Before Jesus preached his Sermon on the Mount, large crowds streamed to him:
Jesus went throughout Galilee, teaching in their synagogues, proclaiming the good news of the kingdom, and healing every disease and sickness among the people. News about him spread all over Syria, and people brought to him all who were ill with various diseases, those suffering severe pain, the demon-possessed, those having seizures, and the paralyzed; and he healed them. Large crowds from Galilee, the Decapolis, Jerusalem, Judea and the region across the Jordan followed him. Matthew 4:23-25 NIV
Large crowds sometimes turn into a rabble. Though many in the crowds following Jesus were in distress, they weren’t rabble. The Oxford Language Dictionary defines rabble as “a disorderly crowd; a mob”. The crowds in Matthew 4 were not agitating for changes in official policies but were disadvantaged people hoping for physical and spiritual healing for themselves or a loved one. Jesus welcomed them with grace and followed up with the Words of Life.
Later in his ministry, Jesus described differing responses to two banquet invitations. In Matthew 22:1-14 he told a parable of a banquet given by a king for his son’s wedding. In Luke 14:15-24 a banquet was prepared by a “certain man”. In both cases, initial invitations were issued to well off guests who ignored them or declined because they had better things to do. In the Matthew story, some initial invitees even killed servants bearing the invitations. Both the king and the “certain man” become angry/enraged at these snubs. They then ordered their servants to abandon the original invitees, scour the countryside and bring in outcasts.
Then the master told his servant, ‘Go out to the roads and country lanes and compel them (the poor, the crippled, the blind and the lame) to come in, so that my house will be full. Luke 14:23 NIV
Our Father in Heaven aims for a full house to celebrate his kingdom ways and share the glory of his future kingdom. His invitations can appear optional to the rich, strong, wise and beautiful but are most often welcomed and celebrated as necessary by the desperate.
… “God opposes the proud
but shows favor to the humble.” James 4:6 NIV
Our Father does not beg the mighty of this world to join him if they turn away from him and select outwardly superior alternatives. According to the two parables, when the glamorous crowd chooses to hang out elsewhere, God dramatically expands his invitations to outcasts.
A friend involved in an evangelistic outreach targeting top world leaders and high-profile Christians once informed me that “the Biggies (high-profile Christians) don’t go to church”. Take a look at the private chapel of King Louis XIV of France. Similar private chapels were designed for many other European monarchs.
Why have the highly esteemed found these extravagant, exclusive places of worship necessary? What can lead those elevated in worldly status to restrict their exposure to the disadvantaged?
As you review the Sermon on the Mount, what portion most encourages you to notice, interact with, and invite the disadvantaged to share in the banquet of God’s kingdom?
by Kathleen Petersen
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