If there’s one thing I’ve learned since being here in Yucaipa, it’s that we love food and that time together. Picnics, treats after church on Sunday or before Lenten services. Most of us also enjoy those special occasion parties – graduations and weddings, holiday dinners of Thanksgiving and Christmas and Easter. Gathered around food, we laugh and enjoy time with family and friends.
The Gospel for this Second Sunday after Trinity takes place at a meal, specifically a Sabbath meal at the house of a ruler of the Pharisees. Yet, gathered around food, these men weren’t laughing and having a great time. They were serious. Growing in conflict with Jesus, they were watching Him carefully. They were hoping that He would break one of their Sabbath rules, in order to condemn Him as a fraud.
Jesus knew their sinful hearts. Prior to this morning’s Gospel, Jesus exposed their sinful hypocrisy and pride by healing a man with dropsy on the Sabbath in front of them all. Highlighting the importance of humility and generosity, He spoke of the wisdom of taking the lowest seat at a banquet, and when you host a meal, inviting those who can’t repay you.
It’s at this point, Jesus tells the Parable of the Great Banquet. Jesus speaks of a man who, “…once gave a great banquet and invited many”. The invitations had gone out in advance. Now with the table set and the fanciest food and drink ready, the man sends his servant to say to those who had been invited, “Come, for everything is now ready”.
With such a great banquet prepared, you think the people would rush to the banquet hall. And yet, that’s not the case. “…they all alike began to make excuses”. “The first said to him, ‘I have bought a field and I must go out and see it. Please have me excused.’ And another said, ‘I have bought five yoke of oxen, and I go to examine them. Please have me excused.’ And another said, ‘I have married a wife, and therefore I cannot come'”.
Having thrown dinners before, you know the time, effort, and care that goes into having a nice family dinner. Imagine the frustration and anger you would have after, preparing the meal – cleaning the house – setting the table, no one showed up. “Sorry, mom – dad – grandma – grandpa, “friend” I can’t make it today. I made other plans since we talked.”
Consider the hurt and frustration the man has when his pre-announced banquet is rejected. Yet, the banquet that Jesus speaks of today isn’t just any banquet. Remember this is a parable. The banquet that Jesus speaks of today is the banquet of salvation!
The master of the house who gave a great banquet and invited many is none other than God the Father. The incredible banquet that the Father provides is none other than the Gospel – the forgiveness of sins, eternal life, and salvation that Jesus won through His death on the cross. And with this banquet of salvation, you don’t have to bring a dish to pass or a bottle of wine. Jesus has done it all. It is all provided for. Remember what He says from the cross, “It is finished.” These words are echoed in the parable, “… everything is now ready”. It’s as if the Father were saying, “Jesus has done it all. He kept the law in your place. He bore your sins. He drank the cup of My wrath against your sin. He died the death you deserve. He won for you forgiveness and life. Nothing is left undone. Come, for the banquet of salvation is ready!”
The invitation of the servants is none other than the call, the proclamation of the gospel to faith in Christ. Through the preaching of the Word of God, the Holy Spirit calls, compels us to partake of this banquet of salvation. “Come, for the banquet of salvation is ready!” While this invitation to eat and drink of the Gospel in faith, Jesus reveals that there are those who reject it. God doesn’t force Himself on anyone. If you believe you have no need for the true God, if you do not hunger and thirst for the Grace He offers, then why come? But be prepared for the tradeoff.
The Pharisees Jesus spoke to that Sabbath day had a works-righteous faith. They believed they could save themselves through their own works. They had no hunger and thirst for the banquet of salvation that the Lord Jesus place before them. They were like those who made the excuses in the parable.
It’s easy to describe the Pharisees and then throw them under the bus. Yet, we shouldn’t be so quick to scoff at them. The old Adam that dwells within each one of us is a Pharisee. While God has called us to good works, to love Him and to serve our neighbor, the temptation is for each of us to cling to those works, to try to justify ourselves before God by them, just as the Pharisees did. The sinful flesh would lead us to believe, “I’m a good person. Sure, I’ve made a few mistakes, but overall, I’m not that bad. I’m certainly not like that sinner over there.” Looking at our works, we begin to build the case for our own righteousness before God, while at the same time minimizing and justifying our sin.
Unaware of the severity of our sin, unaware to our desperate need for God’s banquet of salvation, the sinful flesh easily rejects – sets aside – becomes bored with this Word of God, both in the church and in our homes. Other items begin to take priority over the Lord’s Word. “I have a field and I have to go out in it to work. Please have me excused, God.” “I’m yoked to my job and I have to make money. Please have me excused, God. I’ve married a wife, and we and the kids have sports, vacation, family gatherings to attend. Therefore, I can’t come right now, God. The excuses are endless.
When Jesus tells a parable about folks rejecting His banquet in order to check out a piece of land, and so on, He’s telling us that nothing is as important as this banquet. Jesus knows better than we do what’s best for us. We should listen to Him.
Christians fall from the faith and this quite often starts by making excuses to avoid God and His Word. We’re tempted to believe that saving faith can’t disappear, but it can. Therefore, God would have you live a life of daily repentance. He would have you and I repent today for the time you’ve built the case for your own righteousness or your own sinful priorities and thus despised His Word, despised His banquet of salvation. He would have you see the severity of your sins, that all your works are like filthy rags before Him. He would have you see yourself as the spiritually poor, crippled, blind, and lame because of sin, without any good works to offer Him. We are not worthy to taste of His banquet of salvation. For the punishment for sin isn’t eternal life but eternal death.
“So the servant came and reported these things to his master. Then the master of the house became angry and said to his servant, ‘Go out quickly to the streets and lanes of the city, and bring in the poor and crippled and blind and lame.'” While the master’s anger against sin is real, and while He will punish those who reject this invitation, He immediately bestows this banquet invitation to others who do not reject it. Those who understand their wretched condition, those whom the Pharisees would have considered unclean. The Beggars and others impoverished and starving.
Fellow redeemed, our Lord loves a banquet. He will fill His house. With everything ready, the food will be eaten and the drinks will be drunk. “And the master said to the servant, ‘Go out to the highways and hedges and compel people to come in, that my house may be filled’. We who understand by God’s Word our sinful condition and compelled to confess our sin, are likewise compelled to come and receive God’s grace in answer to our repentance. This compelling is the call of the Gospel revealing the peace won by the blood of the cross of Jesus Christ, to grow in understanding to sit down at the Lord’s table, and to eat and drink that which you don’t deserve. Rejoice in the certainty of His invitation and your place at His table by faith. Here, in the divine service, the invitation goes out, “Come, for the banquet of salvation is ready,” and it’s ready for you! Jesus invites those who, on account of sin, are spiritually poor, maimed, lame, and blind. He doesn’t invite those who think that they have it all together or who have it all in the things of this world. He invites spiritually poor humbled sinners who recognize that they can’t get rid of their sins. He invites sinners to where forgiveness is freely given. He invites them to eat of His body and to drink of His blood that gives true life in Jesus Christ who has accomplished our salvation. He charges nothing. It’s for you. It’s what you need most. Enjoy God’s generous hospitality.
Jesus’ parable is a contradiction to what the man said, “Blessed is everyone who will eat bread in the kingdom of God”. Jesus reveals that the banquet of salvation is ready now. You don’t have to wait until heaven. Through the blood of Christ, it is finished. All your debts are paid, all your sins are removed. All shame is forgotten in the death that Christ died once for all. He rose on your behalf to open the gates of heaven where the banquet continues in perfect eternity. There’s nothing left to do but to receive in faith. “Come for the banquet of salvation is ready!” in Jesus Christ’s name.
Amen!
Pr. Aaron Kangas