“Hearing this, a man sitting at the table with Jesus exclaimed, “What a blessing it will be to attend a banquet in the Kingdom of God!” Jesus replied with this story: “A man prepared a great feast and sent out many invitations. When the banquet was ready, he sent his servant to tell the guests, ‘Come, the banquet is ready.’” Luke 14:15-17 NLT
One man comments about how fun it will be to break bread in heaven – when the Kingdom of God is fulfilled. Something he said kind of triggered Jesus, because he keeps the “dinner party” discussion going.
This whole passage that Luke writes about is in the context of Jesus having a meal ON the Sabbath WITH religious leaders. So, Jesus didn’t just eat with street sinners, he also ate with religious sinners 😀. “One Sabbath day Jesus went to eat dinner in the home of a leader of the Pharisees, and the people were watching him closely.” Jesus WANTED them to watch him closely – in fact he wants me to watch him closely as well.
The dinner has the usual conversational conflict that both Jesus and any other self respecting rabbi would live for. It was entertaining for the really smart religious lawyers and pundits to start an argument. It was like watching British parliament with lots of fast words and emotional explosions. One guy there had swollen arms and legs and was obviously struggling. Was he a plant? Just for an conversational appetizer for starters? Maybe. Jesus, loving the opportunity to poke the Pharisees where God’s sonshine should shine, heals the guy…again on the Sabbath.
Then Jesus observes and comments on the natural order of human behavior at a honored guest invite in fancy pants houses of the rich and powerful. Everyone is jockeying for the best seat, the closest to the host. The aura of power that supposedly surrounds the master of the house. It’s so ironic that Jesus just gives out some free advise, you know, etiquette tips for the swanky. One, let the host decide who should be given honor, don’t assume it’s you. Two, don’t just invite a bunch of “kiss-ups,” friends, relatives and rich – that’s boring. Come on, that’s just a narcissistic love-fest. Mix it up by inviting the disenfranchised, the outcast, folks that never get invited because they’re marked as marginalized. This is when some guy raises his wineglass and says, in toast-like fashion, “won’t it be so much fun to hangout with friends like us in the future fulfillment of God’s Kingdom?” Oh! Oh OH! Jesus just can’t leave that comment hanging in the air, sucking the life out of everything he believes in!
So, Jesus tells a story. A massive dinner party story. A dinner party so grand and glorious that it’s declared a BANQUET, a feast. All the who’s who will be invited. All the “A” listers, influencers and mover-shakers in town. But oh-no, plot twist!
One by one, these upper-echelon guests start turning the host down, they’ve got scheduling “conflicts” and passé, snooty excuses. A strange list of reasons for turning it down follows. A field, oxen and newlyweds and all send their regrets. At this moment, every socialite in the room is furiously hanging on every word as Jesus weaves in the truth. The room must be mumbling, “how rude,” “so disrespectful,” “How uncouth!” Who would ever do such a thing.
Jesus lands his point. The host, the master was FURIOUS.
Every person at that dinner party agreed with Jesus. “That’s right, the host should be enraged…I know I would be!” they must have thought. Then Jesus tells them the host went out and invited the opposite of what was fashionable, popular or elitefully expected! Oddly, the room probably shifted to cheer this as well. “Yeah, that’s right,” they might have yelled, “that’ll show those deadbeats who embarrassed their host.” And all of a sudden they have found themselves thinking differently about these former “F” listers, who would have never been considered worthy to attend such a feast. There’s a chance, as they were carried along in the story, they thought, “those people deserve to be a part too!” Then Jesus dropped the last line and it had to have hit home in the hearts of the hearers – “For none of those I first invited will get even the smallest taste of my banquet.” Go Jesus… bread and mouths drop. His job is done here.
Prayer
Dad,
Not only do I want to be at that Kingdom of God, wedding feast of the lamb, I want to invite and hope to see as many there as possible.