A Great Supper
The context of Lk 14:15-24, the great supper, is Jesus in the house of one of the chief Pharisees eating bread on the sabbath, Lk 14:1. While there:
Jesus healed a man of the dropsy. Taught them that healing on the sabbath is no less lawful than rescuing an ox or an ass fallen in a pit on the sabbath. Lk 14:1-6.
Then he taught the ones who were bidden to not choose out the chief rooms at weddings but the lowest room. It is better to be asked by your host to go up higher than to be shamed into taking the lowest room. Those who exalt themselves will be humbled and those who humble themselves will be exalted. Lk 14:7-11.
Then he taught them, that when they make a dinner, they should invite the poor, maimed, lame, and blind, rather than their friends, family, and rich neighbors. They cannot recommence you like these others do. Therefore, you’ll be recompensed at the resurrection of the just. Lk 14:12-14.
After teaching these things, one that sat at meat with him said, “Blessed is he that shall eat bread in the kingdom of God”. This, like the other things that happened while he was eating supper at the Pharisee’s house, provided an opportunity for Jesus to teach on the great supper (the marriage supper of the Lamb), which is yet to be served.
A certain man made a great supper and bade many, Lk 14:16. The parallel passage to this in Matt 22:2-10, which tells of the wedding that precedes this meal.
The certain man, therefore, is a certain king, Matt 22:2, who is God. 1 Sam 12:12 the Lord your God was your king.
The supper is the reception associated with the wedding for the king’s son, Matt 22:3-4. The king’s son is Jesus. That’s why this is “a great supper”, Lk 14:16.
He bade many, Lk 14:16. These are all the people he’s been preaching to in Israel, including the ones hearing him now.
Then he sent his servant at supper time to say to them that were bidden, “Come; for all things are now ready”, Lk 14:17. Those who were bidden would not come, Matt 22:3. They wouldn’t come to the wedding or the supper. Among these who turn him down are the lawyers and Pharisees who were eating bread with him that day, Lk 14:3.
He not only sent a servant, but he sent servants, Matt 22:3, and other servants, Matt 22:4, bidding them to “come unto the marriage”. He gave them sufficient opportunity to come.
“They made light of it and went their ways, one to his farm, and another to his merchandise”, Matt 22:5. “They all with one consent began to make excuse”, Lk 14:18.
The excuses were contrived in the first place. In v.18, a man said that he bought a piece of ground that he had to go see. He didn’t buy that land “sight unseen”. In v.19, a man said that he bought five yoke of oxen and had to go prove them. He didn’t buy those oxen without proving them. In v.20, a man said that he married a wife and therefore couldn’t come. Women love weddings and receptions.
Jesus was showing his audience how foolish their own excuses were for not believing him and accepting him as the Son of God. They were calling him a devil and a Samaritan. They said he was just the son of a carpenter. These were contrived excuses. Eventually, they even had to bring false witnesses against him.
The excuses were revealing in the second place. Going to see a piece of ground and proving oxen were more important than the king’s son’s wedding? You can go see ground and prove oxen any day of the year. But they only had one day in which to attend this wedding and supper.
Jesus was showing them that they had elevated the temporal things of this life above the eternal things of the kingdom of God.
The guy that excused himself because he married a wife revealed that he was “henpecked”. In other words, he was controlled by his domineering wife. The implication is that these men who acted tough in public were much like Herod who married Herodias, and Ahab who married Jezebel. Their wives were tougher than they were.
Not content to simply make excuses and return to their farms, merchandise, Matt 22:5, ground, oxen and wives, they also entreated the servants “spitefully, and slew them”, Matt 22:6. This is what happened to the apostles and saints after Jesus’ ascension.
As a result, the king “sent forth his armies and destroyed those murderers, and burned up their city”, Matt 22:7. This is what happened in 70 AD when Titus attacked Jerusalem.
When the servant shewed his Lord how those who were bidden had replied, he was angry and sent him “into the streets and lanes of the city”. This is where the servant would find the poor, the maimed, the halt, and the blind, among the children of Israel. These are the very ones that the Lord told those Pharisees to invite to their dinners, v.13. These are like the ones Jesus had been healing. They wouldn’t turn him down; they would be grateful for the invitation. And they wouldn’t have any temporal excuses to offer.
After he brought all these whom he could find, there was still room at the great supper for more, v.22. So the lord said, “Go out into the highways and hedges, and compel them to come in, that my house may be filled”, v.23.
The highways are where strangers travel between cities and the hedges separate the children of Israel from Gentiles, Matt 21:33. Out there, they found “both bad and good”, Matt 22:10. And when they were done, the wedding was furnished with guests.
Jesus finished the story by saying, “None of those men which were bidden shall taste of my supper”, Lk 14:24. It was a direct “shot” at the Pharisees and lawyers (and all others) who would turn him down and reject him as their Messiah.
As you can see, when coupling the passage in Matthew with this passage, the invitation to the wedding and supper continues all the way till the end of the Tribulation. The church age is not even mentioned in this story. And, truly, at the end of the Tribulation, and right before the marriage of the Lamb, there will be many Gentiles included among the guests, Rev 7:9, 14.
Conclusion: in this story, the people whom you would expect to accept the invitation are the ones who turn it down. They are the dignified, wealthy people who have the wherewithal to buy land, manage farms, purchase multiple yokes of oxen, and trade in merchandise. They are the ones who are like the guests of the Pharisee who were sitting down listening to this story.
The people who accept the invitation are the ones who thought it least likely that they would ever be invited to a king’s son’s wedding and reception. They gladly accept without excuse.
Today, when you offer people free salvation in Jesus Christ, the people who say, “I’m good”, turn him down. The poor, blind, maimed, and lame sinners like us accept this as the best deal ever. Though the story is not about us, we can certainly relate.
To study the previous lesson, click on Lessons to Lawyers and Pharisees. To sudy the next lesson, click on The Cost of Discipleship.