Understanding Jesus' Parables (Luke 14:15 - 24)

Short teachings from Hillcrest Church further exploring Sunday's teachings.

Transcript

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Hey, I hope you're doing well. Tim here, and we are diving deep into the parables this week. So in the first episode, I talked about this week's episode, talks about just how to interpret parables generally. We looked at a passage from when Nathan confronted David as kind of a picture of that and how they're how they're situated in a particular historical moment. They're aimed at a situation, and they're really like they're there, it's like a story or a riddle, and it's meant to elicit a response, a change of heart. And uh yeah, this uh and uh today I just want to take a look at Luke chapter 14. That's what Casey looked at on Sunday and touch on it. Uh and I'll probably touch on it today and then in the another episode this week. I think today I want to I want to focus on kind of, you know, a lot of times when we um when we're interpreting scripture, there there are these kind of two basic ideas that first we'll want to figure out what it meant then and there. Uh after you understand what it meant then and there to the to the original hearers, then you can begin moving to what it means here and now. Um but if you if you if you um skip that then and there part, what did it first, what did the first writer mean to the first readers, or the first speaker mean to the first hearers? Um if you don't start there, your interpretation can become historically ungrounded, and you can really be uh read into it whatever you want. The word for that is eisegesis, where you read into a text, kind of whatever you want it to mean. Um, imagine that it's 21st century uh United States um as opposed to the ancient Near East. Um so uh what it means then and there, let Luke chapter 14. Um and I think this is this will help kind of uh hopefully this helps provide some um ideas for reading all of Jesus' parables. So uh, you know, the parable, Luke 14, um Jesus is actually at a dining room table uh with um uh a prominent Pharisee, and um and he had already talked some about uh what how do you how do you uh how do you pick your place at the table? He saw people picking the places of honor. He goes on, uh somebody says this religious phrase, blessed is the one who will eat at the feast in the kingdom of God. And you um it's important to understand, okay, so this blessed is the one who eat at the feast in the kingdom of God, um, is a reference to when God's day of salvation arrives, it will be like a banquet feast. Sometimes you hear people talk about the messianic banquet. Um, this goes all the way back to Isaiah 25, and it continues to the prophets, but this idea that when God acts and when his Messiah comes to save, the a banquet feast is an image of what that will be like. And so this person says, Blessed is when that when that happens. And then Jesus uh tells this parable. Um He says, A certain man was preparing a great banquet, invited many guests. Um, he sent his servant out to tell those who had been invited, come for everything is now ready. Um the first person makes an excuse because they just bought a field, the second person uh makes an excuse because they bought five yoke of oxen, the third person makes an excuse because they just got married. Um the host gets mad and says, uh, go out into the streets, uh, invite the poor, the crippled, the blind, and the lame. And then when that's not enough, there's still room. And then he says, go out to the roads, the country lanes, and compel them to come in so my house will be full. I tell you, not one of those who are invited will get a taste of my banquet. All right, so what's going on uh what uh in this story? And I, you know, last time I said there's a couple of different ways to misread it. Um, you can misread it as like a timeless truth, um uh you can misread it as like trying to to tease out every detail, like every detail means something. Um but this is you know, it's trying to like it means something. So uh what are we what does it mean here? What is the historical situation? Who is this directed towards? What's the response? And I think um I think these these uh I think we can speak to these uh at least to some degree. Um most of Jesus' parables uh revolve around Jesus' uh announcement of the in-breaking of the kingdom. Most of the parables have to do with this. That uh that Jesus as a uh the agent of Yahweh is coming to the people of Israel and saying, the day of rescue has come. Either repent, turn around and trust in me, the Messiah, the angel, the one bringing rescue, or risk judgment by Yahweh. I don't know if you went through our um Mark series, I often talked about how the book of Marks starts with this prophecy of rescue from Isaiah and this prophecy of warning from Malachi. Um, and that when Jesus shows up saying, the kingdom of God has come near, repent and believe the good news, he was bringing uh uh the moment of decision was coming to Israel. Like what will you trust in um Yahweh's deliverer? And uh and I think we see a very similar dynamic in this parable. Jesus um he uh he literally acted out, you know, um Jewish people believe that when Yahweh's day of salvation uh would arrive, it would be like a banquet table. Well, Jesus literally, one of the things all scholars agree is that Jesus was known for his feasting with all kinds of people, sinners and tax collectors. His table practice marked his ministry. He literally acted this out. He knew uh he knew uh these people were expecting Yahweh's day of salvation to look like a banquet table. And he literally regularly banqueted with all kinds of people. Um and and it was part of his kind of enacting his kingdom announcement. I am the Messiah, the day of salvation has come. Will you come and eat at the table with me? And so this uh so he he's acting this out. So this parable then, it seems like it is directed, uh, it is directed, and and we also know if you know about the ministry of Jesus, oftentimes the religious elite were rejecting his um kingdom offer, right? That uh, you know, again in the book of Mark, we talked how often the religious elite were resisting uh his kingdom offer. And so this parable, what it what is this parable is very much dire it is about his moment of ministry, and I think directed very much to these uh religious leaders that he's literally at the dining room table with that evening. Um, and the parable, of course, is about the people that you expected to be at God's messianic banquet table, are missing it because they're too busy with possessions or family or um or property, they're too busy with other things, they're not prioritizing, responding to the invitation, and actually the unexpected people are the ones responding to the invitation, which you know, uh jump ahead to Luke chapter, you know, we're in Luke 14, Luke 15, right? The beginning of 15. Um, famously, now the tax collectors and sinners were all gathering around to hear Jesus, but the Pharisees and teachers of the law muttered, this man welcomes sinners and eats with them. I mean, literally that like it's uh that's what's happening, that's what the parable is about. Jesus is telling this parable of the people that you might expect to show up at the the the God's uh banquet table are actually preoccupied with other things, and the unexpected people are being brought in. Um and the and so um it's it's really so what's the historical situation? It's about the kind of moment of decision, the invitation to God's messianic banquet table. Um, it's about this like uh the the response that Jesus wants. Jesus wants to spur people on to accept the invitation. Um and uh and yeah, that you know, I talked about these these have a punchline, like the punchline of this one, the last um line, he says, I tell you, not one of those who are invited will get a taste of my banquet. Like, and I and I think we need to understand when he says something like this, the point um isn't um the point isn't kind of this uh what's the word that I'm looking for? It's not this prediction, it's not this guarantee. Uh what he's trying to spur people on to respond. He he wants the goal of this parable is that people would come and join, would essentially say yes to Jesus, would come and join with his kingdom community, with all the ragtag people who are around the table. That's he wants people to say yes. Hey, the whole his whole ministry is God's day of salvation is break breaking in. Uh repent in your own little self-improvement projects and come and place your trust in me. That and he's trying to get these religious leaders trying to prick their hearts so that they would say uh yes to him. And so that it all revolves around um, it's the point of the story is about his kingdom announcement, this moment of decision uh for these uh these first century uh Jewish people and trying to spur them into responding to his invitation. Um and and so um, and I think that's helpful because that that's what it's trying to do. And I think this then, if we understand this is what it's trying to do, it keeps us from overreading the details. And you may be like, what Tim, what do you mean overreading the details? Well, uh, for instance, think about it, if you really press the details of this story all the way, you would end up saying something like, Well, God wasn't planning on inviting tax collectors and sinners, the blind and the lame, to his messianic banquet until the religious elite turned him down. And so really these other people are his backup plan. And he only started inviting them after the religious elite turned. Well, um, you know, because that's what the that's in the story. The master of the banquet doesn't actually invite the other people until the first people say, um uh we're too busy. Um and and I think that's uh we have no, you know, that's that's not the character of God revealed throughout scripture. There's no reason to, you know, in fact, uh uh that's the opposite of the character of God revealed in scripture. That is just um part of it's just it's just part of how the story gets told. So it's some you know, to tell a good story, you need to add details in there to give the story flow, but it doesn't mean every single detail is teaching a theological truth. The bigger uh function of the story is pressing the moment that in Jesus, this moment of decision, this invitation to the banquet table is coming, and unexpectedly those you think would say yes are actually too busy, and those you think wouldn't be invited to God's banquet table are actually coming in droves. That's what this and the and and it's meant in Jesus' day and age to spur people on to replace their trust, to join at Jesus' table. All right, um, that's what it meant. Uh uh Luke 14, kind of in this original setting. In the next episode, I'll probably talk some about what it how do we take that? What does it mean for us today? But um, reading the parables. All right, uh grace and peace. Have a great day.