Dining with a Pharisee. Sabbath Healing and Three Lessons Suggested by the Event.

  13 But when thou makest a feast, bid the poor, the maimed, the lame, the blind:

  14 and thou shalt be blessed; for they have not wherewith to recompense thee: for thou shalt be recompensed in the resurrection of the just.

  15 And when one of them that sat at meat with him heard these things, he said unto him, Blessed is he that shall eat bread in the kingdom of God. [The language of Christ implied that God himself would feast those who feasted the poor, and this implication accorded with the Jewish notion that the kingdom of God would be ushered in with a great festival. Inspired by this thought, and feeling confident that he should have been part of the festivities, this guest exclaimed upon the anticipated blessedness.]

  16 But he said unto him, A certain man made a great supper; and he bade many:

  17 And he sent forth his servant at supper time to say to them that were bidden, Come; for all things are now ready.

[The custom of sending a second invitation at the supper hour is a very old one ( Esther 5:8 ; 6:14 ), and is still observed.]

  17 And he sent forth his servant at supper time to say to them that were bidden, Come; for all things are now ready.

  18 And they all with one consent began to make excuse. The first said unto him, I have bought a field, and I must needs go out 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.

[These three excuses show: 1. That the guests had made their engagements, either for business or pleasure, without the least regard for the hour of the banquet; 2. That they set little value upon either the friendship or the feast of the one who had invited them. Moreover, the ground of necessity, the second simply offers a reason, and the third is almost impudent in its bluntness. Viewing the excuses spiritually, we note that each one contains an element of newness--new field, new oxen, new wife. Thus the things of the earth seem new and sweet in comparison with the gospel invitation. Again, all the excuses are trifling, for the parable is intended to teach that men forego their rights to heaven for trifles. Again, the "sacred hate" of Luke 14:25 Luke 14:26 would have eliminated all these excuses. Possibly Paul had this parable in mind when he wrote 1 Corinthians 7:29-33 . The three excuses warn us not to be hindered by 1. the love of possessions; 2. the affairs of business; 3. Our social ties.]

  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.

  21 And the servant came, and told 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 maimed and blind and lame.

  22 And the servant said, Lord, what thou didst command is done, and yet there is room.

  23 And the lord said to the servant, Go out into the highways and hedges, and constrain them to come in, that my house may be filled.

  24 For I say unto you, that none of those men that were bidden shall taste of my supper.

[We have a preliminary or general invitation followed by three special invitations. We may regard the general invitation as given by Moses and the prophets in the ages before the feast was prepared. Then the first special one would be given by John the Baptist and Christ to the Jewish nation in the first stages of Christ's ministry. The second special invitation was given by Christ, the twelve and the seventy, and came more especially to the poor and outcast, the publicans and sinners, because the leading men of the nation spurned the invitation. The third invitation was begun by the apostles after the Lord's ascension and is still borne forward by those who have come after them and includes all nations. The three conditions of Jew, outcast and Gentiles are indicated by the three orders of frequent the streets and lanes, but are still in and out of the city; 3. Those who live without the city and are found upon the highways and in the hedgepaths of the vineyards and gardens. The second and third classes are depicted as needing to be constrained. This would be so, because they would hold themselves unworthy of the invitation. But they were to be constrained by moral and not by physical means ( Matthew 14:22 ; 2 Corinthians 12:11 ; Galatians 2:14 ). Physical constraint would have been contrary to all custom, as well as impossible to one servant. Incidentally the parable shows the roominess of heaven and the largeness of divine hospitality, so that Bengel aptly observes, "Grace, no less than nature, abhors a vacuum."]

  22 And the servant said, Lord, what thou didst command is done, and yet there is room.

  23 And the lord said to the servant, Go out into the highways and hedges, and constrain them to come in, that my house may be filled.

  24 For I say unto you, that none of those men that were bidden shall taste of my supper.