Last week we kicked off our series called Portrait of a Dinner Guest with a brief, perhaps seldom considered biographical sketch of Jesus as the guest. We learned that Jesus was invited to dinner many times during His earthly ministry. Sometimes others invited Him, sometimes He invited Himself, and a few times He even prepared the meal, revealing His sovereign glory as He did.
Today we are looking at a few of the guests who attended the dinners where Jesus was invited. The first of those dinner guests actually lived thirteen generations before Jesus was born, yet we can see Jesus’s fingerprints all over that dinner guest’s story. Back in May of 2024, we wrote about Mephibosheth, grandson of King Saul who not only was crippled as a child during the dismantling of His grandfather’s kingdom, but who was doomed to live the remainder of his days in hiding. Then, King David came on the scene.
Mephibosheth came by his isolated existence honestly. It was customary in the days of David for the king of a new dynasty to completely massacre anyone connected with the prior dynasty. But David behaved differently. Pastor David Guzik points out that David went against the principles of revenge and self-preservation and asked what he could do for the family of his enemy. Likewise, when given the opportunity to preserve His own life, King Jesus chose to lay His life down for His enemies. As King David showed inexplicable love to Mephibosheth, Scripture tells us that “God demonstrates His love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” (Romans 5:8 ESV) Jesus was invited to King David’s dinner with Mephibosheth because David’s actions were a foretelling of the great grace to come to all who believe and follow Jesus Christ.
We invite you to read our whole story of Mephibosheth by clicking here. You also can read the entire Biblical account in 2 Samuel 9. But for now, let’s fast forward to the days of Jesus’s earthly ministry and take a closer look at a few other dinner guests. Much like Mephibosheth, these guests would never have been invited to most dinner parties in their day. Yet, they were at the top of Jesus’s invitation list.
The Five Thousand-Plus
Besides the story of Jesus’s resurrection, His feeding of 5,000 men, plus women and children, is the only other miracle that is recorded in all four of the Gospels (Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John). Imagine for just a moment that the dinner hour is approaching. You are preparing to sit down with your loved one for a meal of fish and bread, just enough for the two of you. Suddenly, a throng of 5000-plus adults and children ring your doorbell looking for food. How on earth are you going to help them? Then you sense the Lord prompting you to just start passing around your plate of food. “Offer them what you have,” God says, “and leave the rest to me.” As you take the plate to each person, your plate seemingly becomes bottomless. You not only have enough to feed everyone, but you have an abundance of food left over! And that’s the point Jesus is making.
While His disciples saw the task as either impossible or totally dependent on their own work, Jesus taught them a truer lesson that gotquestions.org summarizes beautifully.: “When Christians are willing to offer their lives sacrificially, relinquishing their hold on whatever God has given them in terms of time, money, talents, etc., God will use these ordinary things to create extraordinary things.” (1)
How about you? Are you holding an asset of time, talent, or treasure that feels scarce right now, but also seems to be in high demand? What might happen if you simply surrendered it all to God? Jesus tells us we’ll be joyfully surprised by what God does in our midst.
Zacchaeus, the Crooked Tax Collector
Zacchaeus was among the most despised group of people in his culture. He was a Jew who had aligned himself with the oppressive Roman government for the purpose of self-gain. Not only was he collecting hefty taxes demanded by the Romans from fellow Jewish neighbors, but he extorted extra from them to keep for himself. Zacchaeus was rich, and also hated.
Yet, when Jesus, also of Jewish heritage, saw Zacchaeus as He walked through Jericho, He didn’t spurn him. Instead, He told Zacchaeus He would be spending the evening with him in his house. We often hear that God cannot look on sin; but Jesus, God the Son and the Son of God, not only looked on Zacchaeus, well aware of his actions, but invited Himself to dinner. And that gracious pursuit by Jesus not only transformed Zacchaeus, but it also relieved the hardship of many other Jewish people when Zacchaeus promised to pay back anyone he’d swindled four-fold.
How about you? Do you find yourself in the midst of sinful behaviors that are alienating you from your community? Take notice. Jesus Christ, your Savior, is close by, reaching out to you and desiring to fellowship with you. Let Him in, friend, and see how gracious and transforming He and His love can be.
The Woman Who “Squandered” Costly Perfume
The story of Jesus being anointed with expensive perfume by a tearful woman actually is three stories occurring at three separate times by different women. Each of the four Gospels tells at least one of the stories. The Gospels of Matthew, Mark, and John share accounts of Jesus being anointed by women just days ahead of His crucifixion. Their acts not only foreshadowed that event, but also fulfilled Old Testmament Scripture that detailed the dedication of kings to their appointed duties.
Luke shares an account from the middle of Jesus’s earthly ministry. He writes of a woman who comes to the home of Simon the Pharisee about one year before Jesus’s death. While the Pharisaical host invited Jesus in, his arrogance shown through when he didn’t even offer to wash Jesus’s feet, a customary act in that day. Yet, this woman, whom Jesus once had forgiven much, recognized His priceless value, and demonstrated it by washing his feet with her tears, drying them with her hair, and anointing them with expensive perfume. She didn’t necessarily recognize the value of her act, but she absolutely understood the value of her King.
How about you? When you come into Jesus’s presence, are you so awestruck by His power, goodness, and grace that you want to offer Him everything? All of you? Would you be willing to give up your most priceless possession in love, adoration, and thanksgiving for Him? Is there anything your tight-fisting, disbelieving that it either can be replaced or even multiplied by the power and love of Jesus?
Where are you?
Today you might identify with the story in 2 Samuel 9, recalling days of living in Lo-debar (the place translated “No thing” where King David found Mephibosheth), but Jesus gave you a new status and brought you to a new place where you are confidently seated, having said yes to His invitation to join Him at His table. Perhaps, like the disciples seeing 5000-plus hungry mouths to feed, you are feeling overwhelmed by the task at hand, leaning more into your own strength rather than surrendering it to God’s. Maybe you are walking a similar road to Zacchaeus, alienating others by your actions, and needing Jesus’s transformative, restorative, pursuing fellowship. Or, perhaps you have been forgiven much, and you know your Savior’s forgiveness and presence are priceless. The good news is, that no matter where you are or whose story resonates most with your own, there is a God who adores you. Ephesians 2:10 even tells us He sees you as His masterpiece. And He delights in meeting you right where your are and welcoming you to His table, not just as His guest, but as His eternal daughter or son. Believe it, friend.
— Linda Maynard for The Sublime Soiree, © June 25, 2025