The Great Banquet

Luke 14:15–24 Sermon by Steve Rockhill December 21, 2025

We continue in our communion celebrations to work through various parables, the parables of the Lord Jesus Christ. So Luke chapter 14 and we’ll be looking at verses 15 through 24. Let’s again listen now to the reading of God’s Holy Word.

Now when one of those who sat at the table with him heard these things, he said to him, Blessed is he who shall eat bread in the kingdom of God. Then he said to him, A certain man gave a great supper and invited many, and sent his servant at supper time to say to those who were invited, Come, for all things are now ready. But they all, with one accord, began to make excuses. The first said to him, I have bought a piece of ground, and I must go and see it. I ask you to have me excused. And another said, I have bought five yoke of oxen, and I am going to test them. I ask you to have me excused. Still another said, I have married a wife, and therefore I cannot come. So that servant came and reported these things to the master. And then the master of the house, being angry, said to his servants, Go out quickly into the streets and lanes of the city, and bring in here the poor and the maimed and the lame and the blind. And the servant said, Master, it is done as you commanded, and still there is room. And the master said to the servant, Go out into the highways and hedges, and compel them to come in, that my house may be filled. For I say to you, that none of those men who were invited shall taste my supper.

Let us seek the Lord’s blessing on this, His holy word.

O gracious God and Heavenly Father, again, we come before you and we’re thankful for the truth of your word that you revealed to us. And we pray that as we come to this passage of this parable this afternoon, that you would help us to see and understand the truth that is here, that you’d open our hearts and our eyes and our minds to see and embrace this truth, all to the praise of your glorious name. We pray all these things in Jesus’ name, amen.

Introduction: Common Assumptions About Heaven

If you ask the average person on the street if they believe they were going to heaven, most would probably answer yes. That is, if they believe that there even was a heaven.

Many would contend, of course, that they were basically good people, they never murdered anyone, they haven’t robbed a bank, and they really haven’t told really big lies. That they’d certainly admit, likely, that they’re far from perfect, they at least would believe that they’re good enough to get into heaven. Or, again, at the very least, that they certainly have a much better chance than a lot of other people.

But if you were to invite these same people to church, or to a Bible study, so that they may learn more about heaven and the good news of what Jesus has done to save sinners, so that they can get to heaven,

Well, it’s likely that most would come up with some excuse as to why they can’t make it.

The sad reality is that many people are certainly more than happy to go to heaven as long as they can go on their own way and on their own terms. But when they’re actually invited to discover the truth about heaven and the one true way to get there, suddenly they aren’t very interested.

Context and the Guest’s Remark

Well, in our passage this afternoon, we find Jesus dining at the home of one of the Pharisees. And he’s already, just before this, earlier in Luke 14, he’s already challenged the host and the guests to really examine their own hearts, to root out any kind of hypocrisy, pride, and selfishness.

But now he shares a parable about God’s gracious desire to fill his heavenly banquet hall with people for all eternity. And yet, sadly and amazingly, there are many who reject this gospel invitation to their own destruction.

And it all begins with a spontaneous remark from one of the guests.

In verse 15, he says,

Blessed is he who shall eat bread in the kingdom of God.

Possible Reasons for the Comment

Now, what’s the reason for this comment?

• It could be that the person was so impressed with Jesus’ teaching that he was sincerely moved to declare this blessing really in an attempt to sum up all that Jesus had said to this point. And certainly when we hear something good, we can be moved to praise God.
• It could also be that this was an attempt to kind of clear the air. We know that already at this point Jesus spoke pointedly and likely offended the guest as well as the host. And so there may have been a great heaviness of tension in the room. And so this blessing was intended to relieve some of that tension and to maybe possibly redirect the conversation.
• It’s also possible that this was some sort of self-justifying statement that was made to really counterbalance what Jesus had just been saying. Declaring this blessing may have been really an attempt to blunt the force of Jesus’ teaching. In other words, those who will be blessed to eat bread in the kingdom of God would certainly be those who were there sitting around that table. And obviously Jesus is talking about, when he’s talking about the hypocrites and others, and those who are selfish, he’s talking about others, another group of people who are out there somewhere. He certainly isn’t talking about us. He’s not talking about our attitudes or our intentions. We’re safe.

As we consider the response that Jesus gives, it seems very likely that this is exactly the presumption that he was looking to address.

But there’s one thing that we do know for certain. We don’t necessarily know why this statement was made, but one thing that is true and certain is that this statement that was made is true. That is, those who will eat the bread in the kingdom of God will indeed be richly and abundantly blessed.

The Heavenly Banquet in Scripture

In fact, we know that this idea of a heavenly banquet that awaits the righteous is a theme that’s found throughout the Scriptures, as the banquet table is a picture of eternal fellowship in God’s glorious presence. A banquet that we get to enjoy a foretaste of, even this afternoon, as we celebrate the Lord’s Supper.

The Heavenly Banquet is the reward that awaits the righteous after death.

This is the hope, the great hope we find in Psalm 23 that we sang this morning. After walking through the valley of the shadow of death, there’s something waiting on the other side.

You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies. You anoint my head with oil. My cup runs over. Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life, and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever.

All the enemies have been defeated, and the table has been set for those who have persevered by faith through the many trials and troubles of this life.

We also see this picture in Isaiah 25. There the prophet says,

And in this mountain the Lord of hosts will make for all people a feast of choice pieces, a feast of wines on the lees, of fat things full of marrow. He will swallow up death forever, and the Lord God will wipe away tears from all faces. The rebuke of His people He will take away from all the earth.

Surely those who will be there at that great heavenly banquet are going to partake of this lavish banquet and they will be most wonderfully blessed.

And we get to see this then even in the book of Revelation where John is told,

Blessed are those who are called to the marriage supper of the Lamb.

So we know that there is a table prepared in the heavenly realm. And those who come and sit at that table will indeed be blessed beyond all imagination. This truly is God’s truth.

So even though we don’t know for certain why this comment was made, we know that it’s true. And the key point that Jesus is going to try to make is this. Consider your own hearts. Have you accepted the invitation that’s been given to come and to take part in this great heavenly feast?

The Parable Explained

Jesus makes this challenge by sharing a parable that begins in verse 16.

A most generous host has invited many friends to a great supper. And this is going to be a big deal. It would certainly be memorable, not only for the size, but not only because of the size of the guest list, but also the great abundance of its offerings. And the host wasn’t withholding anything. It would cost him much to put on this feast. And his chief desire, again, was to share his blessing and his abundance with others.

And then at that point in time, after everything had been prepared, he sent his servant to announce to those who had been invited, verse 17,

Come, for all things are now ready.

Now it’s important to understand that when the servant went out, it wasn’t the first time that the guests were invited. This was what’s called a second invitation. They had already been invited, responded with their RSVPs, and now they’re just being told that everything’s been prepared, it’s time to come. And so, he sends them out. They’ve already been invited formally before. Now it’s just kind of like the reminder, hey, everything’s ready, it’s time to come.

We also want to note here that there is no expectation on the part of the host for his guests to bring anything, right? All the preparations have been made. He prepared the food, set up the table and chairs, maybe decorated, maybe provided some entertainment. Everything’s there, everything’s ready. He’s done all this. His guests aren’t expected to bring anything.

The Excuses

But then, in verses 18 and 20, as the servant goes out to call the guests, he discovers that no one’s coming. That they all begin to make excuses as to why they couldn’t attend.

On a day when hospitality was so greatly revered, well, it would have been really a huge breach of etiquette to accept the initial invitation, but when the time comes to not show up.

Now certainly, we know that things come up and there can be some valid excuses. But even as we look here, at the excuses, they’re pretty lame.

• One person says, I have bought a piece of ground and I must go and see it. What kind of excuse is that, right? Why do you need to go look at your land? Is it going to do something exciting? Besides, if you wanted to see it, if it was good quality land, wouldn’t you have checked that out before you bought it? Or again, if it was necessary for some reason to look it over, well, you could certainly do that at another time.
• The second person has a similar excuse in verse 19. I have bought five yoke of oxen and I’m going to test them. Again, if you’re going to buy something, when you take it for a test drive, uh, before you bought it, or again, even if you didn’t, couldn’t you have waited to do that at another time?
• And then really the third excuse tops them all. I have married a wife and therefore I can’t come. So what? You get married and suddenly you don’t go out anymore. Certainly they’re bringing her along. Right? Have her meet your friends. There aren’t too many wives who would turn down the opportunity to go out to dinner for the evening, especially if it means she didn’t have to cook. And so there’s no reason why he couldn’t have just brought her to the banquet.

Well, the truth of the matter is that none of these guests really wanted to go. Perhaps they were insincere when they responded to the first invitation. But again, if that was the case, they shouldn’t have said they were coming. Or maybe they were interested at first, but then as time went on, they realized, man, I don’t really want to go. And so they came up with these excuses.

They were focused on themselves and what they wanted to do. And so they gave no thought to the generosity of their friend and all that he had done to prepare for this banquet. They had no conscience about the time, the energy, and the expense of it all. They really didn’t care what it was going to cost him because they had their own plans.

The Host’s Response

Well, in verse 21, the servant came back, told the host, and the host becomes angry. And certainly his anger was justified. He’s gone through all this expense, made all this prepared, and they’ve snubbed him. They snubbed his invitation.

But now he has a dilemma on his hands. What’s he going to do with all this food? They don’t have any freezers or refrigerators. All this food was going to spoil if it wasn’t going to be eaten. But he has no guests. So what should he do?

Now, certainly some would perhaps maybe just kind of be hard hearted about it and be so angry that, you know what? I don’t care. Throw it all in the trash. I’m never going to be generous again.

But is that what the host does? No. He doesn’t allow the bitterness of being rejected to turn his heart cold. Instead, he had planned for this large feast and a celebration, and that’s exactly what he was going to have.

And so he sends out the servants again, this time, sends them to the streets of the city, and he charges him, bring in the outcasts. Bring in those who never get any invitations at all. Those who rarely have mercy and kindness bestowed upon them. Invite them. Go and get them. Bring them. The poor, the maimed, and the lame, and the blind.

And again, the servant does this. And they respond. And he brings in all those who are broken in mind, body, and soul. And they all come and they join the feast.

But then the servant says, well, there’s another problem. Verse 22. There’s still room, right? So he had gotten some people to come, but there was still more room.

And so the generous host says to the servant again, verse 23, well then go out into the highways and the hedges and compel them to come in that my house may be filled.

The host wants his house packed. If there aren’t enough people in the city, he says, then just go outside the city and just bring in whoever you may find. Those who have no place to go. Even the strangers and the foreigners. Bring them near. Urge and plead with them to come in and join in this great celebration.

When these outcasts and foreigners come in, we can imagine their amazement and their awe. They’d likely never seen any spread such as this host had set before them, and so it was a most generous gift that the host had given to these lowly ones who were often overlooked.

Again, imagine the joy and the celebration of this occasion. The host was filled with great joy because this house was full to overflowing. Greatly humbled by it all, they were also filled with great joy. The people were filled with great joy because they’d been invited by this prominent man to share in the blessings and the riches of this. And they did nothing to deserve it.

But what of those who were first invited? You can imagine that they’d be stunned at the actions taken by the rich host, and perhaps they may even have been offended once they heard that their seats had been given to those that they would self-righteously call riffraff. These lowly ones, the outcasts and the foreigners. And now they found themselves on the outside looking in.

But of course, they have no one to blame but themselves. They were invited first, but they rejected the gracious offer.

And now in verse 24, Jesus summarizes the parable with this warning.

For I say to you that none of these men who were invited shall taste my supper.

They’re not going to dine at the lavish banquet. They’re not going to join in the feast and celebration. Those who reject the invitation will themselves be rejected.

Application: The Meaning of the Parable

But what’s the meaning of this parable? I hope, as we’ve gone through it, that it’s pretty clear.

The generous host is, of course, God. He was rich in grace and mercy and is so filled with love for his people that he invited them to his most gracious and his glorious elaborate eternal banquet. That’s God’s truth. Those who come and partake of this banquet of God will be most blessed.

And as we see in this table, the Lord has prepared his representative of the fellowship that he desires with his people. A fellowship that we know that was originally lost in the garden when Adam sinned. But God has now established a plan to restore. That restoration came only through the personal work of Jesus Christ. And those who hear the gospel and respond in faith are those invited to partake of God’s heavenly banquet.

So the invitation then that goes forth is the call of the gospel to turn from sin and to believe in Jesus Christ.

And this invitation was first sent to the Jews through the prophets of old who called the people to turn and repent of their sins and he told them of the coming Messiah that the Lord would send to deliver His people once and for all. And by the time Jesus was born there was a great hope and anticipation of that coming Messiah.

Jesus Himself was the second invitation. He was the Messiah and yet He came as a servant to invite the people to repent and believe. But He wasn’t the Messiah that the people were looking for. But they were more looking for a political leader. They didn’t want a savior who was going to save them from their sins. They didn’t believe that they needed such salvation. And so they rejected Jesus.

And we see this rejection not only by the Jews in general, but most especially by the religious leaders. Those who would have, certainly should have known, of all the people, would have known the truth who Jesus was, and yet they hardened their hearts against Him. And ultimately they had Him put to death.

Jesus was God’s provision for them. He was the Lamb that the Lord would provide. He was the only Messiah that God would send. But they rejected Him. And they rejected the only way to salvation and the only way to attend this great lavish banquet that the Lord has in store for His people.

And so did Israel’s rejection of Jesus, though, as a Messiah, did that thwart God’s plan and disrupt God’s plan and purpose to build a holy nation that He would have as His own? Well, absolutely not. It didn’t thwart God’s plan at all, but actually established it.

For with this rejection by the Jews, the door was then opened for a great blessing to be poured out unto the Gentiles.

And so those who were then invited to fill the banquet hall were first the needy ones and the outcasts of Israel, those who the scribes and the Pharisees self-righteously referred to as sinners. They were despised by men, and they were seen as unclean by these religious leaders. And yet Jesus had compassion on them, and He invited them to attend His heavenly banquet.

But there was still more room. And so the gospel then went out to the Gentiles. That those who once were far off, alienated from the covenant promises, without God and without hope in this world, these ones were now brought near through the blood of Jesus Christ.

And so even now, God continues to invite poor, undeserving sinners to Himself, both Jew and Gentile. He calls them as His servants. And even the church of Jesus Christ, He calls them to spread the gospel, to call people of all nations, even now, even here today, to repent and believe in Jesus Christ alone for salvation.

God, in His abundant grace and mercy, wants that great heavenly banquet hall filled. And it’ll be filled, even to overflowing. His plan hasn’t been thwarted at all. Because all who respond by faith to the call of the gospel will one day gather round that glorious banquet table and give praise to His glorious name.

Warning and Exhortation

But friends, the warning still stands. Not just for the scribes and the Pharisees, not just for the Jews, but even for those today who would hear the call of the gospel and yet would harden their hearts and reject this most generous offer of peace, forgiveness, and everlasting life.

Those who do so are warned that one day they themselves will be rejected by God. They’ll be left out of that great banquet. They won’t so much as taste one morsel of the eternal goodness that God has in store for those who believe. This is the warning, and it’s severe.

So today, if you would hear His voice, do not harden your hearts, but believe on Jesus Christ, that you might be saved, and that you might enjoy a blessed fellowship of God, and of Jesus Christ the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, and with all the saints, forever and ever, all to the praise and glory of God alone.

Closing Prayer

O gracious God in heaven, we do rejoice to give thanks to you for this parable and this word, this challenge, that as we hear the gospel proclaimed, that we’ll respond in faith, that we will not reject the invitation to come, to come to Christ, to turn away from our sins, to come to join with you at your heavenly banquet. And Father, what a great honor and privilege that we have even today to enjoy just a foretaste of that heavenly banquet as we gather for the celebration of the Lord’s Supper. Father, as we do so, we pray that you would enrich our hearts, encourage us by your grace, and continue to impress these life-saving truths upon our hearts, drawing us all close to yourself, all to the praise of your glorious name. In the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, we pray. Amen.