A Sabbath Meal with a Striking Message

If you have your Bible, turn with me to Luke chapter 14. Luke chapter 14. We embark on a chapter where Jesus goes to a town that we do not know at a time which we have no idea what time it is except we know it's toward the end of his ministry. He's going to Jerusalem to die. We know it's toward the end. We just don't know what time it is. We don't know what town it is. We don't even know the name of the people there. He goes to a house. He has a meal on the Sabbath day. There, there's a man who is suffering.

And there he gives a message that's absolutely striking. And that message will lead us until next week's sermon that is another parable that he gives that will lead us into another setting of parables that leads into that infamous chapter, chapter 15, which is really one parable, not three parables. The parable of the lost sheep, the lost silver, and the lost son. It's one parable. I know most of you don't understand that, but you will when we get to Luke 15. It's not three different parables. It's one.

Two of them giving us God's view on his ministry to man. And one parable, the lost son, giving us man's response to God's initiative in his life. It's a tremendous parable which we will spend many weeks on. But we're in Luke 14 right now.

Let me read to you the first 14 verses. And it came about when he went into the house of one of the leaders of the Pharisees on the Sabbath to eat bread, that they were watching him closely. And there in front of him was a certain man suffering from dropsy. Jesus answered and spoke to the lawyers and Pharisees saying, is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath or not? But they kept silent. They took hold of him and healed him and sent him away. They said to them, which one of you shall 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. 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. Lest someone more distinguished than you may have been invited by him. And he who invited you both shall come and say to you, give place to this man. And then in disgrace you proceed to occupy the last place. 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.

Then you will have honor in the sight of all who are at the table with you. For everyone who exalts himself should be humbled. And he who humbles himself shall be exalted. 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, lest they also invite you in return. And repayment come to you. But when you give a reception, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind. And you'll be blessed since they do not have the means to repay you.

For you will be repaid at the resurrection of the righteous. Chapter 13, excuse me, chapter 13 ends tragically. Israel has been abandoned by God. The 13th chapter ends tragically. Israel's end is triumphant. But the 13th chapter ends tragically because they have been abandoned by God. Their house has been left to them desolate. Ichabod has been written across the nation. They've been left to their own devices. That's why they are in the condition they are in today. Because Luke 13 tells us that God says, I'm done.

It's over. Your house is left to you desolate. They didn't believe any of the miracles. They saw the miracles. But they didn't believe in what they represented. They heard the messages that He gave. They didn't want to hear those at all. And all the manifestations of His deity that the miracles proved, they rejected. In fact, they attributed everything that Jesus did to Satan. The question comes, how did they get there? How did they come to that conclusion? How did they realize in their own minds that what stood before them was not from God, but really from below, from Satan?

How did they come to that conclusion? The answer is simple. They were entrenched. They were engulfed. They were totally entrapped by a system of religion that led them that direction. All led by false teachers who influenced them in such a way that they believed the false teaching more than they believed the true teaching. It was the false teachers of Israel, the Pharisees, the Sadducees, the lawyers, the scribes, that led these people the wrong direction. Don't underestimate the power of false teaching.

Satan disguises himself as an angel of light. He doesn't want people to understand the truth. These false teachers were so powerful, had entrenched the nation in a system of religion that they believed was the right way, but it was the wrong way. And Jesus comes along and he confronts that system. He confronts the religiosity of the day. The problem with that is that these Pharisees were good moral people. They were the religious elite. They were esteemed in the community. Everybody looked up to them.

They were the essence of what Judaism was all about. They were the essence of God followers in the nation of Israel's mind. And Jesus come and comes and debunks all that. He confronts all that. He destroys their system of religion. In fact, the majority of the miracles he performed he did on the Sabbath because they had erected all these laws that God never erected, but they erected them in their own minds to make the Sabbath more of a burden for people than a blessing for people. And the Sabbath was designed to be a blessing, a time of refreshment, but it became so burdensome.

But they were entrenched in this system of religion led by false teachers who caused them to believe that what this Messiah, so-called Messiah, was saying was wrong. And where he was saying he was from was not true because he really was from Satan. They convinced the people of that. False teaching is very powerful, very influential, and they bought into the party line, hook, line, and sinker. And Jesus comes and confronts all that. Jesus says that the people you think are good are evil from the inside out.

And the people of Israel are like, really? How can that possibly be? They're so good. They're so kind. They're so generous. They're so religious. They're so holy. And Jesus comes and says they're evil. They're sinners. They're not leading you toward God. They're leading you away from God. And they needed a Savior. And Jesus came and presented the Gospel because they needed to understand the Gospel. The famous TV preacher today who's a big supporter of Israel, he's a TV evangelist, he has said that the Jews do not need the Gospel of Jesus Christ to go to heaven.

They have their own way that God has designed for them. That's exactly what the Pharisees believed 2,000 years ago. They don't need the Gospel. They don't need what Jesus has to say. They've got their own design. They've got their own method of going to heaven. So the lie has been continued from the days of Jesus till even today by prominent TV preachers who get on TV and say, you know what? Don't proselytize the Jewish people. They don't need the Gospel. They've got their own way to get to heaven that God specifically designed for them.

Really? Where do you read that in Scripture? Still got to believe that Jesus is the Messiah. There's only one way to heaven. It's through Jesus Christ our Lord. That's it. There is no two ways to heaven. One designed for Jews and one designed for Gentiles. What is that? So you have to come to understand what Jesus is doing here. So on this day, some Sabbath day, there's a Sabbath meal. We don't know what Sabbath it is. It's a Sabbath meal. There's a suffering man with a striking message. Sabbath meal.

There were three meals on the Sabbath. Usually a Jewish day had two. This Sabbath day had three meals on a Sabbath. Listen to what it says. And it came about when he went into the house of one of the leaders of the Pharisees on the Sabbath to eat bread, that they were watching him closely. One of the leaders. Who is it? We don't know. Prominent man. Some commentary say he's one of the members of the Sanhedrin. That might well be. We do not know. So we don't know the man, nor do we know his name, nor do we know what Sabbath it is, nor do we know what town it is.

All that's irrelevant. What's relevant is what happens here and what Jesus says here. So at this Sabbath meal, there's this leader. Now, why is Jesus there? Why is he there? To eat him. They've already plotted to kill him. So why does this Pharisee invite Jesus? Because he loves Jesus? Because he likes what he says? Maybe Jesus was in the synagogue that day. He was there because they were watching him closely to Texas. They were scrutinizing his every move. They wanted to entrap him. They didn't invite him because he was hungry and they had some food and they were going to be nice to him and give him something to eat.

They invited him because they wanted him to violate their Sabbath laws. Not Sabbath laws, but their Sabbath laws. They were legalists to the core. And they thought if they could entrap him, they could once again persuade the people to believe what they've always said, he is from Satan because he does not live by the laws of our land. So there was a Sabbath meal that Jesus was invited to. In that Sabbath meal, there was a suffering man. Let's know what the text says. And there in front of him was a certain man suffering from dropsy.

What's that? In modern day, it's called edema. It's where the body begins to fill up with fluids. It could be because there's a liver condition. It could be because there's a kidney condition, a heart condition, a blood condition, or even maybe a brain condition, some kind of cancerous condition which caused this man's body to fill up with fluid. So he was bloated. He was huge. So why was he there? It wasn't because the Pharisees had compassion on him because they had no compassion on those kinds of people.

Those people were grotesque to the religious elite. Why? Because there was something physically wrong with them. And in their mind, something was physically wrong because something inside was wrong. They were grotesque sinners. And God put this curse upon them as to why they looked the way they looked and why they were suffering the way they were suffering. That was their conclusion. But why would he be there? He would be there for only one reason, to trap Jesus. It's not because they were compassionate, kind, generous people.

They just weren't that way. They wanted to entrap the Lord Jesus, put him in a situation which would cause everybody to see he is a Sabbath violator. He can't be from God. And Jesus is the master of every situation, of every conversation, in every meal. He's the invited guest, but he takes over the meal. I just love that. He's in charge. He takes over. He's a take charge kind of guy because he's in charge. And that's exactly what happens. So we ask the question, is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath or not?

Now, it's already been stated. Remember back earlier in Luke 13, Christ healed a woman who for years had been bent over, 18 long years, and Christ healed her on the Sabbath. And it says in verse number 14, the synagogue official, indignant because Jesus had healed on the Sabbath, began saying to the multitude in response, there are six days in which work should be done, therefore come during them and get healed and not on the Sabbath day. That was their conclusion to the matter. He was indignant that Jesus would even lift his hand to heal somebody on the Sabbath.

That's why he did so many healings on the Sabbath, because the law of mercy trumps all laws. The law of mercy and compassion and kindness is the law of the Lord, see? And that's what he came to fulfill. He wasn't a Sabbath violator. He came to fulfill all the laws and the prophets. He came to fulfill everything that God had designed because he is God. He is the fulfillment, the embodiment of the law. So he came to fulfill all that. So he asked a question. Notice, text says, these words, and Jesus answered and spoke to the lawyers and Pharisees saying, is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath or not?

But they kept silent. I could imagine that if you were there, there'd be some shuffling of the feet, maybe some nervous coughs in the back, maybe somebody looking down, not wanting Jesus to ask a question of them, maybe catching eye contact. And Jesus says, hey, what about you?

How would you respond to this? These men were so humiliated. In fact, it says when Jesus healed the man in Luke 13, or the woman who had been open for 18 years, it says in verse number 17, and as he said this, all his opponents were being humiliated. I mean, every time, they were just humiliated by Christ, not because he was trying to show them up, just because they were so wrong in their approach to ministry and to life. So Jesus asks a question. Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath or not? Nobody answers.

Nobody responds because they know the law of the Lord. They know what the trumps all things. They'll say nothing. So he said to them, I'm sorry, and he took hold of him and healed him and sent him away. Just real brief. It was a real brief accounting. He took hold of him, healed him, and sent him away. He had no business being there. He was only there to entrap the Lord. But Jesus heals him because he's kind. He's compassionate. He's loving. He's merciful. He sends him away. Yeah, he could have had him stay and had a meal, but I'm sure he wanted to go home to his family and let them know what had taken place, that he had been healed.

He was well. And Christ sends him away. And then he said to them, which one of you shall have a son or an ox fall into a well that will not immediately pull him out on the Sabbath day? There are many wells in Jerusalem. Easy to fall into one. There were so many of them. Which of you, if you had a son, he fell in a well, would you leave him there to drown in the fluid, in the water? This man was drowning in his own fluid. So I healed him. If your son fell into a well and was drowning, would you let him stay there and say, son, I can't get you out today.

It's a Sabbath day. Wait till Monday. Hope you make it. Or an ox. One of your oxen's. Because you got to make a living. Fell into a well. Would you get him out or would you leave him there to the next day? No. You'd get him out. Because that's what the law of the Lord said. He was compassionate. The text says, and they could make no reply to this. Of course they couldn't. Of course they couldn't. What are they going to say? They've already been humiliated over and over and over again by Jesus. What are they going to say?

No, I'd leave my son in the well. Really? They wouldn't say that because they wouldn't do that. So you had the Sabbath meal. You had the suffering man. All designed around the message that God wanted to give. That would once again destroy their system of religiosity. Help them to come to grips with the reality of the resurrection of the righteous and the kingdom of God. Because you see, while they were watching him, he was watching them. They always forgot that. We're always looking to see what Jesus is going to do next.

Not knowing that he's always watching them. And that's what the text says. Verse seven. 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. He gives a parable. A parable is not an allegory. A parable is a metaphor. It is an illustration. It's an analogy. A parable simply is this. It's an earthly story with a heavenly meaning. Christ would take everyday events that all would know about. Talk about them to bring you to a conclusion about heaven.

That's what a parable is. It's an earthly story with a heavenly meaning. So whatever Jesus is saying here, it's about heaven. It's about the kingdom of God. It's about what it means to be involved in a relationship with the living God. And he uses an earthly illustration. He uses a wedding feast as an example. Not to use that particular meal as an example, but a wedding feast that would all draw their attention to the ultimate wedding feast in heaven with the ultimate host who is God himself. They would know exactly what Jesus is going to say here.

Because at the very end, one man says in verse 15. And one of those who were reclining at the table with him heard this. He said to him, blessed is everyone who shall eat bread in the kingdom of God, because that's the emphasis of the parable. It's about the kingdom of God. And they all knew it. While we might read and think, well, I don't understand this. They all knew exactly what Jesus was saying. And he would help them come to grips with one reality. They weren't nearly as righteous as they thought they were.

They were self-righteous, but they did not have God-righteousness. And so he begins to speak to them in a parable. When you are invited by someone to a wedding feast, do not take the place of honor, lest someone more distinguished than you may have been invited by him. And he who invited you, both shall come and say to you, give place to this man. And then in his grace, you proceed to occupy the last place. But when you are invited, go and recline at the last place. So when the one who has invited you comes, he may say to you, friend, move up higher.

Then you will have honor in the sight of all who are at the table with you. For everyone who exalts himself should be humbled. And he who humbles himself shall be exalted. He watched them in this whole pecking order. Because at a Jewish feast, they would have a table that was, or a series of tables that were set in a U-shape, okay? And the host, of course, would be in the center of that U, and the most honored one would be to his right, the second most honored one would be to his left, and then on down the line till you reached the end of the table.

And as they went to this feast, they're sitting here at the Sabbath meal, Jesus is watching them all jockey for position, all looking to have the place of honor, because that's what they love to do. They loved the place of honor. And in order to sit in a place of honor, you had to be able to reciprocate. Reciprocity was a part of their whole religiosity, okay? So if you do for me, I'd do for you. If you do for me, and I do for you, then you go back and do for me again. That's what they did. And so they would jockey for position as to who was the most glorified one among themselves, looking to jockey for the position next to the host.

So all would see that they were the most important person at the meal. That was big to them. That was huge for them. Listen to Matthew 23, verse number 5 and 6. It says, but they do all their deeds, that is the Pharisees, to be noticed by men. For they broaden their phylacteries and lengthen the tassels of their garments, and they love the place of honor at banquets, and the chief seats in the synagogues, and respectful greetings in the marketplace, and being called by men rabbi. See, they loved the place of honor.

They loved the chief seats. They loved to be noticed by men. You see, religion is about being noticed. Religion is about being seen by men. Christianity is about being seen by God and carrying what God thinks. Religion is only concerned about what man thinks about how I appear to be. See, because religion is all a facade. It's all a mask. It's not really a true relationship with the living God. It's a mask of some semblance of religion, but in reality, it is far away from God. Same thing is said over in Luke's gospel, Luke chapter 11, verse number 42 and 43.

It says these words, Luke 11, 42 and 43. But woe to you, Pharisees, for you pay tithe of mint and rue and every kind of garden herb, and yet disregard justice and the love of God. But these are the things you should have done without neglecting the others. Woe to you, Pharisees, for you love the front seats in the synagogues and the respectful greetings in the marketplace. That's what you love. You love to be greeted. You love to be seen. You love to be respected. Luke 20, verse number 46, Jesus says this, Luke 20, verse number 46, beware of the scribes who like to walk around in long robes and love respectful greetings in the marketplaces and chief seats in the synagogues and places of honor at banquets who devour a widow's houses and for appearance sake offer long prayers.

These will receive greater condemnation. It was all about the appearance. It was all about how they looked. That's what motivated them. How do I look? What will people say about me? And so as a jockey for a position during the Sabbath meal, looking to think about how it is people would perceive them and see them as the honored one there at the meal, the Lord watches this, and He gives them that same truth He always gives them. Everyone who exalts himself shall be humbled, and he who humbles himself shall be exalted.

Now, folks, this was so entrenched in Judaism. This was so a part of their lifestyle. It encompassed everything they did. Turn back with me, if you would, to Matthew chapter 20 for a moment. Matthew chapter 20. Let me illustrate this with the disciples.

Matthew chapter 20, verse number 20, then the mother of the sons of Zebedee came to Him with her sons, bowing down and making a request of Him. And He said to her, what do you want? 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. Now, this is the mother of James and John, and she's been a part of the ministry. She understands the ministry. Her boys are a part of that ministry. Well, she wants them to be elevated in the ministry.

She wants them to be recognized. She wants them to have credit for all the things that they have done. Like any good mom would want her boys to be recognized, right? And so she comes to Jesus and she goes, I got a request. What do you want? Jesus says, I want one boy on the right and I want one boy on the left in the kingdom of God.

I want everybody to know how great my boys are. You see, it's so entrenched in their society. It's all about appearances, what people see, what people know. So Jesus says, you don't know what you're asking.

Are you able to drink the cup that I'm about to drink? As he turns to James and John, they said to him, we are able. The cup is representative of the wrath, and it's represented as a cup because you drink it all in. Are you able to drink in all the wrath that I myself am able to drink in? Can you do that? We are able. Oh yeah, we can bear the wrath. No big deal. We can handle it, Jesus. Just put us in the fire. We'll come out smelling like roses. We can do it. That was their response. Jesus said to him, my cup, oh, you shall drink, but sit on my right hand and on my left.

This is not mine to give, but it is for those for whom it has been prepared by my father. And hearing this, the ten became indignant with the two brothers. Why? Why did they become indignant? Because their mother wasn't there to ask the question. They all knew, they all believed the same thing. This is what we do. We get the place of honor, sitting next to the host of the meal. That's where we want to be. And James and John and their mother was here, and they, she popped the right question. And I wish my mom was here to ask that question.

And Jesus goes on to say these words. Oh, you know that the rules of the Gentiles lorded over them, and their great men exercise authority over them. It is not so among you. Whoever wishes to become great among you shall be your servant, and whoever wishes to be first among you shall be your slave, just as the son of man did not come to be served, but to serve and to give his life a ransom for many.

It's all about giving your life away. It's all about humility. It's all about letting God exalt you in his due time. It's not about you. It's about what God's going to do. That's why over in Matthew 23, the Lord says again, verse number 11, but the greatest among you shall be your servant, and whoever exalts himself should be humbled, and whoever humbles himself shall be exalted. This was a theme all throughout the ministry of Jesus. It rings, it rings supreme all throughout his ministry, because the people he ministered to were so arrogant.

They were so prideful, and it's an abomination to God to be arrogant. The arrogant man, according to the book of Proverbs, never goes unpunished. And God despises the pride, the prideful. That's why he exalts those who are humble. He opposes those who are prideful. He gives grace to the humble, not to the arrogant. That's always been the way it is. And so here, Jesus begins to address all these invitees, all these guests, these pharisees, these lawyers, these religious elite people who seem to think that if they sit next to the host, they are the most recognized, the most important person there.

And Jesus says, you're not important at all. Don't seek the chief seats, because what's going to happen in the kingdom, because this is how you think you get into the kingdom, by doing all the good things to get next to the host of heaven. And you're going to get there and realize that someone at the end is going to replace you, and you're going to the outer domain of his kingdom. That's a problem. You've got to humble yourself. And God is that unnamed actor who brings you to a place of humility and brokenness and contrition.

And then he turns to the host, because the host is thinking, well, he's just talking to the guests. This doesn't include me. But he turns to the host and says these words in Luke 14, verse number 12. And he also went on to say to the one who invited him, when you give a luncheon or a dinner, do not invite your friends or your brothers or your relatives or rich neighbors, lest they also invite you in return and repayment come to you. 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.

You see, it's all about the resurrection. It's all about what's going to happen in the kingdom. It's all about people who can't repay you. You see, it's all about reciprocity in their religion. Can I repay you? Can I do for you because you did for me? And if you invite the poor, the lame, the crippled, they can't repay you. They can't deliver the goods for you. They can't in return give to you what you've given to them. That's what happens in the kingdom of God. He came to preach the gospel. He came to preach the gospel to the poor, the imprisoned, the blind, right?

People who have nothing to give in return, because He's going to give it all to them. Give it all to them. They couldn't repay Him. We can't repay Him for what He's done. He has saved us from our sin. He has granted us a place in His kingdom based on who He is, not based on what we are or what we've done. And Jesus says to the host, look, you can invite your friends, your relatives, just don't invite them only, exclusively.

Invite people that can't repay you. You see, they would never do that. They would never do that. Luke 18 says this, verse number one, I'm sorry, verse number nine.

And He also told this parable to certain ones who had trusted in themselves that they were righteous and viewed others with contempt. Two men went up into the temple to pray, one a Pharisee, the other a tax gatherer. The Pharisee stood and was praying thus to himself, God, I thank Thee that I am not like other people. They wouldn't invite the poor, the lame and the crippled. Why? Because they think, God, they weren't like them. Let alone have to associate with them. Swindlers, unjust, adulterers, or even like this tax gatherer.

I fast twice a week. I pay tithes of all that I get. You see, it's all about the appearance. It's all about what other people think. He's trying to earn his way to heaven. He's trying to make God accept him based on his self-righteous standard. So Christ says, look, you got to invite other people.

You just can't invite the rich, the wealthy, those who can repay you, your friends, your relatives. You got to invite the lame, the crippled, the poor, the blind, because they can't repay you. See, this was against their system of religion. They were separatists. They were far from the riffraff of society because they were better than a riffraff. They were, quote, holy. See, they were righteous. They couldn't associate with the low life of society. And Jesus says, you want to be a part of the resurrection of the righteous?

You got to humble yourself. You got to reach out to those who are poor and needy, because that demonstrates a heart of contrition, a heart that's broken, a heart that realizes that what it's doing is not enough. You see, for them, it was all about gaining entry into the kingdom. They knew about the resurrection. John 5 speaks about the resurrection of the righteous unto life, the resurrection of the unrighteous unto death. There is a resurrection for all people. And they knew about the resurrection.

And they knew that in their minds, in the resurrection, they would sit next to the host of heaven. And the more they did and the more they accomplished, the more appearance they would have in glory. And they'd be recognized by all. It's all about recognition. And Jesus says, you know what?

It's not about that. Not about it at all. And they knew that Jesus is talking about the great wedding feast in heaven. They knew that He was talking about the resurrection of the righteous and eternity. They knew that based on what the man says in verse number 15. They all knew that. And Jesus wanted them to understand, your arrogance is not going to get you there. The things you do are not going to get you there. It's not by works of righteousness, which we have done. It's by the washing of regeneration.

It's by the renewal of the spirit of God, right? Nothing we do can get us to heaven. But that's what they believe, see? That's why they had all these Sabbath laws. The law of God was so perfect. It was so hard to keep. They had to generate all these other laws to make the ultimate law in their minds easier to attain. They lowered the standard, see? And Christ says the standard is perfection.

You can't beat it. You need to cry out before me. You need to humble yourself before me. You need to come lowly before me, because those who are humble will be exalted by God. They'll come to the highest place at the table. But those who want to be exalted, they'll be humbled, because God will humble them. And that was the ministry all throughout the New Testament. The very first message that Jesus preached is recorded in Matthew chapter 5.

He said, blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are those who are so poor in spirit, who are so poverty-stricken spiritually. Those are the ones who obtain the kingdom. Blessed are those who mourn over the sin, for they shall be comforted. And he goes to the whole beatitudes of what it means to be a believer in the kingdom of God. Over in James chapter 4, it says the same thing. God resists the proud. He gives grace to the humble. Paul in 1 Timothy 1 would say, this is a trustworthy statement worthy of acceptance, that Christ Jesus came to the world to save sinners, and I'm the worst of all of them.

I'm the worst of all. You see, God wants us to understand that the reason Israel had missed their Messiah is because they had been led down the primrose path of damnation. They'd been led down the wrong road, the road that said heaven, but in reality was going to lead them all to hell. And Jesus says, you need to go through the narrow gate.

And you can't bring all your prideful baggage with you. You've got to leave it all there. And you've got to humble yourself and come before me and seek my grace. You see, that's not where Israel was. And as we get into it next week, you'll see where they were the invited guests to the wedding feast. But those who were invited, not going to make it, Jesus says.

Number one, because they've been abandoned by God. But number two, because they give all these excuses, excuses after excuses, after excuses.

And Jesus says, listen, get humble yourself. And the bottom line for us is to realize that, you know, in the kingdom of God, it's all about crying out for mercy. Like the tax gatherer in Luke 18, beating upon his breast, saying, Lord, be merciful and give me a sinner. These Pharisees were so arrogant, so prideful, they would never get to heaven because they would never humble themselves to invite the needy, the poor, to demonstrate a heart of contrition. To this man, when I look, God says, to him is broken and of a contrite spirit who trembles at my word.

That's the kind of man I'm looking for. The Pharisees didn't fall in that category. How about you? Where do you fall? Have you come to God broken over your sin? Have you come to God humbly seeking his face, knowing that what you have to offer, you're not going to make it. You can't get to heaven on your own merit. It's all by the grace of almighty God. Let me pray with you.

Father, I thank you for this great and glorious day. The opportunity we have to study your word as brief as it may be. And our prayer, Lord, is that you would take this word and entrench it into our hearts and minds, that we would be the kind of people you want us to be for your glory and honor. Save those who are here among us who do not know you. They might experience the saving grace of almighty God. We pray in Jesus name. Amen.