What does your God require of you? God requires you to be fair, forgive freely and walk humbly with Him. We must put God first. If we deny His existence in our everyday life, He will deny us at our time of need. We need to permeate the lives of others with the Gospel of Jesus Christ, in our words and in our deeds. We need to be His hands and feet to those who cannot repay us and are living without hope. Christ within, the hope of glory! We have been freely given the gift of eternal life; we need to freely give the hope of the gospel to others, the gift of abundant life in Christ Jesus.
7 So He told a parable to those who were invited, when He noted how they chose the best places, saying to them: 8 "When you are invited by anyone to a wedding feast, do not sit down in the best place, lest one more honorable than you be invited by him; 9 and he who invited you and him come and say to you, 'Give place to this man,' and then you begin with shame to take the lowest place. 10 But when you are invited, go and sit down in the lowest place, so that when he who invited you comes he may say to you, 'Friend, go up higher.' Then you will have glory in the presence of those who sit at the table with you. 11 For whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted."
12 Then He also said to him who invited Him, "When you give a dinner or a supper, do not ask your friends, your brothers, your relatives, nor rich neighbors, lest they also invite you back, and you be repaid. 13 But when you give a feast, invite the poor, the maimed, the lame, the blind. 14 And you will be blessed, because they cannot repay you; for you shall be repaid at the resurrection of the just."
15 Now when one of those who sat at the table with Him heard these things, he said to Him, "Blessed is he who shall eat bread in the kingdom of God!"
16 Then He said to him, "A certain man gave a great supper and invited many, 17 and sent his servant at supper time to say to those who were invited, 'Come, for all things are now ready.' 18 But they all with one accord began to make excuses. The first said to him, 'I have bought a piece of ground, and I must go and see it. I ask you to have me excused.' 19 And another said, 'I have bought five yoke of oxen, and I am going to test them. I ask you to have me excused.' 20 Still another said, 'I have married a wife, and therefore I cannot come.' 21 So that servant came and reported these things to his master. Then the master of the house, being angry, said to his servant, 'Go out quickly into the streets and lanes of the city, and bring in here the poor and the maimed and the lame and the blind.' 22 And the servant said, 'Master, it is done as you commanded, and still there is room.' 23 Then the master said to the servant, 'Go out into the highways and hedges, and compel them to come in, that my house may be filled. 24 For I say to you that none of those men who were invited shall taste my supper.' "
The NKJV Study Bible says this: True hospitality and service are given to those who cannot repay. Disciples must have a special concern for the poor, maimed, lame, and blind, as Jesus does. Even though there may be no reward in this life, God will not overlook what His servants have done to carry out His love and mercy. One of the guests at the meal reflected on the glory of sitting at the banquet table of God, an image of being saved and living in God's presence. The man probably assumed that many of the people attending the meal with Jesus would be present at God's banquet table. Jesus responded to the man's assumption with a warning. The maimed were excluded from full participation in Jewish worship. The master's second invitation extended the scope of the offer to those who were rejected by society. The essence of discipleship is giving Christ first place. Jesus' call here is to follow Him in the way of rejection and suffering. A disciple will be rejected by those in the world who do not honor Christ. Therefore, a disciple must be ready to face and accept such rejection. Following Christ is not something to be taken up on a trial basis. It calls for ultimate commitment. Jesus urged the people to think about what it would mean to follow Him, and not to take it lightly. Remaining useful to God means remaining faithful to Him.
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