Luke 14:15-24
Bart W. Newton, Preaching Minister
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Summary: In part five of the series "The Ministry of Jesus: From the Jordan to Pentecost," we learn from Jesus in Luke 14:15-24 that expecting to enter the kingdom of God while rejecting King Jesus because of lesser things is not excusable. Also, God desires that all who will receive and follow His Son be in His kingdom and celebrate the Great Banquet.
(Unless otherwise noted, Scripture quotations taken from The Holy Bible: English Standard Version.)
Luke 14:15-24: 15 When one of those who reclined at table with him heard these things, he said to him, “Blessed is everyone who will eat bread in the kingdom of God!” 16 But he said to him, “A man once gave a great banquet and invited many. 17 And at the time for the banquet he sent his servant to say to those who had been invited, ‘Come, for everything is now ready.’ 18 But they all alike began to make excuses. The first said to him, ‘I have bought a field, and I must go out and see it. Please have me excused.’ 19 And another said, ‘I have bought five yoke of oxen, and I go to examine them. Please have me excused.’ 20 And another said, ‘I have married a wife, and therefore I cannot come.’ 21 So the servant came and reported these things to his master. Then the master of the house became angry and said to his servant, ‘Go out quickly to the streets and lanes of the city, and bring in the poor and crippled and blind and lame.’ 22 And the servant said, ‘Sir, what you commanded has been done, and still there is room.’ 23 And the master said to the servant, ‘Go out to the highways and hedges and compel people to come in, that my house may be filled. 24 For I tell you, none of those men who were invited shall taste my banquet.’”
• It was a Sabbath, the 7th day of the week, Saturday, by God’s command, the Jewish day of solemn rest. A banquet was taking place at the house of a ruler of the Pharisees. Jesus was there. Much to their aggravation Jesus had healed a man from dropsy during the gathering.
• During the banquet Jesus also taught about the necessity of humility by way of a parable about a wedding feast. He had also reminded them (and us) don’t ever invite people to your home for hospitality simply because they would have the opportunity to return the favor or because it might prove worthwhile for your own future gain in some way.
• One way to help us with that is to also demonstrate hospitality to those who have no way of returning the favor.
• At the end of that conversation, Jesus said in v. 14: “For you will be repaid at the resurrection of the just.” This provided opportunity to both change the subject and to talk about something many Jews looked forward to at the resurrection: the great banquet in God’s kingdom:
15 When one of those who reclined at table with him heard these things, he said to him, “Blessed is everyone who will eat bread in the kingdom of God!”
• Jesus replied with another parable:
16 But he said to him, “A man once gave a great banquet and invited many. 17 And at the time for the banquet he sent his servant to say to those who had been invited, ‘Come, for everything is now ready.’
• It was the practice of the day for the well-to-do to use a system much like our RSVPs to invite people to a wedding or some special reception. Here’s how it went: A man decided to have a feast and invite guests, usually of equal or even higher economic and social standing. A date was set; a servant was sent to the invitees with the date but not time of the banquet. The invitee would accept or deny the invitation and send word back to the host. On the day of the banquet, when everything was ready, the servant was dispatched to those who had accepted the invitation to tell them all is ready, come and dine. To accept the invitation but then on the day of the feast decide not to attend was considered rude and disrespectful. It was bad form. So look at what happened when the guests received word all was ready for their arrival:
18 But they all alike began to make excuses.
• After receiving the requests to be excused,
21 … the servant came and reported these things to his master. Then the master of the house became angry…
• Why would the master be angry? Let’s take a look:
Excuse 1: ‘I have bought a field, and I must go out and see it.”
• Wouldn’t he have already seen it before closing the deal?
• It some cases it was customary for a post-purchase inspection, but even so, the man knew beforehand when the day the banquet was scheduled.
Excuse 2: And another said, ‘I have bought five yoke of oxen, and I go to examine them.”
• This man must be fairly well off to have purchased 10 oxen. (“I just bought the latest and largest four-wheel drive John Deere!)
• Wouldn’t he have examined them before buying them?
Excuse 3: And another said, ‘I have married a wife, and therefore I cannot come.’
• Hen-pecked already! (I’m joking!)
• The guy may have had in mind a very compassionate and loving commandment God made for newlyweds under the Old Testament Covenant: Deuteronomy 24:5: “When a man is newly married, he shall not go out with the army or be liable for any other public duty. He shall be free at home one year to be happy with his wife whom he has taken.
• But still, attending a banquet would not have violated this and besides, he should not have accepted the invitation if he knew he was getting married before banquet or if he had already taken a wife at the time of the invitation. Poor excuse.
Then the master of the house became angry and said to his servant, ‘Go out quickly to the streets and lanes of the city, and bring in the poor and crippled and blind and lame.’
• It was their loss. The banquet would be held as scheduled without the original invitees. They could be replaced by people the original guests who backed out would have looked down upon.
22 And the servant said, ‘Sir, what you commanded has been done, and still there is room.’ 23 And the master said to the servant, ‘Go out to the highways and hedges (that is, go out of town into the countryside) and compel (persuade) people to come in, that my house may be filled. 24 For I tell you, none of those men who were invited shall taste my banquet.’”
• Quite a parable!
What does each aspect of this parable symbolize?
• “Coming kingdom” = the feast hosted by the promised Messiah.
• The master is God the Father.
• The servant is Jesus Christ.
• The original invitees who backed out were the religious Jewish leaders such as the scribes and Pharisees.
• They had no excuse for not accepting and following Jesus as the promised Messiah, the King who would sit on David’s throne in the new kingdom.
• The second invitees: the poor and underprivileged among the Jews. They were the least esteemed within the Jewish community.
• The third invitees: Those from outside the city were the Gentiles, non-Jews. The Jewish religious leaders never dreamed they would be accepted into God’s kingdom.
• In the book of Acts, there was a decreasing Jewish acceptance of Jesus and an increasing Gentile acceptance.
• Acts 28:28: “Therefore let it be known to you that this salvation of God has been sent to the Gentiles; they will listen.”—Paul the Apostle
• V. 23, “Compel” = persuade, not force.
• Augustine grossly misused this verse to justify the shameful coercing of people “into” Christianity through things like inquisition, the rack, thumb-screw, thread of death and/or imprisonment!
• Paul writes of the only compulsion disciples are to have: 2 Corinthians 5:14: For the love of Christ compels us, since we have reached this conclusion, that one died for all, and therefore all died. (CSB)
• Can you imagine how the religious leaders at the banquet felt when they realized that the original invitees to the banquet who backed out were symbols of them?
• The parable also reminds us of these two things:
God desires all who will accept and follow His Son to be in His kingdom.
• 1 Timothy 2:3-4: God our Savior, 4 …desires all people to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth.
God does not make people receive His Son and enter His kingdom.
• Everybody talkin’ about heaven ain’t goin’ there.
• “A solemn warning was issued to all present that it was a mistake to speak of the blessedness of enjoying the kingdom of God if they were rejecting God’s final invitation through His Son.”—R.C. Foster, Studies in the Life of Christ, p. 929
• “One had a field, another some oxen, a third his new bride; but ‘all alike’ placed the invitation to the banquet lower down their scale of values. And to prefer anything to God’s invitation is to debar oneself from entry through the narrow door. All the preferences must go.” –Michael Wilcock, The Message of Luke, p. 146
Today’s excuses for not following Jesus are not much different than those given in the parable.
Excuse 1: Business/Work (v.18)
• Barnabas sold a field to do kingdom work: Acts 4:34-37: 34 There was not a needy person among them, for as many as were owners of lands or houses sold them and brought the proceeds of what was sold 35 and laid it at the apostles' feet, and it was distributed to each as any had need. 36 Thus …Barnabas (which means son of encouragement), 37 sold a field that belonged to him and brought the money and laid it at the apostles' feet.
Excuse 2: The appeal of the new and progressive. (v.19)
• Unfortunately, it’s not uncommon for people to let new possessions or even new relationships such as friends crowd out “the claims of worship and of God” (Barclay).
• How often have we seen brothers and sisters be blessed with a new acquisition such as a boat, RV, 4-wheeler or even a new sport, a league or club, a new hobby, or new friend only to let them turn into curses because they took up time and devotion that should have been reserved for God and kingdom purposes?
Excuse 3: Family. (v.20)
• Kingdom priorities must rank higher than family.
• Luke 12:51-53: 51 Do you think that I have come to give peace on earth? No, I tell you, but rather division. 52 For from now on in one house there will be five divided, three against two and two against three. 53 They will be divided, father against son and son against father, mother against daughter and daughter against mother, mother-in-law against her daughter-in-law and daughter-in-law against mother-in-law.”
• Luke 14:26: “If you want to be my disciple, you must, by comparison, hate everyone else—your father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters—yes, even your own life. Otherwise, you cannot be my disciple.” (NLT)
• Luke 18:29-30: 29 “Yes,” Jesus replied, “and I assure you that everyone who has given up house or wife or brothers or parents or children, for the sake of the Kingdom of God, 30 will be repaid many times over in this life, and will have eternal life in the world to come.” (NLT)
• “There is nothing lovelier than a home and yet a home was never meant to be used selfishly. They live best together who live with God; they serve each other best who also serve their fellow-men; the atmosphere of a home is most lovely when those who dwell within it remember that they are also members of the great family and household of God.” –William Barclay, The Gospel of Luke, Revised Edition, p. 194
• All of Luke 14 deals with feasts and banquets. We see them throughout the OT and NT. They are to be joyous occasions and a reminder that Christians are to enjoy themselves within the parameters of God’s blessings and provisions.
• “We must always remember that Jesus thought of the kingdom in terms of a feast. A gloomy Christian is a contradiction in terms. [John] Locke, the great philosopher, defined laughter as ‘a sudden glory.’ There is no healthy pleasure which is forbidden to a Christian man [or woman], for a Christian is like a man [or woman] who is forever at a wedding feast.” –William Barclay, p. 195.
• This is also a reminder that receiving communion is not only a serious observance it is to be a joyous one as well. When we eat and drink in remembrance of Jesus, we are reminded not only about what He did for us and what we promised Him upon our baptism, but we are also reminded of that glorious day when He comes again, gathers His Father’s faithful children and we celebrate a Great Banquet together in the new heaven and new earth!