Jesus tells a parable in these verses. Parables are meant to make truth portable. Jesus told practical stories in everyday life to show theology and truth. Food is a major theme in the Bible. Food can be fun with feasts and celebrations to commemorate events such as the Passover.

See Proverbs 9. There are two women mentioned – wisdom and folly. There represent two types of ways of life. They both appeal to people by using food and drink. They are sitting side by side. They are both confronting people on the street in everyday life. They are both offering banquets. Wisdom offers a banquet that makes you well. The banquet of folly is seductive but is poisonous and leads to death. Notice the wisdom and the folly in this parable.

1 – The Double Invitation

In both the Jewish and Roman world of the First Century the invitation to a great feast was two-fold:-

• The initial invitation was some time ahead.
• The actual summons to the meal when it is ready.

Once the countdown started it could not be stopped. Invitations were sent out and responses were received. You prepared the food on the basis of the numbers accepting the invitation. A chicken or two would suffice for 2 to 4 guests, a duck for 5 to 8, a kid for 10 to 15, a sheep for 15 to 35 people, or a calf for 35 to 75 people.

The second invitation is when the servants are sent out to tell these guests that the banquet is ready. Not to come to a banquet where one had previously indicated acceptance was a grave breach of social etiquette. It was an insult to the host. In a society where one’s social standing was determined by peer approval this was an act of social insult as well. For a whole series of guests to reject the final summons appears to be a conspiracy to discredit the host.

2 – Excuses, Excuses

These people have already accepted the initial invitation but now all start making excuses that offend the host. The food is on the table and to now change your mind is rude and an offence to the host. The rejection was unanimous. But the excuses are lame, and the three Jesus mentions are representative of the rest.

• The first excuser has just bought a field and must inspect it. But surely no one buys a field sight unseen.
• The second excuser has just bought five pairs of oxen and must try them out. But no one buys five pairs of oxen without testing them first. These first two excuses are flimsy on the surface. Both indicate men of wealth. Purchasing property is a wealthy man’s luxury.
• The third excuse was that the guest has just been married. This is also is lame. When he accepted the invitation he would have known of his wedding plans. That was the time to politely decline. But to back out at the last minute is an act of calculated rudeness.

The excuses are lame. We all have to eat and drink that day! The excuses are probably all lies rather than real. They had accepted but now when the food is on the table they bring out these excuses. They are being discourteous. When it comes to the kingdom of God we need to stop making excuses.

The excuses that seem like valid reasons just don’t hold water with God. If you accept the invitation from the Kingdom then your priorities need to change. When you accept God’s invitation then there is a rejection of other things. It offers the greatest of gifts and expects the greatest of loyalties. There is no takeaway service with this banquet! You are either in the banquet or you are not. There is no middle ground.

3 – The Open Invitation

You can’t blame the host for being angry when he hears of this rude affront and unanimous rejection by his social peers. He is livid! So he tells his servant to do what would have been social suicide had he not have already been rejected – to invite the lower classes. The host will not have an empty house at his feast! He will have guests. The first sweep of people invited is those inside the town such as the poor, the beggars and the indigent. The house is still not full. The second sweep invites those outside the town such as vagabonds and sojourners, those who were shunned and unwelcome in the towns.

It was a custom to politely refuse an invitation from a higher social class unless pressed to do so. Hence they were compelled. The rich man hasn’t sent out soldiers to sweep the area, round up everyone, and march them to his house. But he has instructed his servants not to take “No” for an answer. To encourage and strongly urge everyone they meet to accept this invitation. The host’s house must be full. He will NOT be made a fool of. He WILL have a full house!

4 – No Second Chances

The host is the master of the house and closes the door to any whom may now change their mind. It is too late as all the seats are now taken. He is filled with hurt and anger at rejection. It is a resolution not to give into this social slight. But as we read it we almost hear the voice of the Father at the rejection of his rebellious people. There has been grace to those less fortunate and judgment upon those who should have known better.

The allegory is that the host is God the Father, inviting his people Israel to the messianic banquet in the Kingdom of God. The rich and socially elite who reject at the last minute the host’s invitation are the Pharisees and Jewish religious establishment who begin to plot against Jesus and eventually render the ultimate insult of having Jesus executed as a common criminal. The poor and downtrodden is the common people, considered unclean by the Pharisees. Perhaps those inside the town are the Jews while those in the outlying areas are the Gentiles.

Categories: Luke