UNIFORM LESSON FOR July 29, 2018
Scripture passage and lesson focus: Luke 14:15-24
What is more festive and a source of happy memories than a gathering for a celebratory meal? Perhaps it was at grandpa and grandma’s house, or it might have been a family reunion picnic in the park, or it could have been a backyard barbeque with relatives and neighbors. Does your family photo album preserve the memories of such happy occasions?
Gatherings for a shared meal (although not always festive occasions) play a prominent role in the Gospel of Luke. Luke records three times when Jesus attends a dinner party in the home of a Pharisee (Luke 7:36;11:37;14:1). Jesus joins his newest disciple Levi and his tax collector friends for dinner (Luke 5:29). Jesus miraculously feeds 5,000 people (Luke 9:16-17). Jesus celebrates a Passover meal and institutes the Lord’s Supper (Luke 22:14-20). And in Luke 24, Jesus shares a meal with the Emmaus travelers and enjoys a fish supper on the beach with his disciples.
Given the prominence of meals in Luke’s Gospel, it is not surprising that Luke also included two parables Jesus told about dinner parties, both with unusually inclusive guest lists.
Luke 14:15-17 — Dinner is ready
Luke frequently uses dinner parties as an occasion for Jesus to teach the guests an important lesson. In this chapter, Jesus has already silenced critics who watched while he healed a man on the Sabbath. They may have changed their minds about entrapping him after his pointed remarks about humility.
When attending a dinner party, Jesus says, one should not take the most desirable place near the host, lest somebody else is offered that choice spot. A humble guest should take the lowest location so that if the host invites that guest to a better location, all will notice that the host has honored him.
Then Jesus gave instructions on offering hospitality to folks who could not repay. This inspired a guest to say, “Blessed is anyone who will eat bread in the kingdom of God.” This pious beatitude, probably from a Pharisee, expands the inclusive instructions of Jesus, who said that “the poor, the crippled, the lame and the blind” should be invited to one’s dinner party (Luke 14:13).
Jesus responds to the dinner guest’s remark by telling another parable about a dinner party. According to custom, the guests were invited days in advance and then summoned when the feast was about to be served. “Come, for everything is ready now,” the invited quests were told.
Luke 14:18-20 — Excuses, excuses, excuses
The invited guests all say that they could not attend the banquet. One said he had just bought a piece of property that he wanted to inspect. Another said he had acquired five teams of oxen that he wanted to try out. A third guest decided to get married, so he was unable to attend the dinner. Somehow in the relatively few days between the invitations and the day of the dinner party, most of the many invited guests had made more important commitments.
Two other versions of this parable exist. The Gospel of Matthew describes a wedding banquet. Two invited guests have reasons to be excused and the other guests kill the master’s servants. Another version of this story in the non-canonical Gospel of Thomas tells of four guests who turned down invitations to the dinner. Three of the four were involved in some kind of commercial activity. In that version, the conclusion is “buyers and traders will not enter the places of my father.”
Luke 14:21-24 — Fill the house with other guests
When the servant reports that three guests who may be representative of others have declined the invitation, the host angrily dispatches his servant to find replacement guests. When that does not attract enough guests, the host tells his servant to “go out into the roads and lanes, and compel people to come in, so that my house may be filled.” The servant is sent out beyond the city into the countryside to find more guests. The reference to compulsion may be too strong in this context. Luke is saying that the servant was told to urge or convince the replacement guests to attend the banquet.
The important point here is that the master wants his house to be filled with guests. This is an open invitation to the readers to accept the invitation from Jesus.
For discussion: Do you enjoy the traditional covered dish suppers of your congregation? Why or why not? Do guests include “the poor, the crippled, the lame and the blind”? Are the excuses used in this parable comparable to excuses people use today for not responding to an invitation from Jesus?
