The Weekly Diner

Dear Weekly Readers! God’s Peace! This week our articles is written by a guest Pastor. Please enjoy and may God Bless your week!
John R.

GOD CALLING YET SHALL I NOT HEAR!

This parable is in response to the comment made by one of the guests during the meal put on by a prominent Pharisee to which Jesus had been invited. Jesus was saying to him that bade him, “When thou makest a dinner or a supper, call not thy friends, nor thy brethren, neither thy kinsmen, nor thy rich neighbours; lest they also bid thee again, and a recompence be made thee. But when thou makest a feast, call the poor, the maimed, the lame, the blind: And thou shalt be blessed; for they cannot recompense thee: for thou shalt be recompensed at the resurrection of the just” (Lk. 14:12-14).


Having said that, “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.” vs. 15). Jesus uses that opening to alert the crowd to an event that would have eternal consequences. (Read Luke 14:16-24!)

Reading vs. 16,17 within the context of this parable it is clear the “ certain man" represents God, the father. - Jesus deliberately makes the man anonymous so as not to “cut off” the ears of the Pharisees who were already suspicious of Jesus’ divinity and, also, to emphasize the point of the parable—the graciousness of the host.

The supper in this parable is the call to salvation requiring nothing on the part of the guests except a willingness to come. The responses to this invitation indicates a universal stubbornness. "they all.with one consent.." not just a few! It reveals the self-centeredness of people generally: the importance of one's own agenda.
The first said, "I've bought a piece of ground and I must needs go see it" (vs. 18). Real estate and riches in this world is more important than a place in heaven.

The second said, "I have bought five yoke of oxen and I go to prove them" (vs. 19) . This man was must have been rich and had a huge farm. He was too busy: farm work becomes more important than the salvation of our soul.
The third said "I have married a wife therefore I cannot come" (vs. 20). A temporal relationship takes importance over an eternal relationship. Jesus challenges this, too in this chapter, (vs. 26) saying: - If any man come unto me and hate not his father, and mother, and wife, and children, and brethren, and sisters, yea, and even his own life also, he cannot be my disciple.
None of these excuses was acceptable. A day of reckoning was coming!

(vs. 21-24) “The servant came and reported these things to his master. 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 the maimed, and the halt, and the blind. And the servant said, Lord, it is done as thou hast commanded, and yet there is room. And the lord said unto the servant, Go out into the highways and hedges, and compel them to come in, that my house may be filled. For I say unto you, That none of those men which were bidden shall taste of my supper.’ The privileged ones--those first invited are the losers.
Those who have no claim or right are the winners—the poor, the crippled, the blind (vs. 21b) – those whom society tends to reject for from a natural point of view they are a burden; they contribute nothing. This brings to a head the point of this parable. The invitation is not based on a person’s worth, or status, but on the grace of “the certain man.” Are not we like these poor, crippled, and blind? (Read the story of Mephibosheth – (2 Sam. 4:4; ch. 9)

The door of grace has not been closed! There is still room at the cross today! God's grace is universal. How beautiful are those words the songwriter has penned in the song, “There’s Room At The Cross For You!) How many times have you been invited and have turned down the invitation? Come now! Make no delay! Jesus is calling. The "day of grace" will one day end. The call to salvation must be joined to a warning of rejection: "today if ye will hear his voice harden not your hearts" (Heb. 3:15). The close of heaven's doors to mankind will not be because heaven is full, but because no one else will respond.