Are you going to the party? Luke 14:15-24
I heard about a rabbit and a snake meeting in the forest. The rabbit said, "We don’t know how we look. Why don’t we describe each other to the other so we’ll know how we look?" The snake said, "Good idea. You’ve got a pink nose, long ears, and a fluffy little tail." The rabbit liked that, and he said, "I’m a rabbit! I’m a rabbit! I’m a rabbit!" The snake said, "Okay, you describe me."
The rabbit said, "Well, you have a forked tongue, shifty eyes, and diamonds all over you." The snake said, "Oh no, I’m a televangelist."
“And when one of them that sat at meat with him heard these things, he said unto him, Blessed is he that shall eat bread in the kingdom of God. Then said he unto him, A certain man made a great supper, and bade many: And sent his servant at supper time to say to them that were bidden, Come; for all things are now ready. And they all with one consent began to make excuse. The first said unto him, I have bought a piece of ground, and I must needs go and see it: I pray thee have me excused. And another said, I have bought five yoke of oxen, and I go to prove them: I pray thee have me excused. And another said, I have married a wife, and therefore I cannot come. So that servant came, and shewed his lord these things. Then the master of the house being angry said to his servant, Go out quickly into the streets and lanes of the city, and bring in hither the poor, and the maimed, and the halt, and the blind. And the servant said, Lord, it is done as thou hast commanded, and yet there is room. And the lord said unto the servant, Go out into the highways and hedges, and compel them to come in, that my house may be filled. For I say unto you, that none of those men which were bidden shall taste of my supper.”
Back in verse 1 we see the setting of the parable. It’s the Sabbath day and Jesus is having dinner at the home of a wealthy Pharisee. The guests seated around the table we assume are the Pharisee’s family, friends and rich neighbors. It seems from the wording of verse 1, “they watched Him” seems to imply that the reason they invited Jesus wasn’t to determine whether or not He was who He claimed to be but they were trying to find a reason to condemn Him. And rather than sitting around and waiting for their rejection Jesus uses the opportunity to point out how they were inconsistent, self-centered and totally unworthy of a place in God’s kingdom.
First, He healed a man with dropsy and then challenged their hypocrisy. Basically, He said, you people think it’s wrong to do something for someone else on the Sabbath but you certainly don’t mind doing things for yourself. And then He pointed out how they had more compassion on an injured animal than they had with a sick neighbor. In other words, He pointed out how they were totally inconsistent.
And that still happens today. I remember when we lived in Guelph and Sunday shopping was the hot topic of the day. As a matter of fact, all the Baptists would gather at the Swiss Chalet every Sunday and discuss how wrong it was. And I often wondered as I ate my chicken, what’s the difference between buying groceries in a store or buying dinner at a restaurant?
Then second, Jesus does the unspeakable when He started criticizing the manners of the guests. He pointed out how each one of them had jockeyed for the best seats around the table and then He told the host that he shouldn’t have invited any of them anyway. And then He told them that the purpose of extending hospitality was to share your resources with others and not just to make sure you’ll be invited to every party in town. He says, in verse 14, “For thou shalt be recompensed at the resurrection of the just.” That must have caused some tension!
Many, many years ago I was at a wedding rehearsal dinner at a home in West Toronto. It was a big buffet spread and everyone from both families of the couple who were getting married and a lot of prominent guests and everyone was dressed up and looking good. I mean, this was really hoity-toity.
The meal was held in a very large home and people were seated all around this room and the coffee pots and desert were set up in a side room. Well, everyone had finished eating and were having desert and I decided to go for another cup of coffee and as I entered this room I was joined by an obviously well-to-do lady in her mid-fifties. I was standing beside her waiting to get to the coffee pot when she let out a belch that would make any trucker proud. And then the whole room turned and looked at me.
Well, it was strangely silent for about ten seconds, I mean, someone had just done the unspeakable and I felt like I had to break the silence so I said, real loud, “Well, excuse you!”
I think this was the kind of silence that hung over the dinner table and one of the guests wanting to ease the tension by changing the subject picked up on Jesus’ mention of the resurrection and said, “Blessed is he that shall eat bread in the kingdom of heaven.” It’s kind of what we’d say, “I can’t wait to get to heaven, it’s really going to be a celebration, a party and a feast.” Now, Jesus doesn’t disagree about the nature of the kingdom but He gives them a parable to challenge their presumption that each and every one of them will be there based on their racial and religious heritage. It’s like someone said, “Not everyone talking about heaven is going there.”
I Parable
“A certain man made a great supper, and bade many: And sent his servant at supper time to say to them that were bidden, Come; for all things are now ready.”
In Israel it was customary to send out two invitations for any major social event. And there appears to be two reasons behind this. And the first one has to do with the embarrassment someone might suffer if the invitation was sent to him by mistake. A rabbinic commentary refers to the people of Jerusalem and notes that none of them would attend a banquet unless they were invited twice.
And then the second reason has to do with the method of food preparation and the fact that they were limited in terms of keeping track of time. For instance, they could be roasting several huge animals over a fire and wouldn’t be sure when they’d be ready. It would be considered rude to have the guests have to stand and wait to get their dinner and it would be just as rude for the guests to drift in after the meal was underway.
So, the first invitation was to announce the feast and the reason behind it and the second one was to call the people to the table.
So, this obviously wealthy and generous man sends out the first invitations and they were accepted in such a way that those who were invited expressed the idea that they intended to be there. And then he prepared the feast based on the number of people he was expecting.
II The first group
The time came for those who were invited to come to the dinner and here we see the story take an unexpected turn. Rather than responding according to their word verse 18 says, “They all with one consent began to make excuses.” In other words, none of them wanted to go. And whatever their excuse it was obvious that they had no respect for the host and saw nothing attractive about his feast. And each of them decided that the feast wasn’t worth their effort.
And we see the excuses they gave. The first one says, “I have bought a piece of ground, and I must needs go and see it; I pray thee, have me excused.” And his excuse is nothing more than a bold-faced lie. No one would ever purchase a piece of land in the Middle East without knowing every square foot of it like the palm of his hand. The springs, the wells, paths, trees and the anticipated rainfall are carefully included in the contract. The purchaser would even know the human history of the field. He could tell you who owned it and be able to recite the profits of the land for many of the previous years.
This excuse is the equivalent of buying a new house over the phone and then going over to see it. And even if he was involved in any kind of land deal he could have waited another day. The land wasn’t going anywhere. His excuse was not only paper thin but it was also meant to convey how little he thought of the one who invited him.
When I was getting married I invited a friend who said, “Gee, I’d really like to go but my wife and I are sticking green stamps in a book that night. We’re saving for a clothes hamper.” I had the distinct impression that my wedding was really low on his list of priorities.
And then we see the second guy in verse 19 and he says, I have bought five yoke of oxen, and I go to prove them; I pray thee, have me excused.”
When a team of oxen was sold in the Middle East there was two ways of trying them out. If the oxen were at the market the seller would arrange to have a plot of ground around the edge of the market so the buyers could try them out. Or, in a small village the seller would announce to his friends that he had a team available and would be plowing on a certain day. Perspective buyers would go to the field and watch the animals and then they’d drive them back and forth so they could be assured of their strength and the evenness of the pull. And all this took place before the price was even mentioned.
It would be the equivalent of buying five used cars over the phone and then taking them for a test drive. And again, the transparent nature of the excuse is unmistakable. And yet, as with the first one the second is very polite which cannot be said for the third.
In verse 20 the third man’s response was, “I have married a wife, and, therefore, I cannot come.” Deuteronomy 24:5 tells us that a newly married man was exempt from military service for one year but that certainly didn’t get him out of every other social obligation. In fact, what this guy says is really a rather crude statement. Men didn’t discuss their wives or daughters in social settings. As a matter of fact, if you heard someone’s wife was sick and asked how she was doing, the likely reply would be, it’s none of your business. Asking about someone wife or daughter was the same as making a pass at her.
So, what this guy was saying was, I’d go to your dinner but I’m busy with a woman. And the statement was meant to offend and infuriate the host.
So, we see their excuses. I’m too busy with my wealth to go to your feast. I’m too busy with my work to go to your feast. And I’m too busy with my wife to go to your feast. And what they were all saying was, the everyday things of life are more important to me than any feast you or anyone else could ever offer.
And then in verse 21 it says, “The servant came, and showed his lord these things. Then the master of the house being angry.” Listen, wouldn’t you? I mean, let’s say your daughter was getting married and you planned this party for months and spent thousands on gifts, caterers, decorations and a thousand other details and everyone who said they come didn’t bother showing up.
And then two weeks later your downtown and you see all those who had been invited and one says, “We we’re all ready to go and then someone said there was a sale on peat moss at McArthur’s Nursery in Moncton.” And then the second says, “I was going to go but I decided it was such a nice day I’d stay home and wash the car.” And then the third says, I just didn’t feel like it at the time.” Wouldn’t you be angry? And then, without saying another word to this group it says the master sent his servant to go get a second group.
“Go out quickly into the streets and lanes of the city, and bring in hither the poor, and the maimed, and the halt, and the blind.”
And what he says is, go find the people of this city that the first group looks down on. Go get the helpless and the hopeless. Go find people who know how to enjoy a banquet. Bring in the hungry and any of you who like to cook you know that there’s nothing better than watching someone hungry eat.
Listen, what a picture this is of salvation. The first three people assumed it was theirs by right only to find out they’re on the outside looking in at the very ones they wouldn’t share the table with. And then the second group can’t believe how gracious their host is and yet there’s more grace to be had because when the servant says, it is done as you’ve commanded and yet there is room” the master sends him out in search of others. This shows there is more willingness on the part of God’s to save sinners than there are sinners who are willing to be saved. There is more grace available than there are hearts to receive it.
And then we see a second invitation here in verse 23. “And the servant said, Lord, it is done as thou hast commanded, and yet there is room. And the lord said unto the servant, Go out into the highways and hedges, and compel them to come in, that my house may be filled.”
And listen to where he sends him. Go out to the highways and hedges. And what he’s saying is, go outside the city gates, go beyond the Jews, go find the strangers and the homeless. And I believe he’s referring to the gentiles who Paul would later refer to as “Aliens from the common wealth of Israel, and strangers from the covenants of promise, having no hope, and without God in the world.” He’s saying these are the people I want.
And he also says to compel them to come in. The unexpected guest might be starving but still senses a cultural pressure to refuse. The master knows that as a matter of courtesy they will refuse and so he says, “to compel them to come in.” The word “compel” means insistent hospitality.
When a stranger outside a city was invited to a great banquet he assumes the host doesn’t really mean it but he’s just acting in a magnanimous fashion. So, the servant coaxes, convinces and then taking his arm pulls the one who was invited along to the feast. And all along the stranger is thinking to himself, “This is too good to be true. He can’t mean it. I don’t deserve it. I have no way of ever paying him back.” But it doesn’t matter, because he’s told to compel them and to do everything he can to demonstrate that this invitation is genuine.
And we see the goal of the master when he says, keep on doing this, until my house is full. He wants quantity and then quality. He accepts us as we are and then He cleans us up. And there seems to be the concern for the master’s to demonstrate that he has no need of the first group that received his gracious invitation and refused. Listen, heaven will be no worse if you don’t go but better for you if you do.
And then in verse 24 we see a change because Jesus has concluded the parable and He addresses those who are gathered around the table when He says, “For I say unto you, that none of those men which were bidden shall taste of my supper.” In other words, those who make excuses, rather than responding to the invitation will not be at the table.
And there are a lot of really good excuses. One man told me he was born out of wedlock and his father was a Baptist minister who seduced my mother when she was a teen-ager and then he paid for her and her mother to go to England and have him. And then that man continued in the ministry until the day he retired. And no one ever called him to account for the things he did. And this man said to me, and when I see God I’m going to tell Him what I think of Him.
And another said to me, I was in the war and I saw things that no person should ever see. It’s easy for people like you to talk about heaven because you’ve never come face to face with hell itself.
Or, I was raised in a home where you went to church every time the doors were opened but when you got home you were beat within an inch of your life for any little mistake. And I’m convinced that all Christians are nothing but hypocrites.
And there were others who were turned off by someone who claimed to be a Christian but didn’t live it. Of course, I always say, if there’s a hypocrite standing between you and God then you’re too far away. And another said, “I just can’t seem to live the Christian life.” Well, the fact is, none of us can. But when we receive Jesus as our savior He puts His Holy Spirit in our hearts and He gives us the strength to live the way we should. And one of the best I’ve ever heard was, “I intend to accept the Lord someday but not right now.” And I always tell them that the Bible says, “Today is the day of salvation.” And if God has spoken to your heart then you have to respond now.
And I’ve heard of many who use hard-hearted Christians as their excuse to stay away from God. I’m sure we’ve all heard of the writer Ernest Hemingway. He wrote a short story entitled “The Capitol of the World.” The story takes place in Spain where a father decides to reconcile with his son who had run off to Madrid. So he took out an ad in a newspaper: “Paco meet me at the Hotel Montana noon Tuesday all is forgiven Papa.” Paco is a very common name in Spain, and when the father goes to the hotel he finds 800 young men in the square waiting to be reconciled to their fathers.
It was said that Hemingway also knew something about the lack of grace that often exists in families. His parents were very different sorts of people who tried to pull him in different directions in life. His mother had a very devout Christian background, and it was said she detested the bohemian lifestyle that he was leading to the point that she refused to allow him in her presence.
One year for his birthday she mailed him a birthday cake and the shotgun his father had used to kill himself. Another year she wrote to explain that a Mother’s life is like a bank. “Every child that is born to her enters the world with a large and prosperous bank account, seemingly inexhaustible.” The child initially makes withdrawals but no deposits but when the child is an adult, he must replenish the account that he has drawn down. She then listed all the ways that he should do this: birthday cards, flowers on mother’s day, and above all not “neglecting your duties to God and your Savior, Jesus Christ.” And later, Hemingway found that he hated his mother, he completely rejected the Christian faith and later in life he used his father’s shotgun to kill himself.
Listen, there are more excuses then there are people but when we stand before the throne we won’t be compared with one another but we’ll stand face to face with Jesus Christ Himself and we’ll be compared in our sinfulness to His glory and then we’ll realize that all of our excuses are just that, they’re excuses for why we didn’t serve Him the way we knew we should have.
Conclusion
The strange thing about this parable is that Jesus is describing people who are going to hell who haven’t really done anything bad or evil in human terms and He’s also talking about those who are going to heaven who haven’t done anything good.
I mean, look at the first group. There’s nothing wrong with a man owning land, enjoying his possessions or even having sex with his wife. The problem comes when we use any of these examples or anything else for that matter as an excuse to refuse God’s offer of salvation.
And the second group, well, all they did was acknowledge their need and respond. And that’s who we are. Beggars who’ve been invited and showed up for a feast.
But, on the other hand, the invitation is limited. In verse 16 it says “He bade many” and then verse 21 says, to bring in all the needy and 23 says go get more or fill the house because “Whosoever will may come.” You can have salvation if you want to but if someone doesn’t want it then all the powers of heaven itself can’t and won’t change their heart.
