Luke 14:15-24
God Planned for the Church
Jesus continued His journey to the cross. We do not know where He
was but on this day, someone spoke about the blessedness of those who
will one day eat in the kingdom of God.
Just a reminder: Jesus is the Jewish Messiah, walking Jewish roads,
in between Jewish cities, headed toward the Jewish capital while
speaking to Jewish people about the Jewish kingdom of God which will
promised in the Jewish Scriptures.
When this Jewish man made that statement, he was not thinking
anything at all about the church or Gentiles. More than likely, he
was speaking about the Jewish kingdom of God on earth. It also makes
some sense to at least consider Jesus’ reply as being Jewish as well.
Does the parable have other applications? YES, but we need to at
least start by seeing what the Jewish application would be.
I. \\#16-17\\ This is a parable of a great event.
Luke 14:16 Then said he unto him, A certain man
made a great supper, and bade many:
17 And sent his servant at supper time to say
to them that were bidden, Come; for all things
are now ready.
A. A parable is an earthly story with heavenly meaning.
1. There was a "certain man." God is the only One with the
ability to make a feast everyone could attend.
2. There was a certain people. They would most likely be
Jews. Remember that the context is Jewish so the
interpretation should at least start with the Jews.
3. There was a certain event, a "great supper." It is also
likely that this is a Jewish event, but Jesus did not
tell us what it was.
a. Perhaps it is something specific but if so, we can
only guess.
b. Most likely, it is symbolic of just what the man spoke
about in verse 15, a time during the millennium when
God’s people will sit and fellowship with God.
B. Consider some things about this great event.
1. A great event must have a great Planner.
a. That is God.
b. God has and always has had a plan to invite the Jews
to gather with Him for fellowship.
2. A great event should include a great crowd of people.
a. Again, that would be the Jews.
(1) God has always loved the Jews and had a plan for
them to be redeemed and have fellowship with
Him.
(2) That is what most of the Old Testament is about.
b. But the parable makes it clear that God organized this
event for a people who would not attend.
c. Don’t let that rattle your theology.
(1) Don't let it rattle your theology of God’s
universal love:
(a) Some are offended that God would love the
Jews and not the Gentiles.
i. I am not sure that is true.
ii. What I believe is God demonstrated His
love to the Jews FIRST, but He has
always loved us all.
(b) Some want to refer to the Gentiles as God’s
step-children. It’s better to be God’s
step-child than to be the devil’s begotten.
(c) If it bothers you that God worked first with
the Jews allowing Gentiles to go uninformed
for thousands of years, remember when
everyone got off the Ark, everyone knew who
God was.
(d) It wasn't God who denied knowledge of who He
was that caused the Gentile plight it was
parents who did not pass that knowledge
along.
(2) The theology of God’s fore-knowledge:
(a) Some are concerned that God did not know the
Jews would reject Him.
(b) God always knew.
(c) Then why would God bother inviting them at
all?
i. Remember God’s purpose in salvation is
to show His grace, His power, and His
mercy.
ii. The best way to that would be to select
the most difficult of all people to
save and change and then do it.
iii. Sure sounds like the Jews to me.
iv. Consider, it may be that the reason God
chose Abraham and the Jews is because
they are the most rebellious family
that will ever live on the earth!
3. A great event should have a purpose.
a. It was to create a point in time when "that most
rebellious people" would be saved.
b. I believe God has picked a yet-future time for the
Jews—which in itself is sad.
(1) It implies that even though God picked them for
His love and salvation, He has always known that
most would reject Him. Always.
(2) The Jews may be the elect nation of God, but most
of them are going to be in hell.
(3) Some can envy and lust after their position but
personally, I like where I wound up in the plan
of God just fine.
(4) I may not be a Jew but I’m going to heaven. They
may be God’s elect nation but most of them are
going to hell.
II. \\#18-20\\ This a parable of a lot of excuses.
Luke 14:18 And they all with one consent began
to make excuse. The first said unto him, I have
bought a piece of ground, and I must needs go
and see it: I pray thee have me excused.
19 And another said, I have bought five yoke of
oxen, and I go to prove them: I pray thee have me
excused.
20 And another said, I have married a wife, and
therefore I cannot come.
A. Most make light of the excuses used in the parable.
1. I don’t think it was the Lord’s intention to demonstrate
people turning from the Father’s offer for light-hearted,
vain reasons.
2. I think Jesus wanted to show people turning away for good
and important reasons.
3. The categories of the excuses were both important and
pertinent to today.
B. The categories were land, livestock, and family. Comparable
to home, work, family in our lives.
1. Land
a. In Israel, land is very important.
b. It was their inheritance from God and was to stay in
their family no matter what.
c. The land would not have been purchased based on the
quality of the land.
(1) The condition of the land did not matter.
(2) The only land available would have been family
land.
(3) The purchase would have been under the conditions
of a near-kinsman as described in the Old
Testament.
(4) Not to purchase it would be shameful.
d. The land would be purchased BECAUSE it was available.
e. Afterward, the new owner would go view it.
(1) He was probably already familiar with it.
(2) It was family land, probably belonging to a
cousin.
2. Livestock
a. Here a man had bought five oxen and wanted to prove
them. That would be a hefty investment.
b. Now he wanted to "prove" them.
(1) How does one "prove" or test livestock?
(2) He starts using them.
(3) The man was anxious to start using them.
c. We are the same way.
(1) Who wants to purchase a new car to park it in the
driveway?
(2) I’d says that if you don’t take your new car for
a drive, you’ve had too many new cars.
d. This man did not buy FIVE oxen because he did not need
them.
(1) He either had a lot of fields that needed plowing
or it was breeding time and he needed them
mating up.
(2) He was anxious to get things going.
3. Family
a. This man recently married.
b. He’s every woman’s dream. A man would rather stay
home with her than go out and party with the boys.
C. So in their culture and ours, these excuses are not flimsy
III. \\#21\\ This is a parable of invited outcasts.
Luke 14:21 So that servant came, and shewed 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 hither the poor, and the maimed, and the halt,
and the blind.
A. Here is where the Gentiles and the church come into the story.
1. We are the outcasts.
2. We are the poor, the maimed, the halt, and the blind that
live on the streets and lanes of the city.
B. This paints a picture of the Gentiles as being:
1. We are incapable.
a. Because of the way we were when we were born, we are
incapable of doing for ourselves.
b. How were we born? lost
c. What can we not fix? anything, but especially we can
not get ourselves into the fellowship of God’s
supper.
2. We are poor.
a. That means the supper is just out of our league.
b. We do not fellowship with those of that status and
they do not fellowship with us.
c. The "certain man" is going to break protocol if we
get in there.
d. God did!
3. We are the second invited.
a. There are only two groups:
(1) Those who were invited but would not attend and
us.
(2) They may have been the first string but they did
not go in and we are.
b. I’m not as much interested in when I got the
invitation as I am in the fact I got the invitation.
C. So when the invited (the Jews) rejected God’s offer to
fellowship with Him, God made the offer to the outcasts (the
Gentiles and the church).
IV. \\#22-23\\ This is a parable about a push to get the outcasts in.
Luke 14:21 So that servant came, and shewed 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 hither the poor, and the maimed, and
the halt, and the blind.
22 And the servant said, Lord, it is done as
thou hast commanded, and yet there is room.
23 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.
A. But not only have we been invited, God has done a greater
work on us to get us into His fellowship than—so far—He has
done on the Jews.
B. The Holy Spirit has compelled us to come inside.
1. Yes, we can use this as an application that we are to work
very hard and persuasively to get lost men and women to
Christ, but this parable is telling the story of OUR
conversation not our converting others.
2. God worked HARD to get us saved.
a. I would surmise that God worked harder to get us saved
than He has ever worked on the Jews.
b. How so? Because God unleased both the Holy Ghost and
the church onto the world after the Jews rejected
Jesus.
(1) Both are everywhere.
(2) Both are all powerful. (The Holy Ghost is God and
the church has all the power of God.)
(3) Both are relentless. (At least the Holy Spirit
is and the church is supposed to be.)
(4) Both deal with everyone. (Everyone from
everywhere is invited.)
c. Why? Probably because the Gentiles are only going to
get one window of opportunity to be saved while God
has devoted most of man’s history to dealing with the
Jews.
V. \\#24\\ This is a parable about the rejection of the rejecters.
Luke 14:24 For I say unto you, That none of
those men which were bidden shall taste of my
supper.
A. A sad truth but a truth none-the-less.
1. No human being is entitled to even one offer.
2. Certainly, no human being is guaranteed two.
3. But for every human being, there is a limit.
B. As the Jews in Moses generation used up their limit, so the
Jews in Jesus’ generation used up theirs.
I don’t know how this makes you feel, but as a Gentile Christian, it
makes me feel very good to know God has always had a plan for the
Gentiles. I am sorry for those who lived and died without much if
any knowledge of God. I hope that God sent some that we do not know
about to tell them of His love, but even if God did not, the
responsibility comes back to us for at one time, everyone who got off
the ark knew who God was. It is always the duty of the parents to
make certain that their children know Jesus. I pray you have.
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