#31: Friday, 5 April, 2019.
Friday, 5 April Luke 14:1-35
Written by Dr Graham Leo. ©2019.
Yesterday’s reflection was all about banquets, and today’s reading follows a similar theme for part of it. We won't continue on that theme, today, except to note that Jesus told a very amusing parable in vv15-24. We’re not accustomed to laughing when we read scripture, perhaps, but why shouldn't we expect to hear some funny stories when Jesus is telling his parables? He knew how to engage a crowd.
Listen again to the three excuses that Jesus puts in the mouths of his characters who refuse the Lord’s invitation to the Banquet.
The first one says that he has bought a field and has to go and look at it. We still have people who buy real estate they’ve not seen, though it always seems to me to be a risky business. But in Jesus’ day, a purchase of land was a major event. Land was a long-term investment, often kept in the family for many generations. It would only be sold in some sort of emergency or when a family line had died out. Land was the heart of the family.
To buy land in an ancient Middle Eastern setting would have entailed walking around the area, talking to the owner, hearing the stories of the land. There were no surveys or boundary pegs. This land goes up to where that tree sheds its shade to the furthest point at midsummer. That tree was planted by my grandfather, Simeon, son of Jacob. Over there, that group of three rocks marks the northern boundary. They were laid there by my ancestors many hundreds of years ago. One of the rocks was carried from the tomb of one of their fathers. This land was used by…
And so the stories would flow. When you bought land, you bought a piece of the culture of the nation. The process took days, weeks, to live though the process. The village elders had to agree to the sale. When Jesus said the man had to go and look at land he had bought, everyone in his audience knew that this was a made-up excuse. They laughed, and elbowed each other. “He’s good, this one! He really knows how to tell a story.”
Then Jesus mentioned another man who wanted to follow him, but… This time the excuse is that he had bought five yoke of oxen and he was on his way to try them out. This time, the audience laughed uproariously. This man is telling some funny stories.
A single yoke of oxen means you buy two animals, that have been trained to walk together in a yoke. The yoke was a wooden collar that went around both animals’ necks to keep them walking in the same direction and speed. It was very important that the animals were compatible. If one wanted to go the left and the other wanted to go to the right, the plough line would never be straight. If they wanted to bite each other, or fight in some way, they would be constantly pulling at the collar. If one were a slow plodder and the other more energetic, the plough would proceed in a constant circle, not a straight line.
Everyone in Jesus’ audience knew that nobody but an arrant fool would buy two yoked oxen without first trying them out in a field with a plough. He’d be a sale-shark’s dream! He’d be like the yokel from the bush who bought the Sydney Harbour Bridge, or a telephone booth, from a slick salesman in a shiny suit. But Jesus piled on the exaggeration for some laughs. This man bought five pairs of yoked oxen! He wasn't an ordinary fool, he was the dumbest oaf in all Israel. Of course, this excuse was just a nonsense, invented by a countryman to fool a city rabbi. This story has got town and gown, farmer yokel and city gullibility written all over it.
Finally, Jesus tells the one that would really make an audience laugh in a Middle Eastern patriarchal society. The third man would really like to follow Jesus, but he’s just got married and his wife won't let him go! What a schmuck! He’d better learn who’s who in this marriage or he’ll lead a sorry sort of dance for the rest of his life! Ho, ho, ho!
Well, Jesus’ audience laughed and perhaps we will too, when we finally learn to read the Gospels through Jewish eyes and ears. Jesus really wanted to let people know just how stupid you have to be to turn down an invitation to join the Kingdom of Heaven.
But that kind of makes you stop and think, doesn't it?
What sort of excuses do we hear people making (not us, of course!) for not bothering to come to church, except at Christmas and Easter? (It’s best to keep on God’s good side, in case we need him this year. You never know. You could have to go to a funeral or something.)
People say things like (translations offered helpfully in brackets following):
I work really hard, I have to have time to myself on the weekend. (I spend all week working and doing stuff because I want to make money and enjoy myself. I can't spare the Master of the Universe an hour on Sunday.)
Sunday mornings are the only time I get to spend with the kids. We like to go to the beach or to a park then as a family. (Surely it won't matter if we give the kids the clear message that we reckon that God isn't very important. I'm sure they’ll still grow up to be good Christian people. Just like us.)
We send the kids to a Christian school; we don't need to take them to church. (For some reason I think they will learn lessons from teachers whom they often don't really like all that much, and who only teach the material once or twice, but they’ll not learn the implicit lesson that going to church doesn't matter from us whom they really do love, even if they are re-taught it almost every week of their entire lives.)
I wonder what stories Jesus would tell if he were with us now? How many excuses can we make up for not attending the banquet? The only worry is that once we’ve failed the RSVP, the invitation gets given to someone else. Jesus’ last words on the topic should strike fear and awe into our hearts (v24): I tell you, not one of those who were invited and failed to come will get even a taste of my banquet.
Yes, it’s true that Jesus invites everyone into his Kingdom. But according to this word from the Master’s own mouth, the invitation can be withdrawn if it is ignored once too often. This Jesus is more like a lion than a lamb sometimes! Gentle Jesus, meek and mild, forgive me for treating you like a child.
Prayer: Lord Jesus Christ, forgive me please, for the number of times that I've heard your invitation and failed to respond. I want to change that. I want to be seated at your banquet every day of my life. Amen.