Luke 14:15-24 (NIV) When one of those at the table with him heard this, he said to Jesus, “Blessed is the man who will eat at the feast in the kingdom of God.”
Jesus replied: “A certain man was preparing a great banquet and invited many guests. At the time of the banquet he sent his servant to tell those who had been invited, ‘Come, for everything is now ready.’
“But they all alike began to make excuses. The first said, ‘I have just bought a field, and I must go and see it. Please excuse me.’
“Another said, ‘I have just bought five yoke of oxen, and I’m on my way to try them out. Please excuse me.’
“Still another said, ‘I just got married, so I can’t come.’
“The servant came back and reported this to his master. Then the owner of the house became angry and ordered his servant, ‘Go out quickly into the streets and alleys of the town and bring in the poor, the crippled, the blind and the lame.’
“‘Sir,’ the servant said, ‘what you ordered has been done, but there is still room.’
“Then the master told his servant, ‘Go out to the roads and country lanes and make them come in, so that my house will be full. I tell you, not one of those men who were invited will get a taste of my banquet.'”
The great feast in heaven was a theme in Jewish teaching. All of God’s people, those who live in His kingdom and who serve Him wholeheartedly are on the invitation list.
The Pharisees, like the one at whose house Jesus was eating that Sabbath afternoon, were considered by all to be shoo-ins for the feast, as they were known for their conspicuous works of righteousness. But Jesus told this parable to show a different side of the coin. The details are not the critical elements of this parable. Instead, the overarching themes, the junctures of the story are where the meaning is hidden.
The first juncture is where the Master has completed preparation for His banquet and sends out invitations. His planned guest list was quite impressive. And, of course, it is assumed that the Pharisees would all be on the list. The messenger is sent with the urgent invitation: the feast you have been waiting for so long is now ready. Drop everything and come to the feast!
But then the plot takes an ironic twist. The guests won’t come! In the interim, while waiting for the banquet, the had filled their lives with their own agendas, with their own stuff, which had now become more important to them than the feast that the Master had been preparing. They won’t be there. These “too busy” invitees are obviously representative of the Pharisees. Jesus, the messenger of God Himself, had come bearing the invitation for them to follow Him into the kingdom, to the feast prepared for them, but they refused to follow Him. Instead, they were all too busy with their own stuff, the righteousness that they had built with their own hands. They wanted to come to the banquet, but they would only come on their own terms.
The Master is not even mildly understanding about this affront to His invitation; He is angry. So He cancels the invitations of those ungrateful people, and in their places He fills the hall with the poor, the crippled, the blind, and the lame. These symbolize those whom the Pharisees had written off as cursed by God and unworthy of a seat at the table. When that doesn’t not fill the hall, the Master finishes by inviting those from the roads and country lanes, those far outside the city, representing the gentiles. If those whom God had owned as His own people refused to come, He would build for Himself a new people out of those who were not His people.
Father, it is tragic to see how those people, people who were ostensibly waiting for You with bated breath, refused to come to You when You finally arrived in the person of Jesus. And in doing so, they ended up excluding themselves from all of the blessings You had come to give, including eternal life, a place at Your banquet. Lord, keep my heart soft and obedient, so that I never refuse Your invitation, no matter where it is to, and so that I don’t miss out on Your great blessings. Amen.