The Lord is awe-inspiring, fearsome, fascinating, intriguing, majestic, and full of splendor: breathtaking! Here is what I saw of him today and what came to my heart and mind in Luke 14:23-24,
"Then the master told his servant, 'Go out to the roads and country lanes and make them come in, so that my house will be full. I tell you, not one of those men who were invited will get a taste of my banquet.'"
This statement comes at the end of the parable of the "great banquet". Jesus told this parable of a master who prepared a great banquet in Luke 14:15-24. Jesus provided it in response to the beatitude expressed by someone at the table with Jesus, "Blessed is the man who will eat at the feast in the kingdom of God." Luke 14:15.
In the parable, the intended guests that had been invited to the master's banquet made excuses and didn't attend. They rejected the master's invitation. This angered the master and so he sent his servant to invite others, "Go out quickly into the streets and alleys of the town and bring in the poor, the crippled, the blind and the lame." Luke 14:21. The response of the master of the banquet, who represents God in Jesus' parable here, is instructive of God.
The master tells his servant to invite and bring in folks who are far off, but those who were invited and rejected the invitation will not be allowed in, "not one of those men who were invited will get a taste of my banquet." This calls to mind Paul's sobering admonition, "Consider therefore the kindness and sternness of God…" Romans 11:22. God is kind to those who respond to his invitation in faith, and stern toward those who reject him.
In Jeremiah 9:23-24, the Lord says, "Let not the wise man boast of his wisdom or the strong man boast of his strength or the rich man boast of his riches, but let him who boasts boast about this: that he understands and knows me, that I am the Lord, who exercises kindness, justice and righteousness on earth, for in these I delight". God is not one or the other. He is both full of mercy and full of judgment, he is both loving and just. As he told Moses, when he revealed himself to him, "The Lord, the Lord, the compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger, abounding in love and faithfulness, maintaining love to thousands, and forgiving wickedness, rebellion and sin. Yet he does not leave the guilty unpunished; he punishes the children and their children for the sin of the fathers to the third and fourth generation." Exodus 34:6-7.
The Lord is both forgiving and punishing, compassionate as well as intolerant of sin. He wants us to know these two sides of him as he repeatedly presents himself in Scripture in just this way. Which side will we see? As those who were initially invited in Jesus' parable and subsequently locked out because of their rejection of his invitation, so we, likewise will see the "sternness of God" represented in being locked out of God's kingdom in the resurrection and cast into a fiery lake of burning sulfur, Revelation 21:8.
On the other hand, as those who were far off, but responded to the master's invitation in Jesus' parable, we too will find ourselves embraced by God, at his banquet, in his kingdom in the resurrection! The side we see of God depends on our response of faith and trust to his invitation.
"Consider therefore the kindness and sternness of God."
Anything of the Lord capture your heart from Scripture today? Share what moved you about him from your Bible reading today. I'd love to hear from you!
If you have someone you would like to receive these ruminations, send me their email address. I'm happy to add them to the list. If you are receiving this and would like to be removed from the list, just reply and let me know.
"Then the master told his servant, 'Go out to the roads and country lanes and make them come in, so that my house will be full. I tell you, not one of those men who were invited will get a taste of my banquet.'"
This statement comes at the end of the parable of the "great banquet". Jesus told this parable of a master who prepared a great banquet in Luke 14:15-24. Jesus provided it in response to the beatitude expressed by someone at the table with Jesus, "Blessed is the man who will eat at the feast in the kingdom of God." Luke 14:15.
In the parable, the intended guests that had been invited to the master's banquet made excuses and didn't attend. They rejected the master's invitation. This angered the master and so he sent his servant to invite others, "Go out quickly into the streets and alleys of the town and bring in the poor, the crippled, the blind and the lame." Luke 14:21. The response of the master of the banquet, who represents God in Jesus' parable here, is instructive of God.
The master tells his servant to invite and bring in folks who are far off, but those who were invited and rejected the invitation will not be allowed in, "not one of those men who were invited will get a taste of my banquet." This calls to mind Paul's sobering admonition, "Consider therefore the kindness and sternness of God…" Romans 11:22. God is kind to those who respond to his invitation in faith, and stern toward those who reject him.
In Jeremiah 9:23-24, the Lord says, "Let not the wise man boast of his wisdom or the strong man boast of his strength or the rich man boast of his riches, but let him who boasts boast about this: that he understands and knows me, that I am the Lord, who exercises kindness, justice and righteousness on earth, for in these I delight". God is not one or the other. He is both full of mercy and full of judgment, he is both loving and just. As he told Moses, when he revealed himself to him, "The Lord, the Lord, the compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger, abounding in love and faithfulness, maintaining love to thousands, and forgiving wickedness, rebellion and sin. Yet he does not leave the guilty unpunished; he punishes the children and their children for the sin of the fathers to the third and fourth generation." Exodus 34:6-7.
The Lord is both forgiving and punishing, compassionate as well as intolerant of sin. He wants us to know these two sides of him as he repeatedly presents himself in Scripture in just this way. Which side will we see? As those who were initially invited in Jesus' parable and subsequently locked out because of their rejection of his invitation, so we, likewise will see the "sternness of God" represented in being locked out of God's kingdom in the resurrection and cast into a fiery lake of burning sulfur, Revelation 21:8.
On the other hand, as those who were far off, but responded to the master's invitation in Jesus' parable, we too will find ourselves embraced by God, at his banquet, in his kingdom in the resurrection! The side we see of God depends on our response of faith and trust to his invitation.
"Consider therefore the kindness and sternness of God."
Anything of the Lord capture your heart from Scripture today? Share what moved you about him from your Bible reading today. I'd love to hear from you!
If you have someone you would like to receive these ruminations, send me their email address. I'm happy to add them to the list. If you are receiving this and would like to be removed from the list, just reply and let me know.
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