In Luke 14:1-24, Jesus teaches that our attitudes as disciples should be the opposite to the attitudes of this world. In this life, if we put our minds and energy to it, we often can obtain what it is that we want – whether status, the praise of other people, money or security (as far as security is possible in this uncertain world.) Jesus taught his disciples not to live for success and reward in this life, but to aim to be rewarded by our heavenly Father in the life to come. In particular Jesus teaches that a disciple has an upside-down attitude to status (v.7-11), reward (v.12-14), and the value of people (v.15-24).
The parable that Jesus told (v. 15-24) had its immediate application to the Pharisees that Jesus was dining with. The Jews of Jesus’ day often talked about the coming of God’s kingdom, and the Messianic age, in terms of a feast. The great feast is a picture of the age to come. The Jews were God’s chosen people and they had the revelation of God through the law and the prophets. It was to the Jews that the Messiah would come; through the Jews that God would bless the world. So the Jews thought of themselves as those who were invited to the great feast. This was especially true of the Pharisees who were the strictest of the religious groups of the day, who took the Bible very seriously, and who had clear ideas about what sort of behaviour was acceptable as a good Jew.
Jesus came proclaiming that the kingdom of God
Through the parable, Jesus was saying was that those invited to the feast – the Jews and particularly the Pharisees – had refused to come and so the invitation was being extended to the “outsiders”, those the Pharisees looked own upon, and even to Gentile “unbelievers” who would later receive Jesus as their Saviour. (It’s not surprising that the Pharisees plotted to kill him!)
Through the parable, Jesus was saying was that those invited to the feast – the Jews and particularly the Pharisees – had refused to come and so the invitation was being extended to the “outsiders”, those the Pharisees looked own upon, and even to Gentile “unbelievers” who would later receive Jesus as their Saviour. (It’s not surprising that the Pharisees plotted to kill him!)
The parable has a secondary, but nevertheless very important, application to everyone today – it shows that Jesus is interested in the outsider and the outcast, and that Jesus is more interested in people who are willing to embrace him and to follow him wholeheartedly than people who are outwardly respectable but unwilling to follow him.
