When one of those who reclined at table with him heard these things, he said to him, “Blessed is everyone who will eat bread in the kingdom of God!” But he said to him, “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.’ (Luke 14:15-20)
Just to keep things in context here, we’re still in at the party – Jesus is a guest at a dinner party with the guest list primarily being Pharisees and lawyers. Jesus has been speaking to some pretty hard topics like pride and partiality and now someone at the table seemingly decides to break the huge amount of awkwardness in the room by saying, “Blessed is everyone who will eat bread in the kingdom of God!”
The Invitation
What the man said isn’t wrong, he’s looking forward to the great feast in heaven with our Messiah one day, just as it says in Revelation 19:9, And the angel said to me, “Write this: Blessed are those who are invited to the marriage supper of the Lamb.” And he said to me, “These are the true words of God.” BUT Jesus answers him with a parable that will challenge whether he is ready to completely accept the invitation to that eventual feast.
The truth is that every single person is invited to come into the kingdom of God, but not every single person will accept that invitation and come when God calls.
When Jesus died on that cross and rose again all those thousands of years ago, His blood paid the price for every single person to be redeemed. Sin affected all of humanity through one man, Adam, and redemption comes through one man, Jesus. The invitation of salvation is freely given, but unless it’s received and accepted by the invitee, they don’t become a guest of the party in the house of the master.
Some Added Context
A side note here that gives great insight not only to the culture and context, but also to how it relates to salvation, is that back in that day when someone threw a great banquet they would send out invitations with an approximate time frame of the party date. It took time to plan and put together such a banquet so the guests would accept or decline the invitation and then wait for the master’s servant to tell them it was time for the party to start and then they’d go attend. It was considered extremely rude to accept an invitation and then not show up at the event.
In a similar way, the invitation of salvation is given in sharing the gospel with someone. One either accepts or rejects the initial invitation, but just because someone accepts it right away doesn’t mean they are attending the banquet. We see this concept in places like earlier in Luke 8 when Jesus told the Parable of the Sower and how seed falls on different grounds and it’s only the good soil in which that seed will actually grow and produce fruit – of which James tells us that faith without works is dead (James 2:14-26); as well as in places like Matthew 7:21 where it says, “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven.”
The Excuses
We see three men giving three excuses here. Keep in mind, these are men who have already accepted the invitation to the banquet who are now being told to come because the banquet is ready and are making excuses not to come.
Two of them are along the same lines – materialistic reasons, and the other makes his wife the excuse. But all in all, all their excuses come down to not actually wanting to come. In the first two excuses they both say they have bought things and are needing to go see and examine the things they’ve bought. Anyone who has made any big purchase in life (of which a field and five oxen were in those days – in our day is equivalent to a house or car), you know how crazy it sounds to buy first and then examine after. And the last man got married and could have brought his wife with him but decided to use her as an excuse not to come instead. These poor excuses make it obvious that they accepted the invitation at first, maybe even feeling excited for the banquet, but once the call to come join the banquet came, they did not want to go.
In Jesus’ explanation of the Parable of the Sower to His disciples, the explanation of the seed that fell on rocky soil goes hand and hand with the people who were invited to the banquet in this parable. And as for what fell among the thorns, they are those who hear, but as they go on their way they are choked by the cares and riches and pleasures of life, and their fruit does not mature. (Luke 8:14)
Invitee or Guest?
As we saw when we studied the Parable of the Sower in Luke 8 awhile back, we need to examine our hearts. These were men who had accepted the invitation already – so in our understanding, these would be people who called themselves Christians. But as we saw how it took growth and fruit to evidence that the heart had good soil, here too it requires actions in line with accepting the invitation to actually be a guest.
It’s one thing to accept the invitation, it’s another to be a guest at God’s table.
In Revelation 3:15-20 says, “I know your works: you are neither cold nor hot. Would that you were either cold or hot! So, because you are lukewarm, and neither hot nor cold, I will spit you out of my mouth. For you say, I am rich, I have prospered, and I need nothing, not realizing that you are wretched, pitiable, poor, blind, and naked. I counsel you to buy from me gold refined by fire, so that you may be rich, and white garments so that you may clothe yourself and the shame of your nakedness may not be seen, and salve to anoint your eyes, so that you may see. Those whom I love, I reprove and discipline, so be zealous and repent. Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and eat with him, and he with me.”
Keep in mind that these words spoken in Revelation were from God to the church in Laodicea. These were people who were part of that church and called themselves Christians and yet were not walking with the Lord and were being told to repent and let God in, who was standing at the door knocking. It is true that once you are truly saved and are a follower of Jesus, no one can snatch you out of God’s hand, but that’s not in question here – the question here is have you only accepted the invitation or are you a guest?
That coming in and eating with us and us with Him is an abiding relationship with Jesus that comes after accepting the invitation to salvation. It’s when the relationship has gone past the invitation to true intimate fellowship with God at the banquet in your heart, allowing Holy Spirit to come in and do the work of sanctification in you in which you will grow and produce the fruit of good works in your life.
A Heart Check
Take your time to honestly answers these questions:
- How do you view spending time reading the Bible, praying, and fellowshipping – do you have a genuine desire for the things of the Lord or are those things boring and you’d rather be watching TV, on social media, or doing something else?
- Do you look forward to studying God’s word and fellowshipping with the body on Sundays and midweek services/home groups or do you have other things that pre-occupy your mind and desires?
- Do you continually make excuses to yourself or others why you don’t read your bible, pray, go to church, study the bible with other believers, and fellowship with other believers?
- Do you look forward to Christ’s appearing or don’t really mind if His coming is delayed a bit longer?
- Can you and others see growth in your spiritual life and are you producing fruit in line with the Spirit or are you undistinguishable from people who aren’t saved?
These are all questions that can help you do a personal heart check. These are honestly questions we should examine in ourselves regularly because even if we are without a doubt saved, these can help us to see when and where we might be lacking or possibly growing complacent in. As we work out our salvation with fear and trembling before our God Who is holy, we want to always be walking in the right direction.
How do you respond to God’s call? You very well may have heard and accepted the invitation to salvation, but today, if you don’t know that you’re a guest, one who is dining with God in an abiding relationship – today is the day to examine that so that you can know that you know that you aren’t just invited, but that you’re a guest!