Lutheran Devotional 24th August 2025, Sunday Message
TOPIC: A Multitude Comes from the East and the West
“A multitude comes from the east and the west To sit at the feast of salvation With Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, the blest, Obeying the Lord’s invitation. Have mercy upon us, O Jesus!”
God chose Israel as His treasured possession among all the people on earth. Israel was His holy nation, a people set apart from other nations. The promised Messiah, the Savior, would be born among them. The Israelites were not to worship idols or eat unclean foods as the surrounding nations did. They kept themselves so separate that they would not even eat with Gentiles, that is, with people who were not descendants of Abraham.
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When Jesus the Messiah came, He showed compassion to Gentiles, healing them and calling them to faith. He said that one day people from many nations would join Israel at the Lord’s table: “I tell you, many will come from east and west and recline at the table with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven” (Matthew 8:11). Jesus came to bring salvation to Israel and to the Gentiles and by His death on the cross, He broke down the division between them. After Jesus’ ascension, the apostle Peter received a vision in which the Lord taught him an important lesson about this new unity: “God has shown me that I should not call any person common or unclean” (Acts 10:28b). Jesus, the Messiah of Israel, suffered, died, and rose to bring salvation to people of all nations. Salvation is not about physical descent from the family line of Abraham. It is a matter of faith, as the apostle Paul explains, “It is those of faith who are the sons of Abraham” (Galatians 3:7b).
We may not always readily welcome others to join us in worship. We may regard them as more sinful and less worthy than ourselves. Yet our worthiness—and theirs—comes only through faith in Jesus. He died to atone for our sins and for the sins of the whole world. God calls all people to repent of their sins and believe in the Gospel. The gifts of forgiveness and eternal life are freely offered to all, to be received by God’s grace through faith in Jesus. Our hymn declares, one day a multitude will come together “from the east and the west to sit at the feast of salvation.” It will be a multitude that no one can count, “from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages,” all cleansed from sin by the blood of Jesus (Revelation 7:9b). The feast of salvation, the wedding feast of the Lamb, is ready. By faith we have dinner reservations, and there is always room for more. There are people everywhere who need to hear God’s gracious invitation: “Everything is ready. Come to the wedding feast” (Matthew 22:4b).
WE PRAY: Jesus, help me to share with others Your invitation to the feast of salvation. Amen.
Reflection Questions:
- What do you do to overcome the challenge of meeting new people?
- How are all people—even though they are different than you—just like you in God’s eyes?
- Why is it important for us to look at others as God sees them—as people who need to hear about Jesus?
Today’s Readings:
1 Chronicles 26-27
1 Corinthians 15:1-28
This Daily Devotion was written by Dr. Carol Geisler. It is based on the hymn, “A Multitude Comes from the East and the West,” which is number 510 in the Lutheran Service Book.
