Luke 14:15-24…
Jesus was still dining in the home of the Pharisee when someone spoke up about how blessed it will be to dine in the kingdom of God. The man was speaking as if he knew he would be there. Jesus used this moment to tell a story that was directed to the pride of the guests.
In the story, the guests who were invited to a great feast started making excuses why they couldn’t come. The first man’s excuse is a lie. In those days, no one bought a field without examining it thoroughly. The second man’s excuse is an insult. It was like saying you can’t make it to the big event that was planned weeks ago because you just bought a ticket for a movie that night. The third man’s excuse is just arrogant. The man had already accepted an invitation, and the feast would not have been scheduled on the same day as the wedding. The only real reason the people didn’t want to come to the feast was because they weren’t hungry in humility.
You see, in the story God is the host, the feast is the kingdom of God, the invited guests were the Jewish leaders, and the poor and crippled and blind and lame were the Gentiles. Jesus was saying, “You proud people won’t repent of your evil ways. You are continually trying to excuse yourself with reasons why I am not the Messiah. You refuse my invitations to the kingdom and reject me any way you can. So I will gather up the hurting, and discard you, the haughty. You who were first invited but who make excuses are not going to be eating with me.”
Let the proud of this world have their cake and eat it too. You don’t want it. Remember, they don’t serve devil’s food in heaven.
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