“And when one of them that sat at meat with him heard these things, he said unto him, Blessed is he that shall eat bread in the Kingdom of God. “Then said he unto him, A certain man made a great supper, and bade many: And sent his servant at supper time to say to them that were bidden, Come, for all things are now ready. And they all with one consent began to make excuse. The first said unto him, I have bought a piece of ground and must needs go and see it: I pray thee have me excused. And another said I have bought five yoke of oxen, and I go to prove them: I pray thee have me excused. And another said, I have married a wife, and therefore I cannot come.
“So the servant came, and showed his lord these things. Then the master of the house being angry said to his servant, Go out quickly into the streets and lanes of the city, and bring in hit her the poor, and the maimed, and the halt, and the blind.
“And the servant said, Lord, it is done as thou hast commanded, and yet there is room. And the lord said unto the servant, Go out into the highways and hedges, and compel them to come in, that my house may be filled. For I say unto you that none of those men which were bidden shall taste of my supper.” -Luke 14:15-24; compare Matthew 22:1-14.
God’s Great Feast
A person at the supper, after hearing Jesus’ comments, remarked that it would be a blessed t hi ng to have a share in the great feast with which the Kingdom of God will be inaugurated.
Jesus seized upon this as a text, and preached another sermon in a parable. As usual, his parable-sermon was in respect to the Kingdom of God:
A man made a great supper and bade many guests. When the time for the supper arrived, he sent his servant to inform them saying, “Come for all things are now ready.” However, these with one accord began to make excuse. One said, I have bought a field; I must go and take a look at it; please excuse me. Another said, I have bought five yoke of oxen, and I must be proving them; please excuse me. Another said, I have recently married; therefore I cannot come. When the servant returned and told his experience, the Master of the house was provoked, and said to the servant, Go out quickly into the streets and the lanes of the city, and bring in the poor, the maimed, the blind, and the lame.
The meaning of the parable is not far to seek. God had indeed provided a great feast. Long year s before he had sent word to the Jewish nation that in due time such a great blessing would be open to them-the privilege of becoming members of the Kingdom of God-sharers of it with Messiah. Yet, when Jesus appeared and the time came for the feast to be spread, those who had been bidden were careless.
Jesus and his disciples had been going about for some time declaring that the kingdom of heaven was at hand, and that all who believed should make haste to associate themselves with it – to come to the feast-should be getting a part of the blessing. However, the invited ones were full, covetous, money-lovers. When they heard the message of the kingdom they said, I am too busy with my worldly prospects. So they slighted God’s invitation extended to them through Jesus and the Apostles.
The ones especially invited were the ones who specifically claimed to be the “holiness people” -the Pharisees and the Doctors of the Law. In the parable, the rejection of the ones originally invited led to the invitations being sent to others, in the streets and lanes of the city. This meant that the poor had the Gospel preached to them. Publicans and sinners were received by our Lord, told about the kingdom, and invited to leave all their sinful and injurious practices, to accept forgiveness of sins, and to come in and participate as heirs of God’s promise of joint-heirship with Jesus Christ their Redeemer.
Nearly all of the preaching of Jesus and of his disciples, up to Pentecost and after, was to the poor of Israel-the publicans and sinners. The charge made against our Lord by the Pharisees who rejected him was that he received sinners, and that he ate with them.
Great Feast Represents Rich Blessings
The great feast of the parable figuratively represents rich blessings of God’s providence for the church-the knowledge of the truth, justification from sin, the begetting of the Holy Spirit, the privilege of appropriating the great and precious promises of God’s Word. All this is the feast which the Lord has spread for now eighteen hundred years, and to which he has been inviting, or calling, certain ones. First the Pharisees, the “religious lights,” representatives of Moses, and secondly the poor, the sinful, the weak, the outcasts of Israel, and the prodigal son class were invited.
Some of the latter class came, but not enough to fill the places already provided. In other words, not enough of the Jews were “Israelites indeed,” acceptable to God, to fill the foreordained number of the elect church. Hence the Master sent out his servants the third time, saying that they should go outside the city, into the highways and hedges, and urge the people to come in that his house might be filled-not a seat left vacant.
This applies, evidently, to the sending of the Gospel to the Gentiles. For eighteen hundred years the Message has been going up and down through the highways and hedges, calling and inviting, drawing, such as have hearing ears and responsive hearts. In all, they will not be a great company. In all, they will not represent very many of the lights of the world. The Apostle writes, “Ye see your calling brethren, how that not many wise men after the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble,” hath God chosen, but chiefly “the poor of this world, rich in faith,” to be heirs of the kingdom .- 1 Corinthians 1:26, 27; James 2:5.
Ultimately the full number purposed by the great Householder will have been called, accepted, and found worthy through Christ to have a place at that table-to share in that great feast. It will be the nuptial feast, in honor of the marriage of the Lamb, after his wife hath made herself ready-Revelation 19:7-9. At that feast, we are assured, will be a secondary company, not worthy to be of the bride class. These may be figuratively styled the bridesmaids, the great company class; for after the account of the gathering of the bride we have the Lord’s message to these subsequently delivered from Babylon, saying, “Blessed are they that are called to the marriage supper of the Lamb.”
You can imagine the honors and joys of that great banquet! The aroma of the good things coming, already reaches us in the anteroom, before we enter the banquet hall. These odors come to us through the exceeding great and precious promises of God’s Word, assuring us of his faithfulness and of his provision of the things that “eye hath not seen, ear hath not heard, neither have entered into the heart of man,” but which “God hath provided for them that love him” supremely.
Those originally bidden will not taste of that supper; though, thank God! Divine provision has arranged for another banquet, which through the kingdom will be spread for all nations, kindreds, tongues, and peoples-“a feast of fat things.”- Isaiah 25:6-8. R5415 (1914)