Current interpration of Jesus's teachings

In my Parish magazine, there was a cartoon illustration that appears to be very much out of touch with what the Bible actually states. No name is attributed with producing this A5 page of moral cartoon story, i am not sure exactly what to make of that, but i would be interested with peoples thoughts on this interpretation.

The parable comes from Luke 14.



Writing in brackets is what the picture shows, after that, is what the writing underneath the picture reads.



(Title) The Big Bash!

(illustration of Jesus) Jesus often told stories with hidden meanings

(ill. of rich man) One story was about a rich man who decided to have a party

(pile of invitations) He sent out lots of invitations

(rich man reads an invitation and exclaims “oh! No!!”) But people started making excuses

(ill. of man with tape measure and field) One man said he had bought a field, but needed to measure

(ill. of man and oxen) Another man said he needed to test drive the oxen he has just paid for.

(ill. of small man, and large woman) Another man said he had just got married – and his wife wouldn’t let him out!

(ill. of beggars) So the rich man invited all the poor and needy instead.

(hand holding invitation which reads “Yes – I can come to your party”) This parable means we shouldn’t make excuses for not following Jesus.



My main point is how on earth the illustrator/writer of this cartoon can come to the conclusion in the final line. It seems to have no link with what has gone before it in the cartoon. I cannot understand how that story can possibly be used to teach that “we shouldn’t make excuses for not following Jesus”.



I have also read the bible passage for this parable, but I do not clearly understand it either. And it certainly does not help to clear up what the cartoon illustrator/writer was trying to say. I would be interested in any interpretation or thoughts that people have. Do you think that it is wrong that people are allowed to publish things such as this in Parish magazines as if they have some kind of authority? When it would appear that they are only causing confusion, and that here is in fact a danger that they are misleading people.

*corrections:
The 'beggars' in the story are indeed only referred to as "poor and needy" rather than beggars.

The conclusion drawn "This parable means we shouldn't make excuses for not following Jesus" is made by the cartoon, rather than myself.

The Parable of the Great Banquet

15When one of those at the table with him heard this, he said to Jesus, "Blessed is the man who will eat at the feast in the kingdom of God."
16Jesus replied: "A certain man was preparing a great banquet and invited many guests. 17At the time of the banquet he sent his servant to tell those who had been invited, 'Come, for everything is now ready.'
18"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.'
19"Another said, 'I have just bought five yoke of oxen, and I'm on my way to try them out. Please excuse me.'
20"Still another said, 'I just got married, so I can't come.'
21"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.'
22" 'Sir,' the servant said, 'what you ordered has been done, but there is still room.'
23"Then the master told his servant, 'Go out to the roads and country lanes and make them come in, so that my house will be full. 24I tell you, not one of those men who were invited will get a taste of my banquet.' "

There are several messages in this parable. To understand the parable, you need put in context who and what are the players.



The Master in the parable is Jesus. He has prepared a Great Banquet meaning a place for them in the Kingdom of God. He tells his Servants, disciples, to tell all Invited, (Jews),to come, for the Great Banquet is ready, or Salvation is at hand.



God’s covenant with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, was made that their offspring are God’s chosen people, (Jews). The Invited are not just Jews, but they are the Priests, Scribes, and the Righteous. The Invited are the ones that know about God, but they choose not to listen. They make excuses, rationalize why they don’t come. As you can see, all excuses are lame.



Now the Servants told the Master that the Invited won’t come. The Master said go and bring the poor, the crippled, the blind and the lame, (unclean Jews or sinners). There was more room, so the Master ordered the Servants to go and fill up the room with everyone, (Gentiles). Since the Invited know of God and still turn away, they will never know the Kingdom of God.



God uses this parable to speak to us today. The Invited of Jesus’ times are the Christians of today. How often do we make lame excuses of why we are not Christ like? We attend our country club churches once a week and thump our chests and say look at me, “I am Righteous”. We judge those who are different, we mock what we don’t understand and we retaliate when we feel threatened. When we are called on about our actions, we hide behind our law. Sound familiar?



The poor, crippled and blind today are those who hurt. They are broken in spirit and feel unworthy of love. They fight abuse, addiction, starvation and homelessness. They are persecuted because that may not fit into what we call “normal”. Christ says there is room in my Father’s house for you. I love you where you are.



The Servants are those who have accepted Christ as their Salvation. They respond they way Peter did and feed his sheep.



John 21 15-18

15 When they had finished eating, Jesus said to Simon Peter, "Simon son of John, do you truly love me more than these?"
"Yes, Lord," he said, "you know that I love you."
Jesus said, "Feed my lambs."
16Again Jesus said, "Simon son of John, do you truly love me?"
He answered, "Yes, Lord, you know that I love you."
Jesus said, "Take care of my sheep."
17The third time he said to him, "Simon son of John, do you love me?"
Peter was hurt because Jesus asked him the third time, "Do you love me?" He said, "Lord, you know all things; you know that I love you." 18
Jesus said, "Feed my sheep.”



God speaks to us in ways that we understand, and most times we don’t listen. A cartoon may not speak to you in ways it may to others. God has lead you to seek more information. The question on is the cartoon wrong, is not as important as what is God saying to me.



Peace

maybe the guy was thowing an AMWAY party and the rich people knew what he was trying to do and the poor people didnt.

Blither said:

In my Parish magazine, there was a cartoon illustration that appears to be very much out of touch with what the Bible actually states. No name is attributed with producing this A5 page of moral cartoon story, i am not sure exactly what to make of that, but i would be interested with peoples thoughts on this interpretation.

The parable comes from Luke 14.



Writing in brackets is what the picture shows, after that, is what the writing underneath the picture reads.



(Title) The Big Bash!

(illustration of Jesus) Jesus often told stories with hidden meanings

(ill. of rich man) One story was about a rich man who decided to have a party

(pile of invitations) He sent out lots of invitations

(rich man reads an invitation and exclaims “oh! No!!”) But people started making excuses

(ill. of man with tape measure and field) One man said he had bought a field, but needed to measure

(ill. of man and oxen) Another man said he needed to test drive the oxen he has just paid for.

(ill. of small man, and large woman) Another man said he had just got married – and his wife wouldn’t let him out!

(ill. of beggars) So the rich man invited all the poor and needy instead.

(hand holding invitation which reads “Yes – I can come to your party”) This parable means we shouldn’t make excuses for not following Jesus.



My main point is how on earth the illustrator/writer of this cartoon can come to the conclusion in the final line. It seems to have no link with what has gone before it in the cartoon. I cannot understand how that story can possibly be used to teach that “we shouldn’t make excuses for not following Jesus”.



I have also read the bible passage for this parable, but I do not clearly understand it either. And it certainly does not help to clear up what the cartoon illustrator/writer was trying to say. I would be interested in any interpretation or thoughts that people have. Do you think that it is wrong that people are allowed to publish things such as this in Parish magazines as if they have some kind of authority? When it would appear that they are only causing confusion, and that here is in fact a danger that they are misleading people.

Click to expand...

"A certain man was spreading a grand evening meal, and he invited many. And he sent his slave out . . . to say to the invited ones, ‘Come, because things are now ready.’ But they all in common started to beg off. The first said to him, ‘I bought a field and need to go out and see it; I ask you, Have me excused.’ And another said, ‘I bought five yoke of cattle and am going to examine them; I ask you, Have me excused.’ Still another said, ‘I just married a wife and for this reason I cannot come.’"


​

What lame excuses! A field or livestock are normally examined before they are bought, so no real urgency exists to look at them afterward. Similarly, a person’s marriage should not prevent him from accepting such an important invitation. So on hearing about these excuses, the master becomes angry and commands his slave:​

"‘Go out quickly into the broad ways and the lanes of the city, and bring in here the poor and crippled and blind and lame.’ In time the slave said, ‘Master, what you ordered has been done, and yet there is room.’ And the master said to the slave, ‘Go out into the roads and the fenced-in places, and compel them to come in, that my house may be filled. . . . None of those men that were invited shall have a taste of my evening meal.’"​

What situation is described by the illustration? Well, "the master" providing the meal represents Jehovah God; "the slave" extending the invitation, Jesus Christ; and the "grand evening meal," the opportunities to be in line for the Kingdom of the heavens.​

Those first to receive the invitation to come in line for the Kingdom were, above all others, the Jewish religious leaders of Jesus’ day. However, they rejected the invitation. Thus, beginning particularly at Pentecost 33 C.E., a second invitation was extended to the despised and lowly ones of the Jewish nation. But not enough responded to fill the 144,000 places in God’s heavenly Kingdom. So in 36 C.E., three and a half years later, the third and final invitation was extended to uncircumcised non-Jews, and the gathering of such ones continued into the 20th century. Luke 14:1-24.

Gods flock are the ISREALITES.

Jews are but one tribe of 12.

Get it straight please.

Peace.

"I come for the lost sheep of Isreal"...Jesus.

Greyprophet said:

Gods flock are the ISREALITES.

Jews are but one tribe of 12.

Get it straight please.

Peace.

"I come for the lost sheep of Isreal"...Jesus.

Click to expand...

Exodus 1:1
Now these are the names of the sons of Israel, who came into Egypt (every man and his household came with Jacob):

[size=-1]Exodus 1:2
Reuben, Simeon, Levi, and Judah,

[size=-1]Exodus 1:3
Issachar, Zebulun, and Benjamin,

[size=-1]Exodus 1:4
Dan and Naphtali, Gad and Asher.

Exodus 1:5
And all the souls that came out of the loins of Jacob were seventy souls: and Joseph was in Egypt already.
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[size=-1][size=-1][size=-1]Revelation 7:4
And I heard the number of them that were sealed, a hundred and forty and four thousand, sealed out of every tribe of the children of Israel:

[size=-1]Revelation 7:5
Of the tribe of Judah [were] sealed twelve thousand: Of the tribe of Reuben twelve thousand; Of the tribe of Gad twelve thousand;

[size=-1]Revelation 7:6
Of the tribe of Asher twelve thousand; Of the tribe of Naphtali twelve thousand; Of the tribe of Manasseh twelve thousand;

[size=-1]Revelation 7:7
Of the tribe of Simeon twelve thousand; Of the tribe of Levi twelve thousand; Of the tribe of Issachar twelve thousand;

[size=-1]Revelation 7:8
Of the tribe of Zebulun twelve thousand; Of the tribe of Joseph twelve thousand; Of the tribe of Benjamin [were] sealed twelve thousand.

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[size=-1][size=-1][size=-1][size=-1][size=-1][size=-1][size=-1]Note: All scripture quotes from the American Standard Version Bible of 1901
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Romans 10:12
For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek: for the same [Lord] is Lord of all, and is rich unto all that call upon him: