And you will be blessed, because they cannot repay you; for you shall be repaid at the resurrection of the just

 

 Then He also said to him who invited Him, "When you give a dinner or a supper, do not ask your friends, your brothers, your relatives, nor rich neighbors, lest they also invite you back, and you be repaid.  But when you give a feast, invite the poor, the maimed, the lame, the blind.  And you will be blessed, because they cannot repay you; for you shall be repaid at the resurrection of the just."

Now when one of those who sat at the table with Him heard these things, he said to Him, "Blessed is he who shall eat bread in the kingdom of God!"  

 

Then He said to him, "A certain man gave a great supper and invited many, and sent his servant at supper time to say to those who were invited, 'Come, for all things are now ready.'  But they all with one accord began to make excuses.  The first said to him, 'I have bought a piece of ground, and I must go and see it.  I ask you to have me excused.'  And another said, 'I have bought five yoke of oxen, and I am going to test them.  I ask you to have me excused.'  Still another said, 'I have married a wife, and therefore I cannot come.'  

 

"So that servant came and reported these things to his master.  Then the master of the house, being angry, said to his servant, 'Go out quickly into the streets and lanes of the city, and bring in here the poor and the maimed and the lame and the blind.'  And the servant said, 'Master, it is done as you commanded, and still there is room.'  Then the master said to the servant, 'Go out into the highways and hedges, and compel them to come in, that my house may be filled.  For I say to you that none of those men who were invited shall taste my supper.'"

 

- Luke 14:12-24 

 

On Saturday, we read that it happened, as Jesus went into the house of one of the rulers of the Pharisees to eat bread on the Sabbath, that they watched Him closely.  And behold, there was a certain man before Him who had dropsy.  And Jesus, answering, spoke to the lawyers and Pharisees, saying, "Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath?"  But they kept silent.  And He took him and healed him, and let him go.  Then He answered them, saying, "Which of you, having a donkey or an ox that has fallen into a pit, will not immediately pull him out on the Sabbath day?"  And they could not answer Him regarding these things.  So He told a parable to those who were invited, when He noted how they chose the best places, saying to them:  "When you are invited by anyone to a wedding feast, do not sit down in the best place, lest one more honorable than you be invited by him; and he who invited you and him come and say to you, 'Give place to this man,' and then you begin with shame to take the lowest place.  But when you are invited, go and sit down in the lowest place, so that when he who invited you comes he may say to you, 'Friend, go up higher.'  Then you will have glory in the presence of those who sit at the table with you.  For whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted."

 

 Then He also said to him who invited Him, "When you give a dinner or a supper, do not ask your friends, your brothers, your relatives, nor rich neighbors, lest they also invite you back, and you be repaid.  But when you give a feast, invite the poor, the maimed, the lame, the blind.  And you will be blessed, because they cannot repay you; for you shall be repaid at the resurrection of the just."  My study Bible comments that this instruction is based on the manner in which God treats us, although not one of us could possibly repay God (see Luke 6:30-36).  Regarding Christ's words, "you shall be repaid," see Luke 10:34-35.

 

 Now when one of those who sat at the table with Him heard these things, he said to Him, "Blessed is he who shall eat bread in the kingdom of God!"  My study Bible comments that this man unwittingly declares the ultimate beatitude.  The truth in his words can come only through an understanding of the bread to be eternal communion with God.  

Then He said to him, "A certain man gave a great supper and invited many, and sent his servant at supper time to say to those who were invited, 'Come, for all things are now ready.'"  Here Jesus begins a parable which operates on two levels.  My study Bible says that these two levels illustrate both the fist and second coming of Christ.  He is the servant who's sent to gather many.  Supper is an indication that it is evening; in other words, the end of the age.  The people who are first invited are the Jews, then all humankind. 

 

"But they all with one accord began to make excuses.  The first said to him, 'I have bought a piece of ground, and I must go and see it.  I ask you to have me excused.'  And another said, 'I have bought five yoke of oxen, and I am going to test them.  I ask you to have me excused.'  Still another said, 'I have married a wife, and therefore I cannot come.'"  My study Bible explains that in patristic commentary these three excuses are seen as having both a literal and spiritual meaning.  The literal meaning is that many are too attached to worldly cares to accept the Kingdom of God (Luke 8:14, 14:26, 18:29).  St. Ambrose, it says, sees the three excuses of I cannot come as representing Gentiles, Jews, and heretics.  The Gentile is devoted to earthly wealth represented by the piece of ground, the Jew's enslavement to the five books of the Law by the five yoke of oxen, and the heretic's espousal of error by the man refusing on account of his wife.  Theophylact, however, more generally associates these excuses with people devoted to earthly concerns, to things which pertain to the five sense, and to all the pleasures of the flesh.  

"So that servant came and reported these things to his master.  Then the master of the house, being angry, said to his servant, 'Go out quickly into the streets and lanes of the city, and bring in here the poor and the maimed and the lame and the blind.'  And the servant said, 'Master, it is done as you commanded, and still there is room.'  Then the master said to the servant, 'Go out into the highways and hedges, and compel them to come in, that my house may be filled.  For I say to you that none of those men who were invited shall taste my supper.'"   Here my study Bible comments that those in the streets and lanes indicate first, the Gentiles who accepted Christ after the faithless Jews rejected Him, and second, those outside the Church replacing those within who have rejected their own baptism.  The apostles would be sent out into the streets and lanes and highways and hedges of all the world, to preach the gospel. and their successors continue.

 

On Saturday, we read the first part of Christ's teaching to the people who sat at table with Him in the home of one of the rulers of the Pharisees.  In it, He taught about humility, and the need for a guest to display humility.  In the first part of today's reading, He continues by addressing His teaching to hosts:  "When you give a dinner or a supper, do not ask your friends, your brothers, your relatives, nor rich neighbors, lest they also invite you back, and you be repaid.  But when you give a feast, invite the poor, the maimed, the lame, the blind.  And you will be blessed, because they cannot repay you; for you shall be repaid at the resurrection of the just."  This parable also teaches us about humility, but in a different sense.  He asks those who are in a position to host others to consider condescension -- not in the colloquial way we have of speaking that renders condescension an act of smug superiority, but in the sense that to be gracious is the highest and best prerogative of those in a position to host others.  That is, those with wealth and position enough to do so.  In the West, we are mostly affluent enough so that inviting others to a dinner or supper is common; nor is it required of us to be an ostentatious occasion.  But nevertheless, Christ's teaching applies to all of us.   Just imagine, instead of inviting people we hope to receive something back from, we invite those who have no way to repay us.  Jesus teaches these impressive guests at the dinner in the ruler's house to invite the poor, the maimed, the lame, the blind.  These are people who don't have much status to offer in return to those who invite them to their table as guests.  These are the people who, in Christ's time. would certainly find it difficult to earn much wealth or status in the society.  But Jesus gives a deeper hint here of an important principle that is more than our conventional understanding of laudable acts of charity.  Jesus is teaching us a principle that hooks us in to even the mysteries of the Cross, and one that plays a role in each of our lives and where we will spend an eternity at the resurrection of the just.  In this teaching, He gives us a mystery of what it is to sacrifice; that is, to give something up for the sake of the kingdom of God, and for love of the Lord.  In essence, He's teaching us that this is a kind of investment, something that is stored in "money bags which do not grow old, a treasure in the heavens that does not fail, where no thief approaches nor moth destroys" (Luke 12:33).  This is what the Cross is all about, it is the deepest mystery of how we can give something for the Kingdom and reap what God gives us in return, and in this sense we will be blessed in the depth of that mystery.  For we are all meant to take up our own crosses in following Him, and each has a harvest of repayment in ways we don't know and cannot foresee.  This is how we put our heart in the place it needs to be:  "For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also" (Luke 12:34).  St. Chrysostom taught a lot about understanding our wealth as that which also belongs, in God's sight, in the stomachs of the poor, giving thought to more than what we can acquire purely for ourselves.  It's God's logic to find our treasure where God's blessedness is for us, in the places where we follow Christ's word first.  This is how we will eat bread in the kingdom of God.