Title lower seat reward
Contents
The reward of a low position / Luke 14:1-14
**Introductory words
“I can get any number of first violinists. However, it is very difficult to find someone who will play the 2nd violin or 2nd French horn or 2nd flute with the same passion. This is a big problem. We can't be in harmony if nobody plays the second instrument.”
Playing the second instrument means sitting in the back seat not visible to the public, and assisting the first player. This is why many Christians hate low places. Because a lower position means being a servant, playing a second instrument, and giving up merit.
As the Lord says, ‘sacrificing for others’ is difficult. But even more difficult is ‘sacrificing secretly’. This is because people have a desire for honor to express themselves. How many people at church don't recognize what they've done or can't stand sitting behind others? The Lord was well aware of these hearts of people.
One Sabbath, Jesus went into the house of a leader of the Pharisees to get some food. At the same time, a man suffering from flatulence was also present. Bloat disease refers to hydrocephalus, which is a type of cancer and refers to a condition in which the kidneys or liver are filled with an excessive amount of fluid.
The Pharisees were watching Jesus. Because it was to monitor and rebuke whether the Sabbath was broken. Because healing on the Sabbath was labor, their law forbade it. Jesus knew their thoughts and asked the Pharisees and teachers of the law who were around them. “Is it right to heal on the Sabbath, isn’t it?” They didn't answer anything. Jesus laid his hands on the sick man and healed him. And he told them. “If your son or ox fell into a well, wouldn’t you bring it out because it was the Sabbath? They didn't answer anything. They sneaked over to the prepared meal and sat down. But they hurried to sit at the top of each other's tables. When Jesus saw the scene, he taught two things in parables.
One is about the position, which is a word about ‘humility’.
“When you are invited to a wedding feast, do not sit in the upper seats. If there is a guest more valuable than you, the master will bring him to your seat and say, 'Give this person a seat.' Then you will be put to shame and go down to the farthest places. When you are invited, go to the last seat and sit down. Then the master will see you and say, 'Friend, an upper seat has been made for you,' and then you will be exalted before all the guests. ‘Whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and whoever humbles himself will be exalted.’”
And then he told the owner who had invited him to invite him.
“If you are going to invite someone for lunch or dinner, do not invite friends, brothers, relatives, or well-to-do neighbours. Because they will repay you by inviting you again. Invite the poor and the sick, the lame and the blind. Then, at the resurrection of the righteous, God will reward you for inviting those who cannot pay.”
In a text like this, there seem to be three things: the problem of the Sabbath, the low place, and the person to invite. But there is one thing the Lord wants to teach. In other words, it is the rule of God's kingdom and God's interest in people.
1. It is an expression of God's interest through the Sabbath issue.
The Pharisee who invited Jesus to dinner was well known at the time. The reason he invited Jesus was to test Jesus. They deliberately invited the bloat to join in to test whether Jesus would heal, that is, if they were breaking the Sabbath.
Jesus knew their intentions and prepared a special lesson for them. Jesus taught the fundamental spirit of the Sabbath by healing the sick. When the Law said, “Keep the Sabbath day holy and do nothing,” it was a private matter, or self-interest, or entertainment was forbidden (Isaiah 58:13-14). However, over the years, leaders have made numerous prohibitions and have been biased formally.
Jesus made it clear that the Sabbath was not made to trouble people. The Sabbath is literally God's consideration for giving people rest. That's why Jesus said in Mark 2:27,28 that "man was not made for the sabbath, but the sabbath was made for man, Jesus is the Lord of the sabbath." “And he said, The sabbath is made for man. Man did not exist for the sabbath; therefore the Son of Man is also lord of the sabbath.”
What would be the greatest comfort and rest for a person suffering from flatulence? Needless to say, it is freedom from disease. The Lord healed the sick without regard to the stinging eyes of the people. Because this is the purpose of the Lord's coming to this earth. The Lord, the Lord of the Sabbath, said, “Come to me, all you who labor and are heavy laden. I will give you rest.” The poor, the sick, the imprisoned, the marginalized, the oppressed. The Lord came to set them free (Luke 4:18-19, “The Spirit of the Lord has come upon me, because he has anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor and has sent me to restore freedom to the captives and restore sight to the blind. to preach, to set the oppressed free, and to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor.)
2. It is God's interest through the parable of the place of the feast and the guests.
Jesus noticed that each of the invited guests tried to sit at the top of the table, and he taught them to sit at the lower table. And looking at the owner who invited people from the social leaders with wealth and power, he taught us to expect eternal rewards rather than the temporal rewards we see right away. Through these two parables, Jesus taught about the ‘reward for a low position’.
The reason the invitees want the top seat and the reason the host invited famous people are all because of 'honour'. It was a erroneous idea that he would be honored only if he sat in a high position and invited famous and famous people. This way of thinking may be right from a worldly point of view, but it is completely wrong in the kingdom of God.
The Lord concluded, “Whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and whoever humbles himself will be exalted.” In other words, the kingdom of God is reserved for those who know how to sit in low places and for those who are humble. The Lord said that those who know how to sit in low places will be exalted, and if you invite the lowly ones who cannot repay, God will reward you at the resurrection of the righteous. This is God's desire for the saints to live in the world and expect God's reward in this way.
A young man asked the old scribe. "Teacher! I have a very curious question. May I ask a question?” The old scribe willingly answered. “Okay, let me ask you something.” “Sir, I have heard that in those golden days of old, people saw God with their own eyes. It is said that people met with gods and that gods walked on the earth. The gods called people by their names, and it is said that people got very close to the gods. But how about now? Why did God forsake the land? Why doesn't God walk on earth anymore? Why doesn’t God take the hand of those who struggle?” The old scribe said, “You young man! God is still alive. But he forgot how to bend it low enough for people to see him.”
God also rejects people's expectations because those who serve God reject the low position that God is pleased with. It is the Lord who became a man and came to this earth, the lowest place, the manger, was the birthplace, and became friends with the marginalized. Now, let's find a low place where God not only asks our requests, but God happily answers them. So, I pray in the name of the Lord that we can all enjoy happiness as saints in heaven who are pleasing to God.