LUKE 14:15-22
PEACEFUL PLEADINGS PRODUCED
PARADOXICAL PROCEEDINGS
I. THE PROVISIONS: LUKE 14:15, 16
A. Pronouncement.
B. Plenteousness.
C. Privileged.
II. THE PEOPLE: LUKE 14:17-20
A. Postponing.
B. Priorities.
C. Parochial.
III. THE PARADOXES: LUKE 14:21-24
A. Proceedings.
B. Parameters.
C. Prophetical.
Jesus comes to the last “mini-sermon” at the home of this Pharisee at the meal furnished by this important man. Jesus has spoken about what it means to do well on the Sabbath and how much better man is than the mere keeping of rules and regulations. He then discusses the value of viewing yourself in a proper manner by not thinking of yourself as better than anyone else. Next, He gives a treatise on how one should help one’s fellow man by doing something good and never dreaming of being repaid. Any kindness given with this intent will be blessed in the world to come by a benevolent God. Now, Jesus talks to His listeners about a benevolent person who gave a meal and no one who was invited came to the feast. This is an insult to the host and He highlights just how insensitive people can become to one who desires to do well to one another.
As Jesus talks about this prepared feast on the heels of doing good for someone who really needs help, there seems to be a duality involved in this final message at the home of this rich Pharisee. The first message seems to be what is on the surface: a generous man invited people to come to a feast. These people could not pay the benefactor for his generosity and all the provider of the feast wanted was to show kindness to those who really needed this meal.
On the second level of meaning there appears to be a story for the Jewish Nation and what it was saying to God. The two meanings run parallel with little overlapping. It is no doubt a meaning which Jesus wanted to convey to His hearers that day and based on the previous sermons given by Him, it was understood by the listeners that Jesus was saying something about them, about Israel, and about the future coming Kingdom of God. Perhaps the listeners caught the message-maybe they did not, but at any rate, the truth of what He said is evident for all to see and comprehend in today’s world.
As I go through this message, I see three things. The first thing I note is how ample THE PROVISIONS which were prepared for the special ones who were invited to this meal. God always sets a fabulous table for His people. The next thing I note has to do with THE PEOPLE who were invited. They were on a guest list drawn up by the Host of this sumptuous supper. Lastly I see THE PARADOXES of the two possible meanings as Jesus gave that day so long ago.
I. THE PROVISIONS: I note what Jesus said in the middle of chapter fourteen. As He talked about the feast given by a good benefactor, I see three things about this feast which was prepared.
First of all I note the Pronouncements. This feast was by invitation only. Why the host decided to do this is not given in the text. However, from the context of the scriptures, it appears that this generous host sent out invitations to some people and judging from the latter part of this section of Scriptures, it appears that these invited people were common ordinary people. One had just bought some land unseen; another had just bought five team of untried oxen; and, one was single when invited but had recently been married. All of these people seem to be ordinary people. Henceforth, it can be assumed that all of the guests were ordinary people. The announcements were sent out and now the servants were sent out to collect the invitees to the meal which was well prepared.
It also appears that this meal was a sumptuous meal. There were no corners cut in providing for the guests of the meal. There was an abundance of food-judging from what happened later in this section of Luke fourteen. When the invitees did not appear, the Host urged his steward to go and collect as many as he could so the food would not be wasted. There was Plenty of food and the host was kind to provide much for the guests. This is so typical of our Lord. He invites all and bids us all to come and dine and those that do come to His table find there is always an abundance of spiritual food available for all.
Just as sure as the invitations were given and the food prepared, the bottom line is that those who were invited and later those who were urged to come, were Privileged people: are we not all so Privileged to be invited to come and dine at the Master’s table? We may never be invited to attend the Palace of a ruling head of State, but we are children of the King of kings and our Father owns the cattle on a thousand hills and He invites us to come to Him. We are special people indeed.
II. THE PEOPLE: The invitations have been given sometime before the meal was served. The meal, which was prepared, by this generous host was lavish and it was time for all to gather into the home and enjoy the feast. In keeping with the previous verses, it can be assumed that the ones who were invited were invited not because they could repay the generous host for his kindness, but because the Host was having mercy on them.
As the steward went out to tell the invitees that it was time to come and dine, some unusual things began to develop. The first thing I note is that the ones who were invited began to make excuses and were seeking to Postpone their time of eating with this generous host. The Bible mentions just three people who turned down the invitations to come and dine, but there had to be more than these three, because the room was empty and many others did come to eat later in that day. These three were, I believe, representatives of Israel as a whole, of which I will try to expound upon later.
I notice that these three types of people who sought to put off the invitations had set their Priorities on different things. As such, they were not able to come to the feast by their own choices and were eventually passed over for other people who would come and eat at the home of this benevolent host.
I notice the set of standards that were used by these ungrateful people in their declining to accept such a good invitation. One said that he had bought land and was now on his way to go inspect it. Could not he have waited until the next morning to go see his land? Besides, who would buy land at sight unseen in that day? Could this be a reference to the Jewish nation who clung to their land and thought they would always have Israel to call home?
Another said that he had just purchased five yoke of oxen and had to go prove them to see if they could do what he wanted them to do regarding hard work on the farm. Could he not have made sure of this fact earlier? Could this be a reference to the fact that the Jewish race was intent on working, working, and working and storing up for themselves and getting rich at the expense of others?
Then one said that he had just married and begged to stay with his wife rather than go to eat at the generous host’s house. Why did these three do these activities on the day, the time, of which they knew in advance of their invitation to go eat at the rich man’s house? Could this group be symbolic of the Jewish religion being married to the Law of Moses and not seeing God who was the Giver of the Law? Instead, they were married to form, rote and ritual and were not willing to go to the feast of God’s salvation. Why did these dither and dally about until it was time to go eat and then do what they did? It had to be an affront to the host.
Besides the invited people postponing the invitation to go eat and offering up such lame excuses, these people showed their Parochial attitude toward themselves and to the host. These invited people were indeed very small minded and thought only of themselves. They discounted the invitation given to them; they discounted the meal prepared for them; and, they did not seek to contact the host with their reasons for not attending before the time to come and eat. Their thoughts were solely of themselves and what they wanted. It was of no importance to them that they would be responsible for wasted food, time and kindness extended to them by this host. Their thoughts and actions were settled on what it was that was best for them.
Is this not what the world does to Jesus? He has provided a means of salvation for all yet so many do not seem to care about what He has done for them. Millions of people, of all ages and places where the gospel has gone, have reacted just like these people did regarding the invitation to come to a free and full meal. Regretfully, these people who think only of themselves and spurn the free invitation to partake of the Lord’s free salvation will find that others have been invited in their place to come to Jesus.
While this truth is certain regarding the Church age, it can also be indicative of the Jewish Nation then as Jesus tried to tell His hearers that Israel was passing up a great invitation to come to the Lord. If they did not avail themselves of the invitation and spurned the opportunity to come to Him for His gift of Salvation, they would be replaced by those who were living in the highways and the byways of this world-we Gentiles.
III. THE PARADOXES: As I come to the last main part of my sermon, I notice that there are a few irregularities in this entire set of Scriptures. These oddities are not part of the Scriptures, but they do reflect on what the Bible reveals to all of us.
The first part of this section has to do with the Proceedings of the entire event. After contacting the invitees, the Steward was informed of the wishes of these three classes of people. These three people mentioned here are really representatives of certain classes which I wish to explore in this last part of my sermon.
Knowing that the Goodman, the Host, had done all he could to reach these people with a good and solid invitation to come and eat freely and knowing that the invitees spurned the invitations, the steward went and gathered people to come to the feast. The food was prepared, the room was set, and the anticipation of helping others was high. The steward could not go back empty handed so knowing the mind of his boss he proceeded to invite others, who had no special invitation, to come to the feast.
I notice that the steward went to the sick, the lame and the blind and invited them to come. These were the dregs of society in the days of the Scriptures. With no government aid to help such people, they were left to their families for caring and help. When the family died or refused to help them, these people were left to their own devices. The steward went out to the streets and found as many as he could to invite to come to the feast.
It appears as if the first set of invitees did have some financial and or societal standards but refused to come. There was a land owner, an industrious farmer who bought five yoke of oxen and one who was socially acceptable to find a wife and to marry her. However, these refused to come to the feast. Hence, the steward went to the down and outs of Israel’s society and brought as many as he could to the feast and yet there was still room for more.
What was Jesus trying to say? Could He be saying that the Jewish religion was setting itself against God’s invitation and even if they did not come to God, they were leaving the poor, the sick and the lame along the wayside to shift for themselves? Could Jesus be saying that the Jewish system was caring only for the ones who had money and status and was not caring for the needy?
At any rate, the steward brought as many of these needy people to the feast as he could and yet there was room left over. Not knowing what to do next, the steward went to talk to the Master and explained what had just transpired. The Host said to go to the streets and bring in the poor, the lame and the maimed to which the reply came that his wish was already completed. This steward knew his Master.
Not willing to be outdone by these invitees who did not come, the Master instructed his steward to go to the highways and the lanes and compel the people to come. It is interesting to see the Parameters which are used here. First, the invitations were given to a select group-they turned down the host’s invitations. Then the Host said to go to the “streets and lanes of the city” and bring the poor, the lame, the maimed and the sick ones to the feast. This was done by the steward. However, notice the ever expanding area circle of those who were now invited: the city streets and hedges. These were where the poor were residing in Jerusalem/Israel-lost to the Ecclesiastical lords of their day.
When the self-righteous ones went to the Temple/Synagogues to pray, they passed these poor indigent people and gave them a few paltry coins while hoarding the rest for themselves. The New Testament is full of references of these poor people who were beggars for a mere chance to survive and they were the ones who were looked-down upon by the wealthy. This was a sad commentary on the scope of Judaism in the days of Jesus. The chosen people of God were invited to come to His feast and they refused because they had their own agenda. The Host then said go to the ones who are overlooked by the religious order of the day and invite them to which the steward said he had done.
The Host was shocked by the treatment of those whom he invited and then found that even with the ingathering of the outcasts of the religious order of the day, there was still room left at the table. It is at this point that Jesus then gives a Prophetical utterance when He said the Host said to the steward to go to the “highways and the hedges” not of the city, but of someplace greater and more expansive-the world and compel the people to come to the feast. To whom was He referencing this last statement? It was a clear message that Jesus was going to go to the world at large and offer to the Gentiles His way of salvation. The Host said, that the first group of invitees would never be allowed into the feast after they had openly humiliated him. This is a clear reference to what lay in store for the self-righteous Jewish people who had the law but refused it. They were doomed.
By the time Jesus finished this sermon, He knew it was time to leave. I do not know how many were able to enjoy their meal at the home of one of the chief Pharisees, but Jesus was able to turn the tables on these ones who thought they could prove Jesus to be false and a charlatan. He proved to them that he was the Son of God and He knew what was in their hearts. He also delivered His soul to them by telling them that just because they were God’s chosen people, they had to be saved by His free offer.
