But they all alike began to make excuses. Luke 14:18
Suppose you plan a big dinner party. You hire a caterer, bring in a decorator, plan on good entertainment, and really invest some money. “This is going to be the hottest thing that has happened in years,” you smugly tell yourself. Then the phone begins to ring. People whine and dance around the invitation, hesitant to come right out and say, “Well, we’re not coming,” but you quickly translate their “We’re not sure,” and “We’ve got to go out of town,” and “Grandmother is having a birthday” excuses into reality and you ask yourself, “What is going on here?”
Jesus told about such an event. Luke tells about it, saying, “A certain man was preparing a great banquet and invited many guests. At the time of the banquet, he sent his servants to tell those who had been invited, ‘Come, for everything is now ready.’ But they all alike began to make excuses. The first said, ‘I have just bought a field, and I must go see it. Please excuse me.’ Another said, ‘I have just bought five yoke of oxen, and I’m on my way to try them out. Please excuse me.’ Still another said, ‘I just got married, so I can’t come’“ (Luke 14:16-20).
Three more sorry excuses would be hard to fabricate. Nobody buys real estate without viewing it. Who knows? The lot may be underwater or completely inaccessible. Would anybody be dense enough to buy a team of oxen without seeing them? And the one who protested, “I’ve just gotten married” was perhaps the only one coming close to having a valid reason, even though that’s shaky.
So, what was the point of the story that Jesus told? The individuals who heard it clearly understood. He said that He had come to His own, and as the long-awaited Messiah, but His own rejected Him.
Jesus’s mission was greater than just coming to Israel, which is why in His story, He told how the man who prepared for a great party sent his servants out into the street, and invited the poor, the crippled, the blind, and the lame to come to His party.
Someday in the near future, God is going to throw a party greater than anything ever seen on earth. The Bible calls it, “the marriage supper of the Lamb.” You are invited, too. At this great party, all of God’s children of all ages will celebrate. Talk about an awesome, international event. It will be unrivaled in all history. The venue is His Father’s house. The book of Revelation says, “‘Blessed are those who are invited to the wedding supper of the Lamb!” (Revelation 19:9).
During the three years of His ministry, Jesus reached out to all people everywhere. He invited them to follow Him, to receive life, light, and hope from Him. John records Jesus’s great invitation, saying, “Jesus cried out, ‘When a man believes in me, he does not believe in me only, but in the one who sent me. When he looks at me, he sees the one who sent me. I have come into the world as a light, so that no one who believes in me should stay in darkness’“ (John 12:44-46).
A closing thought: There are some parties which are a complete waste of your time—dull, boring. You yawn and look at your watch, wondering how long you have to stay until you can duck out the door and head for home. But the marriage supper of the Lamb is going to be the mother of all celebrations. You can read about it in Revelation 19 of your Bible, but the only way you will ever get there is to accept Jesus’s invitation to life. That’s the only way your name gets on the guest list. Think about it.
Resource reading: Revelation 19:1-10
