardless of their true, often priceless, value.

If the king in this parable represents God, then some of the elements in this parable become clear.

The first thing to become clear is that if God exists, then regardless of what we think, say, feel, or do, He is in control. There is nothing we can say/do that will remove Him from His position of authority. If God exists, then no amount of thinking He doesn’t exist will change this reality. Our belief is not stronger than God’s reality.

The next thing is that we can really have one of three responses to God’s invitation: We can reject the invitation like those who were hostile towards the king; we can ignore the invitation like those who had chosen other things to be higher priorities; or we can accept the invitation, leaving what we were doing for the higher priority of being with God.

Lastly, there are two ways we could understand the context of this parable: as a future invitation into heaven, or as an immediate invitation into a relationship with God today.

When Jesus returns, He will take us to heaven to be with Him, and I imagine there will be a huge welcome celebration and feast. It will be like the wedding between Jesus and “His bride” (a metaphor for His people). When Christ returns and calls His people to Him, there should be nothing that takes precedence over this call.

When we first learn about Jesus and about the sacrifice He made on our behalf, we also are given an invitation: We can choose to distrust God’s motives and hate Him because of something else that happened; we can choose to ignore or delay accepting the invitation because something else is more important to us; or we can accept the invitation and enter into a new life with Him. Other parts of the gospels tell us there is a celebration in heaven every time someone accepts Jesus’ invitation.

In either case, we have God’s invitation now, and what matters most is choosing to accept this invitation into our lives today.

This thought was inspired by studying the Walking With Jesus “Reflective Bible Study” package. To discover insights like this in your own study time, click here and give Reflective Bible Study a try today!

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Approaching God Like a Pharisee: Luke 18:9-14

Focus Passage: Luke 18:9-14 (NIV)

To some who were confident of their own righteousness and looked down on everyone else, Jesus told this parable: 10 “Two men went up to the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. 11 The Pharisee stood by himself and prayed: ‘God, I thank you that I am not like other people—robbers, evildoers, adulterers—or even like this tax collector. 12 I fast twice a week and give a tenth of all I get.’

13 “But the tax collector stood at a distance. He would not even look up to heaven, but beat his breast and said, ‘God, have mercy on me, a sinner.’

14 “I tell you that this man, rather than the other, went home justified before God. For all those who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted.”

Read Luke 18:9-14 in context and/or in other translations on BibleGateway.com!

Part way through Jesus’ ministry, He tells His disciples and those who were present a short illustration about how God accepts (or in this case does not accept) our prayers based on how we approach Him in prayer. In this illustration, the gospel of Luke tells us that Jesus directed it towards those in the crowd who “were confident of their own righteousness and looked down on everyone else.” (v. 9)

To this group of people, Jesus begins His parable by sharing someone who they can relate with: “Two men went up to the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. The Pharisee stood by himself and prayed: ‘God, I thank you that I am not like other people—robbers, evildoers, adulterers—or even like this tax collector. I fast twice a week and give a tenth of all I get.’” (v. 10-12)

While nothing is mentioned in this parable that this self-righteous group of people prayed this type of prayer, chances are high in my mind that this sample prayer from the Pharisee in Jesus’ illustration was similar to what this group prayed. While nothing is technically wrong with anything described in the prayer itself, the tone of what the Pharisee shares is what God does not approve of. Giving thanks to God, fasting regularly, tithing, and living obediently are all noble things, but this Pharisee seems to think God doesn’t recognize these accomplishments – so he intentionally decides to share them with God in His prayer.

The Pharisee’s prayer is two relatively short sentences, and it includes four uses of pronoun “I”. Each of these four uses in this prayer asks God to look at how good, noble, and righteous he is. But God doesn’t need help seeing the good in our lives or the bad. God knows our triumphs and trials better than we know them ourselves, and nothing is a surprise to Him.

While a prayer of thanks is not bad in itself. However, in order for it to be productive, we must thank God for something He has blessed us with, and not simply thank Him for something we’ve done ourselves. A prayer of thanks should be a reminder of how God has helped us, and remind us of our place in God’s bigger plan; Our prayers are worthless if we simply thank God for something we are claiming responsibility for.

Praying like a Pharisee is trying to get God to acknowledge how good of a person we are – especially in comparison with someone else, and this type of prayer is never answered. Instead, when we give thanks to God, we should thank Him for the things He has blessed us with in a way that helps us remember our small part in His big plans related to saving people for eternity and in a way that genuinely is thankful for His help.

This thought was inspired by studying the Walking With Jesus “Reflective Bible Study” package. To discover insights like this in your own study time, click here and give Reflective Bible Study a try today!

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Flashback Episode — The Birth of a Shepherd-King: Luke 2:1-20


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As we continue in Luke’s gospel, I would love to be able to focus in on every event and detail Luke included surrounding Jesus’ birth, however, there isn’t enough time in our year dedicated to this gospel. Luke is the longest of the four gospels, and because of this, I have the challenge of deciding what doesn’t get included. Unfortunately, this means that it is time to jump into chapter 2 of Luke’s gospel even though there are at least two more podcast worthy passages in Luke chapter 1.

However, without getting bogged down focusing on what we must skip over, let’s instead focus on what we can learn as Luke transitions in to chapter 2. When looking at the popular Christmas passages of the Bible, almost every Christmas story begins with the passage we will be looking at, and oftentimes, the passage we will be reading is read in its entirety.

With this said, let’s look at Luke’s famous Christmas passage, and discover some things we can learn about Jesus’ birth now that we are intentionally looking at this event outside of the Christmas season. Our passage is found in Luke’s gospel, chapter 2, and we will read from the New American Standard Bible translation. Starting in verse 1, Luke tells us:

1 Now in those days a decree went out from Caesar Augustus, that a census be taken of all the inhabited earth. 2 This was the first census taken while Quirinius was governor of Syria. 3 And everyone was on his way to register for the census, each to his own city. 4 Joseph also went up from Galilee, from the city of Nazareth, to Judea, to the city of David which is called Bethlehem, because he was of the house and family of David, 5 in order to register along with Mary, who was engaged to him, and was with child. 6 While they were there, the days were completed for her to give birth. 7 And she gave birth to her firstborn son; and she wrapped Him in cloths, and laid Him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn.

8 In the same region there were some shepherds staying out in the fields and keeping watch over their flock by night. 9 And an angel of the Lord suddenly stood before them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them; and they were terribly frightened. 10 But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid; for behold, I bring you good news of great joy which will be for all the people; 11 for today in the city of David there has been born for you a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. 12 This will be a sign for you: you will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger.” 13 And suddenly there appeared with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying, 
14 “Glory to God in the highest, 
And on earth peace among men with whom He is pleased.”

15 When the angels had gone away from them into heaven, the shepherds began saying to one another, “Let us go straight to Bethlehem then, and see this thing that has happened which the Lord has made known to us.” 16 So they came in a hurry and found their way to Mary and Joseph, and the baby as He lay in the manger. 17 When they had seen this, they made known the statement which had been told them about this Child. 18 And all who heard it wondered at the things which were told them by the shepherds. 19 But Mary treasured all these things, pondering them in her heart. 20 The shepherds went back, glorifying and praising God for all that they had heard and seen, just as had been told them.

This passage describes Jesus’ birth, the events leading up to this significant event, and the amazing details surrounding this easily overlooked point in history.

While Matthew’s gospel is the one to describe the wise men bringing gifts, and the young family’s escape to Egypt, Luke doesn’t let Jesus’ birth slip into the unknown pages of history. Luke describes the night Jesus was born starting like any night, except it may have been busier because of the census that was taking place. The night began relatively normally, and the only challenge leading up to this night was directly related to the census, since there was no room in the Bethlehem inn. While tradition holds that Jesus was born in a stable, a barn, a cave, or somewhere under the stars, the only hints of this is because there was no room in the inn, and because Jesus is laid in a manger, which is a trough that livestock eat from.

In my mind, this is a logical conclusion, since I don’t picture a host family bringing in a feeding trough to lay a brand new baby in.

This leads me to the amazing realization that Jesus, the destined King of the Universe, has the least glamorous entrance into this world as could be imagined. The only people likely present for this birth would have been Mary, obviously, Joseph, and perhaps a midwife or two. A cave or small barn would have given this event a little privacy, and because of this, Jesus’ birth gets the reputation and tradition of being in a stable.

The night Jesus was born could have been, and perhaps should have been, easily forgotten, if it were not for one event that God chose to include. While God could have woken the town up in any number of ways to get everyone present to take notice of Jesus’ birth, God decided to send an angelic choir to some people who would have been awake already, or perhaps at least most of them. While the shepherds in the fields outside of Bethlehem would have likely been planning on sleeping in shifts through the night, it was unlikely that this night contained much sleep for them.

Angels appeared to the shepherds, sing them a song, and commission them to find Jesus.

A skeptic might look at this event and doubt the details, not simply for the angel visit, or the choir’s song, but simply because it would be difficult to find one child born in a town full of travelers. However, at night, there likely would have been little noise or light, except for a few fires to keep those without homes or rooms in the inn warm. And it is quite likely that there may have only been one baby crying outside that night. From Matthew’s gospel, we know there were other young children in Bethlehem during that point in time, because after Herod sent his soldiers, all the babies were killed.

So why might God have picked shepherds to be the first to know about Jesus’ birth?

Part of me believes this is because the occupation of shepherd was one of the lowest on the social ladder, and because Jesus came to show God’s love to those society looked down on.

Also, I cannot escape seeing the symbolism in my mind that Jesus was destined to be like a shepherd for God’s people, and what better way to honor Jesus taking the role of Shepherd than to invite shepherds who were nearby and who were awake already.

Jesus coming into this world marked God stepping into our history in a big, personal way, and Jesus coming into this world helps us see just how much God loves us, and what God was willing to do to show us just how much He loves each of us!

As we come to the end of another podcast episode, here are the challenges I will leave you with:

As I always challenge you to do, intentionally seek God first in your life and choose to believe in Jesus. If you ever doubt what God thinks of you, simply look at what Jesus came to this world to do for you! Satan would have you believe Jesus came for other people, that Jesus didn’t really come, or that Jesus isn’t what the gospel writers describe, but these temptations are lies from Satan to get you to ignore God.

Instead, choose to believe what the Bible teaches us about Jesus because what we can learn from Jesus is a picture of God and His love for each of us!

Choose to do this by praying and studying the Bible for yourself. While it is easy to drift through life believing the opinions of your friends, your relatives, or culture, don’t do this because God wants more for you than what you might even imagine. Discover what God thinks of you through the pages of His Word!

And as I end every set of challenges by saying in one way or another, never stop short of, back away from, chicken out of, minimize or belittle where God wants to lead you to in your life with Him!

Flashback Episode: Year in Luke – Episode 3: In the most famous Christmas passage in the Bible, discover some interesting details about Jesus’ birth, and why tradition has placed Jesus being born in a stable when the Bible doesn’t clearly say this.

Tell the World: John 14:15-31

Focus Passage: John 14:15-31 (GW)

15 “If you love me, you will obey my commandments. 16 I will ask the Father, and he will give you another helper who will be with you forever. 17 That helper is the Spirit of Truth. The world cannot accept him, because it doesn’t see or know him. You know him, because he lives with you and will be in you.

18 “I will not leave you all alone. I will come back to you. 19 In a little while the world will no longer see me, but you will see me. You will live because I live. 20 On that day you will know that I am in my Father and that you are in me and that I am in you. 21 Whoever knows and obeys my commandments is the person who loves me. Those who love me will have my Father’s love, and I, too, will love them and show myself to them.”

22 Judas (not Iscariot) asked Jesus, “Lord, what has happened that you are going to reveal yourself to us and not to the world?”

23 Jesus answered him, “Those who love me will do what I say. My Father will love them, and we will go to them and make our home with them. 24 A person who doesn’t love me doesn’t do what I say. I don’t make up what you hear me say. What I say comes from the Father who sent me.

25 “I have told you this while I’m still with you. 26 However, the helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you everything. He will remind you of everything that I have ever told you.

27 “I’m leaving you peace. I’m giving you my peace. I don’t give you the kind of peace that the world gives. So don’t be troubled or cowardly. 28 You heard me tell you, ‘I’m going away, but I’m coming back to you.’ If you loved me, you would be glad that I’m going to the Father, because the Father is greater than I am.

29 “I’m telling you this now before it happens. When it does happen, you will believe. 30 The ruler of this world has no power over me. But he’s coming, so I won’t talk with you much longer. 31 However, I want the world to know that I love the Father and that I am doing exactly what the Father has commanded me to do. Get up! We have to leave.”

Read John 14:15-31 in context and/or in other translations on BibleGateway.com!

During the conversation Jesus has with His disciples on the night He was betrayed, we find a statement that does not make sense to those who don’t understand Jesus’ mission to earth. While there probably are many statements like this in the broader context of this conversation, one statement stands out as unique.

Possibly right as the disciples were about to leave the upper room on their way to the garden of Gethsemane, Jesus tells them, “However, I want the world to know that I love the Father and that I am doing exactly what the Father has commanded me to do. Get up! We have to leave.” (v. 31)

This statement is powerful in my mind because Jesus tells His disciples that He wants the world to know two things:

  1. Jesus loves the Father (i.e. God the Father); and

  2. Jesus did exactly what the Father wanted Him to do.

These things are easy for Christians and followers of Jesus to understand, but the world doesn’t see spiritual truth accurately.

While many living today believe that Jesus was a good person and that His life was cut short because He was betrayed, they cannot grasp someone choosing death and saying it was part of God’s plan. Many living today also cannot comprehend a person choosing to die in the place of someone who is ungrateful, and for people who hated Him and God.

This can extend forward to include us today. As believers and followers of Jesus, what would our lives look like if we chose to see everyone else (regardless of their beliefs, their religion, their skin color, their piercings, their tattoos, their country of origin, their background, their position, their view of God, and/or anything else that would separate us from them) as someone who Jesus died for?

Jesus died to save humanity, and the only thing stopping the world from accepting Jesus is that they don’t understand or don’t believe that they are included in those Jesus died for. Some people are hostile towards Jesus and God while others are simply skeptical and unbelieving. However, regardless of whether we were worthy of His death or not (hint: we weren’t), Jesus came and died for us.

Regardless of what anyone else says, no one living at any point in history (other than Jesus) was worthy to receive Jesus’ death for themselves. The big truth that unites all Christianity together is: We are unworthy while Jesus is worthy, God sent Jesus to take our place, and Jesus’ death on the cross makes a way for us to have a new life with God!

This thought was inspired by studying the Walking With Jesus “Reflective Bible Study” package. To discover insights like this in your own study time, click here and give Reflective Bible Study a try today!

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