Luke writes, ‘It happened, that when He went into the house of one of the leaders of the Pharisees on the Sabbath to eat bread, they were watching Him closely’ (v. 1 NASB). That day He turned one of their most prized religious traditions on its ear by saying, ‘Whenever you give a banquet, invite people who are poor, who have disabilities, who are limping, and people who are blind; and you will be blessed, since they do not have the means to repay you; for you will be repaid at the resurrection of the righteous’ (vv. 13-14 NASB). Anything defective was considered by the Pharisees as unsuitable to reflect the perfect holiness of God. Consequently, they allowed nothing malformed within the boundaries of the temple. Furthermore, since they believed the temple had been degraded by Rome, they believed they could honour God by treating their homes as small temples. For Jesus to tell this well-known Pharisee to intentionally invite malformed, defective human beings into his holy little temple was a deliberate slap in the face. Jesus was instructing him to place on his guest list people whose defects offended him. Jesus’ compassion came from His love for all individuals and His pain when anyone is devalued. In Scripture, we are never told that Jesus had compassion for someone because they deserved it but because they were in need. Don’t miss the point Jesus made. He promised that you will be blessed in this life and rewarded in the next one when you show kindness and compassion to those who ‘cannot repay you’. Keep this in mind when you’re tempted to overlook someone because they have a particular problem you don’t like.

© 2024. Written by Bob and Debby Gass. Used by permission under licence from UCB International.