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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.’ 21 “The servant came back and reported this to his master. Then the owner of the house became angry and ordered his servant, ‘Go out quickly into the streets and alleys of the town and bring in the poor, the crippled, the blind and the lame. 22 “‘Sir,’ the servant said, ‘what you ordered has been done, but there is still room.’ 23 “Then the master told his servant, ‘Go out to the roads and country lanes and compel them to come in, so that my house will be full. 24 I tell you, not one of those who were invited will get a taste of my banquet.’” ~ Luke 14:15-24
The Lord Jesus was at a luncheon provided by a very prominent Pharisee who wanted to trap Him into healing a man on the Sabbath who was retaining a lot of fluid in the tissue of his body.
In v.16 we read, "A certain man was preparing a great banquet and invited many guests.” This wealthy man invites a huge number of people to this meal. This was a huge event.
In v.17 we read, "At the time of the banquet he sent his servant to tell those who had been invited, ‘Come, for everything is now ready."
In New Testament days, invited dinner guests were invited a few days before the meal but they were not told the exact hour. A host had to know how many guests were coming so he could butcher the right amount of animals and prepare a sufficient amount of food. When the day came that the feast was to begin, the host sent his servants to each of the guests to tell them the banquet was ready and they should come. Each of the guests in this parable had already agreed to attend the banquet. Instead of coming to the feast, all of the guests gave flimsy excuses for not coming.
In v.18 we read, "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."
The first guest had to “go and see” a piece of real estate he had purchased. In that day, the purchasing of property was a long and complicated process, and the man would have had many opportunities to examine the land he was buying. And, since most banquets were held in the evening, the man had little daylight left even for a cursory look.
Then, in v.19 we read, "I bought five yoke of oxen." The second man had also made a purchase, five oxen, and he had to check out the oxen's quality. No one would purchase that many animals without first making sure they were right.
Then, in v.20 we read, "I just got married, so I can’t come." The third guest couldn't come because he had just gotten married. Jewish weddings were never surprises, so this man knew well in advance that he was getting married. That being the case, he should not have agreed to attend the feast in the first place. Since only Jewish men were invited to banquets, the host did not expect the wife to come as well.
In v.21 we read, "Then the owner of the house became angry and ordered his servant, ‘Go out quickly into the streets and alleys of the town and bring in the poor, the crippled, the blind and the lame."
Having prepared a great dinner for many guests, the host did not want all that food to go to waste, so he sent his servant out to invite a crowd to His banquet hall. So, the poor, the crippled, the blind and the lame, the kind of people that Jesus came to save, were invited.
According to v.22-23, not only did the host get other people to take the places assigned to the invited guests, but he also shut the door so that those with excuses could not change their minds and come in .
This parable had a special message for the proud Jewish people who were so sure they would enter the kingdom of God. Within a few short years, the gospel would be rejected by the Jews, by and large, and the gospel message would be presented to the Samaritans and the Gentiles.
But the message of this parable applies to all of us today. God still says, “Come, for everything is now ready!” Nothing more need be done for our salvation, for Jesus Christ finished the work of redemption when He died for us on the cross and arose from the dead. The feast has been spread, the invitation is free, and we are invited to come.
People today make the same mistake that the people in the parable made: they delay in responding to the invitation. There is certainly nothing wrong with owning a farm, examining purchases, or spending a week on a honeymoon with your wife. But if these good things keep us from enjoying the best things, then these things become bad things, for if we do not respond positively to the Gospel, we will spend eternity in Hell.
These religious leaders did not believe the gospel of the Lord Jesus because they believed they were achieving rightness before God through their good works. They actually believed that the more rules they kept, the more they were assured that they would go to heaven.
The Lord Jesus always shatters false religion's hope. He never says, "Well, we worship the same God, we're both going to be in heaven." He never says, "Well, you are a student of the Old Testament and you are a worshiping the God of Israel and you're going to get into heaven."
He never says, "You're really good, God's going to accept this religious effort in His name as enough."
No, the Lord Jesus confronts false religious security at every level. Anybody who lives under some kind of misguided assumption that they're headed for heaven based on their unique goodness needs to know that is not true. The claims of the Lord Jesus are to the contrary to religion. Investigate it for yourself.
You see, if the death of the Lord Jesus was not enough to procure our salvation, then no one has any hope. In fact, the formula for our salvation is: Jesus plus nothing equals everything. What He accomplished through His perfectly lived life and His death on the cross and His resurrection was enough. God, in His word, says so. See Romans 10:9-10.
