Page 598 - Demo

sins. I tell you, from now on I shall not drink this fruit of the vine until the day when I drink it with you new in the kingdom of my Father.”
Matthew 26:26-29; p. 68
... People with a bad reputation
While he was at table in his house, many tax collectors and sinners sat with Jesus and his disciples; for there were many who followed him. Some scribes who were Pharisees saw that he was eating with sinners and tax collectors and said to his disciples, “Why does he eat with tax collectors and sinners?” Jesus heard this and said to them [that], “Those who are well do not need a physician, but the sick do. I did not come to call the righteous but sinners.”
Mark 2:15-17; p. 83
... Choosing a place at the table
He told a parable to those who had been invited, noticing how they were choosing the places of honor at the table. “When you are invited by someone to a wedding banquet, do not recline at table in the place of honor. A more distinguished guest than you may have been invited by him, and the host who invited both of you may approach you and say, ‘Give your place to this man,’ and then you would proceed with embarrassment to take the lowest place. Rather, when you are invited, go and take the lowest place so that when the host comes to you he may say, ‘My friend, move up to a higher position.’ Then you will enjoy the esteem of your companions at the table. For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but the one who humbles himself will be exalted.”
Luke 14:7-11; p. 158
... Unusual guests
Then he said to the host who invited him, “When you hold a lunch or a dinner, do not invite your friends or your brothers or your relatives or your wealthy neighbors, in case they may invite you back and you have repayment. Rather, when you hold a banquet, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind; blessed indeed will you be because of their inability to repay you. For you will be repaid at the resurrection of the righteous.”
Luke 14:12-14; p. 158
... Celebrating the return of the lost son
So he got up and went back to his father. While he was still a long way o , his father caught sight of him, and was lled with compassion. He ran to his son, embraced him and kissed him. His son said to him, ‘Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you; I no longer deserve to be called your son.’ But his father ordered his servants, ‘Quickly bring the nest robe and put it on him; put a ring on his nger and sandals on his feet. Take the fattened calf and slaughter it. Then
let us celebrate with a feast, because this son of mine was dead, and has come to life again; he was lost, and has been found.’ Then the celebration began.
Luke 15:20-24; p. 160
... Scraps to the poor
There was a rich man who dressed in purple garments and ne linen and dined sumptuously each day. And lying at his door was a poor man named Lazarus, covered with sores, who would gladly have eaten his ll of the scraps that fell from the rich man’s table. Dogs even used to come and lick his sores. When the poor man died, he was carried away by angels to the bosom of Abraham. The rich man also died and was buried, and from the netherworld, where he was in torment, he raised his eyes and saw Abraham far o and Lazarus at his side. And he cried out, ‘Father Abraham, have pity on me. Send Lazarus to dip the tip of his nger in water and cool my tongue, for I am su ering torment in these ames.’
Luke 16:19-24; p. 162
... A special guest
Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, [then] I will enter his house and dine with him, and he with me.
Revelation 3:20; p. 546
MERCY: See Forgiveness MONEY: See Riches, Poor NATURE
... A tiny seed will grow big
The kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed that a person took and sowed in a eld. It is the smallest of all the seeds, yet when full-grown it is the largest of plants. It becomes a large bush, and the ‘birds of the sky come and dwell in its branches.’
Matthew 13:31-32; p. 36
... It grows all by itself!
ThisishowitiswiththekingdomofGod;itisasifa man were to scatter seed on the land and would sleep and rise night and day and the seed would sprout and grow, he knows not how. Of its own accord the land yields fruit, rst the blade, then the ear, then the full grain in the ear. And when the grain is ripe, he wields the sickle at once, for the harvest has come.
Mark 4:26-29; p. 86
... Predicting the weather
When you see [a] cloud rising in the west you say immediately that it is going to rain— and so it does; and when you notice that the wind is blowing from the south you say that it is going to be hot—and so
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