Dinner with Friends
Read: John 12:1-11 Jesus said, “Leave her alone, so that she may keep it for the day of my burial.” (v. 7) Dinner with friends is usually a sweet time of fellowship and special remembrances, but it can be especially poignant when you know you’ll soon be parted. Jesus was coming to the end of […]
Dinner with a Tax Collector
Read: Luke 19:1-10 So he hurried and came down and received him joyfully. (v. 6) We have seen Jesus at a dinner where he was scrutinized, tested, and challenged by those who considered themselves to be irreproachable. But what happened when Jesus was received with joy by someone that everyone knew was a sinner? What […]
Dinner with a Pharisee—Kingdom Preview
Read: Luke 14:15-24 I tell you, none of those men who were invited shall taste my banquet. (v. 24) “Blessed is everyone who will eat bread in the kingdom of God!” (v. 15). These are the words of one of the guests at the Pharisee’s dinner—and they are true words. But who will eat this […]
Dinner with a Pharisee—Humility
Read: Luke 14:1-14 Everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted. (v. 11) Have you ever been to a dinner where you felt like you were under special scrutiny? Maybe it was at a restaurant with your boss, or the first time you met your future in-laws. Whenever […]
Jesus Feeds the 5000
Read: Mark 6:30-44 They all ate and were satisfied. (v. 43) One of the revealed names for God in the Old Testament is Jehovah Jireh—“the LORD will provide” (Gen. 22:14). This name is certainly true of the Lord Jesus. So far we have seen Jesus as a guest at several meals, but in today’s Bible […]
An Uncomfortable Dinner
Read: Luke 7:36-50 [Jesus] said to the woman, “Your faith has saved you; go in peace.” (v. 50) Every eye in the place was on her from the moment she entered the house. There were smirks, low chuckles, heads shaking—they knew who she was and the kind of life she had lived. Simon himself was […]
Levi’s Feast
Read: Luke 5:27-39 Levi made him a great feast in his house, and there was a large company of tax collectors and others. (v. 29) He was at home here, with these people, and they enjoyed his company. There was laughter, eating, listening, and speaking, along with thoughtful questions and answers. While a few grumbled […]
The Wedding at Cana
Read: John 2:1-12 But you have kept the good wine until now. (v. 10) James Montgomery Boice wrote: “The life of the Christian is to be characterized by joy . . . that divine and desirable joy that characterized the life of the Lord Jesus Christ.” It seems appropriate, then, that Jesus’s first miracle would […]
A Glutton and Friend of Sinners
Read: Luke 7:24-35 The Son of Man has come eating and drinking, and you say, “Look at him! A glutton and a drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and sinners!” (v. 34) It was the worst thing they could say about him. The Pharisees, threatened by the ministries of John the Baptist and Jesus, looked […]