New Testament BIBLE STORY #18

 New Testament BIBLE STORY  #18

Especially written for children

Chapter Twenty-six:

Humility - The Banquet - Cost of Discipleship - Wayward Son - Stewardship - Start of New Covenant

MAN WITH DROPSY HEALED

     It was another weekly Sabbath, and Jesus was dining at a

house of a ruler who  belonged to the sect of the Pharisees. And

the members of that sect were once more watching Him. There was

present a man who had "dropsy." This does not mean he kept

dropping things. The word "dropsy" is an old English word, it is

not used today for the decease that this man had. The man had

arms and legs that were swollen all the time.

     Jesus said to the Pharisees and the experts of religious

law, "So, is it permitted in the law to heal people on the

Sabbath day, or not?"

     They refused to answer Him. Jesus seeing that they refused

to say a word in response to His question, touched the sick man

and healed him, then turning to the people said, "Which of you

does not work on the Sabbath? If your donkey or cow falls into a

pit, don't you proceed at once to get it out?" (Luke 14: 1-6).

     Again no one answered Him.

BEING HUMBLE

     When Jesus noticed that all who had been invited to the

dinner were trying to sit near the head of the table, He gave

this advice:

     "If you are invited to a wedding feast, don't always head

for the best seat. What if someone more respected and well-known

than you has been invited? The host will say, 'Let this person

sit here instead.' Then you will be embarrassed and will have to

take whatever seat is left at the foot of the table!  Do this

instead - sit at the foot of the table. Then when your host sees

you he will come and say, 'Friend, we have a better place for

you!' Then you will be honored in front of all the other guests.

For the proud will be humbled and the humble will be honored."

     Turning now to the host of this dinner, Jesus said, "When

you put on a luncheon or a dinner, don't just invite your

friends, brothers, relatives, and rich neighbors. For they

will repay you by inviting you to their dinners. Instead, invite

the poor, the crippled, the lame, and the blind. Then at the

resurrection God will reward you for inviting those who could 

not repay you" (Luke 14: 7-14). 

     Jesus was telling people that those who are "unknown" and

really "no-bodies" in the eyes of the world would be very wise to

stay humble in their dealings and practices with certain physical

meetings the world may sponsor. They should not try to be as we

say "pushy" - trying to put themselves into the lime-light or

notice of people attending such functions, because of some vanity

and self-important mindset. For it is better to be asked to "step

up" than be embarrassed by being publicly "put-down" a step or

two.

THE BANQUET IN THE KINGDOM

     A man spoke up and said, "What a privilege it would be to

eat and share a fellowship meal in the Kingdom of God."

     A privilege indeed, but one that many in that day who were

invited, will miss out on.  Jesus gave this parable in response

to the man's statement.

     "A man prepared a great feast meal and sent out many

invitations to people he knew and ones close to him. When all 

was ready he sent his servants out to notify the guests that they

should come. But they all began to make excuses. One said he had

just bought a field and wanted to inspect it, so he asked to be

excused. Another said he had just bought five pair of oxen and

wanted to see how they worked together pulling his plow. Another

said he had just married and could not leave his wife.

     The servant returned and told his master what they had said.

The master was angry and said, 'Go quickly into the streets and

the alleys of the cities and towns and invite the poor, the crippled, 

the lame, the blind.' 

     After the servant had done this, he reported to his master

that there was still room for more people to attend the feast.

So, his master told him, 'Go then into the country lanes and

behind the hedges and urge anyone to come, so that my house 

will be full. For none of those I invited first will get even the

smallest taste of what I had prepared for them" (Luke 14: 15-24).

     God first gave the invitation to come into His Kingdom to

the Israelites, and specifically in the time Jesus was teaching

and preaching, to the people of the House of Judah (who consisted

of those from the tribes of Judah, Levi, and Benjamin, with a few

from some of the other tribes who had escaped the Assyrian

captivity and deportation from 745 to 718 B.C. and had fled to

the House of Judah in the south).

     In the main, those people to whom the invitation was first

given, REJECTED the invitation, made excuse after excuse, and

just would not listen and turned away from entering the Kingdom

of God. Many were invited that were educated and experts in the

law of God, they were the ones who should have been the closest

to God, knowing His word, but they also rejected the true way

into the feast dinner of the Kingdom of God.

     So, the invitation to enter was sent out and given to the

lowly and often uneducated of the land, to the poor, to the

crippled, to the blind. The invitation would also go to those

outside the fold of Judah, into the countries of other nations.

God will make sure His banquet feast at the coming of His

Kingdom, will be full. But those to whom the invitation was 

first given would be left outside at that time.

     We need to be careful NOT to turn down our invitation to 

be in God's Kingdom when Jesus Christ returns to this earth to

establish it as the world ruling government for all nations.

COUNT THE COST OF BEING A DISCIPLE OF CHRIST

     Great crowds were following Him around, looking like they

wanted to be His disciples, but they really did not understand

what it meant to be a follower of His way, so He turned and said

to them, "If you really want to be my follower you must LOVE me

MORE than your own father, or mother, wife, children, brothers or

sisters - yes, more even than your own life. Otherwise you cannot

be my disciples. And you cannot be my disciples if you will not

carry your own cross, particular problems, trials, tests, that

come in being my disciple.

     But you better not begin until you COUNT THE COST. 

For who would begin to construct a building  without first getting

estimates and then checking to see if there is enough money to

pay the bills as they would come in? Otherwise you might complete

the foundation only, and then find you have not enough money to

finish the project. How everyone would then laugh at you. They

would say, 'There's the person who started that building and ran

out of money before they could finish it!'

     Or, what king would ever dream of going to war without first

sitting down with his counsellors and military leaders to discuss

whether his army of ten thousand is strong enough to defeat the

twenty thousand soldiers who are marching to fight against him?

If he is not able, then while the enemy is still a long way off,

he will send a delegation of people from his government to

discuss terms of peace. 

     So no one can become my disciple without giving up

everything for me and knowing what it will cost them.

     Salt is good for seasoning. But if it looses its flavor, how

do you make it salty again? Flavorless salt is good neither for

the soil nor for fertilizer. It is just thrown away. 

     Anyone who is willing to hear, should indeed listen and

understand!" (Luke 14: 25-35).

     Yes, you do not become a follower and disciple of Christ's

JUST on an emotional breakdown. Some form of emotion should 

be felt in full REPENTANCE towards being saved and entering the

Kingdom through Christ, but it should never stand alone. There

should be also a practical no nonsense, serious contemplation,

meditation, and mental thought on what it will mean to be a true

"Christian."  For wanting to be a real disciple of Jesus means HE

comes FIRST. His way of life, and His practices, must be first in

your life, above any other person, or any other thing. There is a

price dag on having God's grace and salvation, not that you can

ever earn it by any of your works, but you must be wanting to

have it more than anything else in your entire life.

     As Jesus taught us in His sermon on the mount, we must first

of all seek God's Kingdom and His righteousness, if we want to 

be in it on the resurrection day, when Jesus returns in glory.

STORY OF THE LOST SHEEP

     The hated tax collectors and other notorious sinners from

the other side of the tracks, from the parts of towns most people

did not enter, often came to listen to Jesus teach. This made the

Pharisees and the "experts in religious law" complain that He was

associating with the sum of the earth and the lowest of the

"despicable people."

     So Jesus used again an illustration like He had done before:

     "If you had 100 sheep, and one of them strayed away, and got

lost in the wilderness, would you not leave the 99 others and go

searching for the one that was lost? Yes, you would. And when you

found it you would carry it home on your shoulders. When you

arrived home you would call your friends and your neighbors to

come and rejoice with you because the sheep that was lost is now

found. In the say way, heaven will be happier over the one sinner

that repents and turns to God, than over 99 others who are

righteousness and haven't strayed away and got lost!" 

(Luke 15: 1-7).

THE SILVER COIN LOST

     Jesus also illustrated the same with this story:

     "Or suppose a woman has ten valuable silver coins and looses

one. Will she not light a lamp and look in every corner of the

house, and sweep ever nook and cranny and corner until she finds

it? Yes, she will! And when she finds it, she will call in her

friends and neighbors to rejoice with her because she has found

the coin she lost. In the same way, there is joy in the presence

of God's angels over even one sinner that repents" (Luke 15:

8-10)

STORY OF THE LOST SON

     And with one more further illustration and story, Jesus

brought home the importance of one sinner repenting:

     "There was a man who had two sons; and the younger of 

them said to his father one day, 'Father, give me my share of my

inheritance now, not later.' And the father did so, dividing his

working profit between the two sons. Not long afterwards the

younger son packed his belongings, gathered all he had together,

and departed into a far away country, and there he squandered

away his inheritance in loose living. After spending everything

he had, there came a great famine in the land he was living in,

and he began to be in physical need to keep himself from

starving. So he went out and found a citizen who needed someone

to feed his pigs. He was so desperate because no one would give

him anything, he fed on the pods that he was feeding to the swine.

     He finally thought to himself, 'How many of my father's

servants are starving to death, like I am? I will arise and go to

my father and say to him, father, I have sinned against heaven

and before you also; I am no longer worthy to be called your son;

treat me at one of your hired servants.' And so he arose and came

to his father. But while still a long way off his father saw him

and felt compassion towards him. The father ran and embraced him,

and kissed him. And the son said to him, 'Father, I have sinned

against heaven and against you, I am no longer worthy to be

called your son.' 

     But the father said to his servants, 'Bring quickly the best

set of clothes, and put them on him; and put a ring on his

finger, and shoes on his feet; and bring out the fatted calf and

kill it, and let us eat and be joyful; for this my son who was as

good as dead, is alive; he was lost, but now is found.' And they

all began to have a party of rejoicing.

     Now his elder son was in the field; and as he approached

near to the house, he heard music and dancing and merriment. He

called one of the servants and asked what was going on and what

all this happy noise was all about. 'Oh, your brother has come

home,' the servant replied, 'and your father has killed the fatted 

calf, because he has him back safe and sound.'  But the elder brother 

was angry and refused to go into the house.

His father came out and tried to entreat him, but he answered his

father, 'All these years I have served you, and never did anything 

against your wishes and desires; yet you never gave me a kid that 

I might have a party with my friends. But when this son of yours 

comes back, who has thrown away and foolishly spent your

money you gave him, on prostitutes and lavish living, you turn

right around and kill the fatted calf and put on a celebration

for him. I just do not understand what you are thinking!'

     And the father said, 'Son, you are always with me, and all

that I have is yours all the time. It was fitting to have this

celebration party and to rejoice, for this your brother who was

as good as dead, is alive; he was lost, but now he is found'

(Luke 15: 11-32)

     Indeed, it is a time to greatly rejoice over even one sinner who 

truly REPENTS and accepts Jesus as personal Savior and who

will love God the Father with all his heart and life and mind. We

who have been with the heaven Father for some time, who have His

love and all the blessing He gives to us each day, we who know

His ways, and have walked in them, and have so been able to

receive the blessing from so doing, each and every day,  we need

to be able to greatly rejoice over even one sinner who has been

lost in sin, but who has now found the way to our Father in heaven.

     Jesus was trying to get through to certain ones of His time that 

were so self-righteous in their approach to "religion" that they 

could not see where it was all at, what the bottom line was that God 

was doing with mankind on this earth. They could not see that God 

was wanting sinners to REPENT and to become His literal sons and 

daughters. They could not see that God and the angels in heaven were 

greatly rejoicing over just one single sinner that found the way to 

salvation.

     We need to always be of the mindset of our heavenly Father,

and our brother Christ Jesus, in that we also rejoice with them

over the lost sinner coming to repentance and salvation.

THE FAITHFUL STEWARD BEING WISE 

     Jesus thought it was needed that His disciples be taught

that it was fine to be wise in physical ways with the world,

which might someday pay off when needing some help, 

so He said:

     "There was a rich man who had a servant, and charges were

brought to him that the servant was wasting his goods. And he

called him and said to him, 'What is this that I am hearing about

you? Turn in the account of your stewardship, for you can no

longer be a servant in charge of my goods.' And the servant said

to himself, 'What shall I do, since my master is taking this

stewardship away from me? I am not strong enough to dig ditches

and I'm ashamed to beg. Ah, I know what I'll do, so that people

may receive me into their favor and houses when I'm put out of 

my stewardship with this rich man.' 

     So, summoning his master's debtors to come to him, one by

one, he said to the first, 'How much do you owe my master?' 

The man replied, 'I owe a hundred jars of oil.' And the servant said,

"Alright, take your account and write down that you owe 50 jars

of oil.' Then he said to another, 'And how much do you owe my

master?' The man answered, 'It owe a hundred sacks of wheat.' 

The servant said to him, 'Take your bill and write that you owe

eighty sacks.' 

     The master found out what the servant had done, but actually

commended the dishonest servant because of his prudence,

discerning rational and farsighted thoughts. 

     The sons of this world are sometimes wiser than the sons of

light. So, I tell you, make friends for yourselves in the physical 

substance of material dealings with people, use your worldly 

resources to benefit others and make friends, so that when the 

physical things of money and goods fail you, you will have friends 

to help you on your way in this life as you move forward to eternal life" 

(Luke 16: 1-9).

     Jesus was not endorsing that His disciples be dishonest or

cheats. That was not the main point of the parable. The main

point was that Jesus said it was wise, to be wise in the use of

your material resources, gifts, talents etc. so you could have

friends who were not disciples of Jesus. In so doing, there might

come a time when those friends would help you in physical ways,

if you run into hard times in this life. 

     Very interesting and revealing indeed, for Jesus was teaching 

that sometimes friends outside of the Church of God, are fine to have, 

and that they may be the ones to help you better and faster than your 

friends in "the church" when hard physical times come your way.

BEING FAITHFUL WITH WHAT YOU HAVE

     Jesus continued with more instructions of being a wise and

faithful steward of what God gives you:

     "He who is faithful in very little is also faithful in much;

and he who is unfaithful in very little is unfaithful in much. If

you have not been faithful with the physical material goods and

money you have, who is going to entrust to you greater riches?

And if you have not been faithful in that which is another's, who

will give you that which is your own?"

     God expects us to be good stewards of all the physical goods

we have, to use them wisely and in the service of others. If we

do that then He will give us more to use and be faithful in,

especially so in the Kingdom. If you are not faithful and wise in

using material goods here and now, then people will not entrust

you to have more responsibility. We certainly find this in the

working sector of society. A boss is not going to entrust you

with great responsibilities if you cannot handle wisely the

little responsibilities you have now. And often if you have not

handled correctly duties and material goods that you do not 

naturally or shall we say, "fall into sink with" (taking more

effort and work on your part) immediately, then even that which

does come easy to you, and that you are naturally talented with,

will be with-held from you. Life and work is not always doing

what comes natural or easy to us, sometimes we must do and be

faithful in things that task our body and mind. But we shall be

rewarded, often in this life time, but certainly in the next one

in God's Kingdom.

NOT ALLOWING THE PHYSICAL TO DOMINATE

     Jesus did not want anyone to misunderstand what He was

teaching. Some listening would no doubt have thought He was

saying that we needed to be consumed, as on a drug, with the

material things of this life, making what we do with goods and

money and our talents, the number one priority in life, and sad

to say, many, from morning to night, are doing just that.

      I was talking to a lady who has a daughter, unmarried, but

works at two jobs, one an office job, all day, and then goes to

work in a Casino till 2 a.m. in the morning. She has bought a

house but must have two others living there also as roommates.

She has to do all this just to make ends meet. 

     Then of course there are others who do such things as the

daughter above simply to get more and more money in the bank.

Their "god" is money and material goods. 

     Jesus was not wanting anyone to think He was teaching that

people should be all consumed with the material things in life,

so He said, "No servant can serve two masters, for either he will

hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one

and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and the physical

world."

     Jesus wants us to do our faithful part while in this physical 

world with the material things we have responsibility over, 

but not to the point it becomes our every breath of life.

He wants us to make sure God and His way come first, but not to

let slip our physical obligations with what has been given to us

either by God or man or both.

     The Pharisees, who loved "money" heard all this and just

laughed and scoffed at Him. Jesus said to them, "You are those

who justify yourselves before men, but God knows your hearts; 

for what is exalted among men is an abomination in the sight 

of God" (Luke 16: 10-15).

     The Pharisees, to uphold their life style, their greed for money, 

their love of being noticed on the street and at banquets, would 

justified all they did as easy as blinking an eye. They had all kinds 

of ways to justify, make it sound correct and righteous, how they lived 

and acted to gain more and more. Jesus told them they were only fooling 

themselves and maybe some people walking the streets or in the market 

place, but they were not fooling God, for He knew what was in their 

hearts. And what was in their hearts was an abomination to God.

NEW TESTAMENT TEACHING SINCE JOHN

     Jesus wanted to also make it very clear that the New Testament 

or New Covenant had arrived and was being taught FROM the days 

of John the Baptist. He said, "The law and the prophets were until John; 

since then the good news of the Kingdom of God is preached, and 

every one enters it by striving forcefully with great determination. 

But it is easier for heaven and earth to pass away,  than for one dot 

of the law to become void" (Luke 16: 16-17).

     These few verses are very important verses, not understood

by many. There is much argument today over the Old and the New

Covenants, and exactly WHEN the New one took effect, was it when

Jesus died, or when He was resurrected, was it on the day

of Pentecost? 

     The truth of the matter is that the New Covenant took effect

at the coming and preaching and ministry of John the Baptist.

Then it was no longer JUST the law and the prophets, the Old

Testament books, but the "spirit" of the New Covenant that was

now in effect. Jesus and John were teaching and preaching the New

Covenant, this of course we can see plainly from Jesus' "sermon

on the mount." And those who wanted into the New Covenant, into

the Kingdom of God, had to strive hard, be determined in their

mind, to walk the straight and narrow path to eternal life, as

Jesus had already before taught and instructed.

     Then He was also making it clear that just because the New

Covenant and the Kingdom of God had arrived to be preached and

entered, did not mean the old books of the Old Testament or

Covenant were done away with. On the contrary, He said, it would

be easier for heaven to roll away than for one word of those

books to perish. 

     Jesus was saying once more what He plainly taught in Matthew

4: 4, that people are to live by EVERY WORD OF GOD, all that is

contained in the Old and the New Testaments, what today we know

as the whole Bible from Genesis to Revelation.

     

MARRIAGE BOND TIGHTENED UP

     Jesus was still hammering at the Pharisees, it was they who were 

laughing at Him for what He was teaching, so they needed to be hit 

a little more. Jesus knew that the main school of the Pharisees taught

that people could get divorced for just about any little reason, 

sometimes out and out silly and trivial, like divorcing your wife 

because she didn't iron your clothes with the pleats in just the right place. 

Jesus here recorded by Luke does not go into details, but the Pharisees 

would have known exactly what He was aiming at, He said, "Every one 

who divorces his wife and marries another commits adultery, and he 

who marries a woman divorced from her husband commits adultery."

     Later, Jesus gets into this subject once again with the Pharisees 

and goes into more detail on the matter. We shall see this when we 

come to chapter 19 of the Gospel of Matthew.

                .............................

Written November 2002