Highways and Hedges

Good Morning!!!

Luke 14:1-24 (English Standard Version)
Healing of a Man on the Sabbath
1One Sabbath, when he went to dine at the house of a ruler of the Pharisees, they were watching him carefully. 2And behold, there was a man before him who had dropsy. 3And Jesus responded to the lawyers and Pharisees, saying, "Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath, or not?" 4But they remained silent. Then he took him and healed him and sent him away. 5And he said to them, "Which of you, having a son[a] or an ox that has fallen into a well on a Sabbath day, will not immediately pull him out?" 6 And they could not reply to these things.
The Parable of the Wedding Feast
7Now he told a parable to those who were invited, when he noticed how they chose the places of honor, saying to them, 8"When you are invited by someone to a wedding feast, do not sit down in a place of honor, lest someone more distinguished than you be invited by him, 9and he who invited you both will come and say to you, 'Give your place to this person,' and then you will begin with shame to take the lowest place. 10But when you are invited, go and sit in the lowest place, so that when your host comes he may say to you, 'Friend, move up higher.' Then you will be honored in the presence of all who sit at table with you. 11For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted."
The Parable of the Great Banquet
12He 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[b] or your relatives or rich neighbors, lest they also invite you in return and you be repaid. 13But when you give a feast, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind, 14and you will be blessed, because they cannot repay you. For you will be repaid at the resurrection of the just."
15When 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!" 16But he said to him, "A man once gave a great banquet and invited many. 17And at the time for the banquet he sent his servant[c] to say to those who had been invited, 'Come, for everything is now ready.' 18But they all alike began to make excuses. The first said to him, 'I have bought a field, and I must go out and see it. Please have me excused.' 19And another said, 'I have bought five yoke of oxen, and I go to examine them. Please have me excused.' 20And another said, 'I have married a wife, and therefore I cannot come.' 21So the servant came and reported these things to his master. Then the master of the house became angry and said to his servant, 'Go out quickly to the streets and lanes of the city, and bring in the poor and crippled and blind and lame.' 22And the servant said, 'Sir, what you commanded has been done, and still there is room.' 23And the master said to the servant, 'Go out to the highways and hedges and compel people to come in, that my house may be filled. 24For I tell you,[d] none of those men who were invited shall taste my banquet.'"
Footnotes:
a. Luke 14:5 Some manuscripts a donkey
b. Luke 14:12 Or your brothers and sisters. The plural Greek word adelphoi (translated “brothers”) refers to siblings in a family. In New Testament usage, depending on the context, adelphoi may refer either to brothers or to brothers and sisters
c. Luke 14:17 Greek bondservant; also verses 21, 22, 23
d. Luke 14:24 The Greek word for you here is plural

When I think of this passage, my memories go back to Red Oak First Baptist Church and the bus ministry that was instrumental in my returning to God. You see, I had come from a good Christian home but I was going through that rebellious stage where I didn’t think I needed God or God’s people. But a red and white bus came through the Oxford House apartment complex and my wife and five year-old and three year-old got on that bus and went to church in spite of me. Several weeks later, Miss N used her wily charms (a cast iron skillet to the cranium – just kidding) to get this old guy on that bus. Several months later, I was driving the bus – and then captaining the bus – and so on.

Richard “Scrap” Wheeler always used this passage when talking about the validity of the bus ministry. He focused on verse 23 – “Go out into the highways and hedges and compel people to come in…”. The setting is at the dinner in the house of a ruler of the Pharisees. Jesus is being scrutinized. Every word is being weighed. Every movement is being analyzed. He heals a man – on the Sabbath – in front of the Pharisees. And then asks if they would not do same. His first teaching is about pride – to the prideful. His second teaching is about reaching out to people who are obvious sinners – otherwise they wouldn’t be blind or crippled, lame or poor. But they missed the point. And so He talked about the great banquet – and the people who, though invited, refused to come for some reason or another. Each of the invited assumed they were entitled to be at the banquet – so they blew off the invitation. The man then told his servant to reach out to everybody – and to compel them to come in.

Scrap would say that the man sent buses to collect the folks – some held 48 passengers; some 60 and some even 66 passengers. Scrap would pick up over 100 in the poorest sections of East Point and College Park. He went into the housing project in College Park – where no one else would dare trod – to compel people to come. On occasion I would go with Scrap on a Saturday.

Several years ago, I knocked on the door of a person who had visited the local church I was affiliated with. I was invited in to visit with a couple named Ivory and Reginald. Reginald kept looking at me as if he remembered me from somewhere. It turned out that Reginald lived in the College Park housing project – and though he never once rode the bus, he remembered me coming through the complex, inviting people to come. I was taken aback – because I never knew that I was being observed or that it would make a difference.

There is a banquet awaiting for all who believe in Christ Jesus. It is a wedding feast – prepared for the Bride of Christ – His church. It’s going to be great. Come join in the feast.

Agape’

Mr. Jim