Invitations to AbundanceНамуна

Kingdom

The Many-Imaged Kingdom

The gospels use many images to describe God’s kingdom: a man who sowed good seed in his field, a mustard seed sown in a field, leaven hidden in flour, a hidden treasure, a pearl-seeking merchant, a net gathering every kind of fish thrown into the sea, a king settling accounts with his servants, a master of a house hiring laborers for his vineyard.

Out of the many images used, Jesus also likens the kingdom to a king who gave a wedding feast for his son and a man who once gave a great banquet and invited many. He even uses celebration and an extravagant meal to describe what happens when we turn to him from all that vies for our loyalty and affection and covets our souls.

Here and Now

In the Gospels, the feasts we encounter in the teachings of Jesus are first and foremost about God’s kingdom. While they point to a future kingdom, they also hold significance for God’s kingdom unfolding here and now—on earth as it is in heaven. They reveal how one enters the kingdom and what that kingdom is like. For Jesus, the table was also the frequent site of miracles, teaching, and run-ins with the religious elite of his day. While we may not have the ability to work the kinds of miracles Jesus did or teach with the authority he had, we can live lives that challenge the status quo around the table.

Unconventional Guests

The story of the prodigal son reminds us that no matter how far we may drift from God if we return he will welcome us back with great rejoicing. Repentance, then, is not a scary and harsh demand but an invitation to experience anew the warm love of a father. We are never too soiled for his table.

The feast scenes in Luke 14 show Jesus disrupting the social order, welcoming outsiders, honoring those who appear to lack honor, rebuking the status-obsessed.

What are some ways you can think of that God’s kingdom might be like a feast? What are aspects of feasts that make them different from everyday meals? What does the story of the prodigal son teach us about God’s kingdom? What do other meal scenes from the Gospels tell us about what we can expect when we show up before God hungry or otherwise in need?