Text: Luke 14:15-24 (NASB)
In our Gospel reading today, Jesus is at a Pharisee’s house. He just finished advising the dinner guests through parables on various aspects of dinner party etiquette. He told them that when they arrive at a banquet, they should never assume that they are the most honored guest. They should rather sit in the most humble of seats. That way, when the master of the feast sees them, they will be granted a place of greater honor rather than to be humiliated in front of everyone. This is a good lesson. It makes sense to us. It is better to be exalted in the sight of our peers than to be humbled. However, Jesus also told them not to invite their relatives or rich neighbors because these people are likely to pay you back by inviting you to their own fancy parties. Jesus suggested rather to invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, and the blind. These people cannot pay you back. This lesson is a bit more difficult than the first. Sure, it would be a nice gesture once or twice to give a great feast for people who cannot afford to feed themselves, but is Jesus really asking us to never invite our friends to dinner? Should we be required to run a perpetual soup kitchen out of our homes? Of course, through these parables, Jesus is talking about another feast. Jesus speaks of a banquet where by all rights, he should be the most honored guest, and yet, at this banquet, he takes the lowest most humble place. He takes the place of a slave. Jesus is talking about a banquet where every single guest in attendance is so poor and destitute, completely lacking in all resources and abilities, that they will never in all eternity be able to pay him back for his merciful and gracious invitation.
After Jesus spoke these parables, one of those who were dining with him at the Pharisee’s house said, “Blessed is everyone who will eat bread in the Kingdom of God!” This saying is certainly true. However, it sparks another parable from Jesus. In this parable, Jesus speaks of the feast which will take place in the Kingdom of God. He tells us of the Master who sent out His Slave to alert the invited guests and say, “Come; for everything is now ready.”
These invited guests, however, do not come. Instead they make excuses. “I have bought a piece of land and I need to go out and look at it, please consider me excused.” “I have bought five yoke of oxen, and I am going to try them out; please consider me excused.” “I have married a wife, and for that reason I cannot come.” “I just bought a lakeside cabin, and the only time I can enjoy it is on the weekends. That’s why I haven’t been to church the past few weeks.” “I got a new fishing boat, the kids are in hockey on the weekends, the Vikings or Packers (or in my case the Lions) are playing a morning game this Sunday…” God has given us all plentiful fruits from His creation. He gives us all that we need, and more, to support this body and life. And these gifts are not evil. It is not wrong to own land or animals. Taking a wife is a good thing. Relaxing at the cabin or on the lake or playing or watching sports can be just what the doctor ordered. We rest and have recreation so that we may regain our vigor and serve God. These gifts of creation are good. God saw all that He had made and behold it was very good. But, we use these same good gifts for evil purposes. We make them into excuses. “Please consider me excused. I have a million earthly things to do before I come to Your heavenly banquet.” These good gifts become evil when we love them more than we love God. They become evil when we bow down at their altars and offer our devotion, time, and money rather than bowing and kneeling at the altar of the Lord. They have become false gods corrupting their followers and leading them away from the One True God. So, what does the Master say to this idolatry? He says, “for I tell you, none of those men who were invited shall taste of my dinner.” Those who value property, recreation, and even family above the Lord God shall not taste the Master’s banquet.
But the Master’s house must be filled! He sends out the Slave once again. This time the slave goes out into the streets and alleys of the city to the poor, the crippled, the blind, and the lame. “Come; for everything is now ready.” The slave does this, and reports to the Master that still there is room. So, the Master sends the Slave outside of the city into the highways and along the hedges to compel them, so that my house may be filled. The epistle reading for today from Ephesians 2 says, “But now in Christ Jesus you who formerly were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ.” My friends, we are those poor blind cripples who live in the streets. We were far away from the Master and His banquet, and yet, through the blood of Christ, we are brought near.
You see, in this great parable, God is the Master and Jesus is the Slave whom the Master sends. God sends Jesus to the poor, the crippled, the blind, and the lame. These people are sinners. They are crippled and blinded by their sin. They are completely unable to enter the Master’s banquet on their own merits or abilities. They are undesirables. No one with any social instincts would ever want these people at their banquet. These are poor, miserable sinners. They justly deserve the temporal and eternal punishment of the Master. We are these undesirable and miserable sinful cripples. However, instead of casting us out of His Kingdom, instead of barring the doors and leaving us in a place where there is weeping and gnashing of teeth, instead of following social protocol and refusing us entrance, the Master sends the Slave Jesus to seek us out and bid us come, for everything is now ready.
We are invited to the eternal banquet by the Master, invited by God our heavenly Father through the sending of His Slave, His Son Jesus Christ. God saw our sin. He saw how we by our sinful nature rejected His banquet. And even though we are truly the lowest, poorest, and most miserable sinners, God had compassion on us. He sent His only Begotten Son to compel and to bring us, crippled and poor sinners that we are, into His bountiful feast. This Slave, Jesus, comes not to be served, but rather to serve. He heals the crippled, blind, and lame, He eats with sinners (even with Pharisees), and ultimately He makes our banquet attendance possible by suffering the consequences of our original rejection by dying on the cross.
This is God’s invitation to us sinners. When Jesus was lifted up on the cross as the blood sacrifice for our transgressions, he bore the infirmities of the poor, crippled, blind, and lame sinners. It is here that He invited those who could never pay Him back. When Jesus assumed the lowest most humble place among criminals to be executed, He was lifted up and exalted before us on the cross. When the soldier pierced Jesus’ side with a spear, water and blood gushed out flowing into a river of Life which floods every baptismal font and overflows every chalice in Christendom.[1] Now He sits at the place of highest honor at the right hand of God the Father Almighty at the everlasting feast in the Kingdom of God. His body has been given; His blood has been shed. The table is set before you for the forgiveness of you sins and for the strengthening of your faith. Jesus is now exalted and honored, and yet He still bids us Come; for everything is now ready.
The Pharisee was right. “Blessed is everyone who will eat bread in the Kingdom of God.” We are invited through the cross of Christ to join the banquet hall. Even now, today, we are invited to partake in a foretaste of that feast to come. The bread is broken; His body has been given. The wine is poured; His blood has been shed. The table is set before you. Come; for everything is now ready.
[1] Credit for this imagery is due to David P Scaer. I’m not sure where he got it, but I steal it from him without shame.
In our Gospel reading today, Jesus is at a Pharisee’s house. He just finished advising the dinner guests through parables on various aspects of dinner party etiquette. He told them that when they arrive at a banquet, they should never assume that they are the most honored guest. They should rather sit in the most humble of seats. That way, when the master of the feast sees them, they will be granted a place of greater honor rather than to be humiliated in front of everyone. This is a good lesson. It makes sense to us. It is better to be exalted in the sight of our peers than to be humbled. However, Jesus also told them not to invite their relatives or rich neighbors because these people are likely to pay you back by inviting you to their own fancy parties. Jesus suggested rather to invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, and the blind. These people cannot pay you back. This lesson is a bit more difficult than the first. Sure, it would be a nice gesture once or twice to give a great feast for people who cannot afford to feed themselves, but is Jesus really asking us to never invite our friends to dinner? Should we be required to run a perpetual soup kitchen out of our homes? Of course, through these parables, Jesus is talking about another feast. Jesus speaks of a banquet where by all rights, he should be the most honored guest, and yet, at this banquet, he takes the lowest most humble place. He takes the place of a slave. Jesus is talking about a banquet where every single guest in attendance is so poor and destitute, completely lacking in all resources and abilities, that they will never in all eternity be able to pay him back for his merciful and gracious invitation.
After Jesus spoke these parables, one of those who were dining with him at the Pharisee’s house said, “Blessed is everyone who will eat bread in the Kingdom of God!” This saying is certainly true. However, it sparks another parable from Jesus. In this parable, Jesus speaks of the feast which will take place in the Kingdom of God. He tells us of the Master who sent out His Slave to alert the invited guests and say, “Come; for everything is now ready.”
These invited guests, however, do not come. Instead they make excuses. “I have bought a piece of land and I need to go out and look at it, please consider me excused.” “I have bought five yoke of oxen, and I am going to try them out; please consider me excused.” “I have married a wife, and for that reason I cannot come.” “I just bought a lakeside cabin, and the only time I can enjoy it is on the weekends. That’s why I haven’t been to church the past few weeks.” “I got a new fishing boat, the kids are in hockey on the weekends, the Vikings or Packers (or in my case the Lions) are playing a morning game this Sunday…” God has given us all plentiful fruits from His creation. He gives us all that we need, and more, to support this body and life. And these gifts are not evil. It is not wrong to own land or animals. Taking a wife is a good thing. Relaxing at the cabin or on the lake or playing or watching sports can be just what the doctor ordered. We rest and have recreation so that we may regain our vigor and serve God. These gifts of creation are good. God saw all that He had made and behold it was very good. But, we use these same good gifts for evil purposes. We make them into excuses. “Please consider me excused. I have a million earthly things to do before I come to Your heavenly banquet.” These good gifts become evil when we love them more than we love God. They become evil when we bow down at their altars and offer our devotion, time, and money rather than bowing and kneeling at the altar of the Lord. They have become false gods corrupting their followers and leading them away from the One True God. So, what does the Master say to this idolatry? He says, “for I tell you, none of those men who were invited shall taste of my dinner.” Those who value property, recreation, and even family above the Lord God shall not taste the Master’s banquet.
But the Master’s house must be filled! He sends out the Slave once again. This time the slave goes out into the streets and alleys of the city to the poor, the crippled, the blind, and the lame. “Come; for everything is now ready.” The slave does this, and reports to the Master that still there is room. So, the Master sends the Slave outside of the city into the highways and along the hedges to compel them, so that my house may be filled. The epistle reading for today from Ephesians 2 says, “But now in Christ Jesus you who formerly were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ.” My friends, we are those poor blind cripples who live in the streets. We were far away from the Master and His banquet, and yet, through the blood of Christ, we are brought near.
You see, in this great parable, God is the Master and Jesus is the Slave whom the Master sends. God sends Jesus to the poor, the crippled, the blind, and the lame. These people are sinners. They are crippled and blinded by their sin. They are completely unable to enter the Master’s banquet on their own merits or abilities. They are undesirables. No one with any social instincts would ever want these people at their banquet. These are poor, miserable sinners. They justly deserve the temporal and eternal punishment of the Master. We are these undesirable and miserable sinful cripples. However, instead of casting us out of His Kingdom, instead of barring the doors and leaving us in a place where there is weeping and gnashing of teeth, instead of following social protocol and refusing us entrance, the Master sends the Slave Jesus to seek us out and bid us come, for everything is now ready.
We are invited to the eternal banquet by the Master, invited by God our heavenly Father through the sending of His Slave, His Son Jesus Christ. God saw our sin. He saw how we by our sinful nature rejected His banquet. And even though we are truly the lowest, poorest, and most miserable sinners, God had compassion on us. He sent His only Begotten Son to compel and to bring us, crippled and poor sinners that we are, into His bountiful feast. This Slave, Jesus, comes not to be served, but rather to serve. He heals the crippled, blind, and lame, He eats with sinners (even with Pharisees), and ultimately He makes our banquet attendance possible by suffering the consequences of our original rejection by dying on the cross.
This is God’s invitation to us sinners. When Jesus was lifted up on the cross as the blood sacrifice for our transgressions, he bore the infirmities of the poor, crippled, blind, and lame sinners. It is here that He invited those who could never pay Him back. When Jesus assumed the lowest most humble place among criminals to be executed, He was lifted up and exalted before us on the cross. When the soldier pierced Jesus’ side with a spear, water and blood gushed out flowing into a river of Life which floods every baptismal font and overflows every chalice in Christendom.[1] Now He sits at the place of highest honor at the right hand of God the Father Almighty at the everlasting feast in the Kingdom of God. His body has been given; His blood has been shed. The table is set before you for the forgiveness of you sins and for the strengthening of your faith. Jesus is now exalted and honored, and yet He still bids us Come; for everything is now ready.
The Pharisee was right. “Blessed is everyone who will eat bread in the Kingdom of God.” We are invited through the cross of Christ to join the banquet hall. Even now, today, we are invited to partake in a foretaste of that feast to come. The bread is broken; His body has been given. The wine is poured; His blood has been shed. The table is set before you. Come; for everything is now ready.
[1] Credit for this imagery is due to David P Scaer. I’m not sure where he got it, but I steal it from him without shame.