The Parable of the Great Banquet

In Luke 14:15-24 Jesus told his disciples this parable of the Great Banquet. This was in response to a comment someone made at a banquet to which he was invited:
“Blessed is the one who will eat at the feast in the kingdom of God.” (v.15)

The banquet took place at the house of a prominent Pharisee. There was no mention of who the Pharisee was. All we are told is that Jesus was being watched carefully (v.1), from the seat he picked at the table, to the healing of a man with abnormal swelling in his body. There were in the company other Pharisees and experts in the Law. This took place during a Sabbath.

Now Sabbath was (and still is) the most important day of every single week among the Jewish people (an interesting read on the Jewish perspective of Shabbat). It was celebrated in accordance to the fourth commandment of the Ten Commandments (Exodus 20):
"Remember the Sabbath day by keeping it holy. Six days you shall labor and do all your work, but the seventh day is a sabbath to the Lord your God. On it you shall not do any work, neither you, nor your son or daughter, nor your male or female servant, nor your animals, nor any foreigner residing in your towns. For in six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, but he rested on the seventh day. Therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy." (Exodus 20:8-11)

It seems to me that the original intention of a Sabbath was to remember and to celebrate that God was the creator of the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all the creatures we find in them. God set apart (the meaning of holiness) a day each week to bless His people on it. I don't think God needed rest. God blesses us on the Sabbath day when we learn to rest in Him because ultimately all good things come from Him - all the works of our labor will produce enough for our sustenance and more in order that we can make sacrifice to Him by sharing what we have received with our fellow men.

Sabbath is always celebrated with a meal, or a banquet if we do this with invited guests. I had been invited to a Jewish home to celebrate the Sabbath. It was a solemn event. The rituals of reading of the Scripture and Prayers served to point us to God on this special day.

So it is no surprised that Jesus used the Sabbath Banquet in a parable. There are a number of lessons in this parable:
(1) The future great banquet at the end of time will include not just the Jews. This is clear because the parable was about answering the comment on v15. This is also clearly understood in the vision of the apostle John concerning the great heavenly gathering:
After this I looked, and there before me was a great multitude that no one could count, from every nation, tribe, people and language, standing before the throne and before the Lamb. They were wearing white robes and were holding palm branches in their hands. And they cried out in a loud voice:
“Salvation belongs to our God,
who sits on the throne,
and to the Lamb.” (Revelation 7:9-10)
(2) All three excuses in the parable revealed insincerity on the part of those invited. The interpretation was that the Jews of Jesus’ day had no valid excuse for spurning Jesus’ message; in fact, they had every reason to accept Him as their Messiah. (see Gotquestions.org) There is plenty of evidence for us today that Jesus is the Savior of this world but there will be plenty who will reject this.
(3) The invitation was then opened up to society’s maimed and downtrodden. These were the types of people that the Pharisees considered “unclean” and under God’s curse (cf. John 9:1-2, 34). Jesus, however, taught that the kingdom was available even to those considered “unclean” (cf. Acts 10). His involvement with tax collectors and sinners brought condemnation from the Pharisees, yet it showed the extent of God’s grace (Matthew 9:10-11). The fact that the master in the parable sends the servant far afield to persuade everyone to come indicates that the offer of salvation would be extended to the Gentiles and “to the ends of the earth” (Acts 1:8). “Rejoice, O Gentiles, with his people” (Romans 15:10).

I am heading off to volunteer in a Refugee clinic. I am looking forward to it. I do feel privileged to represent Christ to those who have been rejected by their own society, to offer the love and kindness that God has for them. May He bless my work. This is my Sabbath Day!