Luke 14:16 And He said to him, A certain man was making a great dinner and invited many; (17) And he sent his slave at the dinner hour to say to those who had been invited, Come, for all things are now ready. (18) And they all with one consent began to make excuses. The first said to him, I have bought a piece of land, and I need to go out and see it. I ask you, have me excused. (19) And another said, I have bought five yoke of oxen, and I am going to prove them. I ask you, have me excused. (20) And another said, I have married a wife, and because of this I cannot come. (21) And the slave came up and reported these things to his master. Then the master of the house became angry and told his slave, Go out quickly into the streets and lanes of the city, and bring in here the poor and crippled and blind and lame. (22) And the slave said, Master, what you commanded has been done, and still there is room. (23) And the master said to the slave, Go out into the roads and hedges and compel them to come in, so that my house may be filled. (24) For I tell you that none of those men who were invited shall taste of my dinner.
In 14:15-24 we have the Lord's teaching about the acceptance of God's invitation. This great dinner is for God's full salvation. God, as the certain man, has prepared His full salvation as a great dinner and sent the first apostles as His slaves to invite the Jews. But because they were occupied by their riches, such as land, cattle, or a wife, they refused His invitation. Then God sent the apostles to invite the street people--the poor, the crippled, the blind, and the lame. Because of their poverty and misery, they received God's invitation. Yet God's salvation still had room for more; so He sent His slaves to go out further to the Gentile world, as the roads and hedges, to compel the Gentiles to come in and fill up the room of His salvation (Acts 13:46-48; Rom. 11:25). In this parable the Lord's intention was to let the Pharisees know that God had invited them to His great feast, but they had all asked to be excused. Each one of them denied God's invitation. That made it necessary for God to go to those of the lower class--to the poor, crippled, blind, and lame. After that, because there was still room in God's salvation, God sent His slaves into the Gentile world to gather more people into His feast. Therefore, eventually those who had first been invited by God--the Pharisees, the scribes, and the lawyers-- will not be able to enter into the kingdom of God. This parable is an excellent parable concerning salvation. In order to be saved it is not necessary for us to do anything. We simply need to answer God's invitation. To be saved all we need to do is come and receive what God has prepared for us. As long as we answer His invitation and accept what He has prepared for us, we shall be saved. (c) 2007 Living Stream Ministry.
Bible verses are taken from the Recovery Version of the Bible and Words of Ministry from Witness Lee, Life-study of Luke, pp. 275-276. Both are published by Living Stream Ministry, Anaheim, CA. Please visit us at www.emanna.com. Send comments to: [email protected].
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