Luke 14.1,7-14 One of the big themes of Luke’s gospel is that in the Kingdom of God the exalted will be humbled and the humble will be exalted Listen to the audio of the sermon here Mary praises God when she is told that she is to be the mother of Jesus: She speaks as if the Kingdom of God has already come on earth. ‘He has brought down the powerful from their thrones, and lifted up the lowly’ (Luke 51.2) At the beginning of his ministry Jesus proclaims his manifesto: he has come for the poor, the captive, the blind and the oppressed (Luke 4.18f) Later Jesus says, ‘Woe to you who are rich, who are full, who laugh now’ and ‘Blessed are you who are poor, who are hungry, who weep now’ (Luke 6.20ff). On several occasions he says how in the Kingdom of heaven, the order of this world will be transformed, turned upside down. ‘The first will be last and the last will be first’ And he tells his disciples that the greatest in the Kingdom of Heaven will not be the person who lords it over others,
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