A GREAT PLACE TO LEARN

Let us rejoice and be glad: let us praise his greatness! For the time has come for the wedding of the Lamb, and  his bride has prepared herself for it. She has been given clean shining linen to wear." (The linen is the good deeds of God's people). Then the Angel said to me "write this Happy are those who have been invited to the wedding feast of the Lamb." And the angel added, "These are the true words of God.
Revelation 19:7-9

Have you noticed that one of the best times for learning is mealtime? Sharing food together break down barriers and starts meaningful conversations. A professor, for example, can teach passionately in a lecture hall and inspire little more reaction than a few sleepy nods. But put those students around the same professor in a dining hall, and they're asking question, chewing on issues, and gulping down concepts faster than he can dish them out.
   Jesus, the consummate teacher, certainly seems to have  understood this concept. Just think how many of the significant lessons in Luke and the other gospels...took place over a banquet table or at a hillside picnic.
   For instance, do you know where He performed His first miracle? At a wedding feast in Cana (John 2:1-11). And what about the time He took the little boy's loaves and fishes and turn them into lunch for five thousand (Luke 9:10-17! And then there's His memorable moment in Martha kitchen, when He turned down the heat under her boiling frustration and offer her a cool sip of His peace (Luke 10:38-42). Then later, at the same house, He gave a lesson on the value of costly worship when Mary anointed His feet with perfume during a meal (John12:2-8).
   And who could forget the most famous meal in the gospels, the Last Supper (John 13-17). Gathering around  that table, the disciples surely savored every morsel Jesus served. It was a feast of unforgettable lesson in servanthood, leadership abiding in Christ, loving one another, the Holy Spirit, and the future. The nourishment of that meal would have to last them through the lean, hungry, and horrible days ahead until after His resurrection, when they would eat with Jesus again on the shore of Galilee and witness His encouragement of Simon Peter (John21).
   Looking into the future, we see another meal the glorious "marriage supper of the Lamb" (Rev.19:7-9). In that day, we'll be dressed as Christ's perfect bride in the bright and clean linen of righteousness. We'll join Him in a celestial celebration that will last forever. What a meal that will be! So when we find Jesus in Luke 14 sitting down for dinner, we're not surprised that He takes this setting as an opportunity to serve up some memorable lesson that we're calling "spiritual table manner.