LUKE 14.12-24
THE PARABLE OF THE GREAT BANQUET

In the spiritual realm, certain things are turned up side down. We saw in our last lesson that the proud are humbled and the humble are exalted. This is mentioned in Luke 14.11 in the parable of the guests. Today we will study another parable, the parable of the great banquet, where we see a similar reversal. Many who attended the banquet were among those who were least expected to attend and those most expected to be there were among those who were excluded. This passage is found in Luke 14.16-24. We will read from v. 12.

Luke 14.12. And He also went on to say to the one who had invited Him, “When you give a luncheon or a dinner, do not invite your friends or your brothers or your relatives or rich neighbors, lest they also invite you in return, and repayment come to you.
13 But when you give a reception, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind,
14 and you will be blessed, since they do not have the means to repay you; for you will be repaid at the resurrection of the righteous. “
15 And when one of those who were reclining at the table with Him heard this, he said to Him, “Blessed is everyone who shall eat bread in the kingdom of God!”
16 But He said to him, “A certain man was giving a big dinner, and he invited many;
17 and at the dinner hour he sent his slave to say to those who had been invited, ‘Come; for everything is ready now.’
18 But they all alike began to make excuses. The first one said to him, ‘I have bought a piece of land and I need to go out and look at it; please consider me excused.’
19 And another one said, ‘I have bought five yoke of oxen, and I am going to try them out; please consider me excused.’
20 “And another one said, ‘I have married a wife, and for that reason I cannot come.’
21 “And the slave came back and reported this to his master. Then the head of the household became angry and said to his slave, ‘Go out at once into the streets and lanes of the city and bring in here the poor and crippled and blind and lame.’
22 “And the slave said, ‘Master, what you commanded has been done, and still there is room.’
23 “And the master said to the slave, ‘Go out into the highways and along the hedges, and compel them to come in, that my house may be filled.
24 ‘For I tell you, none of those men who were invited shall taste of my dinner.’ “