Pride makes for a wild wandering and wilting of personal character

It's so neat to read a passage that fascinates you, helping you find yourself afresh as it reminds you of where you need to live in your life experience. This passage in Ezekiel has served as a fresh reminder of how pride can precipitate ruin in the best of us. Ezekiel provides a parable, giving a window into God's dealings with Israel and their response to his dealing with them.
Ruin in our lives is easily averted if we but remember afresh our humble beginnings.
Israel forgot its common birth. It was born of Canaanite beginnings, spiritually it seems here.
"your [spiritual] father was an Amorite and your [spiritual] mother a Hittite. [Ezekiel 16:45; John 8:44] AMP
God as it were soaked, swaddled, and sprung Israel into a thriving nation, breeding, bearing, and buoying her when others treated her with contempt rather than with compassion.
God covenanted with her promising seed, nation, blessing to all [Genesis 12:1, 15]
He prospered her exponentially, protecting her in her pouring over in blessing to the nations; yet in her bounty, her reliance on God was shrouded in self-reliance as she spat in the face of her Source.
V.15 says her renown made for self-reliance, which showed itself in spiritual unfaithfulness.
Israel made other gods to herself, making hers the hedonism, harlotry, and even child sacrifice practices of her neighboring nations. Her children were made to pass through the fire of her many places of worship, strewn through a nation, whose God was supposedly, Yahweh "at every crossway you built you high place" [for idol worship] v.25
It was just a matter of time before Israel would force God's hand into acting in way consistent with his place as Just Father-the very hand that created them would now be against them with heart to remedy their ruinous straying from the way right and good. They were faithful to the wrong gods.
v. 33 tells Israel's love of evil was such that they did wrong for the love of doing wrong-they did wrong for the fun of it, not even for pay.
"How weak and spent with longing and lust is your heart and mind, says the Lord God, seeing you do all these things, the work of a bold, domineering harlot," v.30 AMP
God, in his love, was committed righting Israel in her wrongdoing. For his part, he'd take pains to be no more quiet or angry toward Israel-his loving roe.
"Because you have not [earnestly] remembered the days of your youth but have enraged Me with all these things, therefore behold, I also will bring your deeds down on your own head, says the Lord God." v.43 AMP
Sodom's erring ways were nothing compared to Israel's unfaithful meandering away from their faithful One v.49.
Samaria committed not as much as half Israel's sins v.51.
Her trust in her beauty made for her-blessed-becoming an abomination to those near her. She was wholly unsatiable (wanting more, without fill) in her sin-never satisfied till she did more of what beckoned judgment, not blessing.
God had to act in a way consistent with his love for her.
v.52 "Take upon you and bear your own shame and disgrace [in your punishment]," v.52
"Yes, be ashamed and confounded and bear your shame and disgrace,"
The God, who acted in concert with the need of his people allowed her to experience the end of her ways yet promised restoration as his heart is always the good of his people. The very shame he allowed was meant to convert her, making for consolation and comfort to be felt beyond her borders. v.54
Though he deals with us as we've done, he doesn't give us what we deserve, for he is a pitying Father, who knows still we are his. Ps. 112.
His commitment was always to forgive all they'd done; he took pains to uncover their evil. His heart through their winding detour was to realign and renew their minds so that they'd once more be on course to faithful reliance on him to better mirror and live changed by his beauty.
May we see the precancerous development of pride in our lives before it precipitates personal loss by our relying on God. May the roaming costs of displeasing God keep us from wandering again from him.

16:1-58 In this chapter God's dealings with the Jewish nation, and their conduct towards him, are described, and their punishment through the surrounding nations, even those they most trusted in. This is done under the parable of an exposed infant rescued from death, educated, espoused, and richly provided for, but afterwards guilty of the most abandoned conduct, and punished for it; yet at last received into favour, and ashamed of her base conduct. We are not to judge of these expressions by modern ideas, but by those of the times and places in which they were used, where many of them would not sound as they do to us. The design was to raise hatred to idolatry, and such a parable was well suited for that purpose. Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary
 

Happy and changed are those, uncontaminated (by sin's lure)-their single (focused, unstained) eyes will see God.

6. The pure in heart are happy; for they shall see God. Here holiness and happiness are fully described and put together. The heart must be purified by faith, and kept for God. Create in me such a clean heart, O God. None but the pure are capable of seeing God, nor would heaven be happiness to the impure. As God cannot endure to look upon their iniquity, so they cannot look upon his purity. Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary

Those who are pure in heart, and care not for such sights as lead men into sin, are unconsciously preparing themselves for the great spiritual sight - the beatific vision (Revelation 22:4; cf. 1 John 3:2). In Hebrews 12:14 holiness (ἁγιασμός) is an indispensable quality for such a vision of "the Lord."  Pulpit Commentary

Blessed are the pure in heart,.... Not in the head; for men may have pure notions and impure hearts; not in the hand, or action, or in outward conversation only; so the Pharisees were outwardly righteous before men, but inwardly full of impurity; but "in heart"....
they most earnestly desire after more purity of heart, lip, life, and conversation. And happy they are, for they shall see God; in this life, enjoying communion with him, both in private and public, in the several duties of religion, in the house and ordinances of God; where they often behold his beauty, see his power and his glory, and taste, and know, that he is good and gracious: and in the other world, where they shall see God in Christ, with the eyes of their understanding; and God incarnate, with the eyes of their bodies, after the resurrection; which sight of Christ, and God in Christ, will be unspeakably glorious, desirable, delightful, and satisfying; it will be free from all darkness and error, and from all interruption; it will be an appropriating and transforming one, and will last for ever. Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible

This heart purity begins in a "heart sprinkled from an evil conscience," or a "conscience purged from dead works" (Heb 10:22; 9:14; and see Ac 15:9); and this also is taught in the Old Testament (Ps 32:1, 2; compare Ro 4:5-8; Isa 6:5-8). The conscience thus purged—the heart thus sprinkled—there is light within wherewith to see God. "If we say that we have fellowship with Him, and walk in darkness, we lie, and do not the truth: but if we walk in the light, as He is in the light, we have fellowship one with the other"—He with us and we with Him—"and the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanseth us"—us who have this fellowship, and who, without such continual cleansing, would soon lose it again—"from all sin" (1Jo 1:6, 7). "Whosoever sinneth hath not seen Him, neither known Him" (1Jo 3:6); "He that doeth evil hath not seen God" (3Jo 11). The inward vision thus clarified, and the whole inner man in sympathy with God, each looks upon the other with complacency and joy, and we are "changed into the same image from glory to glory." But the full and beatific vision of God is reserved for that time to which the Psalmist stretches his views—"As for me, I shall behold Thy face in righteousness: I shall be satisfied, when I awake, with Thy likeness" (Ps 17:15). Then shall His servants serve Him: and they shall see His face; and His name shall be in their foreheads (Re 22:3, 4). They shall see Him as He is (1Jo 3:2). But, says the apostle, expressing the converse of this beatitude—"Follow holiness, without which no man shall see the Lord" (Heb 12:14). Jameison Fausset Brown Bible Commentary

katharos: clean (adjective)

Original Word: καθαρός, ά, όν
Part of Speech: Adjective
Transliteration: katharos
Phonetic Spelling: (kath-ar-os')
Short Definition: clean, pure, unstained
Definition: clean, pure, unstained, either literally or ceremonially or spiritually; guiltless, innocent, upright.

HELPS Word-studies

2513 katharós (a primitive word) – properly, "without admixture" (BAGD); what is separated (purged), hence "clean" (pure) because unmixed (without undesirable elements); (figuratively) spiritually clean because purged (purified by God), i.e. free from the contaminating (soiling) influences of sin. Strong's Concordance

Happy and changed are those, uncontaminated (by sin's lure)-their single (focused) eyes will see God.



 

The merciful won't be miserable

They who are pitiful towards men their brethren are ipso facto the objects of the divine pity. The negative aspect of the same truth is presented in James 2:13. In this case, the promised blessing tends to perpetuate and strengthen the grace which is thus rewarded. No motive to mercy is so constraining as the feeling that we ourselves needed it and have found it. Ellicot's Commentary for English Readers

For this reason he had to be made like them, fully human in every way, in order that he might become a merciful and faithful high priest in service to God, and that he might make atonement for the sins of the people. Hebrews 2:17 NIV

This Beatitude states a self-acting law of the moral world. The exercise of mercy (ἔλεος, active pity) tends to elicit mercy from others—God and men. The chief reference may be to the mercy of God in the final awards of the kingdom, but the application need not be restricted to this....Mercy is an element in true righteousness (Micah 6:8). It was lacking in Pharisaic righteousness (Matthew 23:23). It needed much to be inculcated in Christ’s time, when sympathy was killed by the theory that all suffering was penalty of special sin, a theory which fostered a pitiless type of righteousness (Schanz). Mercy may be practised by many means; “not by money alone,” says Euthy. Zig., “but by word, and if you have nothing, by tears” (διὰ δακρύων). Expositor's Greek Testament

This principle in the divine Government that men shall be dealt with as they deal with their fellow-men is taught in the parable of the Unmerciful Servant, ch. 18, and underlies the fifth petition in the Lord’s Prayer, ch. Matthew 6:12. Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges

 (1) in a good sense, zeal towards any one, love, kindness, specially (a) of men amongst themselves, benignity, benevolence, as shown in mutual benefits; mercy, pity, when referring to those in misfortune: Genesis 21:23; 2 Samuel 10:2. LXX. often ἔλεος.—GESENIUS.—(I. B.) Bengel's Gnomen

The merciful are happy. We must not only bear our own afflictions patiently, but we must do all we can to help those who are in misery. We must have compassion on the souls of others, and help them; pity those who are in sin, and seek to snatch them as brands out of the burning. Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary

Mercy (ἔλεος)
The word emphasizes the misery with which grace (see on Luke 1:30) deals; hence, peculiarly the sense of human wretchedness coupled with the impulse to relieve it, which issues in gracious ministry. Bengel remarks, "Grace takes away the fault, mercy the misery." Vincent's Word Studies

Happy and buoyant are the merciful, for they ease the misery of others by their show of compassion.


 

Happy are the spiritually hungry; they'll be replete with their wholesome craving

Matthew 5:6. Blessed are they which hunger and thirst after righteousness — That, instead of desiring the possessions of others, and endeavouring to obtain them by violence or deceit; and instead of coveting this world’s goods, sincerely, earnestly, and perseveringly desire universal holiness of heart and life, or deliverance from all sinful dispositions and practices, and a complete restoration of their souls to the image of God in which they were created: a just and beautiful description this of that fervent, constant, increasing, restless, and active desire; of that holy ardour and vehemence of soul in pursuit of the most eminent degrees of universal goodness which will end in complete satisfaction: For they shall be filled — Shall obtain the righteousness which they hunger and thirst for, and be abundantly satisfied therewith. Benson Commentary

Those who hunger and thirst after righteousness are happy. Righteousness is here put for all spiritual blessings. Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary

Blessed are they which do hunger ... - Hunger and thirst, here, are expressive of strong desire. Nothing would better express the strong desire which we ought to feel to obtain righteousness than hunger and thirst. No needs are so keen, none so imperiously demand supply, as these. They occur daily, and when long continued, as in case of those shipwrecked, and doomed to wander months or years over burning sands, with scarcely any drink or food, nothing is more distressing. An ardent desire for anything is often represented in the Scriptures by hunger and thirst, Psalm 42:1-2; Psalm 63:1-2. A desire for the blessings of pardon and peace; a deep sense of sin, and want, and wretchedness, is also represented by thirsting, Isaiah 55:1-2. They shall be filled - They shall be satisfied as a hungry man is when supplied with food, or a thirsty man when supplied with drink. Those who are perishing for want of righteousness; those who feel that they are lost sinners and strongly desire to be holy, shall be thus satisfied. Never was there a desire to be holy which God was not willing to gratify, and the gospel of Christ has made provision to satisfy all who truly desire to be holy. See Isaiah 55:1-3; Isaiah 65:13; John 4:14; John 6:35; John 7:37-38; Psalm 17:15. Barnes Notes on the Bible

Lutheran expositors, and some of our own, seem to have a hankering after that more restricted sense of the term [righteousness] in which it is used with reference to the sinner's justification before God. (See Jer 23:6; Isa 45:24; Ro 4:6; 2Co 5:21). But, in so comprehensive a saying as this, it is clearly to be taken—as in Mt 5:10 also—in a much wider sense, as denoting that spiritual and entire conformity to the law of God, under the want of which the saints groan, and the possession of which constitutes the only true saintship. The Old Testament dwells much on this righteousness, as that which alone God regards with approbation (Ps 11:7; 23:3; 106:3; Pr 12:28; 16:31; Isa 64:5, &c.). As hunger and thirst are the keenest of our appetites, our Lord, by employing this figure here, plainly means "those whose deepest cravings are after spiritual blessings." And in the Old Testament we find this craving variously expressed: "Hearken unto Me, ye that follow after righteousness, ye that seek the Lord" (Isa 51:1); "I have waited for Thy salvation, O Lord," exclaimed dying Jacob (Ge 49:18); "My soul," says the sweet Psalmist, "breaketh for the longing that it hath unto Thy judgments at all times" (Ps 119:20): and in similar breathings does he give vent to his deepest longings in that and other Psalms. Well, our Lord just takes up here—this blessed frame of mind, representing it as—the surest pledge of the coveted supplies, as it is the best preparative, and indeed itself the beginning of them. "They shall be saturated," He says; they shall not only have what they so highly value and long to possess, but they shall have their fill of it. Not here, however. Even in the Old Testament this was well understood. "Deliver me," says the Psalmist, in language which, beyond all doubt, stretches beyond the present scene, "from men of the world, which have their portion in this life: as for me, I shall behold Thy face in righteousness: I shall be satisfied, when I awake, with Thy likeness" (Ps 17:13-15).

The foregoing beatitudes—the first four—represent the saints rather as conscious of their need of salvation, and acting suitably to that character, than as possessed of it. The next three are of a different kind—representing the saints as having now found salvation, and conducting themselves accordingly. Jameison-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary

Shall be filled (χορτασθήσονται)
A very strong and graphic word, originally applied to the feeding and fattening of animals in a stall. In Revelation 19:21, it is used of the filling of the birds with the flesh of God's enemies. Also of the multitudes fed with the loaves and fishes (Matthew 14:20; Mark 8:8; Luke 9:17). It is manifestly appropriate here as expressing the complete satisfaction of spiritual hunger and thirst. Hence Wycliffe's rendering, fulfilled, is strictly true to the original. Vincent's Word Studies

You see many men and women hungering and thirsting after sensual satisfactions, or after sensible enjoyments; these are unhappy, miserable men, they often hunger and thirst, and are not satisfied: but I will show you a more excellent way, a more excellent object of your hunger and thirst, that is, righteousness; both a righteousness wherein you may stand before God, which is in me, Jeremiah 23:6, and is revealed from faith to faith, Romans 1:17, and the righteousness of a holy life. Those are blessed men, who first seek the kingdom of heaven, and the righteousness thereof, God will fill these men with what they desire, Isaiah 55:1,2 Lu 1:53. There are some who understand this text of a hungering after the clearing of their innocency towards men, which is natural to just and innocent persons falsely accused and traduced, and they have a promise of being filled, Psalm 37:6; but I see no reason to conclude this the sense of this text. Matthew Poole's Commentary

They are designated as such whose “great earnestness, desire, and fervour” (Luther) are directed towards a moral constitution free from guilt. Luther, besides, strikingly draws attention to this, that before all these portions of the beatitudes, “faith must first be there as the tree and headpiece or sum” of righteousness. Meyer's NT Commentary

6. This longing for righteousness is God’s gift to the meek. Cambridge Bible for Colleges and Schools

The hunger whose satisfaction is sure is that which contains its own satisfaction. It is the hunger for moral good. The passion for righteousness is righteousness in the deepest sense of the word.—πεινῶντες καὶ διψῶντες. These verbs, like all verbs of desire, ordinarily take the genitive of the object. Here and in other places in N. T. they take the accusative, the object being of a spiritual nature, which one not merely desires to participate in, but to possess in whole. Expositor's Greek New Testament

This was the meat of Jesus himself: see John 4:34; cf. Matthew 3:15. This satisfying fulness He proposes to His followers in the whole of this sermon, and promises and offers them in this very verse. Bengel's Gnomen

The application of the figure of eating and drinking to spiritual things (cf. Luke 22:30) is not infrequent in the Old Testament; e.g. Isaiah 55:1. Yet the thought here is not the actual participation, but the craving. The Benediction marks a distinct stage in our Lord's argument. He spoke first of the consciously poor in their spirit; next of those who mourned over their poverty; then of those who were ready to receive whatever teaching or chastisement might be given them; here of those who had an earnest longing for that right relation to God in which they were so lacking. This is the positive stage. Intense longing, such as can only be compared to that of a starving man for food, is sure of satisfaction. Pulpit Commentary

 


Happy are those who crave truth in life and spiritual blessings; for they'll be replete with the true blue deeper life they crave to possess.

Happy and full of godly character are those, who crave the true blue good right relation with God produces in and through them.
 

Beautitude 3: Everday happiness is theirs, who are harmless for their self-control in relating to others; they'll know peace, comfort, and reward here and hereafter.

(5) The meek.—The word so rendered was probably used by St. Matthew in its popular meaning, without any reference to the definition which ethical writers had given of it, but it may be worth while to recall Aristotle’s account of it (Eth. Nicom. v. 5) as the character of one who has the passion of resentment under control, and who is therefore tranquil and untroubled, as in part determining the popular use of the word, and in part also explaining the beatitude. Ellicot's Commentary for English Readers

The influence of the meek and self-controlled is in the long-run greater than that of the impulsive and passionate. Their serenity helps them to find the maximum of true joy in all conditions of life; for to them the earth is not a stage for self-assertion and the graspings of desire, but an “inheritance” which they have received from their Father.
Many of the best MSS. invert the order of Matthew 5:4-5, and this arrangement has, at all events, the merit of bringing out the latent antithesis between the kingdom of heaven in its unseen greatness and the visible inheritance of the earth. Benson Commentary

3. The meek are happy. The meek are those who quietly submit to God; who can bear insult; are silent, or return a soft answer; who, in their patience, keep possession of their own souls, when they can scarcely keep possession of anything else. These meek ones are happy, even in this world. Meekness promotes wealth, comfort, and safety, even in this world. Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary

The meek - Meekness is patience in the reception of injuries. It is neither meanness nor a surrender of our rights, nor cowardice; but it is the opposite of sudden anger, of malice, of long-harbored vengeance. Christ insisted on his right when he said, "If I have done evil, bear witness of the evil; but if well, why smitest thou me?" John 18:23. Paul asserted his right when he said, "They have beaten us openly uncondemned, being Romans, and have cast us into prison; and now do they thrust us out privily? nay verily; but let them come themselves, and fetch us out," Acts 16:37. And yet Christ was the very model of meekness. It was one of his characteristics, "I am meek," Matthew 11:29. So of Paul. No man endured more wrong, or endured it more patiently than he. Yet the Saviour and the apostle were not passionate. They bore all patiently. They did not press their rights through thick and thin, or trample down the rights of others to secure their own.

Meekness produces peace. It is proof of true greatness of soul. It comes from a heart too great to be moved by little insults. It looks upon those who offer them with pity. He that is constantly ruffled; that suffers every little insult or injury to throw him off his guard and to raise a storm of passion within, is at the mercy of every mortal that chooses to disturb him. He is like "the troubled sea that cannot rest, whose waters cast up mire and dirt."
Barnes Notes on the Bible

the meek, who can be angry, but restrain their wrath in obedience to the will of God, and will not be angry unless they can be angry and not sin; nor will easily be provoked by others, but rather use soft words to pacify wrath, and give place to the passions of others; these are the blessed men. For though others may by their sword and their bow conquer a great deal of the earth to their will and power, yet they will never quietly and comfortably inherit or possess it; they are possessors malae fidei, forcible possessors, and they will enjoy what they have, as rapacious birds enjoy theirs, loudly, every one hath his gun ready charged and cocked against them; but those who are of meek and quiet spirits, though they may not take so deep root in the earth as others more boisterous, yet they shall enjoy what God giveth them with more quiet and certainty; and God will provide for them, verily they shall be fed, Psalm 37:3,11. Matthew Poole's Commentary

Blessed are the meek,.... Who are not easily provoked to anger; who patiently bear, and put up with injuries and affronts; carry themselves courteously, and affably to all; have the meanest thoughts of themselves, and the best of others; do not envy the gifts and graces of other men; are willing to be instructed and admonished, by the meanest of the saints; quietly submit to the will of God, in adverse dispensations of providence; and ascribe all they have, and are, to the grace of God. Meekness, or humility, is very valuable and commendable. The Jews, though a proud, haughty, and wrathful people, cannot but speak in its praise:
"Wisdom, fear, and meekness, say (b) they, are of high esteem; but "meekness", is greater than them all.'' They had two very considerable doctors in the time of Christ, Hillell and Shammai; the one was of a meek, the other of an angry disposition: hence, say they (c), "Let a man be always meek as Hillell, and let him not be angry as Shammai.''
Here meekness is to be considered, not as a moral virtue, but as a Christian grace, a fruit of the Spirit of God; which was eminently in Christ, and is very ornamental to believers; and of great advantage and use to them, in hearing and receiving the word; in giving an account of the reason of the hope that is in them; in instructing and restoring such, who have backslidden, either in principle or practice; and in the whole of their lives and conversations; and serves greatly to recommend religion to others: such who are possessed of it, and exercise it, are well pleasing to God; when disconsolate, he comforts them; when hungry, he satisfies them; when they want direction, he gives it to them; when wronged, he will do them right; he gives them more grace here, and glory hereafter. The blessing instanced, in which they shall partake of, is, Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible

Beautitude 3: Everday happiness is theirs, who are harmless for their self-control in relating to others; they'll know peace, comfort, and reward here and hereafter.

Beautitude 2: Happy are we, though we mourn the murkying of life's stream

First Beatitude: Lifelong felicity (birthday cake word for daily happiness) and fortune (spiritual, sometimes physical, more so eternal) belong to those bold enough to brave the compartments of their lives, which cry not just for attention but careful improvement.

Happiness is in God's promise to us as we attend to the neglected areas in our lives and in others' too; this happiness rises on the comfort God bestows for our having the audacity to preen the dirt out of our life spaces. 

4. Blessed are they that mourn: for they shall be comforted—This "mourning" must not be taken loosely for that feeling which is wrung from men under pressure of the ills of life, nor yet strictly for sorrow on account of committed sins. Evidently it is that entire feeling which the sense of our spiritual poverty begets; and so the second beatitude is but the complement of the first.  Jameison Fausset Brown Bible Commentary

Taking an honest inquiry into where we truly are in our private lives can be painfully revealing-it can make for tears and sorrow, which run deep. Many times we may feel  beyond repair in those areas, where we need to grow. But as our position is one of repentance, we can know assured that God values our inclination to improve. His is strength to be more; his is comfort as we follow through on cleaning house in our lives.

The mourning here is primarily the spiritual kind over sin in us and others but can apply to mourning we meet in loss and affliction as well. Loss and suffering can leave quite the stain.

Sin and its stain do leave indelible blotch marks in our lives; but Christ's comfort and happiness give power to rise and thrive again.

Comfort (counsel), pardon, peace, purity, and freedom is ours in our Paraclete the indwelling Spirit as we mourn our neglect and sin.

They shall be comforted.—The pronoun is emphatic. The promise implies the special comfort (including counsel) which the mourner needs; “comforted” he shall be with the sense of pardon and peace, of restored purity and freedom. We cannot separate the promise from the word which Christendom has chosen (we need not now discuss its accuracy) to express the work of the Holy Ghost the Comforter, still less from the yearning expectation that then prevailed among such of our Lord’s hearers as were looking for the “consolation”—i.e., the “comfort”—of Israel (Luke 2:25). Ellicot's Commentary for English Readers

Matthew 5:4. Blessed [or happy] are they that mourn — Namely, for their own sins and those of other men, and are steadily and habitually serious, watchful, and circumspect; for they shall be comforted — Even in this world, with the consolation that arises from a sense of the forgiveness of sins, peace with God, clear discoveries of his favour, and well-grounded, lively hopes of the heavenly inheritance, and with the full enjoyment of that inheritance itself in the world to come. Benson Commentary

Heaven is the joy of our Lord; a mountain of joy, to which our way is through a vale of tears. Such mourners shall be comforted by their God. Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary

Blessed are they that mourn - This is capable of two meanings: either, that those are blessed who are afflicted with the loss of friends or possessions, or that they who mourn over sin are blessed. As Christ came to preach repentance, to induce people to mourn over their sins and to forsake them, it is probable that he had the latter particularly in view. Compare 2 Corinthians 7:10. At the same time, it is true that the gospel only can give true comfort to those in affliction, Isaiah 61:1-3; Luke 4:18. Other sources of consolation do not reach the deep sorrows of the soul. They may blunt the sensibilities of the mind; they may produce a sullen and reluctant submission to what we cannot help: but they do not point to the true source of comfort. In the God of mercy only; in the Saviour; in the peace that flows from the hope of a better world, and there only, is there consolation, 2 Corinthians 3:17-18; 2 Corinthians 5:1. Those that mourn thus shall be comforted. So those that grieve over sin; that sorrow that they have committed it, and are afflicted and wounded that they have offended God, shall find comfort in the gospel. Through the merciful Saviour those sins may be forgiven. In him the weary and heavy-ladened soul shall find peace Matthew 11:28-30; and the presence of the Comforter, the Holy Spirit, shall sustain them here John 14:26-27, and in heaven all their tears shall be wiped away, Revelation 21:4. Barnes Notes on the New Testament

I remember too well my time as a counselor on the Mercy Ships vessel Logos, where a lady, who had just experienced the pain and stain of a divorce took solace in the comfort of this passage. Every divorce has two guilty parties. Bewailing her sin and those of her husband; she lay hold on the promise in Isaiah 61:1-3 NIV with passion.

1The Spirit of the Sovereign Lord is on me,

because the Lord has anointed me

to proclaim good news to the poor.

He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted,

to proclaim freedom for the captives

and release from darkness for the prisoners,^a

2to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor

and the day of vengeance of our God,

to comfort all who mourn,

3and provide for those who grieve in Zion—

to bestow on them a crown of beauty

instead of ashes,

the oil of joy

instead of mourning,

and a garment of praise

instead of a spirit of despair.

They will be called oaks of righteousness,

a planting of the Lord

for the display of his splendor.

The world is mistaken in accounting the jocund and merry companions the only happy men; their mirth is madness, and their joy will be like crackling of thorns under a pot: but those are rather the happy men, who mourn; yea, such are most certainly happy, who mourn out of duty in the sense of their own sins, or of the sins of others, or who mourn out of choice rather to suffer afflictions and persecutions with the people of God, than to enjoy the pleasure of sin for a season. Though such sufferings do excite in them natural passions, yet it is a blessed mourning, for those are the blessed tears which God will wipe at last from his people’s eyes, and such are these. Matthew Poole's Commentary

Second Beautitude: He is pardon, purity, peace, and new-found freedom to live and love fully. Though we'll be stymied by sin and suffering we and others face; He is our strength (com-fort) to live happily.

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Happy are those who know they haven't arrived Part 2

Sure happiness is the porterhouse of those who own their need to improve daily. #Blessed Matt. 5:3 #Godsparadoxes

Happy are we, who know we haven't yet arrived. We walk into the doorway of the kingdom of heaven and are filled with joy to understand our new-found position in Christ, for seeing the "New Creation" sign on the lintel of the doorpost. However, with time soon pride steps in and we are overcome with a sense of over-significance. We look back to see the "Under Construction" sign. Moral poverty, which led us to cry with the publican "Be merciful to me a sinner," soon gave way to over-confidence and a bloated self-concept. God used life to drop kick us into knowing once more our spiritual poverty and need to improve in so many dimensions. Poverty revealed in so many compartments of our lives makes us reckon with our moral helplessness apart from God's grace and is a conduit God uses to help us just as he can use riches to similar end to help us improve our state of affairs and happen on abiding happiness for our due diligence.

The poor in spirit are those, who aren't overcome by a sense of over-significance because of their place in God's economy.


They know they haven't arrived; they know moral bankruptcy in different dimensions of their lives and live committed to living more wholeheartedly for improving in those areas.

those who feel within them, the opposite of having enough, and of wanting nothing in a moral point of view; to whom, consequently, the condition of moral poverty and helplessness is a familiar thing,—as the praying publican, Luke 18:10 (the opposite in Revelation 3:17; 1 Corinthians 4:8), was such a poor man. Meyer's NT Commentary

The greater part of mankind are insensible of this their condition; but think themselves rich, and increased with goods: there are some who are sensible of it, who see their poverty and want, freely acknowledge it, bewail it, and mourn over it; are humbled for it, and are broken under a sense of it; entertain low and mean thoughts of themselves; seek after the true riches, both of grace and glory; and frankly acknowledge, that all they have, or hope to have, is owing to the free grace of God. Now these are the persons intended in this place; who are not only "poor", but are poor "in spirit"; in their own spirits, in their own sense, apprehension, and judgment: and may even be called "beggars", as the word may be rendered; for being sensible of their poverty, they place themselves at the door of mercy, and knock there; their language is, "God be merciful"; their posture is standing, watching, and waiting, at wisdom's gates, and at the posts of her door; they are importunate, will have no denial, yet receive the least favour with thankfulness.
Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible

Blessed are the {a} poor in {b} spirit: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
(a) Under the name of poverty are meant all the miseries, that are joined with poverty.(b) Whose minds and spirits are brought under control, and tamed, and obey God.
Geneva Study Bible

Verse 3. - Blessed (μακάριοι); Vulgate, beati; hence "Beatitudes." The word describes "the poor in spirit," etc., not as recipients of blessing (εὐλογημένοι) from God, or even from men, but as possessors of "happiness" (cf. the Authorized Version of John 13:17, and frequently). It describes them in reference to their inherent state, not to the gifts or the rewards that they receive. Pulpit Commentary

They may not know gift or reward till the afterlife; but their blessing in this life is that in their improving daily they become permanent possessors of happiness.

"You're blessed when you're at the end of your rope" Matt. 5:3 MSG

Good living should be rewarded. Knowing grace should breed responsible living in us; Christ's conversation in Matt. 5 and 6 lightens our way as he provides his proven recipe for bubbly living. The disposition of those desirous of lasting happy: the diet of those envied for their life-joy and satisfaction regardless of life's press is developed here in Christ's conversation to his own.

Christ doesn't legislate this lifelong path to his friends; rather, he graces them with positive teaching to enrich their living.

He seems, as it were, to lay aside his supreme authority as our legislator, that he may the better act the part of our friend and Saviour. Instead of using the lofty style in positive commands, he, in a more gentle and engaging way, insinuates his will and our duty by pronouncing those happy who comply with it. Benson Commentary

First, happy people are humbled people schooled in their needs, ones taught to no longer bluff or blow hard but be real regarding their need for others and help from heaven.

Here the blessedness is that of those who, whatever their outward state may be, are in their inward life as those who feel that they have nothing of their own, must be receivers before they give, must be dependent on another’s bounty, and be, as it were, the “bedesmen” of the great King. To that temper of mind belongs the “kingdom of heaven,” the eternal realities, in this life and the life to come, of that society of which Christ is the Head. Things are sometimes best understood by their contraries, and we may point to the description of the church of Laodicea as showing us the opposite type of character, thinking itself “rich” in the spiritual life, when it is really as “the pauper,” destitute of the true riches, blind and naked. Ellicot's Commentary for English Readers

Jesus... transports the idea of the poor (les miserables) from the politico-theocratic realm (the members of the oppressed people of God, sunk in poverty and external wretchedness) into the purely moral sphere... Meyer's NT Commentary

Les Miserables are meant to know a morality, which elevates them to new planes of pure, unadulterated happiness.

True happiness is by no means trite or cotton candy; it has grounding-its foundation is in others-centered, other-worldly living. Happy living is artful living. It is living knowing our place and acknowledging the help we'll need to thrive in our space.

We're more than likely to be humbled into right living, if we're to know heart-lifting happiness in our experience. Where the world system tells us things, experiences, and promotion make us happy; his word tells us the way up many times is down.

As an old writer remarks, “All the beatitudes are affixed to unlikely conditions, to show that the judgment of the word and of the world are contrary.” Benson Commentary

The valleys of life do well to get us away from the vista experiences, which blind us to the true state of our lives many times. They help us change, acclimate to our true inner state, so that we can wrest from heaven the pasture or soul prosperity in God's plan for us. To thrive is to be the right moral tool in God's shed-a tool he can use to coach others well into knowing God's best in their experience. A tool you say; yes, a valued one meant to man its mission well-one at times used even abused, one reduced to love Joyce Meyer but rewarded with uncommon happiness each day.

There's a character we're called to begin with and continue in if we're to live in the blessedness or happiness of God's kingdom here on earth.

3. Blessed are the poor in spirit] The beatitudes—so called from the opening word “beati” (blessed), in the Vulgate. Mark the Christian growth step by step. First, spiritual poverty, the only character which is receptive of repentance, therefore alone admissible into the Kingdom. Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges

The more we're willing to own our blindsiding wretched desires to have more, be more, and do more than others: the more we're open to seeing ourselves for whom we truly are: the more we'll seek help to live well and own the living state of happiness in God's plan for us.



 

Well adapted soil

http://bible.com/8/mrk.4.8-9.amp And other seed [of the same kind] fell into good (well-adapted) soil and brought forth grain, growing up and increasing, and yielded up to thirty times as much, and sixty times as much, and even a hundred times as much as had been sown. And He said, He who has ears to hear, let him be hearing [and let him consider, and comprehend]. Bible.com/app

Romans 15:1-5, 13 AMP

WE WHO are strong [in our convictions and of robust faith] ought to bear with the failings and the frailties and the tender scruples of the weak; [we ought to help carry the doubts and qualms of others] and not to please ourselves. Let each one of us make it a practice to please (make happy) his neighbor for his good and for his true welfare, to edify him [to strengthen him and build him up spiritually]. For Christ did not please Himself [gave no thought to His own interests]; but, as it is written, The reproaches and abuses of those who reproached and abused you fell on Me. [Ps. 69:9.] For whatever was thus written in former days was written for our instruction, that by [our steadfast and patient] endurance and the encouragement [drawn] from the Scriptures we might hold fast to and cherish hope. Now may the God Who gives the power of patient endurance (steadfastness) and Who supplies encouragement, grant you to live in such mutual harmony and such full sympathy with one another, in accord with Christ Jesus, May the God of your hope so fill you with all joy and peace in believing [through the experience of your faith] that by the power of the Holy Spirit you may abound and be overflowing (bubbling over) with hope.

He walks our mile "just because"

Luke 24:13-35

On the Road to Emmaus

13Now that same day two of them were going to a village called Emmaus, about seven miles^a from Jerusalem. 14They were talking with each other about everything that had happened. 15As they talked and discussed these things with each other, Jesus himself came up and walked along with them; 16but they were kept from recognizing him.

17He asked them, “What are you discussing together as you walk along?”

They stood still, their faces downcast. 18One of them, named Cleopas, asked him, “Are you the only one visiting Jerusalem who does not know the things that have happened there in these days?”

19“What things?” he asked.

“About Jesus of Nazareth,” they replied. “He was a prophet, powerful in word and deed before God and all the people. 20The chief priests and our rulers handed him over to be sentenced to death, and they crucified him; 21but we had hoped that he was the one who was going to redeem Israel. And what is more, it is the third day since all this took place. 22In addition, some of our women amazed us. They went to the tomb early this morning 23but didn’t find his body. They came and told us that they had seen a vision of angels, who said he was alive. 24Then some of our companions went to the tomb and found it just as the women had said, but they did not see Jesus.”

25He said to them, “How foolish you are, and how slow to believe all that the prophets have spoken! 26Did not the Messiah have to suffer these things and then enter his glory?” 27And beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, he explained to them what was said in all the Scriptures concerning himself.

28As they approached the village to which they were going, Jesus continued on as if he were going farther. 29But they urged him strongly, “Stay with us, for it is nearly evening; the day is almost over.” So he went in to stay with them.

30When he was at the table with them, he took bread, gave thanks, broke it and began to give it to them. 31Then their eyes were opened and they recognized him, and he disappeared from their sight. 32They asked each other, “Were not our hearts burning within us while he talked with us on the road and opened the Scriptures to us?”

33They got up and returned at once to Jerusalem. There they found the Eleven and those with them, assembled together 34and saying, “It is true! The Lord has risen and has appeared to Simon.” 35Then the two told what had happened on the way, and how Jesus was recognized by them when he broke the bread.

Nothing refreshes a relationship more than surprise and show of concern; even stern correction from ones we love lets us know they care. Why? They care enough to be there to say and do what's needful rather than what is expedient.

Journeying to Emmaeus, two travelers replayed in lively discussion the timeline of Christ's passion. They'd heard it all, the women seeing the empty tomb along with firsthand accounts of Christ's appearances to the Eleven and doubting Thomas. Whether they were part of the seventy or mere fringe followers, we don't know; but from their lively back and forth regarding Christ's Passion (They reasoned, doubtless, about the probability or improbability that Jesus was the Messiah; about the evidence of his resurrection; about what was to be done in the present state of things Barnes Notes on the Bible), doubt and fear pervaded at least one of them regarding the truth of this Anointed One. Was it all a myth? These unsettled travelers needed Christ to give them eyes to believe his words.


The imperfect voice used here tells us Christ was fully human to them as his presence, walking and talking with them, seemed nothing out of the ordinary Meyer's NT Commentary. He walked and talked with them as they expressed their doubt, fear, even despair over the things which occurred during Passion week. His part was first to listen earfully (new word in the making) to the concerns that made for their increased heart palpitation. Walking their mile and hearing the blemish and blight circumventing pure faith; he opted to upbraid them verbally. "Fools" (harsh translation) is what he called them Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges. His point was that they were slow to place believing confidence in his promise to rise. Meyer's NT Commentary Like a wife, who speaks lovingly but is first to give her husband an earful; Christ admonished them, knowing their knowledge of the OT and its anticipation-Christ. Matthew Henry puts it best, Our weak faith keeps us from accessing the comfort Christ offers. Christ's part here before the Promise (Spirit) came was to be their strength; he wills us into believing his words and is careful to ensure that he illumines us in a time and way that lasts a lifetime. His words to them echoed his heart to see them live by the life in his words. Senseless even stupid were they to believe that Christ could be held by death. His words to them were to warm their faith, underscore their unbelief, and express surprise at their doubt/questions regarding his resurrection.

His way with them had evident impact. The moment he came into view as not mere man but bread from heaven; faith-life filled them once more. Having eyes, they saw the star of OT prophesy, the very Prophet of Deuteronomy. With illumed eyes and awakened souls, they marched back to Jerusalem and with breaded excitement told the Eleven,
“It is true! The Lord has risen and has appeared to Simon.”

Luke 24 NIV
27And beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, he explained to them what was said in all the Scriptures concerning himself.

28As they approached the village to which they were going, Jesus continued on as if he were going farther. 29But they urged him strongly, “Stay with us, for it is nearly evening; the day is almost over.” So he went in to stay with them.

30When he was at the table with them, he took bread, gave thanks, broke it and began to give it to them. 31Then their eyes were opened and they recognized him, and he disappeared from their sight. 32They asked each other, “Were not our hearts burning within us while he talked with us on the road and opened the Scriptures to us?”

33They got up and returned at once to Jerusalem. There they found the Eleven and those with them, assembled together 34and saying, “It is true! The Lord has risen and has appeared to Simon.” 35Then the two told what had happened on the way, and how Jesus was recognized by them when he broke the bread.

In our doubt, he shadows near us
When we wander, trudging with us
When our feeble hearts spurn him
He seek us constant, yearning his
Yes, we threaten, despise, desert him
But his eyes for us unflinching
Will to keep us in his fold
So he comforts, chides, and scolds
When time is ripe he says,
How could you? I'm the one, who never left you, calm wayfarer, comfort, still
Abide in me-trust my will

May the life ours for his rising from the dead meet us in our doubt, despair, and desperation and fill us with grace to trust him with the details of our lives, knowing his hand is on us to deepen our faith, broaden our reach, and keep us on path to making real his resurrection and reign in us.

 

Wallow in his words to not wallow in willful sin

Luke 24:1-12 New International Version

 

The angels, who appeared to the Shepherds, first to hear and see Christ, boy King, in Bethlehem; had a important reminder in message to these women, first to hear and see the empty tomb of the resurrected Christ.

 

 

Jesus Has Risen

1On the first day of the week, very early in the morning, the women took the spices they had prepared and went to the tomb. 2They found the stone rolled away from the tomb, 3but when they entered, they did not find the body of the Lord Jesus. 4While they were wondering about this, suddenly two men in clothes that gleamed like lightning stood beside them. 5In their fright the women bowed down with their faces to the ground, but the men said to them, “Why do you look for the living among the dead? 6He is not here; he has risen! Remember how he told you, while he was still with you in Galilee: 7‘The Son of Man must be delivered over to the hands of sinners, be crucified and on the third day be raised again.’ ” 8Then they remembered his words.

9When they came back from the tomb, they told all these things to the Eleven and to all the others. 10It was Mary Magdalene, Joanna, Mary the mother of James, and the others with them who told this to the apostles. 11But they did not believe the women, because their words seemed to them like nonsense. 12Peter, however, got up and ran to the tomb. Bending over, he saw the strips of linen lying by themselves, and he went away, wondering to himself what had happened.

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary
24:1-12 See the affection and respect the women showed to Christ, after he was dead and buried. Observe their surprise when they found the stone rolled away, and the grave empty. Christians often perplex themselves about that with which they should comfort and encourage themselves. They look rather to find their Master in his grave-clothes, than angels in their shining garments. The angels assure them that he is risen from the dead; is risen by his own power. These angels from heaven bring not any new gospel, but remind the women of Christ's words, and teach them how to apply them. We may wonder that these disciples, who believed Jesus to be the Son of God and the true Messiah, who had been so often told that he must die, and rise again, and then enter into his glory, who had seen him more than once raise the dead, yet should be so backward to believe his raising himself. But all our mistakes in religion spring from ignorance or forgetfulness of the words Christ has spoken. Peter now ran to the sepulchre, who so lately ran from his Master. He was amazed. There are many things puzzling and perplexing to us, which would be plain and profitable, if we rightly understood the words of Christ.

Biblehub.com

Remember his words

LUK 24:1-8 MSG

At the crack of dawn on Sunday, the women came to the tomb carrying the burial spices they had prepared. They found the entrance stone rolled back from the tomb, so they walked in. But once inside, they couldn’t find the body of the Master Jesus. They were puzzled, wondering what to make of this. Then, out of nowhere it seemed, two men, light cascading over them, stood there. The women were awestruck and bowed down in worship. The men said, “Why are you looking for the Living One in a cemetery? He is not here, but raised up. Remember how he told you when you were still back in Galilee that he had to be handed over to sinners, be killed on a cross, and in three days rise up?” Then they remembered Jesus’ words.

One of the most important realizations we must come to in the wake of what happened after Christ rose from the grave is the onus on us to remember his words.

The Evangelist Luke tells that woman came deep in the morning or at twilight (Meyer). They came, with hearts broken and eyes bloodshot, to meet the one they'd known as life, who'd been taken from them at the hands of me-driven men.

The Evangelist tells us they came at the cracks of dawn.

"Sorrow and love are light sleepers, and early dawn found these women on their way." (MacLaren's Expositions)

The possibility of his rising alive from the death was "heard, but not heard" (MacLaren) and in their mind theirs was the obvious duty to show love, though Joseph of Arimathea had already taken on himself the duties of embalming Christ's dead corpse.

"These women's love gift was as 'useless' and as fragrant as Mary's box of ointment. [But] whatever love offers, love welcomes, though Judah may ask 'To what purpose is this waste'?" (MacLaren's Expositions)

With heavy hearts and legs they came early to the tomb to add their part to his intricately embalmed body. Though these actions were somewhat darkened by their failure to remember well his word that he'd rise to life on the third day; the very angels, who rolled the stone away to evidence Christ's rising from the dead at his word (Christ had already walked right through the tomb door) would serenade them as they did others at Christ's birth in Bethlehem.

Interstingly, their message to these winsome women, first to the tomb, was half a rebuke, [but] wholly a revelation. Though they'd forgotten that this subject and star of prophesy-Christ-could not be held indefinitely by death but would break its shackles in time, rising alive; God's way was to affirm their good intentions and honor them with the distinct privilege of being first witness to the empty tomb and the angels, who rolled the stone away at his rising from the dead. God's way in growing us is to affirm us even while revealing to us our sin.
God bedazzled these woman into a more fervent belief in his word, he emboldened their faith to receive his words by faith as he does time and time again in our lives. The wonder of his work helps us better treasure his worth and word to us.

"The message flooded the women's hearts with better light than [the angels' garments] had spread through the tomb."
(MacLaren's Expositions)

God give us ears to hear your word. As the nickler, knows the sound of a rightly made nickel; may we live attune to your voice-ready to hear it, rejoice in it, and act on it consistently. May we be known as a people, who believe and live out your words. May we remember your words, for they are life and light.

Into him, Inculcating his values, Imitating him

Nothing beats being plugged in. It makes for power and forward progress.

In a seminary missions class, Herbert Jackson told how, as a new missionary, he was assigned a car that would not start without a push. After pondering his problem, he devised a plan. He went to the school near his home, got permission to take some children out of class, and had them push his car off. As he made his rounds, he would either park on a hill or leave the engine running. He used this ingenious procedure for two years.

Ill health forced the Jackson family to leave, and a new missionary came to that station. When Jackson proudly began to explain his arrangement for getting the car started, the new man began looking under the hood. Before the explanation was complete, the new missionary interrupted, "Why, Dr. Jackson, I believe the only trouble is this loose cable." He gave the cable a twist, stepped into the car, pushed the switch, and to Jackson's astonishment, the engine roared to life. For two years needless trouble had become routine. The power was there all the time. Only a loose connection kept Jackson from putting that power to work.

J.B. Phillips paraphrases Ephesians l:19-20, "How tremendous is the power available to us who believe in God." When we make firm our connection with God, his life and power flow through us.

Ernest B. Beevers.

There is loose cable that is oft times neglected in our lives too - its our failure to enjoy Christ. We have so much to enjoy in our beautiful world, people, fun times, and activities; but oh to include him, to yearn after him, to treasure his worth - it's a loose cable we can daily neglect.

His is a call to himself. He was perfect - peerless in life; we - shapen in sin. Were he not to come, die, and renew our lives, we would know misery unending. This keystone passage is succinct in its recipe to help us blunt the old life with its pull and passions and find Christ's one - way charter to new, restored life and character.

Luke 14:25-33 NIV

Large crowds were traveling with Jesus, and turning to them he said: “If anyone comes to me and does not hate father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters—yes, even their own life—such a person cannot be my disciple.  And whoever does not carry their cross and follow me cannot be my disciple.     “Suppose one of you wants to build a tower. Won’t you first sit down and estimate the cost to see if you have enough money to complete it?  For if you lay the foundation and are not able to finish it, everyone who sees it will ridicule you,  saying, ‘This person began to build and wasn’t able to finish.’     “Or suppose a king is about to go to war against another king. Won’t he first sit down and consider whether he is able with ten thousand men to oppose the one coming against him with twenty thousand?  If he is not able, he will send a delegation while the other is still a long way off and will ask for terms of peace.  In the same way, those of you who do not give up everything you have cannot be my disciples.

Knowing how carefully he was being watched by the followers of Moses, the Pharisees; Christ, on spending time with these false friends, intent on muzzling him, turned to the crowd and spoke these words. His was the ragamuffin message of a culture warrior in the minds of both Pharisee and careless listeners, alike.

His message simply was to pursue and enjoy him, to inculcate his values, to imitate him and model as others reproduce his life.

Our love for him must be an all encompassing one- a love that loves mother, father, brother, sister; but when love for mother, father, brother, or sister encroaches on our ability to make the moral decisions he desires, ours is to live to be approved by Him. His worth must be our priority and provide us the ability to aspire to the high, moral plains he desires us to call home (Colorado is on my mind). When the cross beam was lifted in ancient times, the one lifting it was on a one-way road to death. So as we commit to intimately know him, there's is a death that will take place in us-a death that will take us away from what others may venture to call life. We're to wrap ourselves into his life, to have him formed in us, to prize his devotion to his Father's will-his eyes only for our eternal welfare, his blood given to the last drop.

Enjoying him is an earmark of those committed to reflecting his unalloyed character. There is no following him apart from being dumbstruck and pulled in by his giving life. As living with him draws us in and makes us prize him above all; our love for him will lead to our loving less anything, one, or choice which pulls at our first call, which is to him. Yes, to live is Christ and to die to those passions, which subvert our enjoyment of him is gain.

"Come for everything is now ready"

I recently had an opportunity to give my son a teaching moment, when he tried to leave our dinner table before he should. Everyone is so busy devouring their meals and intent on seeing their favorite TV shows these days that the true meaning of mealtime is almost lost in our zoned in consumption of food at the expense of what dinner really means food, conversation, laughs, and relational bonding. I said to Coen as he left the table before he should, the family table is not a place for dining only, it's a place for talking, for treasured time with those we love.

We know seventy percent of Christ's NT teaching came in parable form. He taught in parables to close the eyes of those hell -bent on evil and to spark the curiosity and illumine those open to truth, which could alter their eternity.

Luke 14:16-24 NIV

Jesus replied: “A certain man was preparing a great banquet and invited many guests.  At the time of the banquet he sent his servant to tell those who had been invited, ‘Come, for everything is now ready.’   “But they all alike began to make excuses. The first said, ‘I have just bought a field, and I must go and see it. Please excuse me.’     “Another said, ‘I have just bought five yoke of oxen, and I’m on my way to try them out. Please excuse me.’     “Still another said, ‘I just got married, so I can’t come.’     “The servant came back and reported this to his master. Then the owner of the house became angry and ordered his servant, ‘Go out quickly into the streets and alleys of the town and bring in the poor, the crippled, the blind and the lame.’     “ ‘Sir,’ the servant said, ‘what you ordered has been done, but there is still room.’     “Then the master told his servant, ‘Go out to the roads and country lanes and compel them to come in, so that my house will be full.  I tell you, not one of those who were invited will get a taste of my banquet.’ ”

First some key thoughts from this marquis passage.

The invitation to dine at the banquet was first only to a select few. When the giver of the invitation found his offer rejected, he gave an open invite. All in street, alley then later road or country lane were to come and dine. The food was ready, but guests were slow to attend this banquet of such significance.

Luke 14:18-20 NIV

“But they all alike began to make excuses. The first said, ‘I have just bought a field, and I must go and see it. Please excuse me.’     “Another said, ‘I have just bought five yoke of oxen, and I’m on my way to try them out. Please excuse me.’     “Still another said, ‘I just got married, so I can’t come.’

People were uninclined to attend this dinner. Their reasons for rejecting the dinner were trite at best, considering the one, who'd invited them and his selfless preparing of this feast for these few, who meant the world to him.

John 1:11-12 NIV

He came to that which was his own, but his own did not receive him. Yet to all who did receive him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God—

Christ came to his own, the Jews; when they rejected his invite into the kingdom of God, his invite was made open to all. 
There is present application in this parable for people, who haven't made a priority the feast Christ has extended to them. He offers a welcome to a banquet of incomparable privilege, where the attendees are granted access and life they cannot find elsewhere. Those privy to this table, as Jonathan's lame son had unlimited access to David's table, know the dearest of a King, who makes as his dwelling their hearts.  If you've never RSVPed, the time is now as his RSVP may very well end on his soon return to earth. When he comes, the door of opportunity to enter in will be latched shut.

Consider his the call "Come, for everything is now ready."