WATCHING JESUS CLOSELY

#476LS                                                       WATCHING JESUS CLOSELY                                                                                  

Scripture  Luke 14:1-14, NIV                                                                                                                            Orig. 3/13/68

                                                                                                                                                                                  Rewr. 1/30/85 

Passage:  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^[a] 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.”  ¹² Then Jesus said to his host, “When you give a luncheon or dinner, do not invite your friends, your brothers or sisters, your relatives, or your rich neighbors; if you do, they may invite you back and so you will be repaid. ¹³ But when you give a banquet, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind, ¹⁴ and you will be blessed. Although they cannot repay you, you will be repaid at the resurrection of the righteous.”

Purpose: Using the occasion of the Lord’s Supper for a brief message relative to the interrelationships of Jesus at a supper.

Timeline/Series:  LORD’S SUPPER             

Introduction

                Take note please that on a Sabbath, the Holy Day to a Jew, Jesus went into the home of one of the rulers of the Pharisees to share in a festive meal.  It is said that the Jews normally ate two meals a day; but on the Sabbath a festive meal was added to the middle of the day.  It is a joyful occasion.

                Some people have a forlorn and complex view of Jesus as a man who never was other than serious.  John Wesley founded a school near Bristol, England, where no games were allowed because “He who plays when he is a child will play when he is a man.”

                William Barclay (G30p201) gives us some examples of this short-sighted view of the happy Christ.  He quotes Swinburne, “Thou has conquered, O pale Galilean. The world has grown gray at the breath.”  Julian spoke of “pale-faced, flat-breasted Christians for whom the sun shone and they never saw it.”  And it was A.B. Bruce who said one “could not conceive of the child Jesus playing games when he was a boy, or smiling when he was a man.”

                There were those present who were “watching Jesus closely.”  Let’s join them and see what we can learn of our Lord’s disposition.

                Observe Jesus’ Presence at the Supper.  Jesus never refused any man’s hospitality.  V1 “He went into the house of one of the rulers of the Pharisees to eat bread on the Sabbath.”  Jesus went in response to a supposed kindness.  It was a large gathering including lawyers and Pharisees.  It included also an infirm man, either a plant or someone who happened in off the street.  Jesus was not ill-at-ease in the surroundings.  V1: “They watched Him closely.”  Paratereo means “to watch with sinister intent.”

                Note, please, that at such a supper given in His honor, Jesus is present.

                Observe Jesus’ Activity at the Supper.  He was there as a Pharisee’s guest.  The lack of sincerity on the part of some would not change Him.  He was there as a guest.  However, one was present for whom something must be done.  V4: “And He took him and healed him and let him go.” 

                Attention is called to the Pharisees’ lack of value judgment.  It was the Sabbath.  That was their excuse to do nothing.  Jesus not only does what is right, he rebukes their do-nothing attitude. 

                At this supper given in honor of our Lord is the appropriate time to check our own values.

                Observe Jesus’ Teaching about a Supper.  V7: “So He told a parable” about being invited . . . to a wedding feast.”  There is always relevancy in Jesus’ teaching.  They were at a supper as guests.  Some were not acting accordingly. 

                V7 “He noted how they chose the best places.”  Thus, His teaching to them was a lesson in humility.  V10 “When you are invited, go and sit in the lowest place.”

                Note that it is a rare thing for us to think of ourselves as humble.  What place would you want at the table where Jesus sat?

                Observe Jesus’ Advice to His Host.  He encourages him to examine his motives.  Why do we do the things we do?  Duty? Self-interest? To befriend?  He had invited Jesus and perhaps the infirm man.  Fearing what his friends would say, he invited them.

                Do the right thing and let God provide the blessing.  What better advice or higher goal could we accord than this?  I will do the right thing, and I will wait for God to bless as he will.

***THE REMAINDER OF THIS SERMON HAS BEEN LOST***