“The Snubbed Invitation”
Luke 14:15-24
14 July 2019 (SBC, Sligo IE)
INTRODUCTION:
Have you
ever said anything stupid, only to immediately wish that you could take the flippant
words back and erase them from people’s minds? I have. Have you ever
made a comment off the top of your head and then later said to yourself, “That
was stupid! Why did I say that?” I have. In Luke 14, our text for
this morning, a man popped off with a trite, cutesy statement in response to
something that Jesus had just said and I suspect that within seconds wished he
had kept his big mouth closed and said nothing, because Jesus used it as a
springboard to launch into a teaching that was difficult and awkward for all
those present to accept.
TRANSITION:
Most of this
chapter takes place in the home of a wealthy Pharisee who had invited Jesus to
his place for a Sabbath banquet, not because he liked Jesus, but rather because
he and his cronies were wanting to see the Galilean healer up close and
personal. In truth, it was another trap, a setup to try and catch Jesus doing
something for which they could accuse Him. For most people this would have been
an intimidating setting, but not Jesus. He plowed ahead and used the occasion for
His own purposes to teach about the Kingdom of God.
You remember
Matt’s message from last Sunday about this same dinner and how Jesus cured a
man who was suffering from dropsy that “just happened” to be at that party on
that Sabbath day. Of course, Jesus was not fooled. He saw through the ruse and
turned the tables on them all by asking in verse 3, “Is
it lawful to heal on the Sabbath, or not?” They all remained silent.
None of the Pharisees or teachers of the Law wanted to answer His question
because they all knew that there was no such prohibition in the Law of Moses, only
in the manmade rules of the rabbis. So, after healing the man and sending
him on his way Jesus switched subjects on the host and his guests and used the
occasion to teach them a spiritual lesson about banquets, hosts, and
invitations.
In verses
7-11 Jesus instructed them concerning the virtue of humility and told them not
to seek to exalt themselves but rather to choose the places of lesser honor. In
verses 12-14 Jesus addressed the host of the banquet specifically and
personally: “And [Jesus] also went on to say to the one who had invited Him, ‘When
you give a luncheon or a dinner, do not invite your friends, or your
brothers, or your relatives, or rich neighbours; otherwise they may also
invite you in return, and that will be your repayment. 13 But when
you give a reception, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind,
14 and you will be blessed, since they do not have the means to
repay you; for you will be repaid at the resurrection of the righteous.’” It was this last statement
that leads us into our text for this morning.
MAIN
BODY:
Verse 15: When one of those who were reclining at the table with Him heard
this, he said [to Jesus], “Blessed is everyone who will eat bread in the
Kingdom of God!”
·
What a wonderfully pious and religious thing to say, don’t you think?
The man must have been very proud of himself, undoubtedly believing that he
would be present on that future day to partake of that glorious banquet. Notice
that Jesus did not comment on what the man said but used his statement as a
launching pad to tell a story and present a metaphor to which they could all
relate. The Jews understood this metaphor because it was a
picture of the Messianic Banquet that they believed would happen when Messiah appeared. When the
man spoke of the happiness of those who would be guests at that feast, he was
thinking of only the Jews, for the average Orthodox Jew would never have
dreamed that the Gentiles and sinners would ever find a place at God’s table.
Jesus knew that, and that is why He spoke this parable.
Verses
16-18a: But [Jesus] said to
him, “A man was giving a big dinner, and he invited many; 17
and at the dinner hour he sent his slave to say to those who had been invited,
‘Come; for everything is ready now.’ 18 But they all alike began to
make excuses.
·
Jesus addressed
His remarks to the man in verse 15 but it was for the benefit of everyone
within earshot. To appreciate this story, one must have a working knowledge of
the customs of that day. In Palestine, when a man gave a feast, the day of it
was announced long beforehand, and the invitations were sent out and accepted.
But the hour of it was not announced. When the day came and all things were
ready, servants were sent out to summon the already invited guests. To accept
the invitation beforehand and then to refuse it when the day came was a grave
and serious insult.
·
In this parable
the master of the feast stands for God. The originally invited guests stand for
the Jews. Throughout all their history they had looked forward to the day when
God would break in, and Messiah would appear; but when He finally did, they
tragically refused His invitation, offering various lame excuses for not coming
to the feast.
Verse 18b: The first one said to him, ‘I have bought a piece of land
and I need to go out and look at it; please consider me excused.’
·
FIRST LAME EXCUSE: This man allowed the claims of business and busyness
to supplant the claims of God on his life. It is still possible today for a
person to be so immersed in the things of this world that he has no time for
God, for worship, or for prayer.
Verse 19: Another one said, ‘I have bought five yoke of oxen, and I am
going to try them out; please consider me excused.’
·
SECOND LAME EXCUSE: This second man let the claims of novelty usurp the
claims of Christ. It often happens that when people acquire new possessions,
they become so taken up with them that God gets crowded out of their lives. A
new boat, a new motorcycle, a new hobby, a new beach condo, a new house-construction
project, or even a new friendship can distract a person from the things of God
and entice him/her away.
Verse 20: Another one said, ‘I have married a wife, and for that
reason I cannot come.’
·
THIRD LAME EXCUSE: This third man speaks with even more finality: “…and for that reason
I cannot come.” It is ironic that he uses one of the wonderful merciful laws of the OT
as an excuse to keep himself and his new family away from God’s feast.
Deuteronomy 24:5 says: “If a man has recently married, he must not be sent
to war or have any other duty laid on him. For one year he is to be free to
stay at home and bring happiness to the wife he has married.” Maybe this is what
the man had in mind, but this freedom was never intended to be used selfishly
as an escape from a man’s duties to God.
Verse 21: And the slave came back and reported this [i.e. these
excuses] to his master. Then the head of the household became angry and
said to his slave, ‘Go out at once into the streets and lanes of the city and
bring in here the poor and crippled and blind and lame.’
·
“…he became angry…” I would just
remind you of Hebrews 10:31 which says, “It is a fearful thing to fall into the
hands of the living God.”
·
The poor people from the streets and lanes stand for the tax-gatherers
and sinners who welcomed Jesus in a way in which the Orthodox Jews never did.
Verse 22: And the slave said, ‘Master, what you commanded has been
done, and still there is room.’
·
The slave comes back and reports that even after bringing the poor and
crippled and blind and lame from the streets and lanes, the master’s banquet
hall is still only sparsely filled. There is yet much room.
Verses 23-24: And the master said to the slave, ‘Go out into the highways
and along the hedges, and compel them to come in, so that my house may be
filled. 24 For I tell you, none of those men who were invited
shall taste of my dinner.’”
·
Those gathered in from the roads and the hedges stand for the Gentiles
for whom there was still ample room at the feast of God. When the Jews refused
God’s invitation and left His table empty, the invitation went out to the
Gentiles.
·
There is one phrase in verse 23 that has been sadly misused by
professing “Christians” through the centuries. It is the phrase, “…and compel them to
come in.” Long ago Augustine used this text as a justification for religious
persecution. It was used as a mandate, and even a command, to coerce people
into the Christian faith by any means necessary. It was used as a defence for
the Inquisition, the thumbscrew, the rack, the threat of death, the campaigns
against the “heretics,” and for all those other things that are a shame to
Christianity. But this is not what God was saying, but rather is a misunderstanding
of the word translated, “compel.” The idea is the same as we find in 2
Corinthians 5:14 where Paul says, “For the love of Christ constrains
us…” Or in 2 Cor. 5:11, “Therefor knowing the fear of the Lord, we persuade
men…” The same Greek word is used in Matt. 14:22 which says, “And immediately He
compelled the disciples to get into the boat, and to go ahead of Him to the
other side [of the lake] …” Jesus was not saying that we should force people
into the Kingdom of God by threatening them or bullying them. You see, in the Kingdom
of God there is only one compulsion—the compulsion of love.
CONCLUSION:
Two Sundays ago, Matthew
taught us from Luke 13 about the Narrow Door that God has provided so that we
can have eternal life. That Door is Jesus. In John 10:9 Jesus declared: “I am the Door; if
anyone enters through Me, he shall be saved.”
In John 14:6 He said: “I am the Way, and the Truth, and the Life;
no one comes to the Father, but through Me.”
Luke chapter 13 is about that same Door, the Lord Jesus Christ.
But the picture changes in chapter
14. Here we learn of a future banquet, a grand dinner to which any and all are
invited. In verse 16 Jesus tells us that many have been invited. There’s
plenty of room for any who will come. Then in verse 17 notice again the phrase,
“Come,
for everything is ready now.”
The Bible says in 2 Cor. 6:2, “Behold, now is the acceptable
time; behold, now is the day of salvation.”
You can accept God’s gracious invitation today and be assured of a place at that
wonderful “Supper of the Lamb.” Or, like the people in Jesus’ parable, you can continue
to make lame excuses and miss out entirely.
In verse 22 Jesus assures us
that “…there
is still room.” God is merciful and He desires
that no one should perish but that all should come to repentance. His Father’s
heart is revealed in verse 23: “Go out…and compel them [beg them, plead
with them, persuade them] to come in, that My House may be filled.”
That is exactly what I am
trying to do right this minute! If you have never done so, you can accept God’s
invitation and I beg you to do it, to not put it off. Jesus said, “Come unto Me, all ye who
are weary and heavy laden, and I will give you rest.”
The Bible says in John 1:11-12 that, “Jesus came unto His own
but His own received Him not. But as many as received Him, to them He gave the
right to become children of God, even to those who believe in His name.”
The Bible says that, “Whoever calleth upon the name of the Lord
will be saved.” Confess your sins to Him
today. Invite Him to be Your Saviour and Lord. Believe that He took your place
on the cross and died for your sins. Entrust your life to Him. You will never
regret it.
