The Parable of the Great Banquet (Luke 14:15-24)

The Parable of the Great Banquet
Luke 14:15-24

INTRODUCTION:
You have often heard the excuse for homework: “The dog ate my homework.” One little boy brought home his report card and he had some poor grades. His mother asked him, “What have you to say about this?”

The boy replied, “One thing is for sure - you know I ain’t cheating!”

That reminds me when my younger brother had a bad score on a test, the teacher required the students to bring the tests home and get their parents’ signature. My brother did not want to show the test to our parents, so he signed Mom’s name on the test. But then he wrote underneath the signature, “My mom signed this!”

There are all kinds of excuses people use to get out of work or visiting someone they don’t want to visit. “My brother-in-law’s friend’s father’s grandmother’s aunt’s turtle died, and yes, it was a tragic death. I simply can not go into the details!”

“If you really want to do something, you'll find a way. If you don't, you'll find an excuse” Jim Rohn.

“My fortune teller advised against it.”

“I promised to help so-and-so clean the toilet at the same time. She doesn't like doing it alone; she gets nervous that she will fall in! Some kind of toilet phobia (a weird name I can't remember for some reason…)”

“Sorry, but I can't do anything for the next few hours. I am allowing my food to digest. You can never play it too safe!”

I wonder, sometimes, if Christians might be lost from eternity because they use flimsy excuses to avoid using their talent to serve the church. You know, God has given us certain skills or He has allowed us to be educated to develop certain skills so we can provide for our own needs. And then so many Christians, it’s been my observation, for whatever reason, simply refuse to use those skills in service to the church of Christ. I don’t believe I would be saved if I didn’t preach. I’m not saying I would have to be a full-time preacher to be saved. But if God has given me an ability to teach and I don’t use that ability to teach others about Christ, then I’m being a poor steward of what God has given me and that is sinful.

The first record of God getting angry was when Moses made excuses not to lead God’s people out of Egypt! Abraham reflected on the possibility that God might get angry, in Genesis 18:30. But the first reference to God getting angry is with Moses in Exodus 4:14. Moses had reason to be hesitant - Egypt was a world power. Moses had left Egypt, although it had been 40 years before, because he killed an Egyptian taskmaster. There was a price on his head (Exo. 2:15).

Of course, one of the excuses Moses made was that he wasn’t a good speaker. It appears that God recognized some validity in that excuse because that’s when God said, “Okay, Aaron, your brother, will be your spokesman” (4:14). But my point is that God got mad at Moses, His servant, because Moses was making excuses.

In the parable of the great dinner, sometimes called the parable of the great supper, Jesus presents some individuals making excuses and so they miss out on the blessings that were prepared. Let’s study that parable together - Luke 14:15ff…

THE SETTING - 14:1, 15:
It looks like the setting of this parable begins in verse 1. It is the Sabbath day and Jesus is in the home of one of the leaders among the Pharisees. At that point, Jesus healed a man who was suffering from dropsy, which taught the Pharisees that healing on the Sabbath was allowed by God. Dropsy was a disease that caused swelling and pain from fluid collecting in your joints.

Notice in verse 7 that Jesus observed that guests to this dinner were choosing the places of honor at the table. That motivated Jesus to give the parable recorded in verses 8-11. In verse 11, Jesus said, “everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted.”

Then in verse 12, Jesus directed His attention to the Pharisee who had invited Jesus to this dinner. He encouraged the man to invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind to his dinner and then he will be blessed. The reason is because they have no means to repay the invitation. This is an elaboration on the point made in verse 11, that it is good to be humble. And it is humbling to give to those who cannot give back. In verse 14, Jesus promises that if he (we) will do that, he will be “repaid at the resurrection of the righteous.”

You and I understand what Jesus means by being “repaid at the resurrection of the righteous.” But that’s not what was in the mind of the first century Jew. For a long time, I could not understand why the apostles could not understand that Jesus predicted His resurrection. Recently, I think I have put “2 and 2 together…”

Ezekiel, in chapter 37, gave his vision of the valley of dry bones. In that vision, a valley of dry bones is given life; they are resurrected. In 37:12, God tells Ezekiel that the vision is a metaphor for the return from Babylonian exile. Israel will be restored to her land, “resurrected” as it were, to the life with God which they had before the exile. And, of course, that happened.

However, for many Jews, in their minds, the exile never was fully over. They were not “resurrected” to independence like they had under their kings. For many Jews, the exile continued as Israel continued under the domination of the Persians, then the Greeks, and then the Romans. We all know that the Jews - and even the disciples of Christ - were looking for independence from the Romans. So, when Jesus predicted the resurrection, I suggest that the Jews interpreted that in the light of their expectations, and they saw that word “resurrection” as a metaphor for independence from Rome. They interpreted it in light of Ezekiel 37, but in the context of Roman domination rather than Babylonian domination.

Therefore, here in Luke 14:14, when Jesus refers to the “resurrection of the righteous,” there was an individual sitting at the table who expressed the thoughts of many Jews when he said, “Blessed is everyone who will eat bread in the kingdom of God.”

Again, in the common Jewish thinking, the “resurrection” referred to independence from Rome and they also interpreted the “Messianic banquet” (predicted, for example, in Isaiah 25:6) in terms of the Jews enjoying the blessings of the kingdom established by the Messiah. Let me paraphrase slightly what I believe this Jew was saying, “Blessed are all the children of Abraham who will eat bread in the Messiah’s kingdom when He reestablishes an independent Israel.”

That’s what I think is going on in the thinking of the people here in the home of the Pharisee and what prompts Jesus to give this parable. While there is another parable similar to this in Matthew 22, the parable of the wedding feast, this one is unique to Luke.

THE INVITATION - 14:16-20:
This wealthy man gave a big dinner. The purpose of the dinner is not important. As you can imagine in those days, when it would take a good while to make the food and prepare such a dinner, one or more pre-invitations were sent out. Of course, the bigger the feast, the more important it is to prepare the right amount of food. They did not have refrigerators or freezers so you could store leftovers. What wasn’t eaten was likely lost. You should understand that in order to understand how disrespectful these excuses really were. In other words, these people were not invited on the spur of the moment! They knew the invitation had been sent out. They had likely already given a positive response to one or more of the initial invitations so the master was sending this invitation to those who should have been prepared to come. They should have circled the date on the calendar and made arrangements. It really is an honor to be invited over to anyone’s house. It’s an invitation that you really should not spurn.

The slave goes out and says, “Come; for everything is ready now.”

Everyone who had responded to the initial invitation(s) began to make excuses! The phrase “all alike” translates a phrase which means “from one.” In some way, it suggests there was collusion among these invitees to spurn the invitation of the master.

The first had bought some land and had to go look at it. What a flimsy excuse! Had he not looked at it before he agreed to buy it! Hardly! Could that not wait until the next day? How many times did you look at your current house before you actually bought it? Two or three maybe?

The second had bought five yoke of oxen and he said he needed to go try them out. Seriously? Did he not examine the health of the oxen before he bought them? Could that not have waited until tomorrow? Would you buy a car without having first given it a test drive? Especially a used car? If your wife had supper ready, would you call and tell her you couldn’t come because you had bought a snow blower over the phone and had to go to the seller and find out what kind it was, how old it was, and whether or not it still worked!?

These excuses reflect just how callous and hard-hearted many people are to the invitation by God and answering His call.

The third excuse is from a man who is recently married and can’t come. Why would you turn down a free meal as a newlywed!? Actually, only men would have been invited… Sure he might want to stay home and be fruitful and multiply, but why turn down a free, lavish meal? You don’t have to eat hotdogs or tuna fish! It’s filet mignon and porterhouse! And, the best part is, it’s free! A wedding, of course, was planned much in advance so there is still no reason why this man could not have planned and participated in both these events. Excuses, excuses, excuses.

Notice that this third man, unlike the first two, does not ask to be excused! He just responds, “I ain’t coming!” It is the height of disrespect.

Under the law of Moses (Deut. 24:5), the man would have been excused from military service for a year, but that would not apply to a banquet!

Because those who were invited had judged themselves unworthy of the great dinner, the master turns his attention elsewhere…

THE INVITATION IS DIRECTED TO OTHERS - 14:21-24:
Remember at verses 12-14, Jesus had told the Pharisee that when he gave a dinner, he should not invite friends, brothers, relatives, or rich neighbors. He should invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, and the blind - those who could not return the favor. In that way, he would be repaid in the resurrection of the righteous.

In this parable, the master is angry with those who had initially said they would come but then backed out. They had shown a deep level of disrespect for not coming to the dinner and they had compounded the disrespect by defending themselves with lame and weak excuses.

So, the master sends his slave to the streets and lanes of the city to “bring in” (not just “invite”) the poor and crippled and blind and lame. The master did not want his banquet to go wasted.

When we lived in Kentucky, Rachel and I decided we would serve a meal to the clients of that church’s food pantry program. About a month or so before Thanksgiving, we started inviting the clients; the church’s food pantry was weekly. We had an invitation list of 15 people. Rachel and the girls and I prepared accordingly. When the day came, only one woman, an elderly woman, showed up. And, based on her dietary needs, all she ate were saltine crackers and she drank OJ! We were extremely disappointed, to say the least. But, we had a freezer and we were able to make use of all that food we had prepared.

We being put-out is just a small taste of the frustration, hurt and disappointment God feels when people don’t respond to His call!

There is something else, perhaps, going on in the background as well. Remember that the Jews believed in what is called “Retribution Theology” - the idea that God punishes sin in this life. So if someone is being punished, it is because they have sinned. “Who sinned, this man or his parents, that he would be born blind?” the apostles asked Jesus in John 9:2.

Why were the poor, poor? Because they were being punished by God for their sin! Why were the crippled, crippled? Because they were being punished by God for their sin! Why were the lame, lame? Because they were being punished by God for their sin! Why were the blind, blind? Because they were being punished by God for their sin! That was in the minds of at least some of the Jews. Therefore, when that individual stated in verse 15 about a blessing for those who would eat bread in the kingdom of God, he was likely excluding the poor, crippled, lame, and blind because those people were sinners, and he was not!

But in the parable, it is the poor, crippled, lame, and blind who are invited to the great dinner and who respond! So when the slave returned in verse 22, he response to the master was, “Still there is room!” Still there is room! The limitation on God’s grace does not apply to who can be saved; it applies to how we are saved!

The master said, “Go into the highways and hedges and compel them to come in! So that my house may be filled!”

The people on the outskirts of the city are not just the crippled and poor. Now we’re talking about ethnic minorities, those in work that was not held to be respectable, and even outright sinners - like prostitutes. The word “compel” does not imply force, but it is an emotionally filled term. Almost comparable to “beg!”

These people would likely be suspicious and hesitant to come to a banquet to which they would not normally be invited. So there was an emotional edge to this invitation - “Urge them to come!” When God compels us to teach the gospel to others, He says we are to do so with great patience and instruction (2 Tim. 4:2).

The conclusion of the parable is the application of the parable in verse 24: “Those who were invited shall not taste of my dinner.” Jesus is directly addressing that individual in verse 15 who was patting himself on the back because he was a Jew and he was going to enjoy the Messianic banquet. Jesus was also directly addressing the crowd at that dinner who were choosing the best places to sit at the dinner. Jesus was also directly addressing those individuals who do not want to spend time with the poor, the crippled, the lame, and the blind because they aren’t “our kind of people.”

Jesus calls us to serve the poor, the crippled, the lame, and the blind. What excuse are we offering?

Jesus called on the Jews to repent and believe the Gospel. They offered excuses.

Those who are complacent in their relationship with God, who think they are going to “skate into heaven” simply because they have been baptized, are likely going to hear the same refusal to dinner as the Jews did in the days of Jesus.

Those who are content to use their skills to enrich themselves but will not use those same skills to enrich the body of Christ are likely going to be extremely disappointed in the day of judgment!

JESUS’ APPLICATION OF THE PARABLE - 14:25-35:
We will not do a study of these verses, I just want to point out in the context of this parable, that Jesus points out there are people who cannot go to heaven:

Verse 26 - “If anyone comes to Me, and does not hate his own father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters, yes, and even his own life, he cannot be My disciple.”

Verse 27 - “Whoever does not carry his own cross and come after Me cannot be My disciple.”

Verse 33 - ““So then, none of you can be My disciple who does not give up all his own possessions.”

Take home message: Jesus will not accept excuses for whole-hearted obedience to Him and commitment to His plan. Let us serve Him in sincerity and faithfulness.