Luke 14:16-21 Parable of the Great Banquet: Sermon Exegesis

Introduction

The text of Luke 14:16-21 presents the parable of the great banquet. The host of the banquet tells his servant to invite the guests — but the guests have various excuses for why they cannot come. The host becomes angry and commands his servant to "go out quickly into the streets and alleys of the town and bring in the poor, the crippled, the blind and the lame," and they shall be the guests at the banquet. The meaning of this text is straightforward: it alludes to the question of why Jesus would "eat with sinners" (Lk 15:2) instead of rejecting them the way the Pharisees did.

Jesus came to the Jews, and it was the Jews who rejected Him because He did not fit their idea of what a Savior should be. They expected an earthly or worldly savior — one who would lift them out of their subservient position beneath the Roman State and give them a kingdom on Earth. Christ preached His kingdom in Heaven, obtained through humility and service to the will of God, proclaimed through one's love of God and love of neighbor (Mk 12:30-31). This paper provides an exegetical outline of the message to be prepared when delivering a sermon on this text.

Exegesis of Luke 14:16-21

The context in which the parable of the great banquet is situated is that of Christ's back-and-forth with the Pharisees — the Jewish leaders who set themselves in opposition to Christ's teaching of mercy and to the good works that Christ was doing in healing the sick and forgiving sinners. The Pharisees routinely tried to trap and ensnare Christ and get Him to invalidate His cause. They pointed out that He kept company with sinners and went to their houses, whereas they, who were "righteous," would never do such a thing. As Luke shows in 14:11, leading up to the parable of the great banquet, Christ insists on humility — not pride — for there is no way by which a proud man may reach Heaven. Pride is for people on Earth who seek to set themselves above others and be thought of as great. The Pharisees were filled with such pride, and it contrasted sharply with Our Lord's humility.

Christ did not set out to oppose the Pharisees. He set out to be the Redeemer of the Chosen People — the Jews. But upon extending the invitation to His great banquet in Heaven, they refused Him and gave various excuses, just like the invited guests in the parable. Thus, Our Lord, like the host in the parable, turned to others because it was the will of God that Heaven be filled. If the Jews would not come in the manner that God desired, then God would invite others who would.

This parable carries special weight because it is told by Luke. It exists within the Gospel genre and belongs to the sub-genre of the parable, but Luke serves as a significant messenger in that he was a Gentile himself — that is, a non-Jew. His background was said to be in medicine, and for that reason there is a special quality of love and mercy in his character, as one who practices medicine desires to heal others and save the sick. Luke is thus a fitting representative of the particular message being communicated in this parable. Greater context can be obtained, however, by analyzing the broader text in which it occurs.

The parable of the great banquet is actually told in the house of one of the leaders of the Pharisees. This shows that Christ was not avoiding the Pharisees or seeking to deny them their invitation — their part in the "good news" of salvation. The leader invited Him to eat on the Sabbath in his house, and Christ accepted the invitation. He wanted the Pharisees to accept His invitation to them: to adopt humility rather than pride and seek the Kingdom of God in Heaven.

This is the reason that Christ stops on the way to the Pharisee's house to heal a man with dropsy (Lk 14:1-6). Christ asks the Pharisees whether it is lawful to heal on the Sabbath, and they do not know what to say because they do not want to validate His message. So they say nothing. Christ does not disparage them but heals the sick man, then continues on to the house of the leader of the Pharisees. When He arrives, He notices how the guests are all men like the Pharisee — important people vying for position, jostling one another to secure the best seat so that they will be noticed.

But Christ's message is not to behave or think or live in this way. He tells them there and then that rather than inviting others of one's own stature, one should invite the poor, the sick, and the crippled — because this is truly showing the kind of love and mercy that God wants His children to show to one another. This serves as the backdrop for the parable, which is actually one of many that Christ gives on that occasion.

Why does Christ give so many parables at this dinner party at the house of the Pharisee? The answer is straightforward: He has often taught directly to those following Him. He has given instruction. He has spoken plainly. But for those who are hard of hearing, such words fall on deaf ears. Christ therefore tries a different approach. He reaches them by way of stories. Stories have a special character that draws one in: the plot generates interest in the action and the characters, and the listener cannot help but pay attention. The meaning of a story is not always plain or on the surface, and once heard, the story can remain within the listener longer and germinate. This is another means by which Christ heals the sick — and indeed it works. Nicodemus, described in John 3:1-21 as a Pharisee, is converted by Christ's stories and teachings (John 19:39). His words find fertile soil in this particular Pharisee, who then seeks further enlightenment from Christ and receives it. Christ knows what He is doing by using storytelling to convey a deeper message about His mission and the will of God. He wants to touch the hearts and minds of the prideful Pharisees, and this approach bears fruit for those who may be hard of hearing but are not hard of heart. As always, Christ is received by men of good will and shunned by those who do not have such a will.

Christ knows that the Pharisees are proud of their steadfastness and observance of the Law — but there is more to God and His Law than simple observance, or rather a legalistic mindset. God is for the spirit of the law — which gives life — rather than the letter, which kills (2 Cor 3:6). The Pharisees consider themselves righteous, but this consideration is superficial because it stops at a mere surface reading of God's commandments. It does not plunge inward to see that God's Law is based on love, not on harshness or pride. Thus, Christ recognizes their desire to be righteous and validates it — but He tells them that the way to be righteous is not through putting on airs and observing only the letter and not the spirit of the law. He states: "And you will be blessed, because they cannot repay you, for you will be repaid at the resurrection of the righteous" (Lk 14:14), said just before telling the parable of the great banquet and just after telling them that they should be inviting the poor and the sick to eat at their own tables — because this is in conformity with the true spirit of God and His Law.

Conclusion

Any exegesis can help to give background information on a text or provide interpretations based on theories and approaches — but the aim of any sermon should be united with the aim of Christ's message, which is to remind humankind of the basic truths that Christ represents and wants to communicate to us through the Holy Spirit. By prayerfully opening himself up to the guidance of the Holy Spirit throughout the process of studying the text upon which a sermon will be based, the preacher prepares the ground of the soul, so to speak, to receive the Word of God that will come through this process of study and examination. The preacher must then combine the knowledge obtained through this analysis of the text with an awareness of the audience — just as Christ had an awareness of His audience — so that the message can allow them to orient themselves to the ultimate directive that God has for all people of good will: to be humble, to take up the Cross, and to follow Him.

References

Fabarez, M. (2002). Preaching that changes lives. Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson.

Lloyd-Jones, D. M. (2011). Preaching and preachers. Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan.

Vines, J., & Shaddix, J. (1999). Power in the pulpit. Moody Press.