#DailyDevotion You’ve Been Invited To A Banquet

Luke 14:15-24 ¹⁵When one of those eating with Him heard this, he said to Jesus, “Blessed is he who will eat bread in God’s kingdom.” ¹⁶Jesus said to him: “A man once gave a big dinner and invited many. ¹⁷When it was time for the dinner, he sent his slave to tell those who were invited, ‘Come, it’s ready now!’ ¹⁸“Then they all alike began to excuse themselves. ‘I bought a field,’ the first told him, and I have to go out and see it. Please excuse me.’ ¹⁹Another said, ‘I bought five teams of oxen, and I’m on my way to try them out. Please excuse me.’ ²⁰And another said, ‘I just got married, and that’s why I can’t come.’

What is the “this” the one eating with Jesus heard? You might remember Jesus was invited to a Sabbath meal at a Pharisee’s house. There Jesus healed a man on the Sabbath. He had given some wisdom afterwards. They save animals on the Sabbath. Jesus said to take the lowest seat at dinner party so the host would invite them up closer and then be honored by all. He taught them to invite not just those like them and more honorable than them but to invite those who could not pay them back and they would be rewarded at the resurrection of the just. It is to these teachings of Jesus the man said, “Blessed is he who will eat bread in God’s kingdom.” And indeed, if you make it into God’s kingdom and get to eat bread you will surely be considered blessed.

Jesus then starts in with this parable. The man who invites many to a big dinner he gives is God, Jesus. That dinner is indeed the kingdom of God. It is Wisdom of Proverbs chapter nine who sets up the temple, gets the spread ready and invites all who would hear to come in and partake. The Father sent Jesus and Jesus sends his apostles to invite people into God’s kingdom. Those many who were invited were those who would be expected to be invited. They were the Pharisees, the Scribes and the Priests. They were everyone who was someone for they surely were blessed by God with wealth and power. They were the Jews who had God’s Word, who studied it and tried to live it out in their lives.

Well what does Jesus say is going to happen? Those who should have dropped everything to go to the banquet give excuses why they can’t go. “I bought a field,” the first told him, “and I have to go out and see it. Please excuse me.” “I bought five teams of oxen, and I’m on my way to try them out. Please excuse me.” “I just got married, and that’s why I can’t come.” What do all these excuses have in common other than just being excuses? They all deal with worldly things. They also ignore who the invitation is from. They are all centered on themselves. People will often excuse themselves from the fellowship of the Word of God and from the Sacraments because they have worldly things to do. Some do it so often they never come back. Perhaps, maybe worse, they never even come to begin with. It just doesn’t seem important to them. They can pray, have dinner, and be entertained at home. They don’t consider who it is that invited them or eternal consequences of that invitation. They were raised up in church possibly but never grasped the understanding of the truth that was given there. They were too wrapped up in themselves, their wants, and their desires.

Do you fit into any of that? Think about it. If you do, repent and quit giving excuses. Accept the invitation at Jesus’ banquet and be ushered into the kingdom of God.

Heavenly Father, grant that we do not treat your invitation as worthless but rather the greatest thing ever so we may enter your banquet at the end of days and live eternally in your kingdom through Jesus Christ, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit. Amen.