The Parable of the Great Banquet – You Are Invited!
The parable of the Great Banquet is found in Luke’s gospel . Once again, Stephen shows how the parable is relevant for us today.
The Parable of the Great Banquet in Luke 14
As we continue on in our series on the parables of Jesus, we come to an interesting one, found in Luke 14, the parable of the great banquet or supper. In this chapter we can read that Jesus had been invited to eat at the home of a ruler of the Pharisees. There were other notable people there, including other Pharisees who the Bible says watched Jesus carefully.
The Guests of Honor
Jesus was also watching them though, and seeing that all the guests chose the seats of honor began his teaching by warning them about that, saying instead that they should choose the lower places, so that their host might call them up to a higher place, rather than the opposite happening. Jesus finished this teaching by saying,
For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and everyone who humbles himself will be exalted.
Luke 14:11
He then turned to the man who had invited him, and said that when you give a dinner or banquet, don’t invite your rich friends or relatives who can easily pay you back. Instead invite the poor and the needy, who can’t pay you back, In doing so you will be blessed, and will be repaid at the resurrection of the just, or the righteous.
Jesus is Speaking to a Ruler of the Pharisees
Now, remember that Jesus is speaking to a ruler of the Pharisees, who by man’s standard in this culture would be considered among the most righteous, yet Jesus is instructing him on what true righteousness is. It was about love, and more so about showing love to those from whom we can expect nothing in return. It falls perfectly in line with Christ’s other teachings, like that found in Matthew where he says
Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal, but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys, and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.
Matthew 6:19-21
A Warning Against Pride
So here we are at this feast, thrown by the important Pharisee, attended by many distinguished guests, and while it is clear that Jesus is instructing them that they should not be too prideful, especially in their own righteousness, one of the guests decides to say something that appears to be an attempt to dull what Jesus was saying. He said,
Blessed is everyone who will eat bread in the kingdom of God.
Luke 14:15
Essentially, what this man was saying is that even if they didn’t take Jesus’ advice about showing love and kindness to those in need, it didn’t matter, their own righteousness was enough to get them into heaven, so they would have their blessing anyway. Then, Jesus tells them this parable.
Jesus Tells the Parable of the Great Banquet
A man once gave a great banquet and invited many. 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.’ 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.’ And another said, ‘I have bought five yoke of oxen, and I go to examine them. Please have me excused.’ And another said, ‘I have married a wife, and therefore I cannot come.’ 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.’ And the servant said, ‘Sir, what you commanded has been done, and still there is room.’ 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. For I tell you, none of those men who were invited shall taste my banquet.’
Luke 14:16-23
A Parable Full of Meaning
As usual, there is a lot going on in this parable. First we have the man giving the feast, which is a picture of God and the feast is that greatest of banquets, eternal life in heaven. Then, there are those who were invited, which is a picture of the Jews, and particularly in this case, of those Jews who would be expected to be invited to “eat bread in the kingdom of heaven” according to their beliefs, which would be people like the Pharisees, and Scribes and religious leaders.
Part of the problem with this group, is that they really had a sense of entitlement, they believed that they deserved to be honoured by God in such a way, therefore, the promise of heaven almost became a trivial thing to them. When Jesus came to them, as pictured in the parable by the servant, to call them to the kingdom, they felt as though they didn’t need his advice or instruction, they were just fine to keep doing their own thing.
Jesus Knew Their Hearts
But of course, the reality was that they were not fine. Jesus knew their hearts, he knew that they had not earned anything, and that the so-called righteousness they held to was empty, their love was for themselves and not for God or His ways. One by one they say that they have better things to do, things that were designed only for their personal gain and benefit.
Sometimes it’s hard to imagine anyone passing on the glory of heaven for anything that this life offers, yet it still happens all the time. People either don’t believe in God, and therefore just try to gain what will make them happy now, or they think that they are good enough, and don’t need to trust in Jesus or follow him.
Salvation Through Christ
The message of the Bible though is quite clear. The salvation offered through Christ, the gift of eternal life in heaven, is not something that can ever be earned. It can only be gifted to us by a perfectly holy God. Ephesians refers to it as a gift of grace, something that we don’t deserve but is extended to us anyway. The Bible says that believers in Jesus become co-heirs with Christ, and that we become sons, or children, of God.
If we are honest with ourselves, it would take a great deal of pride and arrogance to ever think that we deserve to be in such a position, that we deserve to have a share in the glory of the creator all things. That’s where these Pharisees were. They were saying let God show grace to the poor, the blind and the lame, we’ll be there based on merit, we’ll have the positions of honor, because we don’t need God’s grace to get there. Ironically, it’s that type of thinking that exemplifies how much they don’t deserve to be there, and why they too were in great need of God’s mercy and grace.
Poor, Crippled, Blind and Lame
Next in the parable, the host turns his attention to that group of poor, crippled, blind and lame. He says to extend the invitation to them. So, who are these people referring to? It’s actually still the Jews, but it is a different section of the population. There is a bit of a need for cultural context here. This group of people, the blind, lame and so on, were believed to have these issues because of sin, because of unrighteousness.
A great example of this is found in John’s gospel, when Jesus encounters the man who was born blind, and his disciples asked him
Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?
John 9:2
The Prevailing Thought
Jesus went on to acknowledge that neither was the case, but this was the prevailing thought at the time, if someone was blind, deaf, crippled, it was because of sin they had done. They certainly would not have been perceived as righteous by the majority of people in that time, and were quite often treated as outcasts because of this. However, we see throughout Jesus ministry in the Bible, that these were the people who also fully recognized their need, and came to Jesus.
They knew they didn’t deserve God’s grace, but they wanted it so much that they would be willing to expose themselves to humility, shunning and ridicule, to get close enough to Jesus that he would make them well. And he did. He still does. In John 6:37 Jesus says “whoever comes to me I will never cast out.” He’s not talking about physical healing here, but spiritual.
If we come to Jesus, in faith, recognizing we have a great need for forgiveness, and restoration to God, he will give it to us, he will save us from the penalty of sin and death, and take us to his Father’s house, to heaven, not as guests, but as children of God. Jesus said he did not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.
The Highways and the Hedges
Finally, in the parable we have the servant of the house being sent to the highways and hedges, to compel people to come into the feast. For those of us who are not of Jewish ancestry, this is the greatest news we can ever hear. Jesus, the son of God, was sent first to the Jews.
Though some did recognize him for who he was, and believed in him, many if not most, rejected him. So, because God has plenty of room in His kingdom, the invitation was extended to the Gentile nations as well. Jesus has been sent to compel us all to come to the great banquet, to invite us to be with him forever in heaven.
A Share in God’s Glory
We don’t deserve it. The Bible says all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God. Yet, God wants us to share in his glory, he wants us to be part of not just His Kingdom, but His family, and He made the way for that to be possible for us by sending His Son, Jesus.
We can never pay him back for this gift, He knows that. He doesn’t expect or even ask us to try. He loves us, and just wants us to accept His grace, through faith in Jesus Christ.
Are you going to “The Great Banquet?” ? What is your response to Jesus’ parables? We would love to hear from you. Comment below or contact us at HopeStreamRadio.
Stephen March
Stephen March is the President of FBH International and HopeStreamRadio. He graduated from the Broadcasting Program at Niagara College in 2001, and has previously worked in television production and post-production.
Stephen lives in St. Catharines, Ontario, with his wife Corinne and their four children.
Read and hear more from Stephen March on his contributor’s page. Stephen currently has 5 Programs on HopeStreamRadio:
- Please Forgive Me
- Isolation Chronicles
- Faith By Hearing – The Twelve
- Bibles and Baseball
- Bible Tech Talk
More Podcasts Below:
More Blogs:
Palm Sunday, The Coming King, and the Last Week of Christ
Images courtesy of:
Banquet – StockSnap
Chef Serving – lucas_pego
The Parable – Eugene Burnand
Highway & Hedge –webentwicklerin
Leave a Reply