An ancient Eastern story tells about a prince who fell in love with a very beautiful girl. All of the people rejoiced
to see them united in marriage. The whole life of the prince revolved around this girl of rare beauty, but one day
she sickened and died. So great was his grief that he became ill and lingered between life and death, but finally he
recovered. He determined to build a perfect memorial to express the great love he had for his wife. He sent
craftsman over all the world to find the best pieces of marble. On a wide plain surrounded by trees he built in its
center the most magnificent shrine his people had ever seen. Almost all of the working hours of his day he spent
outside this beautiful tomb thinking of his great love.
After some time passed he began to feel he had not done enough to express his love, and so around the tomb
he erected a beautiful shell of matching marble. People came and admired it, and they joined the prince in his
expression of grief at the loss of such a great love. Soon even the shell became even inadequate, and so over the
tomb and the shell he began construction of a magnificent circle temple. It took years and millions of dollars, and
the skill of the best craftsman to complete it. One day when it was finished the prince sat for days gazing at it.
People came from foreign lands to see this most beautiful expression of love on the earth.
The prince was still filled with despair, for he felt he had not done enough. He resolved that over the tomb,
shell and temple he would build the most marvelous building the world had ever seen. He impoverished himself,
and the vast resources he had were not enough to bring the most beautiful things he wanted to put into this
structure. At last when the prince was old the building was completed. The old prince climbed the high tower to
admire this memorial of unbelievable beauty. As he looked down he spied the tomb which held the beautiful girl
he had loved. It didn't fit into the total picture. It was a plot that marred the beauty of it all. In a fit of anger that
anything should be allowed to mar the beauty of his memorial, he sent his servants to remove that thing.
It is only a story, and we know that no man is such a fool that he would sacrifice the center of his life for the
sake of its fringes. We all know that no one gives up the essential for the trivial. Certainly nobody would ignore
the eternal to indulge in the temporal. Who would even dare to suggest it? Who would even dare to claim that intelligent creatures could be so blind that they would refuse glory and remain in gloom, or that they would trample on heaven and travel to hell.
Jesus not only dared to claim the truth of this folly, but He accused those who were
doing it right to their face. He did it to those Pharisees who had build such an elaborate religion with beautiful
ceremonies and volumes of pious wisdom, but left no room for the Messiah. Christ did not fit into their system.
He marred their perfect religion, and so they, like the foolish old prince, had that which was of central importance
removed in order to preserve their structure they considered of such beauty.
Who can cease to wonder at the folly of it all? No wonder Jesus wept over Jerusalem. As we look at his
parable of the great supper we begin to suspect that Jesus must continue to weep over the cities of the world, for
the folly He portrays here is as up to date as the calendar. We want to consider it in 3 sections: The expression of
God's invitation, the excuses for rejecting God's invitation, and the extension of God's invitation.
I. THE EXPRESSION OF GOD'S INVITATION. v. 16-17
Jesus was at the home of one of the chief Pharisees eating supper. In His conversation He spoke of the
resurrection of the just, and just like a Pharisee one of them thought that it was him and said, "Blessed is he that
shall eat bread in the kingdom of God." Jesus never did like pious prattle, or what William Taylor calls "Holy
humbug." He rebukes him by telling a story that says that he will be blessed who eats in the kingdom of God, but
are you sure you will be there? Let me tell you a story that shows how little some people really value in their heart
what they pretend to hold so highly with their tongue.
The story begins with a great supper prepared, and many guests are invited. It is agreed by all that this
represents God's invitation to enter His kingdom. I call your attention to the way that invitation is expressed. It is
expressed in terms of an invitation to a great supper. In other words, God calls us to a feast and not a fast. Eating
is an universal pleasure, and Jesus constantly expressed the joys of His kingdom in terms of the joys of a banquet.
The story of the Prodigal ends with a joyful feast, and Jesus says in Rev. 3:20, "If any man hears my voice and
opens the door I will come in and eat with him and he with me." Revelation also indicates that eternity begins with
the great marriage supper of the Lamb.
The fact that God's invitation is expressed in these terms is significant. It signifies the positive nature of the
Christian life. The Old Testament says so often, "Thou shall not." In the kingdom of God the motto is positive and
says, "Blessed is he who shall." God invites us to a great banquet, which implies that nobody should have more
enjoyment than Christians. Our feasting on the things of Christ and His Word ought to make us the most joyful
creatures under the sun. Something is lacking until a Christian realizes it is fun to be a Christian. One of the most
serious charges against fundamentalism is that it is all dam with no fun or mentalism. Many have had to endure a
background like that of John Ruskin, who says when he was a child he was given a jumping jack for a present, but
it was immediately taken from him by his pious aunt who said toys were no thing for a Christian child. We ought
to be continually asking ourselves, where is the feast? Where is the joyful banquet? We should be thrilled with
the ultimate and captivated by the infinite. Next we see-
II. THE EXCUSES FOR REJECTING GOD'S INVITATION. v. 18-20
The very first reaction of fallen man to God's presence was an excuse. The reason Adam ate of the fruit was
because he wanted to, but his excuse was that his wife gave it to him. The reason the Pharisees wanted Jesus
crucified was to save their own position and system, but their excuse was that he was a danger to Caesar, and that he blasphemed God. When Holman Hunt's picture "The Light of the World" was thrown on a screen for a
congregation in England, a little boy leaned over and whispered to his father, "Why don't they let him in?" That is
one of the most profound and puzzling questions ever asked. There is no good reason. There are only excuses.
As we consider this parable, we see the same mysterious behavior as God's invitation receives ridiculous
rejection. It is so unnatural and unreasonable that men would ever refuse to go to a feast when there was no good
reason for not going. It doesn't make sense to turn down such an invitation. What would you think if you met a friend coming rapidly down the sidewalk and he said to you, "Man that was close. I was just invited to be a guest
at the finest restaurant in town for a free steak dinner, but I managed to get out of it." You would naturally ask him
why he got out of it, and you would wonder at his sanity if he replied, "I just bought a new shirt and I want to try it
on."
That is just the impression Jesus wants us to get of those in this parable, for the purpose of it is to show the
sheer folly of those who reject God's invitation. F. W. Farrar calls it the "Parable of short-sighted folly." It is
unbelievable, but we see it everywhere. People refuse the grace of God, the love of Christ and the joy of salvation
in order to be absorbed in a world of trivialities. Bishop Kennedy says that as he watches people in their weekend
activities it looks like a deliberate attempt to seek the worst and ignore the best.
The excuses of men are legion for not going to church, for not reading the Bible, and for not committing their
lives to Christ. The reasons they give are similar to those in this parable. They do not like the host and so they do
anything to avoid his presence. Let's look at their excuses a little closer.
1. He is preoccupied with his property. There is something strange about this excuse. One would think he ought
to have looked at the land before he bought it, but now that he has, what is to prevent his going to the supper?
Certainly his land will be there tomorrow. The point is, his excuse is suppose to be unreasonable, for he represents
the folly of those who devote themselves to the second best and have no time for God.
Will you come and find forgiveness of your sin? Please have me excused.
Will you come and be restored to God? Please have me excused.
Will you come and receive a life of joy? Please have me excused.
Will you come and find hope for the future? Please have me excused.
He represents the man who says I will attend to this world first, and the next one if there is one when it comes. His thinking is real-estate before righteousness. Why gamble on a hope when land is right here and now. He has
missed the whole point that the joys of the kingdom of God are also here and now, and one can grow old knowing
that the best is yet to be.
We see a tinge of the miser in this man. He is greedy for more and more land, but Jesus says that you can gain
the whole world and have no profit if you lose your soul. Property can never ultimately satisfy. A man once put a
sign up on his property that said, "I will give this land to anyone who is completely contented." And applicant
came to take it, and he asked the man, "Are you really contented?" He answered, "Yes." Then he asked him, "Why
then do you want my land?" A man will never be content as long as he puts the second best in first place, and
excuse himself from the kingdom of God for the sake of property.
2. He is preoccupied with possessions. Again we wonder at such a poor example of Jewish thrift. He buys oxen
before he sees them. His excuse is about the same as the first, for he is too busy being successful to be saved. Five yoke of oxen is quite a purchase, and it indicates a large farm to plow. He is bidden to share in the benefits of the kingdom of God, but he is too busy. He is the man who will be a Christian when it is convenient and fits his
schedule. He is the perfect example of the modern man who is too busy for God. There is no time to be wasted in
worship.
The strange thing is that the man is too busy for God, but he never seems to stop and consider the purpose of
it all. He lets the drive for success sap the springs for life dry without ever asking why. One of the bet illustrations
of this race of thoughtlessness is an incident told by Clovis Chappell, the well known Methodist preacher. A boat
was carrying a cargo of meat to New Orleans to Memphis when another boat tried to pass it and the race was on.
The captain ordered full steam ahead, but it was not sufficient to stay in the lead. He then ordered some of the fat
meat thrown into the fire. This worked so well that he kept repeating it. The whistle was blowing and the flag
flying as he arrived in Memphis way ahead of his rival. But when he merchants came to get their cargo, they found
it had all been burnt up in the race. The captain was a great success in racing, but he failed completely in his
central purpose. He was a successful failure because he sacrificed the essential for the trivial. Such is the case with those who are preoccupied with possessions and do not have time for God.
Success with God is terrific, but without God it is tragic. Augustine said, "God wants to give us something, but He cannot, because our hands are full, and there is no where for Him to put it." If men would yield to God and make Christ the supreme loyalty in their lives they would have the spiritual and moral greatness to use their success in every area of life for good, but instead, they excuse themselves from the kingdom of God, and the result is material progress in the hands of moral pigmies. Man has so out done himself in scientific success that he hardly knows what to do with all the power he has in his hands. He has been so successful in getting ahead of his capacity to deal with his discoveries that one man said, "Modern man is obsolete." Modern man is so busy dealing with his success that he says, "I would like to be a Christian, but I am to busy right now. I pray thee, have me excused."
3. Preoccupied with pleasures. Here is a great piece of logic, for he says I have married a wife and so I cannot
come. This one takes the prize. D. L. Moody said, "Why couldn't he take his wife with him?" What Jesus meant
to teach by using this example is that not only property and possessions, but pleasures and persons must also take second place to God if one is to be a true Christian. Verse 26 says he must hate, which means to love less. There is only one throne in your life, and only one supreme loyalty, and it must be Christ and not anything or anyone else.
It is amazing how many refuse the master for the sake of their mate. So many young people get married who
previously went to different churches, and then they end up going to neither. They are happy together and so they
get preoccupied in their new life and have no time for God. The significant thing about all of these excuses is that
there is nothing wrong with any of the involvements in themselves. Business and pleasure are legitimate, and
marriage is ordained of God, but all of them can keep people from God. We could title this as, "The parable of
what is wrong with what is right." We have here the paradox of the wickedness of the worthwhile, the vanity of the
valuable, the madness of the meaningful, and the deception of the delightful.
Often the great conflict of life is not between evil and duty but between duty number one and duty number
two. It is a duty to be successful and happily married, but the first obligation people have is to God. Jesus said,
"Seek ye first the kingdom of God and His righteousness and all these things will be added unto you." Jesus is
saying that an excessive attention to the second rate is a sure road to the neglect of God. It is utter folly to do so
since all things become more glorious when one is dedicated to Christ. We learn from this parable that worldliness is a whole lot more subtle and deceiving than the traditional taboos. There is not one of us who is free from the danger of putting a good on the throne in the place of the best.
III. THE EXTENSION OF GOD'S INVITATION. v. 21-23
The historical setting of this parable makes it clear that what Jesus was referring to was the fact that these
Pharisees were too busy to enter the kingdom of God, and so He would extend His invitation to the Publicans and
sinners, and all the needy masses, which would even include the Gentiles. They asked to be excused and Jesus
answers their prayer and excuses them. They are excluded from the kingdom, and have the worst answer to prayer they ever had.
Robert Lewis Stevenson said, "Everybody, soon or late, sets down to a banquet of consequences." So those
who refuse the joys of God must suffer the wrath of God. A great privilege is a great peril if neglected. Jesus
makes it quite clear that there is a point of no return where a deliberate choice in refusing God is
equal to guaranteed exclusion from His kingdom. The main emphasis here, however, is the
wideness of God's mercy. All are invited, and yet there is still room. These were comforting
words to John Bunyan who feared it was too late for him until he saw these words, "Yet there is
room." Moody said this is one of the mottos of the kingdom of God.
God says to compel them to come in. It means to constrain them, or strongly persuade. What
a challenge for us as servants. We are to urge men to come to the banquet of God, and what a joy
to know he will not be satisfied until the banquet hall is full. Bengal said, "Neither nature nor
grace can endure a vacuum." A Sunday school teacher was telling the story of Abraham taking
Isaac as a sacrifice. One girl said, "O please don't go on, for it is terrible." Another child said,
"Don't be silly. This is one of God's stories, and they always come out right." There is folly in the
parable, but it ends with a note of optimism. How the story of our life will end is to be determined
by what we do with God's invitation that we have had extended to us. Will you make excuses, or
will you come to the great supper?
