Jesus used parables to explain God's wonderful Word by using ordinary every day things in their lives...
a grapevine... John 15:1 and 5
a door, or gate.... John 10: 9 and the implication it's Him, Matthew 7: 13-14
water..... John 4: 10-14 (with an invitation to ASK for the water, in 10)
bread.... John 6: 41-48
light ...... John 8: 12 and 9: 5
all of these things, He at some time said "I AM ... the..."
A SHEEP's CARETAKER ... a Shepherd. Another ordinary person in the lives of the ordinary people listening to Jesus's parables. John 10. In fact -- honestly -- shepherds were NOT very well respected at all, so this parable word surprised them more than we understand if we living in a comfortable culture in the 21st century.
And then -- Matthew 22.
ALL OF A SUDDEN, JESUS IS TELLING US
ABOUT A *** KING ***
inviting people to His table for a feast.
WHY -- suddenly -- does Jesus use such a RIDICULOUSLY exaggerated example for a story? You or I or any of Jesus's listeners would have "gotten the point" if it invited us to just a mayor's or governor's house. What's the point of a story that's IMPOSSIBLE for us... like being invited to England's Queen's private dining room, or that of the President of the U.S., or of the Pope?
Here's why:
God's Supporting Word
Jesus WANTS us to see the Amazing Grace of KING God,
who invites you and me to come BE with Him,
to enjoy His feast gifts-- not just crumbs but a FEAST!
Look at verse 3. These invited guests, by analogy, are the Jews,
God's people He chose to be a "Light to the Gentiles"
The King's right anger shown in Verses 5 to 7 is explained in Nehemiah 9... but God WILL give invitees another invitation. Another day's story:)
Verse 4 -- God gave the first invitees a second chance, cajoling them. They rejected His invitation despite all the many things He had prepared especially for sharing with them.
Verse 10 is the Gentiles.... a cool story for another day. For today's blog topic: Let's assume you're a Verse 10 person like me...
The Amazing Grace of the KING Jesus described was NOT particular.
He ORDERED an invitation be given to "AS MANY AS YOU FIND." (2nd Peter 3:9 and First Timothy 2:4 -- God wants ALL to come).
The Joy for us Dieters:
God KNOWS we're not the original guests invited to His Feast.
God KNOWS we're ordinary, just "someone off the streets".
God KNOWS we're not coming with fancy wedding clothes like in Jesus's other parable.
God KNOWS our table manners probably aren't perfect, and our hair might be messy,
and we might even have dirt under our fingernails... figuratively speaking...
like the people called to on the street to enter the King's Astounding Home for His Feast.
But God calls us anyway. The question,
again. Will we come, dirt and all? or
try to clean ourselves up first... lost 5 pounds... memorize 10 scriptures... x or y?
"But they made light of it and went their ways, one to his own farm, another to his business... But when the king heard [about it], he was furious... Then he said to his servants, 'The wedding is ready, but those who were invited were not worthy.
'Therefore go into the highways, and as many as you find, invite to the wedding.'
'Therefore go into the highways, and as many as you find, invite to the wedding.'
Are you and I WAITING --
want to Conquer that Sin
before we come to pray to God Today?
Even though God ALREADY knew about it when He issued the invitation?
That's pride. And an insult to King God.
PRAYERThat's pride. And an insult to King God.
OFFENSIVE PRIDE to you when I choose to decide for myself whether I am "qualified" to answer Your invitation to be with You. And when I'm too busy to pray -- just talk with you and quietly listen for You -- as I move through my day.
©2013 DianaDee Osborne (all material), all rights reserved. FREE personal usage; see website. But feel free to print with copyright info, & share for nonprofit usage!
With thanks to BlueLetterBible.org for providing God's Word in easy-to-research format.
Additional encouraging resources at
http://DianaDeeSongStories.blogspot.com
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