CreationFoundation
-- Home Page/Contents
29
-- THE RESURRECTION OF THE JUST
Luke 14:7-14 So He told a parable to those who were invited, when He noted how they chose the best places, saying to them: "When you are invited by anyone to a wedding feast, do not sit down in the best place, lest one more honorable than you be invited by him; and he who invited you and him come and say to you, "Give place to this man,' and then you begin with shame to take the lowest place.
But
when you are invited, go and sit down in the lowest place, so that when
he who invited you comes he may say to you, "Friend, go up higher.'
Then you will have glory in the presence of those who sit at the table
with you. For whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and he who
humbles himself will be exalted."
Then He also said to him who invited Him, "When you give a dinner
or a supper, do not ask your friends, your brothers, your relatives, nor
rich neighbors, lest they also invite you back, and you be repaid. But
when you give a feast, invite the poor, the maimed, the lame, the blind.
And you will be blessed, because they cannot repay you; for
you shall be repaid [rewarded] at the resurrection of the just.
Although most of the parables of Jesus were probably structured in advance and then delivered on various occasions as appropriate, this particular parable appears to be an impromptu one, based on the immediate circumstance.
Beyond the wisdom of not trying to exalt onesself, the key point of the parable appears to be the fact that those who humble themselves in the service of others, particularly the poor and needy, rather than simply seeking to get for themselves, will actually be repaid for their efforts -- with that reward being given them at the resurrection of the just.
Although salvation itself is a gift and cannot be earned by any amount of good works, Jesus does make it clear on a number of occasions that good works will be rewarded (Matthew 5:12, 6:1,2,5,16, 10:42, Luke 6:35), as does Paul (1 Corinthians 15:58, Colossians 3:23-24). This is how we lay up treasure in heaven.
As Paul makes crystal clear, all the people who ever lived will be resurrected, but not at the same time (1 Corinthians 15:22). The resurrection of the just, for example, which Jesus mentions in this parable, actually takes place at his return (verse 23) -- and that is when his disciples will receive their reward. The rest of mankind will be resurrected later.
Paul makes the situation even more explicit in his letter to the Thessalonians where he sets out to explain the state of the dead (1 Thessalonians 4:13-16).
Most of the book of Revelation is devoted to a description of the end time events that lead up to the literal return of Jesus -- his coming like a thief in the night (Revelation 16:15), followed by the subjection of the nations to the rule of the Kingdom of God (Revelation 11:15), at which time the wedding feast described in several parables in Luke will actually take place ((Revelation 19:6-7&9).