The FaithOfJesus2 Daily Devotional

Focus:

---

( FaithOfJesus thread begun by rRandyP )

Today's Verse:

kjv@Luke:14:1-14

kjv@Luke:14:1 @ And it came to pass, as he went into the house of one of the chief Pharisees to eat bread on the sabbath day, that they watched him.

kjv@Luke:14:2 @ And, behold, there was a certain man before him which had the dropsy.

kjv@Luke:14:3 @ And Jesus answering spake unto the lawyers and Pharisees, saying, Is it lawful to heal on the sabbath day?

kjv@Luke:14:4 @ And they held their peace. And he took him, and healed him, and let him go;

kjv@Luke:14:5 @ And answered them, saying, Which of you shall have an ass or an ox fallen into a pit, and will not straightway pull him out on the sabbath day?

kjv@Luke:14:6 @ And they could not answer him again to these things.

kjv@Luke:14:7 @ And he put forth a parable to those which were bidden, when he marked how they chose out the chief rooms; saying unto them,

kjv@Luke:14:8 @ When thou art bidden of any man to a wedding, sit not down in the highest room; lest a more honourable man than thou be bidden of him;

kjv@Luke:14:9 @ And he that bade thee and him come and say to thee, Give this man place; and thou begin with shame to take the lowest room.

kjv@Luke:14:10 @ But when thou art bidden, go and sit down in the lowest room; that when he that bade thee cometh, he may say unto thee, Friend, go up higher: then shalt thou have worship in the presence of them that sit at meat with thee.

kjv@Luke:14:11 @ For whosoever exalteth himself shall be abased; and he that humbleth himself shall be exalted.

kjv@Luke:14:12 @ Then said he also to him that bade him, When thou makest a dinner or a supper, call not thy friends, nor thy brethren, neither thy kinsmen, nor thy rich neighbours; lest they also bid thee again, and a recompence be made thee.

kjv@Luke:14:13 @ But when thou makest a feast, call the poor, the maimed, the lame, the blind:

kjv@Luke:14:14 @ And thou shalt be blessed; for they cannot recompense thee: for thou shalt be recompensed at the resurrection of the just.

---

Today's notes:

Context:

• Before - Luke:13:31-35 Jesus ' Sorrow for Jersalem
  
• After - Luke:14:15-24 The Parable of the Great Banquet
  

Study Resources:

G3544 lawyer/expert dict:easton Lawyer

G5330 Pharisee/separatist dict:torrey Pharisees

dict:easton poor

Notes:

The logic behind much of the Lord's teaching is two fold, the certainty as He see's it of our resurrection and the certainty of judgment (the segregation of just from the unjust). The Pharissees hosting this event on this night believe in both. How is it then that Jesus can have such an easy time making examples out of them of ineffectual faith?

How is it that their faith in these two foundational things has come to this? On the one hand we have men that cannot answer a fairly obvious statement about healing on Sabbaths but are all the more angered by it. On the other we have men seeking their own glory and honor even within the confines of a most serious religious gathering thinking in terms of present position and recompense. Obviously it is not the influence of resurrection upon them, neither is it the transformative weight of future judgment. It is the difference between theoretical belief and doctrine no matter how strongly held verses the real and transformational influence of giving ones self completely over to the hope as if truer than our present truth itself.

To Jesus the life to come is everything; well worth whatever sacrifice would be called upon us in this life to secure. He should know! Likewise the tract that we are presently on at it's conclusion is well worth avoiding at any and all cost. One adopts the desired behavior not to gain advantage in this life, but to receive greater recompense in the next life. One rejects a certain behavior not necessarily because the behavior doesn't have some immediate and tangible benefit, but because it it would exclude a person from a greater blessing in the next life. If you don't believe in the after life and you don't believe the eternal reward to be greater in value then there is little rigid form to follow in the logic as presented. There is little reason not to seek out the reward of here and now other than the calculation that it may increase one's gain soon to come. If you do believe in the after life and the eternal reward and yet it does not have the effect of complete reversal from the present course and direction then how much of that belief do you actually believe? How weighty is the consideration of judgment?

Note that the Pharissees dependence on the law has led them to the bounds of their own interpretations and customs, where the dependence on the law by the reformed believer has lead them to the person of God's anointing, Lord Jesus Christ, bound to His grace and abounding effect. It is that person, the targeted outcome of the law, that stands as both a living interpersonal inspiration and as eventual enforcer and also as the Resurrection of the just in Himself. Jesus came to them at their invitation deserving the most honored seat, yet they volleyed amongst themselves to put themselves above Him. Had they only known how literal this parable He gave them was.

Key Messages:

Declaring Certainty

---

Further Resources:

Comment Board:Luke:14:1-14
index:FAITHOFJESUSDEVOTION - Devotional Index
strkjv@Luke:14:1-14 rwp@Luke:14:1-14 mhcc@Luke:14:1-14
FaithOfJesus2 - Devotion Index

---