October 1, 2016
Today’s reading from Encounter with God

LESS IS MORE

Please see the links to our EXTRA Bible Study notes at the bottom of the page.

Opening Prayer

Great and Mighty God, it amazies me that no mess is too big for You to fix, no life too shattered for You to restore. I praise You.

Read LUKE 14:1–11

[1] One Sabbath, when Jesus went to eat in the house of a prominent Pharisee, he was being carefully watched. [2] There in front of him was a man suffering from abnormal swelling of his body. [3] Jesus asked the Pharisees and experts in the law, “Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath or not?” [4] But they remained silent. So taking hold of the man, he healed him and sent him on his way. [5] Then he asked them, “If one of you has a child or an ox that falls into a well on the Sabbath day, will you not immediately pull it out?” [6] And they had nothing to say. [7] When he noticed how the guests picked the places of honor at the table, he told them this parable: [8] “When someone invites you to a wedding feast, do not take the place of honor, for a person more distinguished than you may have been invited. [9] If so, the host who invited both of you will come and say to you, ‘Give this person your seat.’ Then, humiliated, you will have to take the least important place. [10] But when you are invited, take the lowest place, so that when your host comes, he will say to you, ‘Friend, move up to a better place.’ Then you will be honored in the presence of all the other guests. [11] For all those who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted.”

Scripture taken from the THE HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION, NIV Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.

Reflect

Wherever you sit at the table, God sees you. If you walk with a humble heart he will exalt you.

Twice we are told in this passage that the Pharisees and experts of the Law remained silent before Jesus. In the first instance, he asks if it is lawful to heal on the Sabbath. In the second he asks what their response would be if their son, donkey or ox fell into a well on the Sabbath. Sandwiched between the two questions, a healing has taken place before their very eyes—yet they remain unmoved. It is this silence that provokes Jesus to make the comments contained in verses 7–11.

 

He was being carefully watched (1) and it is obvious that his theology and behavior are being scrutinized—but Jesus has been watching them too. He noticed how the guests “picked the places of honor at the table” (7) so as to be seen. This attitude of pushing forward in human society was also reflected in the behavior of the Pharisees in showing people how holy and good they were through their religious practices, thus earning them a better seat before people and a closer place to the Almighty.

 

Jesus addresses the arrogance of their silence and their ignorance of God and presents them with yet another kingdom paradox. Human kingdoms teach us to exalt ourselves, to push our way to the top of the pile and to fight for our own reputation. The kingdom of God, in contrast, rejects such thinking; in fact the kingdom works in direct opposition to such an attitude. The way of the kingdom is counterintuitive: it teaches that if we surrender our lives before God, he will lift us up—but if we try to make ourselves bigger before God, he will put us in our place.

Apply

How is it possible to handle both human ambition and our Lord’s teaching on godly humility?

Closing prayer

Lord, only You, by Your grace, can enable me to take the servant’s role.

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