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179. God's Banquet


Key Verse: "When you give a banquet, invite the poor, the crippled, the blind, the lame, and you will be blessed."
Luke 14:13

"Speaking of banquets," one of those at the meal said with a droll, "I say, blessed is the man who will eat at the feast in the kingdom of God!" (Luke 14:15) You can almost hear him add, "of which I am one!"

Then Jesus told this story about this incredible ruler who longed to celebrate and be generous, but could find no takers! What an amazing story! Who in the world would be so generous and who in the world would decline such a generous offer? If I were to tell you that the one making the generous offer is God, then, perhaps it is easy for you to guess who it is that refuses.

What we miss in this parable is the cultural understanding of just how insulting each of the excuses given, truly is. The one who bought the field would be like a person of today who would have purchased a house, or business, sight unseen and has now suddenly decided to go see what he actually purchased.  But since nobody really does business that foolishly, the excuse is obviously a flimsy sham to everyone.  That’s why it insults the host.  The invited guests don’t even try to come up with a sensible excuse. The same can be said of the one who wants to go test drive his oxen. Would you buy a car sight unseen?  The one who has just married is probably the most insulting of all because the original meaning basically is that he'd rather stay home and satisfy himself by relations with his wife than accept this gracious gift of attending the feast.

Well, the food is ready. There is no refrigeration available and someone has to eat it, so those who are considered to be the losers of society are invited. Now, in that day, the losers knew who they were and they knew that they should refuse because they were very aware of their place. So the master tells his servants, "Go out to the roads and country lanes and make them come in, so that my house will be full." (Luke 14:23) Other versions say, "compel." The idea is that the servants are to go out and grab them by the arm and bring them in. It's as though they had been instructed, "Don't take "NO," for an answer."

This is meant to be a stern rebuke to those who are dining with Jesus. They think that they have it all together. They think that they have their religious ducks all lined up in a row, but by acting as they have toward their true Messiah, they just may have it all wrong. They have all sorts of excuses for not taking Him seriously. Their lack of respect is similar to the lack of respect demonstrated by the first guests who refused to come to the banquet.

Jesus is revisiting common themes of His ministry here. He is addressing the issue of pride, the issue of depending on earthly religious standing and even the theme of the wide and narrow gate is visible here. He brings out again the point that there will be a judgment, there will be a sorting process and there will be an end. I wonder sometimes if what I am writing is a bit repetitious. Perhaps I am, but Jesus Himself allowed for a lot of repetition during His earthly ministry. This is partly necessary because His audience is always changing.  I realize that mine is not. However, these themes are repeated because they are important and Jesus wants to be sure that we have received the warning.

Take note, there will be a feast and the Lord is sending out invitations, but only those who accept and come, without excuse or delay, or baggage, will receive the grace so freely offered.

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