Have you ever been invited to a “one of a kind” special event where it was an honor to be on the guest list. For most of us it might be a wedding of a family member or a close friend. Imagine being invited to a grand celebration of someone you didn’t know very well but you are looking forward to the day with great anticipation. The RSVP was returned with gladness and excitement.
Jesus tells two parables about a great invitation. While there is a similar theme, these appear to be spoken at different times to different people. In Matthew 22 there is a king who invites guests to his son’s wedding (22:2) and in Luke 14 a man had a great banquet and invited many (14:16). What a great honor to be welcomed to such an event. The people respond with a “yes”, I will attend.
The background for these parables is found in the Old Testament, throughout which Jehovah had been inviting a special group of people to be a part of a Kingdom celebration. The plans and timing of that celebration had been revealed by God through patriarchs, priests, prophets and princes. These were recorded in the correspondence between God and his covenant people, Israel. And those writings in turn fostered discussion, raised questions and speculation ,as research continued, into what it all meant. This went on down through the ages, as men tried to understand what God was saying about “The Kingdom”. And by the time that Jesus was born, the priests, scribes and lawyers had determined the purpose, operation and function of what God was going to do.
The parables:
Catering weddings and other celebrations was more complicated and difficult in the first century than in our own. Invitations were sent out weeks before the event to see who was coming so that there would be enough seats, food and wine. The host in John 2 had miscalculated. He ran out of wine which was an embarrassing and humiliating fail, and that was just one detail. It was hard to keep the meat tender, cooking the meal so that it was all done at the same time…baking fresh bread and prepping all the sides since it needed to be eaten soon after it was ready. They also did not all have calendars or clocks, so it was very difficult to show up on Monday at 6:00pm.
The guests don’t know the exact time or sometimes not even the day that the festivities would begin. When all things are ready, the servants would be sent out to all those who committed to attend to tell them to, “Come now.” The expectation is that guests would soon arrive and enjoy the great feast.
In both of these banquet parables many of those who had previously said “yes” are now refusing to attend. The true reason is uncertain, but the excuses they offered were thinly veiled fabrications. For instance, if someone purchases land without seeing it first, there is no hurry to go now to stand in that field today. You can check out your real estate tomorrow. Same would apply with purchasing oxen. Some may think the new wife seems valid but in fact he knew he was getting married when he said “yes” a couple of weeks ago. Besides that, bring her to the feast and enjoy time with family and friends. You have the rest of your life for private moments with your spouse.
Many people refuse to accept Christ’s invitation to enter the Kingdom of God because of their possessions, positions, careers and relationships. So we urge people to choose the Kingdom of Heaven over what this world has to offer.
Jesus came to usher in that new Kingdom which had been promised for generations. Many did not like what Jesus said, who He chose to eat with, or who He claimed to be. And religious leaders took offense when He exposed their abuse of privilege and the injustice of their courts.
They especially refused God’s invitation which in principle they claimed to accept. Some of the invited guests killed the servants who were extending the invitation (Matthew 22:6). Eventually, they killed the King’s son who was the one the banquet was for.
This angered the king who then invited everyone who was “unworthy” because of their heritage, status or sinful state in the eyes of the Scribes and Pharisees. The sinners, the outcast, the immoral along with Samaritans, Gentiles and foreigners were now more in number in God’s new covenant than the Israelites. Many of these people accepted the invitation with joy and thanksgiving because ever since they could remember, they were never invited into a relationship with God by the religious system.
A careful look at the Old Testament, reveals that God had always planned to bring all nations to Himself through the faithfulness His Covenant People. The only problem was, that the Covenant People were not consistently faithful – only a few generations out of many.
Today the great invitation to God’s banquet for His Son, still stands. It is being announced by Christians, as they serve the Lord. Yet there are still many who have excused themselves from attending the Master’s feast. Eventually, the end will come when the door will be shut and no one on the outside will be allowed to enter the feast (Matthew 25:10-13). They will remain outside the kingdom for eternity, where there will be uncontrolled weeping and gnashing of teeth.
The Lord does not want anyone to perish, but for all to come to repentance (2 Peter 3:9). In the parable, the master sent his servants to “compel the people to come in” (Luke 14:23). As God’s messengers, Christians should recognize the significance and urgency of our mission and the permanence of eternal consequences.
So Jesus concludes the parable in Luke 14:24 with the words, “For I tell you, none of those men who were invited shall taste My banquet.”
Those Israelites who were invited, but refused to attend will not be allowed in. When the invitation expires, that door will remain closed. The master in one parable and the king in the other, are one and the same. God is just and reasonable. He allows people to make up their own minds and to live out the consequences. This is what God wants to save us from. But He will not part company with justice to make room for those who are unjust and wicked. They will get what they deserve.
Yet, we know that God is kind, patient and forgiving. He provided additional opportunity for those who rejected the invitation(s) and killed His Son.
Read through the book of Acts and observe the invitations beginning in Acts 2, to “those who crucified Jesus”. When they understood what they had done, they asked “men and brethren, what shall we do?” Did Peter say, “You have rejected the Son and now there is nothing you can do except to wait for your just judgment and be cast into hell forever.”? No. God offered forgiveness for that sin and all others, so that God himself in the person of the Holy Spirit might take up residence inside of them. The response was immediate and the numbers grew so that even a great number of priests became obedient to the faith (Acts 6:7). Saul of Tarsus, was personally invited by Jesus after many years of rejecting Christ and persecuting the church. We all have opportunity, even after ignoring, rejecting or spurning the Lord, up until the day of our death.
What then is our task as Christians when it comes to evangelism?
We must invite people to the banquet that God has prepared for all those who would come to honor His Son. God has made all the provisions for us to enter into the celebration and to enjoy the great marriage supper of the Lamb, forever. (Revelation19:9).
When we accept God’s Son, we become a part of God’s family and all together are made into the bride of Christ (2 Corinthians 11:2; Revelation 19:7-9). What a celebration that will be!
Detroit, Michigan