THE PARABLE OF THE GREAT BANQUET

(Or, The Parable of the Excuses) Luke 14:1, 15-24

1 One Sabbath, when Jesus went to eat in the house of a prominent Pharisee[1], he was being carefully watched.

15 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.[2]”
16 Jesus replied: A certain man was preparing a great banquet and invited[3] many guests.
17 At the time of the banquet he sent his servant to tell those who had been invited, “Come, for everything is now ready.”
18 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.”
19 Another said, “I have just bought five yoke of oxen, and I’m on my way to try them out.  Please excuse me.”
20 Still another said, “I just got married, so I can’t come.”

21 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[4] into the streets and alleys of the town and bring in the poor, the crippled, the blind and the lame.”
22 “Sir”, the servant said, “What you ordered has been done, but there is still room[5].”
23 Then the master told his servant “Go out to the roads and country lanes[6] and make them come in, so that my house will be full.
24 I tell you, not one of those men who were invited will get a taste of my banquet.”

THEME: MAKE SURE OF YOUR PLACE

Matthew 21: 1-10 is similar but not identical.  Jesus’ story about unselfish hospitality (verses 12-14) being rewarded led to the sanctimonious remark of verse 15, while he was eating in the house of a leading Pharisee.  The man was thinking of a future feast at the end of the age, which (he assumed) only Jews would attend.  Every Pharisee hoped to earn the reward of attending the banquet at “the resurrection of the righteous.” (Verse 14) 

The parable was originally addressed to an upper class religious elite who considered others inferior.  Jesus announced that the banquet is already happening with the gospel going to the outcasts, the disadvantaged, and even the detested Gentiles.  Moreover, “Not one of those men who were invited” is a warning and the point of the parable.  The guest assumed that he would be present.  However, to be invited means that one should not presume to be automatically present, as a person must respond in faith to the invitation.  Jesus taught that the guests admitted to the kingdom of God are underprivileged Jews, Samaritans and despised Gentiles, not influential Sadducees or religious Pharisees.

THE KINGDOM OF GOD IS LIKE A BANQUET

The kingdom of God is like a great feast.  In the OT God had graciously invited all nations together with Israel to a banquet with the Messiah: “The LORD Almighty will prepare a feast of rich food for all peoples.” (Isaiah 25:6).  Jesus predicted that the Gentiles were to be included in the kingdom of God while many Jews would find themselves excluded: “Many will come from east and west, and sit down with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven.  But the sons of the kingdom will be cast out into outer darkness.” (Matthew 8:11-12)  John used the image of a wedding reception to describe the union of Christ with his people in heaven. (Revelation 19:9) 

The only right of entry to the banquet is by grace.  The man who made the banquet represents God; the feast is a celebration of plenty and represents salvation; and the invitation, represents the offer of salvation.  God will act, as did the host in the story.  According to local custom, the invitations were given ahead of time naming the day but not the hour.  The guests in this story had accepted the advance invitation.  When all was ready, servants were sent to tell the guests it was time to come. 
The people invited, initially Israel, made excuses so that they did not have to participate.  Their excuses show that these are people for whom material goods and family concerns take priority.

GOD’S LOVE IS INCLUSIVE

There is an open table at God’s banquet.  God enjoys a good celebration!  But people like the Pharisees do not understand how God chooses his guests or his endless love for sinners.  In Jesus the gospel invitation is all-inclusive and unconditional.  Unlike the Pharisees, God seems to have a liking for the company of the poor and the helpless that have no standing in society.  The self-righteous person is upset by God's unconditional and limitless love for people, especially social outcasts, as it removes the basis of his self-esteem i.e. salvation by works.  Grace is free but self-righteous people resent it.

The generosity of God’s love for sinners should make us generous and outgoing to others, and cause us to ask who is in need of our friendship right now.  If this seems too difficult, in the light of verse 21, go to the cross of Christ and understand that each of us is one of “the poor, the crippled, the blind and the lame”!  All the guests were receivers of the grace of God.

THREE INSINCERE EXCUSES INDICATE WRONG PRIORITIES

The three excuses answer to the three hindrances in the parable of the sower: “the cares of this world,” “the deceitfulness of riches,” and “the pleasures of this life”.  Each excuse was plausible but all meant the same thing: “We have other things to do that are more urgent.”  Psychology calls it rationalizing.

The striking point is that “all” of the invited guests declined.  The excuses are weak and insincere.  One man “must” go to see a field he probably had seen before he bought it.  How many today would buy a used car without a test drive?  The second excuse is as worthless as the first: would anyone have bought oxen without examining them?  Trying them out sounds like a fascination with a new possession rather than urgent business.  In both cases materialism is the problem.  The third excuse appeared to have some validity.  Yet marriage was not a hasty decision in that society and could not have been an unexpected factor intervening between the first and second invitations.  “I cannot come” in all cases was “I will not come.”  Jesus uses these three excuses to show that as a host may be insulted, so God’s gracious invitation of salvation may be ignored.

The host became angry because the rejections were a personal insult.  The host was determined to hold his banquet at the set time and not allow the excuses to disrupt his plans.  The lower class people brought from the streets and lanes were the same unfortunates Jesus that had told his host to invite (verses 12-14).  With room still available, the servant was to go outside the town and search even the “roads and country lanes”.  To “make them come in” or “compel” (verse 23 AV) is not force but persuasion with loving sincerity.  It expresses the earnestness and willingness with which God offers salvation.

The point of the parable is that people may talk sentimentally about the blessings of the kingdom, but in reality they do not want to accept the invitation.  Those who refused the invitation never entered the kingdom.  Their punishment was complete exclusion from the feast.  The three guests probably expected to receive another invitation in the future, but no other invitation was sent.  It is folly to refuse God’s grace.

SOME APPLICATIONS: NATIONAL AND PERSONAL

Although this parable originally applied to the nation of Israel and its rejection of Jesus Christ, it also applies to believers and their churches today.

1. The rejection of Jesus Christ by Israel.

The application of this parable originally referred to the rejection of Jesus by his nation.  Although Jesus does not interpret the parable, it is reasonable to link it with Luke 13:28-30 and see in it a reference to the extension of the gospel to the Gentiles.  The original invitation went to Israel through the prophets, hence their heritage and spiritual advantages (Romans 9:4).  John the Baptist and Jesus himself gave the second invitation.  “Not one” (verse 24) refers to those who had treated Christ in that way, emphasizing the seriousness of rejecting God’s invitation.  God had chosen Israel not for favour alone, but for world mission.

2. The Offer of the Gospel to the Gentiles.

In its rejection of Jesus, the nation declined God’s offer of grace.  It is a reminder that the Lord’s invitation has to be accepted, or his offer will be taken from us.  New invitations were extended, as an act of grace, to those who did not even know the host, the Jewish untouchables (verse 21) and the despised Gentiles (verse 23).  At this point in the parable, it becomes prophetic rather than historic.  Self-righteous Israel had forfeited its place in the kingdom apart from “a remnant according to the election of grace.” (Romans 11:5)  Gentiles, who were loathed by the Jews, accepted the invitation.  The Pharisees would have been infuriated by this story.

3. Evangelism and the Great Commission

In our churches we try often to persuade the backslidden to return but God accepted the refusal and filled the empty places with a different set of guests.  His final guests were disadvantaged Jews and vagrant Gentiles rather than powerful Sadducees or religious Pharisees.  God filled his feast not by pleading with those who refused, but by reaching out to the untouchables.  This truth has implications for evangelism.

Each Christian has a call to personal evangelism.  Each of us is a servant with the message, “Come, for everything is now ready.”  God is “not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance.” (2 Peter 3:9) so he wants us to go “quickly” (verse 21) into the world with the gospel of Christ. (Matthew 28:19)  Prophetically this parable foresees the extension of the kingdom of God to the whole world, and spiritually it directs the gospel of Christ to the lowest levels of society.  There is room for the worst!

The message of this parable applies to lost sinners today.  God still says, “Come”.  The age of grace began with Christ’s earthly ministry and continues today: “Now is the time of God's favour, now is the day of salvation.” (2 Corinthians 6:2)  Jesus finished the work of salvation when he died on the cross and rose from the dead.  “There is still room.”  The feast is ready, the invitation is free, and everyone regardless of nationality, is invited.  Unfortunately, people still make the same mistake when they delay in responding to Christ’s call to repentance and faith in him. 

4. A Challenge to Christian Discipleship. 

The first man’s system of priorities was wrong.  Hobbies and pleasures harmless in themselves may all rob us of Christ.  In the case of the second man, an interest in a profession or trade, one’s studies or one’s work, can dry up the soul.  Marriage involves obligations but it does not cancel out other obligations.  The excuses seemed good to those who gave them, but they were inadequate.  There is nothing wrong with material possessions as such, or family affairs.  But if “good things keep us from enjoying the best things, then they become bad things.”  One’s loyalty to Jesus must come before every other loyalty.  The following verses (25-35) reinforce the cost of a discipleship that requires self-sacrifice.

SUMMARY

The parable describes the spiritual unresponsiveness of Israel to Jesus Christ, Israel’s subsequent rejection of the gospel, their exclusion from the kingdom of God as a nation, and the inclusion of the Gentiles.

The story teaches that people are saved, not by their own effort, but by responding to the invitation of the gospel of grace; if they are lost it is by their own fault.  It is tragic when sinners reject God’s gracious offer of salvation in Christ.  The parable ends with a solemn warning for those of the religious establishment who were first invited and who made their excuses.  There would be no second chance for them.  They had wasted their opportunity and they would not receive another. 

Thus Jesus emphasized the urgency of salvation.  God is gracious and loving and will forgive all those who come to him through Christ.  But people should not delay when the critical time comes for accepting God’s invitation.  The invitation is free but when it is rejected, God leaves people to follow their own self-chosen way.  How important it is to accept the gospel at once.

FOR REFLECTION

• How dangerous it is to reject the gospel.  Are you amazed that people can offer such foolish and trifling excuses and so exclude themselves from heaven?
• What highways and byways do we go to today?  Or are we making excuses and not responding to God’s call?
• The three excuses are similar to many used today.  How often do we allow business, new possessions, or family commitments to take us away from serving or spending time with God?
• Am I so busy with the things of time that I have forgotten the things of eternity?
• If we neglect a God-given opportunity, God may sidestep us and offer it to others.
• Is there a balance in our church between looking after believers and inviting unbelievers to the feast?

PRAYER

Lord, forgive us our past excuses.  Thank you for your patient encouragement of us in the struggles, failures and successes in our Christian life.  Help us to make your priorities and your concerns our priorities and our concerns.  Amen.