Kingdom Principle: Who are those who gain entrance into Christ’s Kingdom? Those of a broken heart and contrite spirit. Repentance is essential to entering into God’s kingdom, because repentance is recognizing our need for Christ and his infinite ability to save us. Without this recognition, there is no need for Christ. And if there is no need for Christ, there is no place for us at His table.
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Luke 14:12–24 (ESV) — 12 He said also to the man who had invited him, “When you give a dinner or a banquet, do not invite your friends or your brothers or your relatives or rich neighbors, lest they also invite you in return and you be repaid. 13 But when you give a feast, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind, 14 and you will be blessed, because they cannot repay you. For you will be repaid at the resurrection of the just.”
Elaborate meal, sometimes called a “feast.” In the OT and NT banquets and feasts are prominent in sealing friendships, celebrating victories, and for other joyous occasions (Dan. 5:1; Luke 15:22–24). The idea of hospitality ran deep in the thought of those in the Near East (Gen. 18:1–8; Luke 11:5–8)… Hosts sent invitations (Matt. 22:3–4) and sometimes made elaborate preparations for the guests. Those who dined reclined on bedlike seats and lay at right angles to the table…
Typical foods served at banquets were fish, bread, olives, various kinds of vegetables, cheeses, honey, dates, and figs. Beef or lamb was used only by the rich or on special occasions (Mark 14:12; Luke 15:23). Wine was also an important part of the feasts, so that they were sometimes called “a house of drinking” in the Hebrew (KJV, “banqueting house,” Song 2:4) or “drinkings” in the Greek (KJV, “banquetings,” 1 Pet. 4:3).
In most ancient societies banquets were the favored and expected occasions for social entertainment and enjoyment… for most persons in antiquity the banquet was a rare opportunity to have food that was both desirable and bountiful.
Jesus calls the Pharisees to use their wealth not to impress their friends, but to provide for the poor, and to do so without expecting anything in return.
When we understand that God has been infinitely gracious to us, not because we deserve it but because of his outrageous generosity, this makes us outrageously generous to others.
2 Corinthians 8:1–2 (ESV) — 1 We want you to know, brothers, about the grace of God that has been given among the churches of Macedonia, 2 for in a severe test of affliction, their abundance of joy and their extreme poverty have overflowed in a wealth of generosity on their part…
2 Corinthians 8:9 (ESV) — 9 For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sake he became poor, so that you by his poverty might become rich.
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Luke 14:15 (ESV) — 15 When one of those who reclined at table with him heard these things, he said to him, “Blessed is everyone who will eat bread in the kingdom of God!”
Our tendency beloved, when we are confronted with our own sin is to make excuses. The proper response to confrontation is to Recognize sin for what it is, Repent of that sin, and Re-Act in a way that reflects the person of Christ in us.
Luke 5:27–32 (ESV) — 27 After this he went out and saw a tax collector named Levi, sitting at the tax booth. And he said to him, “Follow me.” 28 And leaving everything, he rose and followed him. 29 And Levi made him a great feast in his house, and there was a large company of tax collectors and others reclining at table with them. 30 And the Pharisees and their scribes grumbled at his disciples, saying, “Why do you eat and drink with tax collectors and sinners?” 31 And Jesus answered them, “Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. 32 I have not come to call the righteous but sinners to repentance.”
