Then said He unto him, A certain man made a great supper, and bade many. Luke 14:16
While in the intensive care unit of the hospital many years ago, I was impressed by a lovely and friendly young black woman who came into the unit several times a day. She worked in one of the laboratories and came to collect samples and reports. One day she came in while my wife was visiting me, and she greeted my wife warmly; they were obviously old friends. Afterwards, my wife told me that they had been classmates in school. Then she told me of the time when this girl had invited most of the other girls in her class to a birthday party. When my wife arrived for the party, she found that none of the other girls showed up. They had all rejected the invitation, because of the girl’s race. How sad! And how shameful for those other girls! The party would have been well worthwhile attending. Just as the supper referred to in our text.
The simplest application for this parable that the Lord Jesus told is that this is the Gospel invitation that God has extended to all. The great supper includes an actual supper – the Marriage Supper of the Lamb – although it includes vastly more than that. This great supper begins at conversion, when the believer enters into the blessings that the Lord Jesus has for those who receive His invitation. The great supper includes the joyful knowledge of sins forgiven and the joyous anticipation of Heaven’s glories. It includes the riches of the Word of God and the sweetness of fellowship with the Lord’s people. It includes the peace of God’s caring, preservation, and provision. It includes the vast bounty of God’s presence and the assurance of His ever-present love. And that is just the preliminary, the hors d’oeuvres if you will, to the incredible bounty that awaits the child of God in Heaven. If the foretaste is so special, what must the feast of Glory be like!
When the Lord Jesus was about to depart after His resurrection, He gave His disciples a great commission: Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature (Mark 16:15). The words ‘every creature’ tell us how many are invited to His great supper. The Gospel has reached the far corners of our globe and continues to be spread by preachers and witnesses, as the invitation to the great supper goes forth. None are to be excluded from the great invitation. We cannot pick and choose what individuals, what tribes, what nations are to receive it. And those who seek to bar the spread of the invitation, such as in Moslem and communist lands, do so in defiance of the gracious call from God. We know that many who receive the invitation ignore or discard it. In fact, only a tiny percentage receive the invitation gladly. But that gives no reason to us to restrict the invitation to any.
The supper is great, the invitation is to all. You and I are not only invited guests, but guest inviters. Have we convinced any to join us? – Jim MacIntosh