In Peter Allison's sermon 'Ministering Among Enemies,' he discusses Jesus' interactions with the Pharisees as depicted in Luke 14. Jesus is invited to a Pharisee's house on the Sabbath, where they attempt to trap him by presenting a man with dropsy. Jesus, aware of their intentions, questions the legality of healing on the Sabbath and demonstrates the greater purpose of the law, which is love and mercy, by healing the man. He challenges the Pharisees' understanding of the law, highlighting their hypocrisy and emphasizing the importance of mercy over rigid adherence to tradition. The sermon also explores Jesus' teaching on humility, using the parable of the wedding feast, where Jesus advises taking the lowest seat to avoid embarrassment and to allow others to be honored. Additionally, Jesus teaches about genuine hospitality, encouraging inviting those who cannot repay, which aligns with the kingdom values of love and mercy. The sermon underscores God's sincere desire for all people to be saved, despite theological debates on predestination, and encourages believers to embody the gospel's message of love and salvation.

Luke chapter 14. Beginning at verse 1. Now it happened as he 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 the 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 at 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 supper do not ask your friends your brothers your relatives nor rich neighbors Thus 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 the 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 must 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 the 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 there is still 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." The testimonies which Jehovah has commanded are righteous and faithful.

Heavenly Father, your word is a truth, it is just, and it is life-giving. It's living, it's active and sharper than any two-edged sword. Able to divide asunder between soul and spirit, and joints and marrow, even to discerning the thoughts and intents of our heart. And so we ask that your word might search us this morning, that you might instruct us out of it, that you would teach us, that you would convict us, that you would comfort us, that you would encourage us, that you would challenge us by it. And I ask, Lord, that you would sanctify my sinful lips, that through a vessel of clay, the riches of your grace may be brought to us this morning.

In Jesus' name, amen. Well, Jesus has completed his ministry throughout the region of Galilee and he has set his face to go to Jerusalem and in this section of Luke then that we are in he is he is on his way he's come down But we find in this rather fairly lengthy section a lot of teaching dealing with forgiveness, reconciliation, how to love, how to serve, and so on. So Luke told us at the end of chapter 11 that after you remember Jesus had exposed 11 of the Pharisees, which is hypocrisy, and he exposed their malfeasance, that's a misuse of authority by those who are in public office, that the scribes and the Pharisees began to assail him vehemently and to cross-examine him about many things and to lie in wait for him so that they could catch him in something that he was saying. In other words, the Pharisees became his avowed enemies. They were out for blood.

They wanted his life, and they thought eventually that they got it. And so they sought in this period to trap him. They sought to trick him, to catch him in something that he would say so that they might accuse him, to embarrass him, to discredit him, and of course, eventually to kill him. And so in order to accomplish their nefarious purpose, they would send delegations to wherever he was preaching, sometimes to just listen. Other times, they tried to set traps for him.

They tried to create hostile teaching environments. If you've ever been up in front of a crowd and you can sense whether people are hostile to what you're saying or whether they're receptive. And you know that when you're speaking to people who are hostile, it's very difficult to speak, or much more difficult, I should say, than when people are receptive to what you're saying. And so they would send people to be in the crowd to ask him hostile questions, to challenge what he was saying, to make it difficult for him. Who?

He knew who these people were, he wasn't naive, and yet he accepted this invitation by a ruler of the Jews. It doesn't say, but he was likely a member of the Sanhedrin, the ruling body. And so being a ruler, somebody with prestige, there would have been probably many other people that would have wanted to come and to be present at this meal in his home. In his home. So Luke says that They invited him, this ruler invited him to eat bread on the Sabbath day.

And then Luke adds that, and they watched him closely. See that gives away what their real intent was. They watched him with a critical eye. This word for watch is the word you would use when you want to watch to catch somebody. It's the word you would use if you were a police doing a stakeout on a house and you're waiting for the alleged suspect to come back.

This word is used several times in the Gospels, and each time it's used, it's used to describe these Pharisees trying to trap Jesus. Luke 20 says that they watched him and sent spies, it's the same word there, they watched him, and sent spies who pretended to be righteous that they might seize on his words in order to deliver him to the power and authority of the governor. Or when Damascus, remember when Paul was converted, he went to Damascus and he gone into Arabia, he's come back, he was preaching, and they tried to trap him. And so they were watching the gates of Damascus, and remember Paul is let down out of the window. That's the word.

That's what Luke says they were doing. They invited him into their house so they could watch him. Like you watch a jail, keep people from escaping. And they didn't just leave it to chance that something would happen in which they could catch Jesus. They didn't just set this up and then wait and see what would happen.

They set some bait. They got a man who was ill with dropsy. Somebody who was in obvious distress. Somebody whom Jesus would be naturally wanting to show compassion to, and they set him right there where Jesus would be, so Jesus would see him. Dropsy, Luke says he had dropsy, that's edema, that's a swelling, that's fluid retention.

In your body cavities or in your limbs. It basically involves an accumulation of water. It's usually a symptom of disease of your heart, of your kidneys, of your liver, of your brain. Oftentimes cancer patients have accumulations of water around their lungs or plural effusions or around their heart. You talk about people having water on their lungs.

That's probably what this was, this drop, see this accumulation of fluid. It can be very painful if it's in your, if it's fluid on your lungs. It can keep you from being able to breathe correctly. If it's on your heart, it can put a lot of pressure on the heart and make it very difficult. It sounds benign, but it's very serious.

And you can die from this, and it can be very painful when you have fluid in places that aren't meant to have fluid. And so here is somebody who is not well. He's not well. He's in obvious distress. And they knew that Jesus, when He saw this man, would have compassion on him and would want to heal him.

This seems to be one of their favorite methods of attack on Jesus. Several other times we have already seen a couple of them where they attack Jesus for doing something on the Sabbath that they think is contrary to their law. And so Jesus walks into this situation and he obviously sees this setup and he completely disarms them by asking the question first. And the question he asks is, is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath day? Before he did anything, He walks in, he sees this set up, he knows their heart and what they're trying to do, and so he asks them the question, is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath day?

He didn't ask what their oral tradition said. He didn't ask what the rabbis said. He asked what the law said. Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath day? And This posed an immediate problem for the Pharisees.

If they say yes, that he can heal, then he sprung their trap and wasted their trap. They've lost an opportunity because when he proceeds to heal, they can't complain about it because they said it was lawful. On the other hand, if they say no, that it's not lawful, then they would look harsh and calloused towards somebody who was truly in need, and they actually would contradict the law of God. If they say yes, then they would also be seen as maybe weak and not in accordance with their own oral traditions. And so like they do so many times when Jesus traps them in their own trap, they say nothing.

They figure nothing is better than or the wrong answer. And so having disarmed their booby trap, Jesus then heals this man and having healed him he lets him go. That man probably wasn't there of his own desire. He probably was coerced in some way to be there, manipulated in some way to be there. And so Jesus heals him and it says, he sent him away, let him go.

And then Jesus begins, teaches them on a right understanding of the Sabbath. See a Sabbath is like spiritual thermometer. You know a thermometer measures our temperature of our body And if our temperature is not right, it means something is wrong with our body. If it's too hot or too cold, it's a problem. And so when the Sabbath is not honored, it's sure sign that there's a problem, a spiritual problem with our own heart.

That our love for the Lord is is growing cold, that it's waning. And we can profane the Sabbath, break it, by ignoring it, as much of our culture does today. By simply, by not keeping it, by not setting it aside as a day of rest. But we can also break the Sabbath by ignoring the greater purpose of the Sabbath. Which is that of rest.

We can break the Sabbath by ignoring the greater purpose of the Sabbath, which is that of rest. We can break the Sabbath by ignoring the greater purpose of the law, which is mercy and love. Now you think the greater purpose of the law is mercy and love? Isn't the law about, isn't the greater purpose of the law about justice? Well, the greater purpose of the law is actually according to the scriptures about love and mercy.

Love sums up the whole law. Romans 13 tells us that to own no one anything except to love one another, for he who loves another has fulfilled the law." Then it goes on the list of commandments. Don't steal, don't commit adultery, don't murder, don't bear false witness, don't covet, and if there's any other commandment it's all summed up by You shall love your neighbor as Yourself love does no harm to a neighbor. Therefore love is the fulfilling of the law So love is that we can say Love is the greater purpose of the law. But also the greater purpose of the law is mercy.

And Jesus told the Pharisees in Matthew 23, Woe to you, for you pay tithe of Minannus and Cuman, and you've neglected the weightier matters of the law, justice, mercy, and truth. These you ought to have done without leaving the others undone. And so a right understanding of the law has to not forget mercy, love, and truth. And so the law says in Exodus 23, if you see the donkey of one who hates you lying under its burden and you would refrain From helping it you shall surely help it and again in Deuteronomy 22 You shall not see your brother's donkey or his axe at ox fall down along the road and hide yourself from them you shall surely help him lift them up again that's a commandment of the law And there is no exception in that commandment for the Lord's Day. It doesn't say if you see your neighbor's animal falling into a pit, then you shall help it up again unless it's on the Lord's Day, in which case you should leave it down there because you don't want to do any work.

It doesn't say that. It says you shall help it. Because the greater purpose of the law is mercy. And so the law requires mercy, even if that means working on the Sabbath. And this is the law that Jesus appeals to after he's healed this man and let him go.

Then he then he brings this law to them and he asked them, if you had a donkey or an ox that fell into the pit, wouldn't you pull it out on the Sabbath day? Like the last question that he asked them, they couldn't answer that question either, because if they said no, they wouldn't do that, then they would implicate themselves. If they said yes, they would do that, then they would justify what Jesus just did. And so, once again, his enemies, the people who are out to trap him and trick him and embarrass him and discredit him, are silenced. They can't say anything.

And so Jesus notices in their conduct as that they were sitting down for this table. He noted how they were choosing the best places. Jesus was a very astute observer of human behavior. He noted how as they were sitting down, they were all jockeying for the best seat. Maybe your children have done that when it's time to get into your family automobile, right?

You want to jockey for the right position where you want to sit. And so there's a bit of a shuffle going on. That's what was happening here. These Pharisees were having a little bit of a dance to try and get the right seat. They wanted a seat of honor.

They wanted to sit at the best, but they wanted to sit next to whoever it is they wanted to sit next to. Probably the person that had honor or the person who was perceived to be the one of the person of prestige or maybe it was the place closest to desert we don't know they were wanting to sit in the place of honor and so Jesus addressed And so Jesus addressed that. He noted it and He addressed it. He brought a very gentle rebuke to them and gave them a little object lesson about humility and esteeming others more highly than yourself. And what it means in a practical way to love your neighbor, which is what the law is all about.

And he told them a little story about being invited to a wedding feast. He said don't sit down in the best place. Don't walk in and just because you're early assume that you're entitled to sit in the front row or wherever the seat of honor is in that setting. And he gives a very practical reason. We might say a human reason because somebody else might come in and the host of the wedding may have to ask you to vacate the seat you've chosen for yourself to let this person they want to sit there, want to sit there.

And then he said, you'll have to walk back in front of everybody to a lower seat and that will be embarrassing. And it sort of is, if that were to happen that way. And so Jesus is giving them sort of a practical reason, some practical wisdom. He said, when you're invited, go sit in the lowest place. And then from there, it's only up.

Then you might be the person that the host of the wedding comes to and says, Oh, my friend, you should sit up here. I had that happen once, went into a, went into a investiture of a Supreme Court justice here in Texas. A few years ago, one of the judges, investiture, that's just a legal word, a fancy word for putting clothes on, right? Vestment is a clothes, so investiture is, they're gonna put a robe on him, that's what they call it. So it's a very, you know, sort of a prestigious thing, You have the governor there usually, and the Supreme Court justices, or the US Supreme Court senators, that kind of thing.

So there's big names there. People want to sit in the front seats of honor and so on to get close to these people and have a chance to bump into them and say they shook their hand and so forth. And so we went in and we were somewhat early, so we had our choice of seats. But remembering this verse, I said, well, we're going to sit not too far forward we'll sit near the back and or not near the back but we're gonna sit back well the judge the man who was to be come the judge came in and he noticed us back there and he said oh yeah come on up here and sit here in this seat up here. So we moved up there and sat in the seats up front that were in his little section.

Well, he miscounted and there weren't enough seats for all the people that he had invited her that wanted to come that were closer to him than than we were and so so I kind of I was but I was a little slow to realize that and so Finally I went over and I said, well, looks like you need a little more room. We can move back. And he said, well, yeah, you might have to do that. So we ended up sitting in the way in the back. But if I had been faster to recognize that, we could have moved back and had a better seat anyways we ended up sitting in the back.

But this is a very real example, this is a very real matter, but it speaks really to to our heart. What's our heart in this matter? Is it one of humility, of esteeming others more highly than themselves? And you know, you little ones, maybe there are places that you sit in the car and there's a seat of honor, Maybe that's the front seat next to mom or dad. Or maybe it's the seat by the door, right?

Do you vie for that seat so that others can't get it? That's exactly what Jesus is talking about. He says sit in the lowest seat. And if the guest, if the host desires you to sit in a more honorable seat, then he'll call you up to that seat. That's why we're little children, so we can learn these things.

So you're not like grow up and be these Pharisees as adult men playing these same silly games because They have far greater consequences when these people, people in their position, play these kind of games with where they sit and their desire to be honored. That's okay, I'm not picking on you children, because I did the same thing when I was a little in your age. He also then, Jesus also goes on to teach about Genuine hospitality. Genuine hospitality. Invite, don't just invite over those people that can invite you back and give you the same kind of feast that you're giving them.

Don't just invite over those people that are wealthy and can pay you back in kind. Jesus says when you give a dinner or supper, Invite the poor, the maimed, the lame, the blind. And then you will be blessed. Then you will be blessed. For they can't repay you.

You see, then your purpose and your motivation is shown to be more pure. When you're inviting people over who can pay you back, well, everybody does that. You can say, well, I want to be hospitable, but these people can certainly repay your hospitality. But when you invite people over that can't repay your hospitality, then Jesus says you will be repaid at the resurrection of the just. See We need to be willing to receive our reward at the resurrection and not expect it here on earth.

The reward is given, notice, at the resurrection of the just. It is appointed unto men once to die and after this the judgment. There is one judgment and it's the it's the judgment at the resurrection. When God sits on that great light throne, that judgment seat and and every word and deed that we have ever done will be judged. Yes, there will be great tears then.

Because our every word, there is nothing that we've done in secret that won't be revealed at that day of judgment. All the things that we have done will be judged. Now those that are in Christ, their sins, the judgment for their sins are upon Christ. But there's still a judgment. There's still a verdict.

And there are, this is the day, this is the time when God will reward those who have done well. And Jesus refers to that here. That should be the reward that we look for, the reward at the resurrection of the just. Well, somebody at this point got brave enough to actually say something. And so they thought, well, let's see, what can we say?

What could they say that wouldn't be incriminating, that wouldn't bring on more rebukes or more embarrassing questions that they can't answer. So somebody finally says, Blessed is he who will eat bread in the kingdom of God. Jesus has just spoken about this reward of the resurrection. And so here somebody said, blessed is he who shall eat bread in the kingdom of God. He thought he was stating something that was true.

Who could find fault with that? Blessed is he who will eat bread in the kingdom of God. Jesus has talked about the kingdom there and the resurrection of the just, God rewarding those people. And so he thought that fit right in with the conversation and it was safe to say and somebody's got to say something can't let Jesus do all the talking we won't look good you know there's other people there right it would look bad if we don't have anything insightful and pithy or wise to say. So he comes up with this statement, which Jesus simply turns into another admonition.

Who are the Pharisees? Well, these are the people who were greatly blessed. Paul says in Romans 9, he lists all the things that belonged to these Jews. They have the glory, the covenants, the giving of the law, the service of God, the promises of whom are the fathers and from whom according to the flesh Christ came, Christ who is eternally blessed. These were privileged people, right?

And this man was saying, well, blessed will it be for these privileged people to eat bread in the kingdom of God. And so Jesus tells a story about a man who invited a member of his friends to his wedding feast. When the time for the feast came and he sent out his servants to bring the guests to the wedding, he started getting excuses. Well, I've bought a piece of ground and I need to go look at it. Well, that's pretty legitimate.

It's good, nothing wrong with buying a piece of ground. And the Bible even says that a diligent man knows the state of his flocks and his lands. So he's doing something useful and good, but the problem is he's not coming to this feast that he was invited to. He's turned it down. And the next person, he says, well, I bought five yoke of oxen and I need to go out and test them.

I need to be excused. Another said, well I've married a wife and I can't come. I've got other things more interesting right now. The Jews knew that Jesus was talking about them. And so the master became angry.

And he said to his servants, go out into the streets and the lanes of the city and bring in here the poor and the maimed and the lame and the blind. And when that didn't fill this wedding feast, He said, go out into the hedges and the highways and compel them to come in. In other words, the Jews were of their own will, of their own choice, were rejecting Christ. And so they were going to be displaced. Jesus said elsewhere in Matthew, He said that many will come from the east and the west.

These are the Gentiles outside of the covenant and they're going to sit down and they're going to eat bread. But the sons of the kingdom, these people, this Pharisee said, would be blessed, he thought would be blessed, because they would eat bread in the kingdom of God. Jesus said, no, those are going to be cast out into outer darkness where there's weeping and gnashing of teeth. Jesus said to this crowd, for I say to you that none of those men who were invited shall taste of my supper. This Pharisee thought he was saying something that Jesus could approve of.

Blessed is he who will eat bread in the kingdom of God. And Jesus said, I say to you, those people that I've invited, none of them are going to eat bread in the kingdom of God. Because they've rejected the Messiah. Jesus warned them of their precarious position, but he did it in a very gentle way. And so what we see in this whole encounter is that Jesus loves his enemies.

He loved the people that wanted to trap him, embarrass him, trick him, and kill him. He accepted their invitation into their home and he spends time eating with them. He didn't turn their invitation down. He didn't say, well I've got other things to do. I've got people to preach to that want to hear me.

He accepted the invitation and he sat down and spent time eating with them. He kept up the conversation when they were silent. They had nothing to say. He found something to say. And he said in with amusing and entertaining stories.

He taught them. He adapted his conversation to the situation that was unfolding before him. He was an active participant at this occasion. The conversation is about them. The conversation is about what they need.

That's an act of love. He taught them the glorious gospel. He cared. He cared about their souls. Remember The immediate context of this passage is Jesus lamenting over Jerusalem, saying to them, how often I wanted to gather your children together as a hen gathers her brood under her wings.

I desired that. It was you that wasn't willing. He brings a reproof where it's needed. That's a sign of love as well. To not care about them would have been to ignore these things.

The law says, you shall not hate your brother in your heart. And what do you suppose the but is to that statement? You shall surely rebuke your neighbor and not bear sin because of him. In other words, to not hate your neighbor is to bring a rebuke when it's needed. And so this is, I think this whole passage here is a very clear answer to that question, does God desire all people to be saved?

Theologians discuss this, debate this, They call this the free offer of the Gospel. And they mean by that question, does God desire all people to be saved? Is the gospel freely offered? They mean that is God gracious to the hearers of the gospel and does He express a sincere desire for the salvation of those who hear the gospel message? Yes.

This passage says yes, Jesus does desire all men to be saved. You know, this has been something that has been debated many intensely for many years. On one hand, you see some people have argued that if God foreordained, if God has foreordained some men to eternal damnation from before the foundation of the world, then how could God sincerely offer his mercy to them? And others would argue from these kinds of passages that if he truly desired to gather these rebellious children of Israel under his wing, then isn't God expressing a desire of some sort to save those who are not elect? And see, all too often, one side will latch on to all the passages that seem to favor one view, their view, and then with the club of logic, in a sense, beat all the other passages into conformity to that doctrine.

You see, some have resolved this dilemma by steadfastly those that believe that God is, since God is foreordained to damnation some people, that therefore God could not truly desire their salvation in the offering of the gospel. They have said that God doesn't actually desire all men to repent as He commands them to do. And so one of their theologians writes that God is serious in the external call to all who hear, reprobate as well as elect, that he is serious in that call does not mean or even imply that he wishes all to be saved. But see, merely denying that God has a desire for the reprobate to be saved really doesn't relieve the dilemma. It only changes it because under their view then, God now commands people to do what He doesn't want them to do, or He doesn't want people to do what He's commanding them to do.

God now commands all men everywhere to repent. Does God desire all men everywhere to do what He's commanding them to do? I say yes, He does. God does sincerely desire all men everywhere to do what He's commanding them to do? I say, yes, He does.

God does sincerely desire all men everywhere to do what He commands them to do, which is repent. And so there's a desire there for all men to be saved. You see, Christ is the express image of the Father. The exact representation, Not an approximate, an exact representation. Christ has been warning about their love in which is hypocrisy.

He's been pronouncing woes on them, but he has also expressed this love to them and graciousness to them. The gospel is offered, sincerely offered to all men. We have many, many places in the scriptures where that offer is given to all men. Now, we use the word offer in the sense of we offer something to somebody, if they choose to say no, which they are free to do, there is no consequence to that. There's no consequence to that.

They are free to turn down our gift without any reprisals or repercussions against them. It's the mafia that gives gifts with reprisals against them. The way we use the word. But God, when God makes an offer of peace, those who reject that offer do bring God's judgment on them. In Deuteronomy 20, we read how the army of Israel was to, when they came near a city to fight against it, they were to offer it peace.

And if the answer came peaceably, then all of the people in that city were saved, were delivered. They became their servants. But If that offer was denied, declined, then they made war against that city and destroyed it. And the Lord delivered into the hands of the Israelite army all the males of that city that they were to strike with the edge of the sword. And so the offer of the gospel is not an offer that we can ignore, or I should say it is one that we ignore only to our peril.

But this offer of the Gospel and the sovereignty of God are often put together. Now, they're commands nonetheless. These offers are commands too. But we see the sovereignty of God and these offers right together in John 11 for example. All things are delivered to me by the Father and no man knows the Son but the Father.

Neither knows any man the Father except the Son. And he to whomever the Son will reveal him. There's the sovereignty of God in revealing the knowledge of God. But then immediately after that, that very verse is, come unto me all you that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn of me, for I am meek and lowly, and you will find rest to your souls, for my yoke is easy, my burden is light." There's the offer, the free offer.

Or Peter in his sermon on Acts 2 talks about how God foreordained the crucifixion of Christ and how these people are pricked in their heart, there is the doctrine, the sovereignty of God, and then the offer. Peter says, Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ, for the remission of sins and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit for the promises to you and your children and so on. Or Romans 10 9, there's the offer, If you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead you will be saved. Or Isaiah 45, look unto me all you ends of the earth and be saved, for I am God and there is none else. Or, oh everyone who thirsts come to the waters.

If you don't have money come buy and eat. And on and on throughout the Scriptures, the Gospel is offered to all people, to all those who will repent. Sinners are repeatedly commanded to incline their ear, to listen, to look to Christ, to be saved, to come, to drink, to repent. They are asked if they desire to be made whole. And if they would depart from Christ they are invited by words like whomever will if you will So I think in in light of these clear passages in scripture and in light of Christ's example as the expressed representation of the Father, we can say that God desires all sinners to repent and to be saved.

And that when God commands these things, He wants them to be done. This parable and this whole section demonstrate that Jesus as the master of the feast has not disinvited anyone. It is the Jews who rejected Christ. Who rejected Christ. May God give each of us the grace to call upon Him and to say, Yes, Lord, yes, Lord, I come.

Heavenly Father, we thank you for your word and for your desire that you have shown here, the love that you have. You have said that you love the world. And because you love the world, you have sent your only begotten son that whoever believes on him should not perish but have everlasting life. Father, we take great comfort in that. We pray that we might be faithful representatives of your word.

That you who have foreordained from before the foundation of the world those whom you will call to everlasting life and those whom you have damned to everlasting destruction, that you, this God, sincerely desire all men to be saved. Father, may we faithfully proclaim this glorious gospel and believe it in our heart through Jesus Christ, amen.