BY She Reads Truth
In this study of the Parables of Jesus, we are reading many of the stories Jesus used to teach hearers about how to live as His followers. Each day we’ll read parables in their immediate context, focusing on a different category of parables each week. Then we will work through a series of questions to understand the meaning of the text and take to heart the “secrets of the kingdom.”
Editor’s Note: In this Parables study, Jesus Himself is telling us stories—stories He wants us to reflect on and process. Rather than asking our writers to write their own stories about Jesus’ stories, we thought it would serve you and the text better to provide questions to help you dig into the meaning of each day’s parable. If you find a parable or passage particularly confusing, stop and pray. Ask the Lord to reveal Himself to you in His Word, and thank Him that we can know Him without knowing all the answers to our questions.
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Week 2: Parables about Repentance and Grace
Stories about other people often reveal things to us about ourselves. This week’s selection of parables all deal with themes of repentance and grace, and in them we see that Jesus meant for His parables to stir the hearts of His hearers. As you read, let these parables serve as a kind of mirror, and ask what Jesus is showing you that you might not have otherwise seen. Use the questions below to help.
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Day 10 Reading: Luke 14:1-24
Questions:
1.What is the specific setting of this parable, and how does the setting help us make sense of Jesus’ story?
2. What is the problem this particular parable is responding to, and what is the parable’s outcome?
3. What is the central point of this parable?
4. What is your response to this parable?
48 thoughts on "The Wedding Banquet"
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Last weekend while catching up on the parables, the Spirit was nudging me to connect with neighbors. I thought at first of dinner and what to make and who to invite… then a thought came to me.. “Bring your dinner over!” Today’s reading affirmed that I ought to do this. In the time I am most wanting to isolate, get home from work, close my home door, sit on a chair, read or watch so I could escape… God is wanting me to open up that same home so people, his creation, his people, can enjoy each other… It’s gonna be hard but I’m trusting him to show me good when I’m least likely to want to be social, when I’m least wanting to serve and set the table, when I’m dreading the cleaning it will bring, for the two hours or so, it will be like the banquet the Master set…
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I usually think about this parable as a call to show hospitality to the needy…but today I am also seeing how it relates to salvation. Those that are invited are being invited to a wedding banquet, similar to the banquet Jesus says will happen when He returns. How often do people say, “I don’t have time for God…I will make time to go to church after this life event, or after the new year,” as if being a Christian were like being on a diet. And so, Jesus says to go out and find the people who will accept His invitation of salvation, if the ones who were called initially will not. I, too, must choose to follow Him and cultivate having strong roots now, not putting it off until a time I imagine would be more convenient.
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This passage shows that when you humble yourself and serve others God will put you in a respected place. To never refuse to serve someone who needs it no matter where your at or who you are around . Remember those in need when you yourself are in a position of power. That God is not into appearances but your heart.
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How many things, opportunities, and promptings from God do I miss because I am so absorbed in my own immediate circumstances? Is my life too full to allow an invitation from God to change my course of action? The parables in this passage speak to a simpler, more humble life that is open to invitation and chance. Jesus seems to frequently bless and praise the poor in His teachings because in His eyes they are beloved. Often they are portrayed as living day to day depending on and praising Him. Do I live so dependently on God, and do I praise Him as much? Sadly, I have so much here in America compared to the rest of the world that I think I can depend on myself, and I frequently neglect to praise God for everything. So, I must ask myself how can I simplify my life so that I am living in a way that allows for God to guide, direct, and redirect and that allows me to praise God and minister to those who have less than me? I do not want to be like those individuals who rejected the invitation to the feast because I deem my priorities and accomplishments as too important to set aside. God is the one who has blessed me in the first place and I want to be willing to come before Him daily with open hands for Him to give and take, invite and ask as He sees fit. How much more blessing could be given and received if I would incline my ear to His voice, accept His invitations, and live a life of love that doesn’t need all the latest and best things?
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Amen!
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Thanks for this post Erica….so hard to let go of my control and give ALL up to Him, but every time by grace I do, His blessings are unimaginable!
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I love this. It makes me think about what I’ve missed being too busy, also. It also makes me realize how much more intentional I should be about humbling and simplifying my thoughts and intentions so to also be more receptive to where God may be calling me. Thank you for your thoughts.
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Erica, I’m about a week behind in this study but believe this is what God wanted me to read today. Thank you for your insight.
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After reading this passage, I decided to flip back to the Psalms to read one psalm before ending my devotional time. The Psalm I opened up to and began to read was Psalm 113, and part of it, starting in verse 7, says “He raises the poor from the dust, and lifts the needy from the ash heap; he seats them with princes, with the princes of his people.” How fitting!!! Thanks, Lord. :)
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Great correlation, Stephanie! Thank you!
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The same parable is in Matthew 22 and includes the guest who attends the banquet “improperly dressed”. What is your take on the host’s reaction to him? I was thinking that if the poor and marginalized were invited and the guest was poor, then he would not have proper clothes. But, his clothing isn’t the point, right? It is that he did not come prepared/recognizing the significance of the invitation to the banquet. Thoughts??
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Hi, Bridget! I’m praying that God will help us both to see how the parable in Matthew 22 fits in with the parables in Luke 14. My initial thought is that God is the Good Host. If He invited a guest and that guest did not have the proper attire, He would provide clothing for that guest if that guest asked (this reminds me of the Good Father giving the Prodigal Son a new outfit when the Prodigal Son returns home, Luke 15:22-24). After all, the Host invited many misfits–enough to fill the table–but only one guest showed up in the wrong clothes. Perhaps the one guest that was called out did not ask for clothing. This also reminds me of how God clothes us in righteousness when we accept Jesus as our Savior. I did some research online, and I found a devotional for the parable in Matthew 22 (https://www.djameskennedy.org/devotional-detail/20170210-clothed-in-the-righteousness-of-christ). It references Isaiah 61:10 and Isaiah 64:6, as well as Genesis 3:7 and Genesis 3:21. The point the devotional makes is that we cannot make ourselves holy by our good deeds. Relying on good works for salvation is the equivalent of wearing dirty rags. In other words, we cannot undo sin on our own. Accepting God’s grace is like accepting a clean set clothes. Jesus becomes our righteousness.
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My study Bible explains that the man that was required to be “dressed properly” was a Christian on the outside but not on the inside. Jesus knows our hearts and whether or not we are coming to Him for the right reasons. The man refused to be covered by the King and thought his own actions and good deeds could cover himself. Hope this makes sense and helps a little! It’s a John MacArthur study Bible so that is his take on it!
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Thank you!!
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For me, this has really spoken to me about social media. I have put down Joanna Gaine’s book and picked it up again last night and also been looking at Grace Not Perfection. Why am I putting these standards that are unachievable on myself and also why am I expecting to be praised for how something looks. It is not what we are called to do in Christ and this has encouraged me to just stop.
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It’s about 1000% humbling, even humiliating, to admit that I often relate to the Pharisees in Jesus’ parables. But as I’ve recognized that through this study I am challenging myself to face it and use it to see where I need to change and shift my perspective. In this parable it has me thinking, what invitations from the Holy Spirit have I been squandering? What pull on my heart have I been ignoring to tend to earthy tasks and possessions? When am I letting, as we often say, the “busy-ness of life” distract me from sitting at the master’s table? Sometimes I feel sorry for myself that God hasn’t blessed me in certain areas (definitely convicted of this in the parable of the workers in the field) but the reality is I have an invitation to the most glorious banquet in hand. God help me to see where I am wasting and taking for granted your invitations. Let me stop being distracted by unimportant earthly things that will all pass away.
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Ooh, that’s good. Thank you for sharing!
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This speaks to me, too. Thank you for writing this!
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Thank you for sharing this. I can definitely relate to this.
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