Dinner Under Discipline
Read: Luke 14:1-24
One Sabbath, when he went to dine at the house of a ruler of the Pharisees, they were watching him carefully. 2 And behold, there was a man before him who had dropsy. 3 And Jesus responded to the lawyers and Pharisees, saying, “Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath, or not?” 4 But they remained silent. Then he took him and healed him and sent him away. 5 And he said to them, “Which of you, having a son or an ox that has fallen into a well on a Sabbath day, will not immediately pull him out?” 6 And they could not reply to these things. 7 Now he told a parable to those who were invited, when he noticed how they chose the places of honor, saying to them, 8 “When you are invited by someone to a wedding feast, do not sit down in a place of honor, lest someone more distinguished than you be invited by him, 9 and he who invited you both will come and say to you, ‘Give your place to this person,’ and then you will begin with shame to take the lowest place. 10 But when you are invited, go and sit in the lowest place, so that when your host comes he may say to you, ‘Friend, move up higher.’ Then you will be honored in the presence of all who sit at table with you. 11 For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted.” 12 He said also to the man who had invited him, “When you give a dinner or a banquet, do not invite your friends or your brothers or your relatives or rich neighbors, lest they also invite you in return and you be repaid. 13 But when you give a feast, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind, 14 and you will be blessed, because they cannot repay you. For you will be repaid at the resurrection of the just.” 15 When one of those who reclined at table with him heard these things, he said to him, “Blessed is everyone who will eat bread in the kingdom of God!” 16 But he said to him, “A man once gave a great banquet and invited many. 17 And at the time for the banquet he sent his servant to say to those who had been invited, ‘Come, for everything is now ready.’ 18 But they all alike began to make excuses. The first said to him, ‘I have bought a field, and I must go out and see it. Please have me excused.’ 19 And another said, ‘I have bought five yoke of oxen, and I go to examine them. Please have me excused.’ 20 And another said, ‘I have married a wife, and therefore I cannot come.’ 21 So the servant came and reported these things to his master. Then the master of the house became angry and said to his servant, ‘Go out quickly to the streets and lanes of the city, and bring in the poor and crippled and blind and lame.’ 22 And the servant said, ‘Sir, what you commanded has been done, and still there is room.’ 23 And the master said to the servant, ‘Go out to the highways and hedges and compel people to come in, that my house may be filled. 24 For I tell you,[d] none of those men who were invited shall taste my banquet.’”
“Why don’t you just stop being a jerk?” Dr. David Boyd swiveled in his chair to face me across his cluttered desk. It was probably the fifth time I had been in his office that week. Dr. Boyd, a PhD in Mathematics and Computer Science, was a strong Christian and a long-time family friend. His windowless office was lit by two large 1990s computer screens, and the faint sound of classical music played from a small, tinny radio.
What prompted this outburst? As an 18-year-old, I had dropped by under the pretense of asking a question about an assignment, but quickly began complaining about the campus IT staff restricting my network access. I insisted I was only “exploring the edges”—testing what was possible. When I figured out how to access other students’ private emails and files, I didn’t actually read them. I saw myself as a benevolent white-hat hacker.
“You’re making their jobs harder,” Dr. Boyd continued, “and it’s not your place to test security.” I hadn’t expected that. Dr. Boyd was usually quick with a joke or baseball reference, though known for being gruff at times. But this was different—a rare, direct rebuke. His straightforwardness, though, was an act of kindness. He knew I needed to hear it; he risked that I was willing to listen.
In Luke 14, the Pharisee leader invited Jesus to a Sabbath meal—and what a meal it became! As the evening unfolded, Jesus healed, taught, and challenged his hosts. Despite the opportunity to end the meal, the Pharisee leader chose to keep listening, sitting under Jesus’ teaching. Jesus turned the entire evening into a lesson, using everything from the guests to the seating arrangements to the food as teaching moments.
A Sick man exposed their Man-made Traditions: Jesus healed him in a way that defied their customs, challenging their rigid interpretations of the law. The man may not have been invited by the host, but Jesus welcomed him. And he freed the listening Pharisees from restrictions of man to the joyful freedom of God’s design.
Their Seating revealed their Pride: Jesus pointed out how they sought places of honor, urging them instead to choose the worst seats and consciously seek humility.
Their Hospitality showed their Strategies: Jesus taught them not to just invite friends and family who could repay the favor, but to extend kindness to those who couldn’t, assuring them that God would reward their generosity.
Jesus kept warning ahead kept discipling — on and on — speaking to their hopes of payback, their sense of risk, and their surprise at who would be in God’s kingdom. One eventful evening full of warning, and full of mercy.
Back in my college days, Dr. Boyd’s single warning had a lasting impact on me. His open door and our frequent conversations about programming became a backdrop for this necessary correction. What I didn’t know was that the campus staff had been in touch with Dr. Boyd about my activities, and he had spoken to them about my character, assuring them I was trustworthy and not malicious. And in that conversation about being a jerk, he gave me a warning I didn’t realize I needed.
We need time with Jesus, to hear from him. Not a tidbit here and there. Not only the warmth of friendship, but the challenge to grow. We all have a lot to learn. Are you willing to be under the discipline of Jesus?
Jesus, be my authority and teacher. Spend time with me, as I draw close to spend time with you. Use the time together, as I read your words, Jesus, to teach, and warn, and surprise, and correct me. Let me be under your discipline to my very roots. Use your people to warn me and help me to listen. And let me walk in your footsteps of warning, warning others, and bringing them back to listen more closely to you.
