Bread of life
I want to invite you to read this passage of scripture with me:
“Then Jesus said to his host, ‘When you give a luncheon or dinner, do not invite your friends, your brothers or sisters, your relatives, or your rich neighbors; if you do, they may invite you back and so you will be repaid. But when you give a banquet, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind, and you will be blessed. Although they cannot repay you, you will be repaid at the resurrection of the righteous.’
When one of those at the table with him heard this, he said to Jesus, ‘Blessed is the one who will eat at the feast in the kingdom of God.’
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.”’” Luke 14:12-24 (NIV)
When we host people in our homes, one of the first questions we ask is: What should I make? And the answer often depends on who’s coming. If kids are on the way, maybe it’s chicken tenders and mac and cheese. If someone can’t have gluten, we plan around that. If a friend is vegetarian, the menu shifts again.
We prepare our food—our table—with our guests in mind. We want to offer something they can enjoy, something they can digest, something that nourishes them.
It’s the same when people come to us spiritually hungry.
When others come looking for hope, encouragement, or truth, we don’t rely on our own recipes. We pray and ask the Lord—the Bread of Life, the Living Word—to show us what to prepare and how to offer it.
How do we speak in a way that strengthens? How do we share the Word in a way that nourishes? How do we help stir a spiritual appetite that leads them to crave more of Him?
Because Jesus tells us clearly who should be on our invitation list.
When you give a feast, invite not only the people who always have it together—not just your comfortable “holy huddle”—but the ones who feel spiritually poor, wounded, isolated, limping through life, or groping in the dark for hope.
Jesus tells us to invite the ones who can’t repay you, the ones who feel empty, the ones who need nourishment the most.
And He promises—you will be blessed. Not because of what you receive today, but because of what is being stored up for the resurrection of the righteous.
