Wisdom Wednesday: Wisdom of the Parables Part 3
Submitted by Debbie’s Dad
The Disabled People at the Big Dinner
When one of those who were reclining at the table with Him heard this, he said to Him, “Blessed is everyone who will eat bread in the kingdom of God!” But He said to him, “A man was giving a big dinner, and he invited many; and at the dinner hour he sent his slave to say to those who had been invited, ‘Come; for everything is ready now.’ But they all alike began to make excuses. The first one said to him, ‘I have bought a piece of land and I need to go out and look at it; please consider me excused.’ Another one said, ‘I have bought five yoke of oxen, and I am going to try them out; please consider me excused.’ Another one said, ‘I have married a wife, and for that reason I cannot come.’ And the slave came back and reported this to his master. Then the head of the household became angry and said to his slave, ‘Go out at once into the streets and lanes of the city and bring in here the poor and crippled and blind and lame.’ And the slave said, ‘Master, what you commanded has been done, and still there is room.’ And the master said to the slave, ‘Go out into the highways and along the hedges, and compel them to come in, so that my house may be filled. For I tell you, none of those men who were invited shall taste of my dinner.’ ” (Luke 14:15–24) NASB 95
This week, we look at another parable where Jesus included disabled people in His illustrative story to convey a spiritual truth. We will view this story. Like last week, from the perspective of a disabled person. So, we will name the parable from the perspective of the disabled person. Today, we look at the parable of “The Disabled People at the Big Dinner”.
The day of the parable was a controversial one – Jesus was attending a dinner at the house of a religious leader, and other religious leaders where they’re watching him to find something to accuse him of disobedience to the religious law on the Sabbath. Right there, Jesus healed a disabled man (with “dropsy” – a disease called edema where the body retains water, causing swelling in the limbs and abdomen, limiting the ability to move). Jesus asked if it was wrong to heal on the Sabbath, but His accusers remained silent. (14:3-6).
Then, the immediate context of this parable is Jesus responding to a man’s comment about how blessed a person is who participates in the Kingdom of God. (Jesus spoke widely about the Kingdom of God. See just the references preceding chapter 14 in this Gospel – Luke 4:43; 6:20; 7:28;8:1,10; 9:2,11,27,60,62; 10:9,11; 11:20; 13:18,20,28-29.)
Responding to this comment about God’s Kingdom, He told a story about the dinner in the Kingdom of God. The story line – and the analogy is straightforward:
- A man who was head of a household was giving a big dinner, and he invited many. – The kingdom of God is offered to many, and the Jewish religious leaders were the first to be invited. They had the truth of God’s Word and His ways.
- At the dinner hour, he sent a message to those who had been invited. – Jesus came at the “dinner hour,” proclaiming the Kingdom of God is at hand.
- But they all alike began to make excuses. – The religious leaders rejected Jesus’ invitation because of excuses that amount to a preference for things of the world, rather than the eternal kingdom.
- The man then turned to the streets and lanes of the city to invite the poor and crippled and blind and lame. – Being rejected by the self-confident religious leaders, the head of the household brought in the religious outcasts. Jesus represented, here, in His story the poor and crippled and blind and lame as those who were very aware of their low position, spiritually in need, and eager to accept the invitation to come to the dinner.
It is worth noting that in Matthew’s gospel, these categories of disabled people were also distinguished when Jesus was healing large numbers in Galilee, earlier in His ministry:
And large crowds came to Him, bringing with them those who were lame, crippled, blind, mute, and many others, and they laid them down at His feet; and He healed them. So the crowd marveled as they saw the mute speaking, the crippled restored, and the lame walking, and the blind seeing; and they glorified the God of Israel. (Matthew 15:30–31)
Of course, Jesus used the “poor and crippled and blind and lame”, or the varied situations of disabled people, to represent the varied spiritual states of those who were not self-conflict in self-righteousness.
The head of the household turned to bless the poor in spirit, those who mourn, the gentle, those who thirst after righteousness… (See Jesus’ message in Matt. 5:3-11).
Yes, disabilities often bring a lowly spirit, sadness for physical abilities lost, the humility of being in an embarrassing condition, and meekness. Jesus deeply understood the condition of the disabled. He healed them to demonstrate God’s power and His authority as Messiah.
Jesus saw the physical as well as the spiritual needs of people and had compassion for both. One is the condition of the body, the other is the condition of the heart. He used the physically disabled and needy to illustrate the spiritually disabled and needy.
Joni Eareckson Tada, the well-known disabled woman who leads the ministry, Joni and Friends, once commented on her desire to be physically healed, like the man Jesus healed at the Pool of Bethesda recorded in John chapter 5. She said:
For years I pictured myself as one of those disabled people, hoping Jesus wouldn’t pass me by. Then, in 1998, my husband and I visited Israel. When we journeyed the ruins of the Pool of Bethesda, I recalled the years my mind wandered to that place in prayer. With the warm breeze drying my tears, I realized God had touched me; He had healed me where it really counted. Jesus hadn’t passed me by. [Discipleship Journal, Intervarsity Press, Issue 137, 2003, p.39]
Jesus understood our physical and spiritual needs. He used the obvious needs of physical disability of the body to illustrate our His care for our spiritual needs of the heart.
