The Gospel of Luke 14:1-15 When the Pharisees are watching
Luke 14:1-15 · Vern Peterman · Jan 17, 2016
Gospel of Luke, No. 56
Holly Hills Bible Church
https://hollyhillsbiblechurch.org/teaching/messages/4926526314593

Transcribed from the recording by SermonAudio, so expect the occasional misheard word.

Good morning. We're going to be moving into this passage here one step at a time and interesting that this is in the Gospel of Luke a fairly extensive visit with this group of Pharisees and we're actually going to continue on in this event as we get into next week's passage. So, yes, this particular passage we'll be looking at has Pharisee issues.

The entire Law of Moses, all 613 laws, was applicable to the Jews who were living in Israel where Jesus ministered. Even Jesus was born under the Law of Moses and spoke to these Jews about the Law of Moses. And he spoke to his disciples about the Law of Moses. The Pharisees, who were the heroes of most of the Jewish culture, added to the law. They would come up with additional rules to surround the rules that had been given. The 613 were not enough. Have you got those all memorized, by the way? Right? 613 laws was not enough. 365 of them were laws that said don't do something, right? The rest of them were positive assertions. You must do this. And so they would add to them sometimes with a great many additional laws. We'll talk about it this morning.

For example, there's one law that says you shall not work on the Sabbath, right? So they had 39 considerations as to what was work. Can you imagine trying to remember just to keep one law, right? 39 considerations as to what was work and a list of exceptions.

And so you had to have all those things down. And they plus some of them were not settled, they debated. So it was very complex. They made everything very complex. They invented loopholes to get around the law. Oh, well, this one is very limiting. So we can allow this and this and this to get around the law that's here. And of course, then the loopholes were also complicated and also debated.

So then, in addition to that, they used the Law of Moses to degrade the status of women in Jewish society. One example that we've got pictured here is that while the law required in the case of adultery that both the adulterer and the adulteress be put to death, they made it by New Testament times so that only the woman took the penalty. And so that's an example. It's not the only example.

So here are these Pharisees, they've got all kinds of extra laws, they've got loopholes, ways to get around the law, and ways to put certain people down and put themselves up. Now Jesus had been invited for a meal to the house of a Pharisee, and Jesus spoke boldly against the scribes and Pharisees in a previous passage we looked at. Dr. Luke records that after that event, and this is Luke 11, 53 and 54, when he left there, the scribes and the Pharisees began to be very hostile, from that point forward, very hostile to him, questioning him closely on many subjects, plotting against him to catch him in something he might say. So the invitation we're reading here in chapter 14 to the Pharisees' house was not to say, hey, let's have a great time with Jesus. but to watch him very closely. You probably heard the saying, you know, keep your friends close and keep your enemies even closer. That's kind of what they're doing here, right?

So here's Luke 14.1. It happened that when he went into the house of one of the leaders of the Pharisees on the Sabbath to eat bread, they were watching him closely. That's why they'd invited him there, right? We're going to catch him in something.

We're going to see something else in the pictures here, in that Jesus comes, and notice that the others are already seated, and the only available place is the one at the far end. That means, in Jewish culture, that Jesus is brought into the room given the lowest rank, because he's at the far end from the head. Now, one of the things to talk about is, because we talk about language, history, and culture, We talk about no eating utensils. The typical Jewish table setting did not include eating utensils as we have them today. It was a matter of using bread to put into dips and sauces and pâtés and things of that sort.

And so just a question of which one you're going to put it in, right? And so you would take the bread, whether it's flat bread or something that was, you know, raised, either way, and you would take that and dip that into the various sauces, dips, and pâtés, and eat that way.

And that would be typically the way it's done. Fruits and vegetables might be served whole or cut up in pieces. And so then everything was essentially finger food in that way. So no eating utensils was typical. Just use the bread to dip and then grab fruit and vegetables directly. Bread was the eating utensil, essentially. And so that was the way they did things. Now, there were all kinds of other rules that we'll talk about here. Imagine all the hazards and pitfalls of eating a meal with Pharisees on the Sabbath.

Oh boy, you've got to do everything right. First of all, imagine you've got to show up and you have to have the right clothing. Could you have a mixed fabric? No. So they've got to check you for that. Make sure you've got the right clothing. It's got to be clothing of one particular Fabric material and that's it right and so they check you on that now.

This is on the Sabbath, too So they've got to check you on that one had to make sure everything was only clean foods And you couldn't have dairy and meat at the same meal right that's true of the restaurants in Israel now and that you go to a dairy restaurant or you go to a meat restaurant, but you don't go to a restaurant that has both, right? So only the clean foods and everything has to be kept separate that's supposed to be kept separate, right?

Additionally, there was the ceremonial washing in which the water had to actually be poured over the hands, okay? So you can't just put your hands under the faucet. You have to put the water from the faucet into a pitcher, even today, and then pour it over your hands. And so you'll see at ceremonial washing places, like the Western Wall, that they will have, yes, spigots, but you'll have little pitchers or cups to get the water in and then pour it over your hands. That's the proper way to do it.

It's time for ceremonial washing. In this previous event that we referred to in chapter 11, where Jesus had been invited, He didn't do the ceremonial washing. And by the way, the ceremonial washing isn't to get your hands clean, it's to make you ceremonially and ritually clean. And the Sabbath rules said healing was practicing medicine, that is, work.

They had less formal meals. So here you are eating things with your hands, right? Less formal meals, sitting on lower tables, right? But more formal significance. What do we mean by that? Meals together had generally a greater significance than they do in our culture. To have a meal together was something that had more meaning and more substance in their culture than generally ours. there was a greater cultural value placed on being hospitable. And you might even be hospitable with someone and share a meal with someone that you have a serious problem with, which is one of the reasons why they could invite Jesus. We probably would not do that. If we were having some difficulty with somebody, we wouldn't invite them to sit down at a meal, but that was One of the things that they did.

And of course, even then, meals were used as a symbolic gesture to seal a covenant. So one of the things that was done in Genesis 31-54 is between Jacob and Laban. So that would be one of the ways in which it would be used. In Jesus' time, ceremonial washing preceded the meal. And that's pouring the water over the hands. And so that would be one of the things.

Seating at meals signified rank and degree of prestige. You'd have the head of the table would be the host or owner, right? And then those who were being honored in progressive degree. So the picture you saw earlier with Jesus at the far end from the host meant that he was lowest ranked. He was valued the least and had the least prestige in the eyes of the host. So they'd have him over, but the ranking said that he was the one of least prestige among all the guests.

So Luke 14.2, there in front of him was a man suffering from dropsy. We'll talk about that.

Dropsy is an older name for what's otherwise known today as edema. A swelling of the soft tissue from accumulation of water. It's got a few different medical causes, but that's not something that they really had a handle on it. Today, we have treatments that are available depending on the cause, as well as dealing with the symptom.

Ancient texts, like those of the Sumerians, the Babylonians, the Egyptians, the Greeks, discussed this condition. It was still not well understood, especially as to causes. For Jesus to heal this man, however, wasn't a form of medical treatment, because there were various medical treatments that were available at the time, even though it wasn't well understood, but of the Messiah's miracle. It was not a matter of practicing medicine, and that was a point that Jesus differed from the Pharisees on quite a bit.

You'll be interested to know that the rabbis had concluded that immorality is what caused dropsy or edema. And so because the rabbis were always looking for if somebody had a birth defect, if somebody had some kind of an illness or something bad happened to them, they were always looking for the sin that caused it.

And so that was the mindset. They had concluded if you've got edema, it's because you've been immoral. That's what causes edema. I think probably today's medical people would say it probably never is the cause, but anyway, that's what the rabbis concluded. So if they saw this man with edema, they'd say, oh boy, this guy's, whoo, you know, we know what he's been doing, right?

Okay, so now you also have Sabbath issues on top of this. Jesus often healed on the Sabbath, sometimes very intentionally, okay? We could say he sought out those opportunities to heal on the Sabbath. An example would be at Capernaum. On the Sabbath, in the synagogue, he cast a demon out of a man. He went out of that synagogue, walked a short distance, about from here to the coffee room, There he went into Peter's house and he healed Peter's mother-in-law. He spent the rest of that day until sundown healing and healing and healing and healing and casting out demons because it was the Sabbath.

And he strongly disagreed with the Pharisees on this point. So the Pharisees were divided among themselves about many different things. They loved to argue and debate and hold different positions leave people in a quandary, but they were in unison about categorizing healing as practicing medicine. Strange that they would be unified on something, but that was one of them.

They had concluded that medicine could only be practiced on the Sabbath with extreme emergencies, basically saving a life. If it's not saving a life, you can't do it. That was one of their exceptions. We have a list of exceptions, and healing just because somebody has a condition is not sufficient. It's got to be saving a life that is healing. Otherwise, Jesus, you're breaking our laws.

Now, one of the questions we could ask, was this man a plant? This man with dropsy, whom the Pharisees considered You've got dropsy because you've committed immorality, right? And was this man a plant put there on purpose? The text actually doesn't tell us one way or the other.

The Pharisees did stage different situations. Example, the woman caught in adultery, right? In other situations, and they were watching Jesus. We know that. So it's a possibility. We don't know for sure. You might even say it's somewhat likely. Beyond the Sabbath healing question, if Jesus healed this man, the Pharisees would have seen Jesus as lifting the curse that God placed on this man for sinning.

So Luke 14.3 reads like this, And Jesus answered and spoke to the lawyers and Pharisees, saying, Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath or not?

And so, Jesus, you know, asked this question. There are some interesting things we're going to observe about this. Jesus answered, but it doesn't appear that anybody asked any questions, right? So that's interesting. And Jesus answered the question with a question. So that's curious. Jesus asked this question to put the Pharisees in the place of making a judgment regarding the law of Moses. Because after all, they had all kinds of opinions, right? So Jesus asked them a question, is it lawful or not?

Well, if they said it was not lawful to heal on the Sabbath, they couldn't really point to anywhere in the Law of Moses that says it wasn't lawful. It was only unlawful based on all these extra rules and considerations and exceptions that they had made. So if they were going to say it's not lawful, Hmm, they couldn't really point to a place where it said that. If they were going to say, it is lawful, then they couldn't catch Jesus in anything.

So the better part of wisdom, they kept their mouth shut, right? Think about this. Did Jesus know that these men would not respond to his questions? Did he? Yeah, he did. Did he know that these men were watching him closely? Yes, he did. Especially when they're all staring at him like this, right?

Imagine, put yourselves in the Pharisee's place. Do you know what it's like to try to surprise someone who knew what you were going to say before he created the universe? Surprise! Gotcha! Uh-uh! Not happening. Do you know how hard it is to catch someone Doing something wrong who is infinitely righteous and told Moses what to do? See, the Pharisees are in a really tough spot. No surprises here. You can't surprise him. They can't say, gotcha. There isn't anything he doesn't know about what's going to happen or about the law. As a matter of fact, the law, he was involved in its writing.

Here's Luke 14.4, but they kept silent and he took hold of him and healed him and sent him away.

So the people might wonder if these were foolish Pharisees. But why should any of them say something and remove all doubt? So this is the Pharisees in this picture being unusually expressive and outgoing toward Jesus. So they kept silent. Silence, however, does not mean that they're apathetic. Inside, they were probably enraged. You can imagine the tension in the room. It's a tense silence.

They really wished that they could have said or done something or asked a question that would stop Jesus. However, it's going to be shortly after this, when you look at the sequence between the different Gospels, Caiaphas would soon call for Christ's death. So, yes, we're going to be quiet, but we're going to come up with a plan to end you pretty quick.

Caiaphas, in John 11.50, which sequentially happens right after this event here, Caiaphas says, it is expedient for you, Jewish leaders, that one man die for the people.

He didn't know he was being prophetic. And he didn't have the same sense in mind that God did. But he did say it. So imagine, here's this man with edema. We don't know what part of the body was swollen, but it's the swelling of soft tissues. But can you imagine seeing that right in front of your eyes? The swelling just goes right down.

And I imagine that the Lord also healed what was then unknown, is the actual cause. And so this really would have been something to see, and the Pharisees who were present would have said to themselves, wow, he really did do a miracle. Of course, they would still condemn it, but he really did a miracle. So Jesus healed people by the power of God. being himself deity, right? If only those scribes and Pharisees realized that it was God who was doing the healing. But they didn't recognize who Jesus was. They just thought he was a pain in the keister, right? Jesus healing people was a preview of the times of the Messiah, okay?

The millennial kingdom. It was a preview of that. Here's out of Isaiah 35, 5-8. It's in a context that describes things during the Millennial Kingdom. Then the eyes of the blind will be open, and the ears of the deaf will be unstopped. Then the lame will leap like a deer, and the tongue of the mute will shout for joy. For waters will break forth in the wilderness, and streams in the Arabah. The scorched land will become a pool, and the thirsty ground springs of water, and the haunt of jackals its resting place. Grass becomes reeds and rushes." So this healing is a part of things that will happen during the times of the Messiah, left and right. So this is a preview of it, a sampling that Jesus is doing. So here's Luke 14, verses 5 and 6.

And he said to them, which one of you will have a son or an ox fall into a well and will not immediately pull him out on a Sabbath day? And they could make no reply to this. The Jews' 39 considerations as to what was work, plus their list of exceptions, allowed the practice of medicine to be done in these extreme emergencies, for example, to save a life. And you could even save a life not only of your son, but of an animal. So you can save the life of an animal and that's okay. But to heal this man, who is a Jewish man, the son of Abraham, was not okay.

So they had complicated rules. Even then, there was debate as to what could be done with ladders, ropes, etc. to carry out a rescue on the Sabbath. So, here's your son, and he's fallen down into a well, and they had rules about how you could get him out. Because if you picked up something that was too heavy, or you made too many motions pulling him out, then you couldn't do that. So here your son has fallen into a well. It's okay to rescue him, but you've got to look at all the different rules as to what you're allowed to do so you don't break the law while rescuing him.

Can you imagine that? So this is kind of crazy, but they had all sorts of debates and discussions. If you had a ladder there, and the ladder could be dropped right down into the well, and you could have your son climb out, That would be okay, except that the latter couldn't be too long or too heavy. And they debated about what was too long and too heavy. Can you imagine saying, I want to rescue my son, but we've got to settle this debate. Right? So it could be very complex and troubling even. Jesus' point? You Pharisees do have exceptions, don't you? Right? Why not this one?

Luke 14, 7-9 reads like this, And he began speaking a parable to the invited guests, when he noticed how they had been picking out the places of honor at the table, saying to them, When you are invited by someone to a wedding feast, do not take the place of honor, for someone more distinguished than you may have been invited by him.

And he who invited you both will come and say to you, Give your place to this man. And then in disgrace, you proceed to occupy the last place. So he speaks at this point in time to the invited guests. And in this situation, the final ranking of honor among the guests is decided by the host, not by the ones invited.

So as we saw in the picture, and we don't know that this was the case, but the picture depicts that Jesus got the lowest ranking. the social ranking put him at the end of the table. At least that's what was depicted. So we'll see that Jesus is providing biblical advice for the invited guests.

Jesus spoke of a wedding feast which in those days would last for at least one and as much as two weeks. It's hard for us to imagine that. Typically a wedding is over and done and the celebration over and done in a day. But for them, at least one week and could be as long as two weeks for a wedding feast. So whatever ranking you have, you are ranked there for the entire one or two weeks. Now, at various times and places, social rank was and is a big deal.

In Israel, at this time, it was a big deal. Nancy and I, some, boy, I'm getting old. Anyway, 30 years ago, went to a banquet in which, this was over in Germany, West Germany at the time. in which there was actual ranking according to the seating. And so they had three different areas, and there was the center table, which was the highest ranked group, and then they had the next rank in a U-shaped configuration on the outside, and then the lowest rank was upstairs in a U-shaped configuration up in the balcony. So that was the ranking system that was there. And for some crazy reason, Nancy and I were in the highest ranked group.

And so it's something that even carries on now in different cultures, where the different rankings and ratings are a big deal. And where you stand matters a lot. Jesus was applying what's in Proverbs 25, 6, and 7 to the Pharisees. That was the passage that he was referring to. So here's, let's read that.

Do not claim honor in the presence of the king and do not stand in the place of great men, for it is better that it be said to you, come up here, than for you to be placed lower in the presence of the prince whom your eyes have seen. That is, here's the prince who would be up towards the top end of the table, right? And if you sit up there and you're told, no, wait a minute, you have to go over there, then here's the prince looking at you, you know, and you have to be seated lower.

So in the details, there were many differences between the Jewish culture of New Testament times and the Gentile culture. Both of them had issues with social status. Social status was a big deal. In the Gentile culture of the time, humility was considered a character defect. There's something wrong with you if you're humble. That was the Gentile thinking.

So Paul's letters to the churches often had exhortations for them to be humble, because that's not what the culture taught. Philippians 2, 5, and 7 would be an example. Have this attitude in yourselves, which is also in Christ Jesus, who although he existed in the form of God, did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped. Now that grasp means to be retained at all costs, held on to. but emptied himself, taking the form of a bond-servant, and being made in the likeness of men."

Now that's humility. Deliberate humility. He's saying that's the example. So now, in Luke 14, 10 and 11, it says, But when you are invited, go and recline at the last place, so that when the one who has invited you comes, he may say to you, Friend, move up higher, and then you will have honor in the sight of all who are at the table with you. For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted. Again, Jesus is referring to this Proverbs 25, 6 and 7.

So this might seem counterintuitive, but there is a principle here. We humans usually think in terms of you get what you aim for. I'm going to aim for this, and therefore that's what I'm going to get. And in some things in life, that's true. But Jesus is saying that honor comes not from seeking honor at ranking time, nor assuming that we ought to be honored. He's saying that starting with humility is the way to be honoured.

So that's counterintuitive. That's the opposite of normal human thinking and logic. Humility is the way to be honoured rather than seeking or assuming honour. It's the opposite. It's counterintuitive to our normal human way of thinking. You want to be honoured, don't aim for honour. Aim for humility and then you'll be honored. This is interesting.

It's a principle for the present time. It is a principle for the coming kingdom. It is a principle for all earthly times. Everyone who exalts himself will be humbled and he who humbles himself will be exalted is one that works in earthly times as well as the coming kingdom as well as even referring to heaven. It's a principle that isn't specific to a particular group or time, but one that applies to all times. Humility now will have an eternal reward in whatever way people are rewarded. And different groups, as we'll look at pretty soon in our progression through Luke, eternal reward is something that varies from one group of people to the next.

Here's an example out of the Gospel of Matthew, chapter 20. verses 20 through 23 where mama doesn't get it. Then the mother of the sons of Zebedee came to Jesus with her sons, bowing down and making a request of him. And he said to her, what do you wish? She said to him, command that in your kingdom these two sons of mine may sit, one on your right and one on your left. So what's she looking for?

Head of the table. In the throne room, these guys are... The one on the right, of course, has the biggest power, but the one on the left, that's okay too. Either one of them. Just pick either one for either seat. I'm okay with that. But I just want them right at the top.

So what's she asking for? She's asking to have this place of honor in the coming Kingdom and get that nailed down right now. But Jesus answered, verse 22, you do not know what you are asking. Are you able to drink the cup that I'm about to drink? He's referring, of course, to his own persecution and ultimately crucifixion. And they said to him, we are able. Oh yeah. Right.

He said to them, my cup you shall drink, but to sit on my right and on my left is not mine to give. It is for those to whom it has been prepared by my Father. By my Father. So this mama didn't get it. But Jesus told her the truth. Sorry, I can't command it. The Father is the one who is going to call that.

Luke 14, 12-14, and he also went on to say to the one who had invited him, when you give a luncheon or a dinner, do not invite your friends or your brothers or your relatives or rich neighbors, otherwise they may also invite you in return, and that will be your repayment. But when you give a reception, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind, and you will be blessed, since they do not have the means to repay you. for you will be repaid at the resurrection of the righteous." Okay. So, no family reunions. No more. That's it. Don't eat with your friends. Is that what Jesus is saying? I would say that's not what He's saying.

And then the reason is, as we're studying in this elective right before, the three things are language, history, and culture. And in the culture, they had different rules than we're accustomed to thinking of. The Hebrew figures of speech would include, do not, which would be understood by them as, don't only do this, but also do that. So it's not an absolute exclusive statement that he's making. He's saying, do more of this and less of that. So that would be understood in the Hebrew culture.

His point with the meals, which would also apply to many other things in life, is to not be self-serving. What's in it for me right now? but to be thinking about eternity, but to be thinking about putting the priority on others and not myself, right?

Christ is also referring to those who are at the Messiah's banquet at the beginning of the Millennial Kingdom. Again, culture, language, history, and culture During the times, biblical times, it was a long-standing custom that when a new ruler came into power, that they would put on a banquet for everybody in the kingdom. For everyone in the kingdom. A huge banquet. And of course, there's a lot of preparation for that. And so he's talking not only to them about what they're doing, but also talking about this Messiah's banquet at the beginning of the Millennial Kingdom.

Now, this picture here has some, if you look at it carefully, some knives and forks and things like that. These people have no idea what to do with those knives and forks, right? So when it comes to the Messiah's banquet, they need your help with all the knives and forks, because they won't have any idea what to do with them, right?

Anyway, we'll see how the Lord works that out. Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob will be there as men of faith. The Gospel of Matthew says that. So here are resurrected Old Testament saints. They will be there. Just being in the genealogical line won't guarantee presence there, however, because it's those who are of faith. You're saved by faith, not by genealogy, not by DNA.

We in the body of Christ will be there at that meal, too, as the Messiah's bride. As the Messiah's bride. Isn't that amazing? We're going to be there. With Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. I have no idea how things will be ranked. I have no idea. It will be very interesting. We will have a different role in a different place.

We have these biblical crowns and rewards. which is a different perspective because, as believers, it won't be a matter of, we'll get our reward here in the kingdom. Our reward will have been given before, based on these things that are revealed, and we being in the body of Christ, the church.

Here are the Stephanos crowns, the victors crowns, as they would typically look. And they are a victor's crown in an athletic competition. They're not a diadem. However, having said that, the diadem is the crown that's jeweled and, you know, pointed and all that. Having said that, that oftentimes rulers would be depicted or wear these victor's crowns as well.

So just a point of clarification. The timing of it, this is a slide that we presented a number of times here in the Gospel of Luke, and it's relevant here. So we would be raptured, taken up to be with the Lord, and then rewarded according to that slide where we showed the crowns and rewards. But the Jews, however, are rewarded at their resurrection, a different resurrection for believing Jews, and rewarded at the second coming. So here's the kind of the focus. So we're raptured and rewarded according to what we saw there in the slide. The Jews are resurrected at the second coming and then given a reward in the kingdom. All right, here's Daniel 12, 1 and 2, which is one of the passages that's relevant to the Jews being resurrected.

You can also look at Isaiah 26 19 and Ezekiel 37 12 through 14, but we'll read through Daniel 12 1 and 2 here Now at that time Michael the great prince who stands guard over the sons of your people Will arise and there will be a time of distress such as never occurred since it was a nation until that time the tribulation period as we call it and At that time your people everyone who is found written in the book will be rescued and This is the book of life for the Jews, right? In verse 2, many of those who sleep in the dust of the ground will awake, these to everlasting life, but others to disgrace and everlasting contempt. Everyone who takes the mark of the beast during the tribulation period will go directly to the lake of fire, and that's what it's talking about.

Those who have died prior to this time are not a part of the body of Christ, who are of faith, will be resurrected at this point in time, at the end of the tribulation period, when Christ comes again. So there's two different resurrections. We're going to be looking. There's actually more, but this is one of them. The resurrection of those in the body of Christ will take place at the rapture, which could take place any day. I hope I don't get to finish this message. But the resurrection of the righteous Jews will take place after we have already been resurrected. Righteous Jews will be resurrected at the second coming of Christ when we and our new bodies will come with Him.

That's the sequence that the Bible lays out. In looking at Jerusalem on the Mount of Olives, There's one section there where there's a whole bunch of Jewish graves. Why? It's because they know from Zechariah 14 that the Messiah will come down and His feet will touch the Mount of Olives. And they expect the resurrection to take place when the Messiah comes and His feet touch the Mount of Olives.

And so they want to have front row seats. to the resurrection. So that's what that's about. That's what that's about. They're expecting the Messiah to land there. Now, what we know is that will be Christ's second coming, the Messiah's second coming. And what they're going to be asking is, is this your first time or your second time? Right? Only it'll be too late. That's too late to ask that question. Here's Luke 14, 15, and that finishes our passage for today.

When one of those who were reclining at the table with him heard this, he said to him, Blessed is everyone who will eat bread in the kingdom of God. Now, interesting, this is one of the guests there. This is still a Pharisee, and he's not necessarily agreeing with everything that Jesus is saying, but he's making a statement that he thought, well, Jesus would agree with it. And we'll actually see this conversation continues in the next week's passage, and Jesus isn't done saying things here. Now, just remember, the Jews of Jesus' time and place ate their meals on lower tables than we use, no chairs, but cushions on the floor, right? So they reclined at these low tables.

That's what this is talking about. And as we saw before, the expression eating bread meant to not just sit there and eat bread, but have a full meal together, dipping the bread into various things and using the bread as the eating utensil. So it won't be like this. It won't be like this. But blessed is everyone who will eat bread.

The Messiah's banquet will be unlike anything this world has ever known. Yes, the rulers of ancient times would put on a banquet for everybody in the kingdom, and there would be ranking in those banquets, right? But they'd put on a banquet for everybody in the kingdom who cared to come. This Messiah's banquet will consist of those who have been saved and resurrected of all time before, of all time before that event. It will consist of all those who survived the tribulation period, both Jew and Gentile, and were believers at the end.

When Christ returns with us in the body of Christ, and we will be His bride at the Messiah's banquet. We will be there. So you're not only going to be at the rapture if you're a believer here today, and not only going to spend at least seven earthly years in heaven with the Lord, but you'll come back with Him, and after the marriage supper of the Lamb, you'll come down and join the Messiah's banquet. So I hope you like to eat. I'm not sure exactly what they'll serve. It may not include pork, I don't know.

But, here's Ephesians 1.3. Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ. So we who have already been blessed in Christ with every spiritual blessing will still be further blessed to eat bread. I'm sure for me I might even be gluten-free, I don't know. But to eat bread at the Messiah's banquet in the kingdom. Highly honored as the bride of the Messiah. Isn't that amazing? You'll go from one banquet to the next. It will be an amazing thing.

Let's pray. Lord, we thank you for your faithfulness. We thank you for what you have revealed because you love us, you care for us. And Lord, we have a lot to look forward to. We, of course, are looking forward to that moment, that moment in time, the twinkling of an eye, as Paul expressed it, when you'll take us to be with you. And that will begin a series of things so wonderful that they're hard to comprehend. But we thank you for it, and we trust every moment to you. We pray in Jesus' name. Amen.