The Parable of The Great Dinner, Luke 14:15-24

“Someone gave a great dinner and invited many” (v.16). This is how the parable of the Great Dinner begins in Luke’s Gospel account. Note that the invitation is offered to “many”. As the parable unfolds, we see that many of those invited turn down the offer to join this feast that has been so generously offered to them. They give all manner of excuses for why they cannot come. But little do they know the consequences of their decisions.

As always, the intent of the parable is to reveal a truth, through the symbolism of the details and characters. Of course, we know that the “Someone” mentioned in the first sentence of the parable is God, the Father. The ‘servant’, or sometimes the word ‘slave’ is used, is Jesus, the Son. The parable is meant to reveal the nature of God whose generosity is boundless, even in the face of our own tendencies to selfishness and pride. His invitation is open to all, including you and me. It also reveals disturbingly recognizable responses to His generous invitation.

As the parable unfolds we see that the ‘servant’ has been sent to call the people to the banquet, “Come; for the dinner is ready now” (v. 17). Then we see that those invited, begin to offer a number of excuses as to why they cannot come. One says, “I have purchased some land and must go look at it” (v. 18), Another excuses himself saying, “I have purchased five yoke of oxen and I am going to try them out” (v. 19). And yet another, “I’ve just gotten married, and therefore I cannot come” (v. 20). Are not these excuses just as recognizable to us today?

There are many who still make excuses not to come to the banquet of joy that God has offered to us so generously. Just as in Jesus’ time, those excuses represent the many gods that we can make idols of in our lives. Those in the parable who refuse to come are wealthy individuals capable of buying land, or many yokes of oxen, and one who is taken up in the excitement of immediate pleasures. Such temptations are still recognizable today. And we might be tempted to say that these are reasonable excuses. But this invitation is to something greater than “things”. Jesus is challenging his listeners (us) to see the difference.

In another Gospel passage, Jesus tells us, “The last shall be first, and the first last: for many are called but few are chosen. So those who are last now will be first then, and those who are first will be last” (Mt. 20: 16). Many of those who were invited first (the Chosen People) in this parable refused the invite, so the ‘servant’ (Jesus) is sent out to bring in the poor, the crippled, the blind, and the lame (the gentiles)” (v. 21). And we see that there was still room for more in the banquet hall, so the ‘servant” is sent by the Giver of the Banquet again to “compel people to come in, so that my house may be filled” (v. 24). Then we hear the final, chilling line, “For I tell you, none of those who were invited (and refused or gave excuses not to come) will taste my dinner” (v. 25).

How often do we give more of our time, our energy, our talents, and our attention to any number of things? How often do we make gods or idols out of possessions, social ranking, or ideologies? And in doing so, how many times were they ‘excuses’ to avoid this invitation, putting God in a distant second place to our immediate desires like the people in Jesus’ parable?

In the passage that follows this one in Luke’s Gospel (Lk. 14: 25-33) Jesus challenges us again, telling us that unless we come to love him above all else, even above our loved ones, we cannot be counted as his disciple. The unspoken truth in this is that when we love God first and above all, we are enabled, then, to love all others with the same kind of love that he has for us. In order to do this, we must no longer cling to our ‘possessions’, material as well as those of our prideful egos. When we submit fully to God’s love and invitation, we can be called true disciples who are able to love all others as truly as he loved us, selflessly, generously.