The Established Path of Discipleship

An exposition of Luke 14:15-24

I want you to think of one famous person you admire. Imagine that this person invites you to an elaborate, formal dinner party at his home. You are shocked at the invitation. This person is known for throwing elaborate, spare no expense dinner parties. If you are like me, you immediately think, “Who am I that this person would invite me to their dinner party?” You would not even fit in with the usual guests at this dinner party. And, what’s worse, you do not have anything to wear. You cannot afford to buy the formal attire required at the dinner party. But, to your amazement, the party’s host has already arranged for you to be fitted for a tuxedo (evening gown for you ladies) at his expense. So, the question is, are you going to the party? Well, of course, you do. None of us in our right minds would refuse such an invitation. We would rearrange our schedules and do everything we could to be there.

Yet, in Luke 14:15-24, we have a parable in which people faced with a similar invitation refuse the invitation. What is Jesus teaching us in this parable, this story of the kingdom of God? Why did Jesus tell this story in the first place? What was his reason? Why did people refuse the invitation to the feast? In exploring the answers to these questions and others, we learn that the present reality of the kingdom of God through Jesus requires an immediate response.

To find out why Jesus told this parable, look at verse 15. “When one of those (i.e., Pharisees) who reclined at the table with him heard these things, he said to him ‘Blessed is everyone who will eat bread in the kingdom of God!” Jesus is at a feast in the home of a Pharisee. He has just finished telling them the parable of the wedding feast. He told them not to seek out the places of honor at the feast. He also taught them to invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, and the blind when they have a feast. Then, when this Pharisee sitting at the table with Jesus heard those things, he decided he wanted to show how spiritual he was and said, “Blessed is everyone who will eat bread in the kingdom of God!” So, you see, Jesus tells this parable of the great banquet because of this Pharisee’s statement. Now, why is this important? It is important because this Pharisee misunderstood the kingdom of God. He thought it was only coming in the future. So, Jesus tells this story to correct his misunderstanding. We learn from this that…

• The kingdom of God is a future event and a present reality.

The kingdom of God will be consummated in the future, but the kingdom of God was inaugurated with the coming of Jesus. When John the Baptist announced the coming of the Messiah, the Lord Jesus, he said, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.” (Matt. 3:2). When Jesus began his ministry on earth, Matt. 4:17 tells us, “From that time Jesus began to preach, saying, ‘Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.” Mark 1:14-15 describes the beginning of Jesus’ ministry this way, “Now after John was arrested, Jesus came into Galilee, proclaiming the gospel of God, and saying, “The time is fulfilled, andthe kingdom of God is at hand;repent and believe in the gospel.”

 So, you could say that Jesus politely told this Pharisee, “Hey, haven’t you been listening to what I have been telling people all along? The kingdom of God is here. And the kingdom of God is here in me. Repent, turn from your sin, and believe the good news.”

  If the kingdom of God is a present reality, what does that mean for the followers of Jesus Christ today? It means we can enjoy some benefits of entering the kingdom of God today. We do not have to wait until we get to heaven or until Jesus returns to enjoy the benefits of the kingdom of God. We can enjoy them today. Now, I could spend all day talking about all the benefits of being a part of the kingdom of God, but I do not have time. I’ll mention a few. There is the benefit of answered prayer, of talking to and hearing from God daily in his Word. There is the benefit of God’s guidance. There is also the benefit of the Holy Spirit, present with us, coming alongside us, filling us, and empowering us to live a godly life, not to mention the comfort of the Holy Spirit when we are hurting. You can enjoy those benefits today. There will be incredible benefits to come, such as no sin, sickness, or death. Yes, we will eat with Him at the marriage feast of the lamb, and heaven is a beautiful place. But the kingdom of God is present—it is now. You and I are invited to be a part of the kingdom today.

 There is a sad reality we must face that Jesus brings out in this parable. And that is…

• Many are invited to enter the kingdom of God, but many will reject the invitation.

As verse 16 says, the host of the banquet invited many people. When it was time for the banquet, the host sent his servant to tell everyone it was ready in verse 17. In their culture, the invitation went out first, and then when the feast was all prepared, those invited were told to come. They did it this way because it took the host many days to prepare for the feast. Sadly, those who were initially invited to the feast refused to come.

 In verses 18-19, those invited to the feast refuse to come. They give various excuses. Some were busy with their jobs, and others were busy with their families. Now, we can dissect each excuse given, but I do not think that is the most critical issue in this parable. The vital issue is this:

• There is no excuse for refusing the invitation to enter the kingdom of God.

That is the point. In this story, Jesus says there is no excuse for refusing the invitation. And it does not matter what the excuse may be. Why can’t people be honest and say, “I don’t want to come.”

Don’t you get frustrated when you share the gospel with someone, invite them to church, and then they start making excuses? If we took people’s excuses for not attending church and applied them to other significant areas of life, we’d realize how inconsistent we can be in our logic. For example:

10 Reasons Not to Wash

1. I was forced to as a child.

2. People who make soap are only after your money

3. I wash on special occasions like Christmas or Easter.

4. People who wash are hypocrites! They think they are cleaner than everyone else.

5. There are so many different kinds of soap, I can’t decide which one is best.

6. I used to wash. It got boring, though, so I stopped.

7. None of my friends wash.

8. The bathroom is never warm enough in the winter or cool enough in the summer.

9. I’ll start washing when I get older and dirtier.

10. I can’t spare the time.

You see how foolish it is to make excuses. D. L. Moody said, “Excuses are the cradle…that Satan rocks men off to sleep in.” The Pharisees and the religious Jews of Jesus’ day were invited, but they refused to come. They made excuses. Jesus said that those who were invited and refused would not taste his banquet in verse 24. They would not be in the kingdom of God. Have you responded to the invitation to the kingdom of God? Have you said yes, I will come? Yes, Jesus, I want to be in your kingdom.

The banquet host in the parable sends out his servant to invite more people. He sends him out to invite the “poor and crippled and blind and lame.” Doesn’t that sound familiar? Isn’t that what Jesus told them to do in the parable of the wedding feast? Why these people? Because these people would have been considered ritually impure to the Pharisees. They would not be allowed to enter the kingdom of God as far as the Pharisees were concerned. The servant does this but notices that there is still room at the table. The banquet host tells him in verse 23, “Go out to the highways and hedges and compel people to come in, that my house may be filled.”

What is Jesus teaching us here? He is teaching us that…

• As servants in the kingdom of God, we must urge those invited to enter the kingdom of God.

We need to understand something today. God’s house in heaven will be filled. The table of the Lord will have no empty seats. All the seats will be filled. When we have a dinner party, some people RSVP but do not show up. Then, we have empty seats. That happens at weddings all the time. They plan for 150 at the wedding feast, and only 125 show up. But that will not be the case at the marriage feast of the Lamb of God. Every seat will be filled.

The wonderful thing about being a part of the kingdom of God in the present is we have the incredible privilege of being used by God to bring the gospel of the good news of the kingdom of God to people. There is a great urgency to our task as believers in Jesus Christ. We cannot sit idly by when Jesus says, “Compel people to come in.” There is a window of opportunity for people to respond to the gospel, but it will be too late one day.

When we lost our son in 2003, I was tempted to stop preaching. I felt like my days of preaching the gospel were over. I was too hurt and overwhelmed to continue. The Lord impressed upon my heart a few days after Johnny died that I would continue to preach, but I would do it more passionately and urgently than ever before. And that is precisely what God has done. How could I sit around and not preach when people around me are perishing? It breaks my heart. I must compel them to come. I must urge them to respond before it is too late.

 But there is another reason urgency is required.

• Urgency is required because some may believe their unworthiness excludes them from the kingdom of God.

We can get hung up on the word compel in verse 23. It sounds like forcing someone to believe, but that is not the issue. Jesus says this after the servant invites the poor, crippled, blind and lame. Then, the host tells him to invite all the others on the highways and hedges. Who are those people? Those people are you and me—Gentiles—ones who were excluded from the kingdom of God by the religious elites of Jesus’ day. They were the sinners. They were the ones who felt unworthy to enter the kingdom of God. Who am I? Why should I come? I am no one special. I am a sinner. I am poor, I am lame, I am blind, I am crippled.

You see, sometimes people must be urged and encouraged to come into the kingdom of God. Why? Because many people feel unworthy. And that is a good thing. It is a good thing because you cannot enter the kingdom of God unless you realize you are unworthy to enter the kingdom. That’s the point. The spiritual Pharisee who said, “Blessed is everyone who will eat bread in the kingdom of God!” thought he was worthy to enter the kingdom of God. We need to let those people know who feel unworthy to be a child of God that Jesus is inviting them to come into his kingdom even though they are unworthy. That is called the grace of God. That is the mercy of God. That is the gospel, the good news. That God would invite me, invite you, unworthy sinners, into his kingdom. Wow! Are you feeling unworthy? Then, there is a place for you at the table of the Lord. There is a place for you in the kingdom of God.

Conclusion

  Many of us may never be invited to a famous person’s dinner party. I did not see such invitations the last time I checked the mail. I do not care because I have been invited and have accepted the invitation to the most important dinner party that will ever be held—the marriage supper of the Lamb of God, the Lord Jesus Christ. There is a place reserved at the table for me. My nameplate is in front of the seat.

Jesus has made me a part of his kingdom in the here and now. The kingdom of God is a present reality for me. I experience some of the benefits of the kingdom of God every day. I grieve that many invited will not enter the kingdom of God. But if there is breath in my lungs, I will urge people to come and join me at His table—to come and be a part of the kingdom of God. Will you join me in this task? The present reality of the kingdom of God requires your immediate answer. There is no time to waste.