筵席的主人和宾客遇见了耶稣。坐席的时候，宾客都尝试坐在主人旁边的贵宾位上。这是常见的做法，因为当时的社会看重尊崇那些有体面和有社会地位的人；人们也通常邀请那些会回请他们的人，因为参加另一个人作东道主的筵席，对你的社交生活有益处。
然而，透过祂向宾客和主人所说的话，耶稣揭示了另一不同的世界。祂告诉他们，要坐在末位，要邀请没有能力回请他们的贫穷人。
耶稣藉此显示一种不看重地位、又废除有卑贱尊贵之分的生活方式。
耶稣在祂的教导中显明这种生活方式，祂更成为最被人鄙视的局外人，来让人看到这种生活方式是可行的。祂死在十字架上，背负了最羞耻的唾弃，好叫神的国度能在我们的世界里成为事实。
神的国度是一个单单重视“神爱我们”这个真理的地方。神的国度是耶稣基督赐给我们的礼物。
主神啊，耶稣所揭示的神的国度，令我们大为震惊 － 它似乎把一切都倒转过来了。然而，我们愿意让你的国度塑造我们的生命，并且为它向我们显示的慈爱感谢你。阿们。
路加福音 14:7-14
7耶稣见所请的客拣择首位，就用比喻对他们说：
8“你被人请去赴婚姻的筵席，不要坐在首位上，恐怕有比你尊贵的客被他请来，
9那请你们的人前来对你说：‘让座给这一位吧！’你就羞羞惭惭地退到末位上去了。
10你被请的时候，就去坐在末位上，好叫那请你的人来对你说：‘朋友，请上坐！’那时，你在同席的人面前就有光彩了。
11因为凡自高的，必降为卑；自卑的，必升为高。”
12耶稣又对请他的人说：“你摆设午饭或晚饭，不要请你的朋友、弟兄、亲属和富足的邻舍，恐怕他们也请你，你就得了报答。
13你摆设筵席，倒要请那贫穷的、残废的、瘸腿的、瞎眼的，你就有福了！
14因为他们没有什么可报答你。到义人复活的时候，你要得着报答。”
“When you give a banquet, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind, and you will be blessed.” - Luke 14:13-14
The guests and host of a banquet met Jesus. At the banquet, the guests tried to sit in seats of honor, near the place where the host would sit. This was common in that society, which cared about honor for people who were respectable and had status in the community. It was also common to invite people over who would invite you back, because you could benefit socially from attending another dinner party hosted by someone else.
But Jesus introduced a different kind of world by what he said to the guests and the host. He told them to sit in the least honorable seats, and to invite guests who were too poor to return the invitation.
In this way Jesus revealed a way of life in which status doesn’t matter, and in which shame and honor are erased.
Jesus revealed this way of life in his teachings, and he made this way of life possible by becoming the most despised outsider of all. He died on a cross and bore the worst of all rejections in order to make God’s kingdom a reality in our world.
God’s kingdom is the place where the only status that matters is that we are “loved by God.” God’s kingdom is a gift that Jesus Christ gives to us.
Lord God, we are shocked by the kind of kingdom Jesus introduced—it seems upside down to us. And yet we thank you for the great love that your kingdom reveals when we allow it to shape our lives. Amen.
诵读: 骆云秀
片头: 张妙阳
