TNIV – Luke 14:1-24 – The Parable of the Great Banquet
1One Sabbath, when Jesus went to eat in the house of a prominent Pharisee, he was being carefully watched. 2There in front of him was a man suffering from abnormal swelling of his body. 3Jesus asked the Pharisees and experts in the law, “Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath or not?” 4But they remained silent. So taking hold of the man, he healed him and sent him on his way. 5Then he asked them, “If one of you has a child or an ox that falls into a well on the Sabbath day, will you not immediately pull it out?” 6And they had nothing to say. 7When he noticed how the guests picked the places of honor at the table, he told them this parable: 8“When someone invites you to a wedding feast, do not take the place of honor, for a person more distinguished than you may have been invited. 9If so, the host who invited both of you will come and say to you, ‘Give this person your seat.’ Then, humiliated, you will have to take the least important place. 10But when you are invited, take the lowest place, so that when your host comes, he will say to you, ‘Friend, move up to a better place.’ Then you will be honored in the presence of all the other guests. 11For all those who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted.” 12Then Jesus said to his host, “When you give a luncheon or dinner, do not invite your friends, your brothers or sisters, your relatives, or your rich neighbors; if you do, they may invite you back and so you will be repaid. 13But when you give a banquet, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind, 14and you will be blessed. Although they cannot repay you, you will be repaid at the resurrection of the righteous.”
15When one of those at the table with him heard this, he said to Jesus, “Blessed are those who will eat at the feast in the kingdom of God.” 16Jesus replied: “A certain man was preparing a great banquet and invited many guests. 17At the time of the banquet he sent his servant to tell those who had been invited, ‘Come, for everything is now ready.’ 18“But they all alike began to make excuses. The first said, ‘I have just bought a field, and I must go and see it. Please excuse me.’ 19“Another said, ‘I have just bought five yoke of oxen, and I’m on my way to try them out. Please excuse me.’ 20“Still another said, ‘I just got married, so I can’t come.’ 21“The servant came back and reported this to his master. Then the owner of the house became angry and ordered his servant, ‘Go out quickly into the streets and alleys of the town and bring in the poor, the crippled, the blind and the lame.’ 22“‘Sir,’ the servant said, ‘what you ordered has been done, but there is still room.’ 23“Then the master told his servant, ‘Go out to the roads and country lanes and compel them to come in, so that my house will be full. 24I tell you, not one of those who were invited will get a taste of my banquet.’”
Today’s parable has lots of things in it that are possible to pick up and run with. The story of a banquet host with guests and a celebration is an allegory at least at some level, and so I found it at least somewhat simple to generate a lot of thoughts about it… of course talking all morning isn’t what I want to do now what I think anyone else wants me to do. More importantly though I think it’s dangerous to decide from the outset that a story is an allegory and then take it a bit too far. I’m going to take the risk and be a bit dangerous, let’s hope it isn’t too a stretch too far.
That being said I do to think it’s quite clear that Christ is telling a story of what a feast in the Kingdom of God is like. In the first half of the reading, like we have seen so many times this semester Jesus is talking with the religious establishment of the day. He’s jumped into parable telling when talking to the Pharisees as they allow him to comment about the very people he’s dining with as he tells the story. These people are the ones who expect invitations dinner with God and we see that presumptuous attitude of the man who says “Blessed is the Man who will eat at the feast in the Kingdom of God.” and so Jesus begins…
The invitation process that Jesus describes seems to come in two parts, the first is an announcement of the party and the second is the actual invitation. It seems odd in some ways, but it’s actually quite a reasonable way to do things, the event is announced and preparations are made… the process for something good takes some effort and some time. The process continues until final details are presented at which the planner’s role is just about ready to move into “carry out the plans” mode and that’s where things fall apart.
In November I started planning a ski trip for reading week. Booking of the backcountry shelter is permitted up to three months in advance and I wanted to book the whole place so I needed to recruit interest early on in the process. Emails went out and I accumulated 13 people to sleep in a 12 person cabin. The plan was to squish a bit or in the odd chance someone backed out we’d be back to 12. I wasn’t about to start eating for every meal but the big plans were laid, the money was paid and the anticipation for something great began. There had been a last minute trip with only three people the winter before and I wanted to offer that experience up to other friends this year.
This is where the excuses begin for the host though, the first is a landowner who has purchased a field – he must go look at it. Clearly in Jesus’ day the fact that this man owned a field puts him in an elite category, that is amongst the wealthy and I think Jesus is using this to tie those who are present with him at the table into the situation. Jesus presents another man who has 5 yoke of exen, enough farm equpment for five farms and a man who I think is representing the powerful in society. The third is a man who has just been married, something he obviously knew about in advance. I think his acceptance of the initial invitation was one made out of a desire to stay on the side of the invitee more than out of desire to come to the banquet. The excuses made are poor ones in general. The rich landowner probably had seen the land before he bought it and the man who had purchased the oxen probably had seen proof of their hardiness before fronting the cash. Jesus, by giving these examples seems to be suggesting that any reason not to take up the invitation to his banquet is a poor reason. Attending the banquet is really in the be best interests of all those who are invited but the Pharisees, and I think also us ourselves, are quick to ignore the fact that what Christ has for us is good.
So it went with the backcountry trip. The beginning of January rolled around and people got back to school and reasons started coming up why they wouldn’t be coming along. There were avalanches in Fernie over Christmas, people died, “I can’t come on the trip because I don’t have any avalanche experience,” some said. There was no avalanche danger on the route we had planned. “I am going downhill skiing on another weekend, I might be too busy” another said. “I don’t want to take the day off work anymore like I’d previously promised.” “I have a job interview”. “My wife has a job interview”. “I didn’t mean that I wanted to come when I said that I wanted to come”. My group of 13 skiers was disintegrating, sure one person had a job interview, but not a single other excuse held any water. Don’t these people know what they’re missing out on I thought to myself?
The banquet host feels the same way, saddened by the response of those around him. Don’t they know what they’re missing out on? The response is one Jesus describes as ‘angry’ but I think it’s more than that, it’s some rejection, it’s some pain and within it there is some love, there is still the desire to share in what is good. The owner sends out another invitation… new people… those that got missed on the first pass. The master gives up on the social scene he had been inviting from, he doesn’t invite more of the same but invites the people he didn’t invite before, the measure is one of ‘whoever is able to enjoy what is good’.
I also extended the invitation, friends of friends, a few more here and there and a few spots filled up on the trip. Not all the spots, but some and off we went. Beautiful weather, some real physical challenge on the climb, some banding together to chop wood, fetch water, boil soup and explore a frozen lake in the alpine. It was good and those that came enjoyed it.
The parable has a subsequent invitation where my story doesn’t. Perhaps Jesus is selling an opportunity that is better than a ski trip. His love is perfect where mine is limited ahd he goes to great lengths to have people experience the goodness of what is on offer. The master insists that these people come in… Why was there not the same insistence or persuasion with the original three? In my reading of this I understand that this insistence is not a bargaining with these people in the way I could argue with people to come skiing, or the servant could argue that a field could be viewed tomorrow or oxen would live to pull a plow on another day. This is the Master’s way of posing an invitation to the uninvitable. The vagrants and hobos from outside of town were on the outside of town for a reason. They weren’t allowed to be in town. We’ve got a Jewish culture that understands in and out the covenant that the community that lives within the walls is invite-able and those that live outside of the walls are uninvite-able. That they wouldn’t be able to accept an invitation to the banquet even if they had wanted to. This is a demonstration again of how sure he is that what he has on offer is good, and that our invitation is a ‘no-obstacles-invitation’. He has made the way clear for those on the fringes, or on the complete outside, of righteousness.
Reading the parable in this way isn’t about slamming our excuses for not jumping in with both feet. It is not meant to paint lines of where ‘good enough’ is. It is more of a lesson about Christ’s goodness and God’s desire for us to participate in Banquet style life with him. So much desire, that he has made a way possible where there is no other way.