Consider the invitation

Discipleship

Jesus continues to teach

Teaching on repentance (Lk13:1-9)

Teaching on doing good on the Sabbath (Lk13:10-17)

Teaching parable of mustard seed then teaching in the villages (Lk13:18-35)

Teaching in house of Pharisee on a Sabbath and another parable (Lk14:1-14)

In our passage before us this morning we are going to see Jesus teaching the same guests with another parable of the banquet (broadening the kingdom) and the cost of discipleship ( the seriousness and the cost) as we start into this.

Application: Tell you up front on this; this passage and our one next week will look at examining ourselves on kingdom dwellers and discipleship, the cost of discipleship and keeping Christ first.

There is a great cost to following Jesus, a great commitment He asks of us and that He is commited to us in giving us eternal life in Christ.

(Transition) Our passage gives us ample opportunity to reflect on our invitation and our dedication. Who we invite, and our level of commitment to being a disciple of Jesus.

Our passage for consideration

Luke 14:15–16 NASB95

15 When one of those who were reclining at the table with Him heard this, he said to Him, “Blessed is everyone who will eat bread in the kingdom of God!” 16 But He said to him, “A man was giving a big dinner, and he invited many;

Luke 14:17–18 NASB95

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.’

Luke 14:19–20 NASB95

19 “Another one said, ‘I have bought five yoke of oxen, and I am going to try them out; please consider me excused.’ 20 “Another one said, ‘I have married a wife, and for that reason I cannot come.’

Luke 14:21–22 NASB95

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.’

Luke 14:23–24 NASB95

23 “And the master said to the slave, ‘Go out into the highways and along the hedges, and compel them to come in, so that my house may be filled. 24 ‘For I tell you, none of those men who were invited shall taste of my dinner.’ ”

Luke 14:25–26 NASB95

25 Now large crowds were going along with Him; and He turned and said to them, 26 “If anyone comes to Me, and does not hate his own father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters, yes, and even his own life, he cannot be My disciple.

What do you see, notice, what sticks out to you in this passage?

Using your deduction and investigation skills, when does this take place (v.15)?

This takes place on a Sabbath day, in house of a Pharisee (Lk14:1)

For this dinner, banquet (v.16); how many did the man invite?

Many

The date and time of the party came to be, but what happen (vv.17-18)?

They all alike began to make excuses; some versions say in one accord.

We see the excuses described (vv.19-20)

What were the instructions by the angry master to the slave (vv.21-22)?

Go to streets, lanes, bring poor, crippled, blind, and lame.

You can see the slave did what he was told and yet there was still room for more.

What did the master then say to the slave to do (v.23)?

Go and compel them to come in along the highways and hedges. Some versions use the word persuade vs. compel.

Jesus makes a bold statement (v.24)

Those who were invited shall not be there.

Excuses

Have you ever made an excuse for something so you did not go to something, somewhere?

I think if we are honest we have, then we try to justify it too.

People today like the people in our passage were making excuses. Earthly excuses were taking priority over a commitment.

Jesus in our passage uses this as an illustration to the spiritual invitation. He is the gracious host who invited many; many agreed but then did not come, did not accept the invitation.

Many come to hear the invitation from Jesus for entrance into the kingdom but reject it, make excuses for it, put worldly, temporal things over the eternal riches offered by Jesus invitation.

Now at that time historically, an invitation would go out long in advance to hosting a part, or an event, but the time of the event would go out on the day of the event. People would do what we call RSVP and then when it came to go, did not go, made excuses.

God has sent the invitation, God has made all things ready in Christ and tells us to come.

Excuses given, two of them were about material things (bought land, bought oxen).

Think about this, would you buy land without checking it out, seeing it first?

Would you not see the oxen and see them work before you bought them?

In our world today we use the materialism or even selfishness to keep from accepting the invitation.

I have everything I need, I do not need anything God has. I provide for myself.

If I choose Jesus, to be a disciple I cannot live the way I want to live.

The third excuse was about family (I have married).

Family is important, and the most important thing we can do for our family it make God, Jesus number one! For in Following Him, you will be a good example to those who follow you. Like Paul said “imitate me as I imitate Jesus.”

Excuses are as one commentator put it “a thin veil” hiding the true fact that someone does not really want to come.

Spurgeon said this about that phrase “I cannot come.”

“In saying, ‘I cannot come,’ the man intended, as it were, to dismiss the matter. He wished to be understood as having made up his mind, and he was no longer open to argument. He did not parley; he did not talk; but he just said, off-hand, ‘I want no more persuading; I cannot come, and that settles it.’”

The invitation to all

God’s open invitation remains open to all at this time.

May we remember there were many invited, many accepted the initial invitation but refused to come.

God’s invitation was for those religious people to come with faith to Him.

God’s invitation to the outsiders, outcasts, marginalized, as well as the affluent to come to Him by faith.

God is the God of impartiality (consider Rom2:1; 1Pt1:17; Act10:34-35)

It is not enough to admire the invitation to the banquet, you must be willing to go to the banquet.

Jesus said compel them to come in. He sends us into the world to compel people to accept the open invitation and come. WE cannot force anyone, but we can make the case for Jesus.

“So if we are to have sinners saved, we must go out of our own quiet haunts, and go forth into the frequented places. We much preach in the street, or at the market-place, or on the village green.” (Spurgeon)

(Transition) - while the invitation is open to all, it does come with a warning that though you were invited does not mean you enter in. The is a cost, He paid the cost, you have to accept His terms and they are radical.

Jesus radical call to discipleship

While we could move these verses into the next section, we can use these verses as a glimpse into the call for radical discipleship.

Luke 14:25–26 NKJV

25 Now great multitudes went with Him. And He turned and said to them, 26 “If anyone comes to Me and does not hate his father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters, yes, and his own life also, he cannot be My disciple.

In these verses we see the ones who “cannot” be His disciple.

There is more to being a disciple, a follower of Jesus than accepting the invitation, it calls for radical discipleship.

True disciples come to Him without reservations.

True disciples come to Him setting Him as priority.

“This was an audacious demand. None of the prophets or apostles asked for such personal commitment and devotion. If Jesus was not and is not God, this would be idolatry and probably madness.” (Clarke)

I like the way Kuzik put’s it.

“Repeatedly in the Bible we see that Jesus founded a way of love, not hate. Yet Jesus used the strong word hate to show how great the difference must be between our allegiance to Jesus and our allegiance to everyone and everything else.”

Now as a follower of Jesus, you love God and love others. It means you putting God and His ways first and it will make you a better person, man, husband, father, friend, wife, mother, grandmother.

Am I a disciple of Jesus?

Jesus has addressed the people at the dinner on this Sabbath day.

He gave an illustration of invitation to banquet.

The invited who rejected

And the rejected who accepted

We looked then briefly at the cost of discipleship, that it is radical.

May we look at our lives and consider, Am I a disciple of Jesus?” Ask the Lord to help us to be a true disciple of Jesus!

(Prayer) (Close)