Luke 14:15-20

Rachel Workman: ¹⁵ Hearing this, a man sitting at the table with Jesus exclaimed, “What a blessing it will be to attend a banquet^[c] in the Kingdom of God!”

¹⁶ Jesus replied with this story: “A man prepared a great feast and sent out many invitations. ¹⁷ When the banquet was ready, he sent his servant to tell the guests, ‘Come, the banquet is ready.’ ¹⁸ But they all began making excuses. One said, ‘I have just bought a field and must inspect it. Please excuse me.’ ¹⁹ Another said, ‘I have just bought five pairs of oxen, and I want to try them out. Please excuse me.’ ²⁰ Another said, ‘I just got married, so I can’t come.’
When the time comes to meet Jesus there will be no more room for excuses. Either you choose to believe or you didn't.

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John Burnett:  ⁵ When one of those who were reclining at the table with Him heard this, he said to Him, “Blessed is everyone who will eat bread in the kingdom of God!”

Parable of the Dinner

¹⁶ But He said to him, “A man was giving a big dinner, and he invited many; ¹⁷ and at the dinner hour he sent his slave to say to those who had been invited, ‘Come; for everything is ready now.’ ¹⁸ But they all alike began to make excuses. The first one said to him, ‘I have bought a ^[a]piece of land and I need to go out and look at it; ^[b]please consider me excused.’ ¹⁹ Another one said, ‘I have bought five yoke of oxen, and I am going to try them out; ^[c]please consider me excused.’ ²⁰ Another one said, ‘I have married a wife, and for that reason I cannot come.’  Jesus Christ paid the price for us and invites us to the biggest party in history to ever be thrown, yet people make excuses on why they don’t want to go.  The world wants to do it’s own thing and will be excused for eternal torment because they didn’t accept the free gift of salvation.  Thank you Lord Jesus for my Salvation and the right to spend eternity with You in paradise.

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Mike Grimm:  he Parable of the Great Banquet

¹⁵ When one of those at the table with him heard this, he said to Jesus, “Blessed is the one who will eat at the feast in the kingdom of God.”

¹⁶ Jesus replied: “A certain man was preparing a great banquet and invited 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.’

In Jesus’ story, many people turned down the invitation to the banquet because the timing was inconvenient. We too can resist or delay responding to God’s invitation, and our excuses may sound reasonable…to us—work duties, family responsibilities, financial needs, or whatever they may be. Nevertheless, God’s invitation is the most important event in our lives, no matter how inconveniently it may be timed. Are we making excuses to avoid responding to God’s call? I know I do, especially during the college football season. But Jesus reminds me that the time will come when God will, if He hasn’t already, pull His invitation and offer it to others—then it will be too late to get into the banquet.

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Tomorrow’s reading for Luke 14:21-24

²¹ “The servant returned and told his master what they had said. His master was furious and said, ‘Go quickly into the streets and alleys of the town and invite the poor, the crippled, the blind, and the lame.’ ²² After the servant had done this, he reported, ‘There is still room for more.’ ²³ So his master said, ‘Go out into the country lanes and behind the hedges and urge anyone you find to come, so that the house will be full. ²⁴ For none of those I first invited will get even the smallest taste of my banquet.’”

Luke 14:12-14

Rachel Workman: ¹² Then he turned to his host. “When you put on a luncheon or a banquet,” he said, “don’t invite your friends, brothers, relatives, and rich neighbors. For they will invite you back, and that will be your only reward. ¹³ Instead, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, and the blind. ¹⁴ Then at the resurrection of the righteous, God will reward you for inviting those who could not repay you.” Somewhere along the way I've lost this. Do more than what you can be rewarded for.

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John Burnett:  ¹² And He also went on to say to the one who had invited Him, “When you give a luncheon or a dinner, do not invite your friends or your brothers or your relatives or rich neighbors, otherwise they may also invite you in return and that will be your repayment. ¹³ But when you give a ^[a]reception, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind,¹⁴ and you will be blessed, since they ^[b]do not have the means to repay you; for you will be repaid at the resurrection of the righteous.”  He was talking to the disciples but it applies to all those who have been born again.  We will be rewarded for our works but only if we have repented, put our trust in Jesus, and been given the Holy Spirit.

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Mike Grimm:  ¹² Then Jesus said to his host, “When you give a luncheon or dinner, do not invite your friends, your brothers or sisters, your relatives, or your rich neighbors; if you do, they may invite you back and so you will be repaid. ¹³ But when you give a banquet, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind, ¹⁴ and you will be blessed. Although they cannot repay you, you will be repaid at the resurrection of the righteous.”

There is no better defense against the truth than a half-truth. And the half-truth is, Jesus does not intend to end all family meals and gatherings of friends. But the truth is: there is in every human heart a terrible and powerful tendency to live by the law of earthly repayment, the law of reciprocity. There is a subtle and relentless inclination in our flesh to do what will make life as comfortable as possible and to avoid what will inconvenience us or agitate our placid routine or add the least bit of tension to our Thanksgiving dinner. The most sanctified people among us must do battle every day so as not to be enslaved by the universal tendency to always act for the greatest earthly payoff.

The people who lightly dismiss this text as a rhetorical overstatement are probably blind to the impossibility of overstating the corruption of the human heart and its deceptive power to make us think all is well when we are enslaved to the law of reciprocity, the law which says: always do what will pay off in convenience, undisturbed pleasures, domestic comfort, and social tranquility. Jesus' words are radical because our sin is radical. He waves a red flag because there is destruction ahead for people governed by the law of reciprocity. (Partial works by John Piper).

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Tomorrow’s reading for Luke 14:15-20

¹⁵ Hearing this, a man sitting at the table with Jesus exclaimed, “What a blessing it will be to attend a banquet^[c] in the Kingdom of God!”

¹⁶ Jesus replied with this story: “A man prepared a great feast and sent out many invitations. ¹⁷ When the banquet was ready, he sent his servant to tell the guests, ‘Come, the banquet is ready.’ ¹⁸ But they all began making excuses. One said, ‘I have just bought a field and must inspect it. Please excuse me.’ ¹⁹ Another said, ‘I have just bought five pairs of oxen, and I want to try them out. Please excuse me.’ ²⁰ Another said, ‘I just got married, so I can’t come.’