Keith Sharp | Luke 14:15-24
Background
Among the Jews of the first century, “It was a common belief, that in the day of Messiah redeemed Israel would be gathered to a great feast, together with the patriarchs and heroes of the Jewish faith” (Edersheim. 1:549). “Gentiles could have no part in that feast” (Edersheim. 1:550). This belief sets the background for a figure of speech the Master commonly employed.
The lessons the Master taught in Luke chapter fourteen are in the context of a Sabbath meal He ate in the house of a ruler from among the Pharisees (verse 1). The other guests were watching Jesus closely to see if He would violate their traditions concerning the Sabbath (cf. Mark 3:2; Luke 6:7). So Jesus healed “a man whose body was swollen with fluid” (verse 2, ISV) and challenged them to find fault with His work (verses 3-5). They were unable to answer His challenge but were seemingly unimpressed by the miracle (verse 6).
But as they had watched Christ, He was likewise watching them as they jockeyed for the more prestigious places at the table of this important host (verse 7). So He taught them a great lesson on humility (verses 8-11). Then He proceeded to teach His host proper hospitality as well (verses 12-14).
One of the guests, perhaps simply wanting to relieve the tension, stated the common Jewish sentiment, “Blessed is he who shall eat bread in the kingdom of God!” (Verse 15). So the Master built upon this the “Parable of the Great Supper” (verses 16-24).
The Parable
A man made a great feast and invited many guests. As was customary among the wealthy at least as far back as Queen Esther (Esther 5:8; 6:14), the invitations went out early enough for the guests to clear their calendars for this important social event, and then the master of the house sent a servant at the proper time to inform his invited guests that supper was ready. Incredibly, those who were invited acted with one accord by insulting their host with excuses why they wouldn’t come. One had to go look at land he had bought, still another had to try out five pairs of oxen he had purchased, and yet another bluntly refused saying, “I have married a wife, and therefore I cannot come” (Verses 19-20; cf. Deuteronomy 24:5). It really doesn’t matter whether the three rejections were for serious or flimsy reasons; they had all shown contempt for the host by refusing to come at the appointed time, and they had shown that their personal affairs were more important to them than was the host of the supper.
But this was a great supper, and the master determined it would have its guests. So, again incredibly to this elite audience, Jesus announced that the master then commanded his servant to go to the wide streets and narrow lanes of the city and “bring in here the poor and the maimed and the lame and the blind” (verse 21).
But the servant reported to his master that he had done as commanded, and there was still room for more guests. So the master commanded his servant to go out to the highways and the farms enclosed by hedges, go everywhere, and compel them to come in. He was determined his house would be filled for his great supper, but none of those who had spurned His invitation would eat.
Meaning
Isaiah prophesied that the Lord would prepare a great feast “for all peoples” (Isaiah 25:6). The Jews had made the feast literal in their traditions but had overlooked the “for all peoples” part. The feast of the kingdom of Christ is spiritual (Romans 14:17), “every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places” (Ephesians 1:3), but it is indeed “for all peoples.”
The Lord had invited the Jews to this feast through His prophets for hundreds of years (cf. Isaiah 55:1-3), and now He had sent John the Baptist and His Son Christ Jesus to announce the time had come and the feast of the kingdom was arriving (Matthew 3:1-2; 4:17; Mark 1:14-15), but, the Jewish leaders rejected both the messengers and the message (Luke 7:29-30, 33-34; John 7:46-49). Regardless of the platitude, “Blessed is he who shall eat bread in the kingdom of God,” when the king came, the Jewish religious leaders, who considered themselves “sons of the kingdom” (Matthew 8:12), rejected Him.
So the Lord invited into His kingdom the common people, the riff raff whom the Pharisees viewed with contempt, and they would enter the kingdom (cf. Matthew 21:31; Mark 12:37).
But still there was room for many more in the Lord’s kingdom, so He sent the invitation to the Gentiles, even to all the people of every nation, to come to the great spiritual supper of the Lord (Mark 16:15; Matthew 28:19). Believing Gentiles will sit down at feast with the patriarchs in the kingdom, but unbelieving Jews will be excluded (Matthew 8:11-12).
Application
The time is now, and the feast of the kingdom is prepared (2 Corinthians 6:2). “All things are ready; come to the feast!” Many whose family are Christians have heard the great invitation their entire lives. But you may allow finances, business, or family considerations to stand in the way. Regardless of whether your excuse for not accepting the invitation is serious or flimsy, real or insincere, it means your personal, worldly considerations are more important to you than the Lord and the rich, spiritual blessings in Him. There is no valid reason to refuse to come to the Great Supper.
The Lord sends His invitation to all. The religious leaders of the world will by and large reject it, and so will most of the wealthy and highly educated (1 Corinthians 1:26). Today as in every generation most who come to Christ are “the poor and the maimed and the lame and the blind,” the riff raff of the world who are precious to God.
