The perplexing party guest
Jake Loftis

It’s March Madness! I don’t doubt there will be parties over the weeks to come full of cheering fans. Hopefully all the guests behave themselves to keep the party enjoyable for everyone.

In Luke 14:1-24, we see Jesus is a dinner guest at a Pharisee’s house, however, Jesus is not really the guest that everyone wanted Him to be.

On His way into the party, He heals a man (on the Sabbath, no less) and once inside He shares some insulting commentary on how everyone is scrambling for the best seats at the table. He even has a go at the host for loading his guest list with VIPs.

Jesus is officially “that guy” at the party. The people He is eating with are religious leaders, potential patrons of His ministry, yet He keeps challenging them. Now it’s awkward.

After the second correction from Jesus, possibly to diffuse the tension, one of the other guests blurts out, “Blessed is he that shall eat bread in the kingdom of God.” (v 15) Personally, this statement always seemed out of place. Commentators disagree about why exactly this statement sets Jesus up for yet another teachable moment, but Jesus launches into a third correction by telling a story.

In His parable, there is a great banquet. The master of the house sends out invitations to his friends, those you would expect to come, but they decline - each with their own excuse. The twist comes when the master of the banquet extends the invites to random people in the streets. They are the ones who actually attend and share the riches of the table.

While the party guest was perhaps just trying to change the subject, it seems Jesus took the statement to mean the guest was implying something about this table was representative about the future—the day when the righteous sit down to the Lord’s feast.

Almost like the man gesturing around the room and saying, “Look at us, right on the nose. This is what it’s going to be like in the kingdom of heaven for the blessed ones.”

Jesus’s parable, however, clearly doesn’t see the Kingdom feast as being like what He sees at the table before Him. What Jesus sees is a monoculture of religious elites jockeying for the honor of the best seats (v 7). That is certainly not what Jesus thinks represents God’s table.

The story reveals how Jesus actually sees the Kingdom feast. The Kingdom table is not going to be surrounded by VIPs and influencers, but by unexpected guests—the people who have time for His hospitality and are willing to accept His invitation. People who are not so busy with their own priorities, but who want to be with the Host.

If we want to live our lives in a way that’s preparing us for God’s kingdom, we need to be ready to surround ourselves with “tables” that are full of unexpected types. Maybe the movers and shakers, but the people who are willing to say “yes” to God. In the story, Jesus names them, “Go quickly into the streets… bring in the poor, the crippled, the blind, and the lame.” (v 21)

We live very private, individualized lives today. There is ample opportunity to curate your own social life in such a way so as not to be bothered by strangers, outsiders, or even by your own neighbors. You may like it that way, but just because that may fit your preferences, doesn’t mean that it is preparing you for life in God’s kingdom.

I’m not suggesting you should be the confrontational guest that Jesus was at your March Madness parties. However, do be careful about crafting your life to fit your own preferences—living an exclusive life behind a privacy fence.

If you do, when God’s banquet time comes, you may find yourself making excuses.

Jake Loftis is a Cru leader for the Omaha metro.