At the Resurrection of the Righteous

12 Then Jesus said to his host, “When you give a luncheon or dinner, do not invite your friends, your brothers or sisters, your relatives, or your rich neighbors; if you do, they may invite you back and so you will be repaid. 13 But when you give a banquet, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind, 14 and you will be blessed. Although they cannot repay you, you will be repaid at the resurrection of the righteous.”

Most everyone enjoys having their back scratched. There is also an expectation that if I scratch your back, then you’ll scratch mine. This describes any type of trade-off when someone does you a favor. You’re expected to do a favor in return.

Jesus points out that sharing meals with people who are already our friends or family is really just a lot like swapping favors. We can anticipate that what we do for others will usually return to us. This can be a nice feature of enjoying food and spending time with family and friends in community.

But Jesus teaches that if we understand the nature of the resurrection, our hospitality will include something more. Instead of just a mutual exchange with relatives and friends, we will also show gracious generosity that does not expect anything in return. Following God’s example to us, we will freely offer food and other resources to people who are not able to repay.

This is a natural result of God’s gift of new life for us. We can gladly and freely mirror God’s way with us in all the ways we interact with others. We don’t need or expect to be repaid now, for we already know we are guaranteed life forever at “the resurrection of the righteous.”

Jesus, your resurrection gives me gladness to freely serve others with grace and goodness. Thank you. Amen.