READ | SERMON NOTES
SUMMARY l A typical wedding dinner banquet in Singapore has many tables which guests are assigned to. Such dinners are not only about food and drink but are opportunities for bonding with relatives and friends. It could also be a time of seeking reconciliation.
At Levi’s great feast which he hosted for Jesus, a large crowd of tax collectors gathered (vs.29). The Pharisees and scribes criticized Jesus for sitting with crooks and betrayers. Did Jesus condone their deeds? Did He not know that He could taint His reputation by sitting with them? Jesus answered by saying that He was like a physician who came to heal the sick. He exposed Himself to the sick, in order to redeem them (vs.31,32). This is redeeming grace. He reaches out to save sinners. It does not mean He endorses their lifestyle. This feast, therefore, is God’s enacted grace.
Enacted grace of God’s presence – “No one has ever seen God…This [Jesus]one-of-a-kind God-Expression, who exists at the very heart of the Father, has made him plain as day” (John 1:18). God comes to us and we meet God in the flesh. The Pharisees had again criticized Jesus for not getting His disciples to fast (Luke 5:33-34). The act of fasting is meant to draw a person closer to God. It was a means of connecting with God. But Jesus said in Luke:5 34 that the Bridegroom, namely Himself, is in their midst. Fasting was unnecessary for God is among them. As we partake of Holy Communion, we break fast. We eat and drink with our Lord, feasting in His presence. As we open our hearts to His presence, let us be nourished by His love.
Enacted grace for forgiveness – In Luke 5:17-26, a paralytic’s sins are forgiven. The pharisees are outraged when they hear of Jesus’ pronouncements. How can a man forgive sins? Only God can do so. The Jewish laws required an animal sacrifice and shedding of blood to receive God’s forgiveness. The Pharisees did not realise that they were correct. Jesus is God and His death on the cross is the perfect sacrifice. He is the Lamb who was sacrificed for our sins (Matt.1:23). As we celebrate the Lord’s Supper, let us come in repentance to receive forgiveness of our sins.
Enacted grace that overcomes – the Pharisees had put into place a system of guarding all that defiles and keeping away from all that is unclean. In Luke 5:12-14, Jesus healed a leper by touching the unclean man. This contact would have defiled Him, but in God’s kingdom, grace overcomes. Instead of becoming unclean, Jesus causes the leper to be clean and made whole. The fear of being polluted has been overcome by grace. As we anticipate the Heavenly banquet which God has prepared for us, let us not be like the Pharisees who look only at external characteristics of pedigree and lifestyle to qualify as righteous. Jesus tells us that His Kingdom is a radically different one. The old legalistic world of the Pharisees. which Jesus describes as the old wine and old cloth cannot take in His kingdom values, depicted as new wine and a new cloth patch. The old wineskin/cloth is based on fear which results in being exclusive, condemning, and unwelcoming. Instead, we should adopt a new wineskin/cloth which is based on grace. We become those who overcome and are caring and welcoming.
As we come to the Lord’s table, we come into God’s presence as forgiven sinners, to be overcomers by His grace.
PONDER | REFLECTION QUESTIONS
- In Luke 5:12-39, how did Jesus display the attributes of the Kingdom of God? How did these contrast with the old order of Judaism? (displayed by the Pharisees)
- In the great banquet at Levi’s home, how was Jesus calling tax collectors and sinners to repentance? What could be a contemporary equivalent of this?
- With regards to Luke 5: 36-39, how have Christians (church) “lived” under the old system (as the Pharisees did)?
- What are two things I will do differently as I live the new life of grace that Jesus establish?
