Are you missing the invitation? Discover why Jesus warned against misplaced priorities in the Parable of the Great Banquet, and learn how to align your life with God’s kingdom.

The Parable of the Great Banquet

Do you ever wonder why the Pharisees got so much print in Scripture? Why do these people who actually believed in the one true sovereign God and can quote significant portions of Scripture get so much attention in the New Testament?

To answer simply, God is trying to show us something, which is what not to do.

The Pharisees’ relationship with God was self-centered instead of God-focused. They focused more on the “you” than the “whose you are.” They were more focused on their appearance as religious folk rather than the inward reality. God is always working in us during our Christian journey to move us away from self-exaltation and into a God-centered love for His glory. These are things Jesus warned us against through these encounters we have documented in the New Testament.

Through this parable, the Parable of the Great Banquet, Jesus illustrates that many people have God’s kingdom offered to them, but they deliberately neglect it because of other priorities. Let’s examine the characters Jesus references.

• New Property: This man declines the offer because he just bought a property and needs to see it. Let’s be clear: this man didn’t buy that property without looking over it. No one buys property without seeing it first. Also, how long does it take to see a field?

• New Oxen: This man declines the offer because he purchased ten oxen and wants to try them out. This was an agrarian-based society, so people worked with animals every day. But the modern equivalent is, “I just bought a new car and want to go on a test drive.” Once again, don’t you test-drive a car before you buy it? Not to mention, if you decline to attend a friend’s party because you want to take a test drive, wouldn’t your friend be valid in questioning your friendship?

• New Bride: Just because you get married doesn’t mean you stop socializing with people. Was this marriage a surprise? It’s unlikely they rushed this guy with a forced marriage before he could figure out what was happening.

Jesus introduces key categories, including possessions, vocations, and relationships, that cause us to evaluate our lives. He’s describing people of capacity and who have the ability to get things done in their life or company. This parable teaches us that our capacities are God-given, and we must be careful about our priorities.

There is a banquet coming at the culmination of time that points to whose kingdom we’re a part of. We have access to that through the grace of Jesus Christ and how He transforms our lives through His death, burial, and resurrection. Through our confession of sin and Him as Savior, we can have our hearts awakened.

However, there is a sensitivity to God’s voice, not only in life but on the day when we’re invited to that great feast. English bishop J.C Ryle said:

“It is not ignorance of religion that ruins most men’s souls. It is a lack of will to use knowledge or love of this present world. It is not open profligacy that fills hell. It is excessive attention to things which in themselves are lawful. It is not avowed dislike to the Gospel, which is so much to be feared. It is that procrastinating, excuse-making spirit, which is always ready with a reason why Christ cannot be served today.”

We can conclude that this issue concerns the Lord so much out of His love for us that He took the time to address it in this parable. The bottom line is it’s about our vulnerability to apathy regarding the things of God because other priorities pull at us through the lens of our capacity to get things done.

How many people have perished not knowing God because they allowed other priorities to precede God? They may say, “I’ll get serious about God one day,” but Jesus warns that for some, someday may never come!

We must take note, though, that the banquet that’s coming isn’t about the food and drink, but it’s about the host. It’s the opportunity to be with Jesus and to dine with Him in fellowship. That’s what makes it joyful.

Who Accepts the Invitation?

JESUS: “I tell you, not one of those who were invited will get a taste of my banquet.” Luke 14:24

When Jesus said this to the Pharisees, you could cut the tension with a knife. The reason is if you asked a Pharisee who would not enter God’s kingdom, you would get the typical answers, such as people who are:

• Immoral

• Dishonest

• Greedy

However, they wouldn’t have said busy people. They wouldn’t have addressed people who are too busy to give attention to the things of God and don’t give God in Christ any priority.

The author and pastor Tony Evans said, “I hear people say you don’t have to go to church to be a Christian. And they are absolutely right. Salvation is through faith alone in Christ. But you don’t have to go home to be married. But if you stay away, long enough of your relationship will be affected.”

That’s what this parable illustrates. The people not responding to Jesus’ invitation have become insensitive to His voice. Remember, Jesus said, “My sheep know me and recognize my voice (John 10:27).”

JESUS: “Then the master of the house became angry and said to his servant, ‘Go out quickly to the streets and lanes of the city, and bring in the poor and crippled and blind and lame.’ And the servant said, ‘Sir, what you commanded has been done, and still there is room.’ And the master said to the servant, ‘Go out to the highways and hedges and compel people to come in, that my house may be filled.” Luke 14:21-23

Why was the master calling the “poor, crippled, blind, and lame” to His banquet? Aren’t they just as capable of making excuses? Think about it.

• The Poor: “I have nothing to wear.”

• The Crippled: “I don’t have anyone to carry me.”

• The Blind: “I can’t see my way there.”

• The Lame: “It hurts me too much to walk.”

However, that’s not what Jesus is alluding to. He’s showing that these persons clearly understand they have a need, and it should serve as a wake-up call to our needs, which is that we need a Savior in Jesus. Ephesians 2 tells us that before coming to Jesus, we were all dead men and women walking in our trespasses and sins. It doesn’t say you were in the doghouse but that you were dead because of your sins. You were dead to the things of God, such as the desire to read His word, worship, and the reality of being shaped by His truth and spirit.

However, when you were saved by grace, God rescued and redeemed you from your plight (Romans 10:9-10). He birthed a new spirit within you to commune with Him.

Break Into a Faith Cycle

One of the main hindrances that keep us from attending Jesus’ banquet is we can become so full of apathy that we’re incapable of acknowledging our need to attend this banquet. That apathy forces us never to mix God’s Word with the realities of our lives. They become at home outside the will of God, and eventually, it may even seem like too much trouble to get back into His will, so we just give up altogether.

If you’re willing to put God first and make His kingdom your priority, then based upon this parable, He will change the course of your life.

Someone once told me they desired John 3:16 for the world, but he didn’t desire it for himself. When I pressed him about that, he told me that he didn’t want Jesus to get mixed into his priorities. His fear was that if he surrendered himself to his Creator, God would send him to a super remote part of the globe. I reminded him that if God put that in his heart, He would also give that desire so overwhelmingly strong that nothing else in life would bring satisfaction.

That gentleman was being controlled by his fears. Fear can distort our perspective of God so much that we’d rather live in fear than surrender because we don’t want to lose control. The only way to break out of the fear cycle is to break into a faith cycle. We must trust His goodness, mercy, and grace that we’ve been designed to walk in.

When we surrender to God, and He is our priority, He takes every ingredient of our lives and blends it in a way that works for the sake of what God designed us for in this life. Every gift and grace bubbles up to be glorified for our Creator. He can blend seemingly unrelated things into something bigger and more beautiful than you could ever come up with when you were in control.

It’s time we break the fear cycle and break into the faith cycle. Take God’s Word and apply it to your heart and life. When you read this parable, note the sensitivity of God’s voice cultivating in you.

Before we finish, I want you to engage in a final illustration.

Imagine a triangle, or you can even draw one out, but inside that triangle, list everything that’s important to you. That could be your kids, spouse, job, portfolio, house, golf swing, etc. It can be anything. Now, note how, as you progress up the triangle toward the pinnacle, you realize that the room gets smaller and smaller.

What’s at the top for you? If you’re stacking all of your priorities towards the pinnacle of importance in your life, what do you put at the top? Is it your marriage? Kids? Work? Legacy?

While those are all noble and wonderful things, if it’s not Jesus and His kingdom, I invite you to make the shift. Here’s a prayer to get you started:

“God, I recognize that things are not aligned, but would you work your grace in me so that I can have a desire to trust you? Stir a faith of trust in me and help me put you atop the pinnacle of my life.”

it’s time to break out of the fear cycle and into a faith cycle. God doesn’t desire any of us to miss His invitation.

TL;DR

1. Jesus’ Parable of the Great Banquet reveals the danger of prioritizing worldly things over God’s kingdom.

2. Through examples of those who declined the invitation, Jesus warns against apathy and the consequences of neglecting His call.

3. By prioritizing faith over fear and aligning with God’s will, we can experience transformation and find true fulfillment in His kingdom.

Related Reading

How Do We Balance Faith and Work by Grant Caldwell

How to Honor God With Your Work by Bro. Chris Carter

How to Meet With Jesus by William Merriman