I was chatting today with a friend who is preaching on the Parable of the Great Banquet in Luke 14:15-23 soon.
It's a popular passage, and rightly so. It beautifully depicts the free offer of the Gospel and the celebratory and joyful nature of the Kingdom of God. However, from Luke 14:15-23 alone you could easily gloss over the brief mention of anger and preach the Gospel as a nice invitation to a party that is worth accepting, but that if you choose to try out your oxen or spend time with your wife then that's okay. You're missing out, but each to his own.
Matthew's account in 22:1-14 is a bit more chilling. In his account the servant carrying the invitation is killed and the king responds by destroying the murderers and burning their city. A guy then turns up without a wedding garment and is cast out into the outer darkness. There is still a party, but I suspect Luke's account is the more popular one today.
But my friend pointed out that Luke's account in chapter 14 follows chapter 13 which includes some stark warnings of its own. For example, Jesus in verse 22 is the servant carrying the invitation by preaching the through the towns and villages. He is the door into the Kingdom of God, but there will be a time when the door will be shut and people will plead to enter but will not be admitted. Outside the house he says there will be 'weeping and gnashing of teeth' but inside there will be feasting (vv. 28-29).
Luke's Jesus is not the 'nice' Jesus. Both Matthew and Luke depict a Jesus who preaches judgement to come. Very sobering for me to be reminded.
dont miss the context of israel. It was a rotten, rotten tree. There was a king of the jews, there was a priest about his duties and there was a temple...kind of. But they were all god shaped holes. In Luke and Matthew "this generation" which is under huge judgment in Jesus is theirs not ours. In Matthew, the whole story of Israel has been their betrothal to the King. "it will not be like the covenant I made with their forefather, because they broke my covenant, though I was a husband to them" (Jer 31)...So imagine the Royal Wedding to trump all royal weddings. London was full of people everyone knew exactly what was going on. And now you find someone in Westminster Abbey on the big day, when the whole nation is celebrating, and they're not even aware a wedding's going on. Thta's the context, it's not just unlucky. It's rotten Israel. Get out. So the nations can come in. "You have taken away the key of knowledge, you have not entered yourselves and you have hindered others..." (Mt 13). "You travel across land and sea to make a single proselyte, and then you make him twice a child of hell as yourselves" (Mt 23). "And don't you dare say to yourselves we are abraham's children (abraham meant father of many nations) since you are all from one nation and even worse, one sect; you dont even love your neighbour..." (Luke 3,10). Hence the Mt 22 passage is in context of the cursing of the fig tree, Jesus saying if you have faith in him, you might as well say to Mount Zion, fall into the sea. Likewise if anyone hinders his new adopted children, you might as well tie a millstone (Job - contains the beasts) around its neck and throw it into the sea. Likewise in Luke, the context of Luke 13-14 is 9:50 where JEsus turns to Jerusalem, and in 11:50-51 Jesus says Therefore this generation will be held responsible for the blood of all the prophets that has been shed since the beginning of the world, from the blood of Abel to the blood of Zechariah, who was killed between the altar and the sanctuary. Yes, I tell you, this generation will be held responsible for it all. and even more, ...But first he must suffer many things and be rejected by this generation..
ReplyDeleteBasically, I may sound like NT Wright here, but dont drop the historical particularity of israel here.
Thanks Chris. As always you're right to point out my neglect of the particular historical role of Israel. I think the corrective of NTW is helpful here.
ReplyDeleteWhen I was having my chat with my friend we did note that in Luke 13:29 "People will come from east and west and north and south, and will take their places at the feast in the kingdom of God".
I have two questions/points on the 'this generation' point though.
1. How much is it Jew v. Gentile and how much is it Religious/political establishment v. poor/excluded. I am often left wondering that in the parables of "those who are last who will be first, and first who will be last".
2. You say "In Luke and Matthew "this generation" which is under huge judgment in Jesus is theirs not ours". I would say you're right in what you affirm but wrong in what you deny... Judgement is of the Jew first, but then it is of the Greek. There is a priority, and I did short-cut the covenatal/historical context of Israel, but Israel represent (i.e. act as priests to) the world. What is true of them is true of us all, which is why when the new Israel of Jesus is faithful, dies and rises, the whole world is represented by him (and not just Israel). So if 1st century Israel was under judgement, we are too in a derivative sense.
What do you think?
PS I like the illustration and had a little muse on it. Perhaps even more potent would be a Englishman on VE day. To not be celebrating then, perhaps because you resent that you're not the one getting the glory, would be the rotten in the extreme.
ReplyDeleteon "this generation", true, but notice you're bringing in much broader (covenantal) eschatology to bear on the texts. You can see how e.g. Harold Camping's eschatology would also eisegete their eschatology into the gospel narratives; and that's the thing. If you didnt have those eschatologies I suggest you wouldnt generate them from those texts.
ReplyDeletePerhaps then you could say something about the rule of faith in this discussion (c.f. Richard Hayes devastating lecture at the NTW conference which I've just listened to again on your prompting).
ReplyDeleteWould Harold Camping have done the eisegesis he did if he was listening to the historic Orthodox church?