Party Crasher

Parties are central to the work and life of Jesus. His very first miracle was turning water into wine so that a wedding party could get lit and on his travels, Jesus would party with pharisees, outcasts, tax collectors and anyone else who invited him. In fact, Jesus partied so much he was accused of being “a glutton and a drunk” (Luke 7:34). 

Parties were also recurring images in Jesus’ teachings. Jesus told stories about kingly banquets, wedding feats, and even talked about throwing parties for the strangest things, like finding a missing coin or a lost sheep. Two things, people don’t generally celebrate because it would be like inviting your neighbors over every time you found your missing keys.

What’s the deal? Why does Jesus like to party so much? Why does he tell party stories? New Testament scholar, N.T. Wright, says, specifically writing about the party in the Parable of the Prodigal Son,

In telling this story, he [Jesus] is explaining and vindicating his own practice of eating with sinners: his celebratory meals are the equivalent, in real life, of the homecoming party in the story… What is more, Jesus is claiming that, when he does all this, Israel’s god is doing it.

When Jesus partied, he was showing us what God is like. When he ate with religious leaders, sinners, and outcasts he was demonstrating the inclusive nature of God’s table. This is who God is, this is what God is like, and this is what God is doing––throwing elaborate parties for estranged sons, celebrating the smallest of victories, and preparing a table for the least likely of guests. Jesus parties and tells stories about parties because a good party is a picture of the gospel. As Brennan Manning writes, 

Through table fellowship Jesus ritually acted out His insight into Abba [God’s] indiscriminate love­­… The inclusion of sinners in the community of salvation, symbolized in table fellowship, is the most dramatic expression of the ragamuffin gospel and the merciful love of the redeeming God.

Throughout our series, Party Crasher, we’re going to explore the 10 parties in the Gospel Luke. Sometimes Jesus is hosting, other times he’s attending and yet in each of them, Jesus is crashing expectations, cultural norms, and religion to show us what the gospel looks like.