JESUS IS NOT POLITE

DAY 94:  My kids know that when I have a lot on my plate I can be impatient. Working from deadline to deadline on work projects is no problem; but when there is something looming that is out of my comfort zone I can get testy.  For me that is usually when I am hosting something at my house. I'll be honest, I'm not a great housekeeper.  I am most at home in piles - piles of laundry, piles of paper, piles of dishes. So when we have guests I am literally under the piles. Between making sure the outside of the house is groomed, the inside cleaned, and the food prepared I can get stressed. When I get stressed I am way more reactive - so it is best to just smile and stay out of my way.  Fortunately for my family (and sometimes my guests), I don't throw a lot of dinner parties.

Today, as I read in Luke 11 and 12, I saw some dinner hosts also being reactive, but they had other reasons.  It seems their guest forgot His manners and threw a kink in what could have been a very pleasant social gathering.

Jesus certainly had experienced some stressful "work" days.  Perhaps you can relate.  He had just closed a really big deal (casting out a demon from a man who couldn't speak) and He received no credit for it at all.  Instead, even though the demon-free man was finally able to speak, the crowd insisted the miracle was rigged.

Luke 11:15 "No wonder he can cast out demons. He gets his power from Satan, the prince of demons."

Then they demanded he do more miracles if he really wanted to prove his power was from heaven.  You just can't please some people.  While Jesus was willing to show them the flaws in their reasoning, He was not willing to perform a dog-and-pony show for them. Instead He gave them a warning about rejecting the wisdom they were being presented.  Then He told them, "Blessed are all who hear the word and put it into practice." 

Luke 11:37 "As Jesus was speaking, one of the Pharisees invited Him home for a meal. So he went in and took his place at the table."

For my husband, nothing is more encouraging after a long and difficult day at work than coming home for a relaxing meal.  (Personally I unwind with chocolate.)  I would imagine that being invited off the streets where He was constantly followed by crowds, into a home for a meal would have been a welcome respite for Jesus - even if the Pharisees were not generally fans.  Hospitality was still a sacred thing to the Jewish people so it could have been nice.  But it took exactly 4.5 seconds for Jesus to get on the nerves of His host when he fails stick to the expected customs. Let the reacting commence.

³⁸ His host was amazed to see that (Jesus) sat down to eat without first performing the hand-washing ceremony required by Jewish custom...

One of my flaws is that my facial expressions always give away how I feel - which must have been true for this shocked Pharisee.  Reading the amazement on His host's face, Jesus took the opportunity to set him straight. 
 You Pharisees are so careful to clean the outside of the cup and the dish, but inside you are filthy—full of greed and wickedness! ⁴⁰ Fools! Didn’t God make the inside as well as the outside? ⁴¹ So clean the inside by giving gifts to the poor, and you will be clean all over.

The dinner party just got awkward.  The Guest is schooling the host while the fish gets cold.  Jesus did not hold anything back.  And why should He?  This guy was just out on the streets with Him when He made clear that just "hearing" God's word was meaningless if a person did not also "put into practice" the teachings. Did he not think Jesus really meant what He said? Did he think they could just agree to disagree? He invited Jesus in to see first hand how he lived a life trying to achieve purity without "putting into practice" the foundational principal of loving your neighbors - like the poor. No, Jesus definitely did not hold back.  

And He wasn't done yet.  When another guest, an expert in the Law, complained that he too felt insulted by Jesus words, the Son of God doubled down. 

 ⁴⁶ “Yes, (you should) ” said Jesus, “what sorrow also awaits you experts in religious law! For you crush people with unbearable religious demands, and you never lift a finger to ease the burden. ⁴⁷ What sorrow awaits you! 

All pretenses at hospitality and congeniality were gone.  They were offended by Jesus, and Jesus was offended by their pretenses.  Everyone was reacting - and it was about to get worse.

 ³ As Jesus was leaving, the teachers of religious law and the Pharisees became hostile and tried to provoke him with many questions. ⁵⁴ They wanted to trap him into saying something they could use against him.

Other than learning that these guys should NOT throw dinner parties, I did observe something else: 

Jesus in not polite.  

He is too passionate to be polite.  I need to understand that reality if I am going to host Jesus in my life.  He will not sit idly by without confronting me with truth.  Graciously, He gives me the opportunity to hear Him teach in His Word, but if I choose to "hear and not practice" things could get awkward.  Jesus may say some in-your-face-things to challenge me.  It will be up to me whether I will be offended and hostile like the "religious" guys, or broken and repentant - ready to put His words into practice. 

Knowing this, I still want Him at my table! Do you?

Hosting Jesus in my "house" 
won't always be in my comfort zone,  
but with the right reaction  on my part
it doesn't have to be awkward. 

Day 94 of 365

Deuteronomy 28
Luke 11:14-36
Psalm 77:1-20
Proverbs 12:18

Day 95 of 365
Deuteronomy 29
Deuteronomy 30
Luke 11:37-54
Luke 12:1-7
Psalm 78:1-31
Proverbs 12:19-20