Parable of the Great Banquet

Text and Content

The Parable of the Great Banquet appears in Luke 14:15–24. On the Sabbath, Jesus was dining at the house of a leader of the Pharisees (Luke 14:1). When one of those sitting at the table with him said, "Blessed is he that shall eat bread in the kingdom of God" (14:15), Jesus responded with this parable.

A certain man prepared a great supper and invited many guests. When the time for the supper came, he sent his servant to announce that everything was ready. The invited guests, however, each excused themselves: one had bought a piece of ground, another had bought five yoke of oxen, and another had married a wife. Angered, the master ordered his servant to go out into the streets and lanes of the city and bring in the poor, the maimed, the halt, and the blind. When there was still room, the master commanded, "Go out into the highways and hedges, and compel them to come in, that my house may be filled." The parable ends with the declaration that none of those who were first invited would taste of his supper.

Background

The Greek word translated "supper," deipnon (δεῖπνον), refers to the main meal of the day, especially the evening meal. In the ancient Near East, hosts are understood to have issued invitations in advance and then sent a second summons once preparations were complete. In light of this custom, accepting an invitation and then declining at the last moment was a serious breach of etiquette.

In the immediately preceding passage (14:12–14), Jesus says that when one gives a feast, one should invite the poor and the maimed, who cannot repay. The list of people the master in the parable summons matches this teaching.

Significance in the Broader Biblical Context

The Old Testament contains the image of God preparing a feast for all peoples (Isaiah 25:6). Both the remark in 14:15 and this parable stand against the background of this expectation of a banquet in the kingdom of God. The "marriage supper of the Lamb" in Revelation 19:9 is read in the same line of thought.

Interpretation and Issues

• Who are the invited? Traditional interpretation identifies the three groups as follows:
• Those first invited: the religious leaders who did not receive Jesus
• The poor of the city: those marginalized within Israel, such as tax collectors and sinners
• Those on the roads outside the city: the Gentiles

The text itself, however, does not state these correspondences explicitly.

• Relationship to the Parable of the Wedding Feast: In the Parable of the Wedding Feast in Matthew 22:1–14, a king gives a wedding feast for his son, the servants are killed, and a man without a wedding garment is cast out. Some hold that a single tradition was transmitted differently in the two Gospels, while others hold that Jesus told different parables on different occasions. The account of the wedding garment does not appear in Luke.
• "Compel": The Greek anankason (ἀνάγκασον) means "compel," that is, to make someone do something against their will. Augustine cited this verse to justify coercive measures against the Donatists. This interpretation was later invoked as a basis for religious coercion and has drawn criticism. Today Protestants generally read the word as signifying an earnest and urgent invitation.
• Invitation and response: Traditions differ in emphasis regarding the point that responsibility for refusal rests with those invited.
• The Calvinist tradition emphasizes God's sovereign invitation, extended by grace.
• The Arminian and Wesleyan traditions give greater prominence to the human response of accepting or rejecting the invitation.

In Korean Churches

In Korean Protestant churches, the words of 14:23, "compel them to come in, that my house may be filled," are frequently quoted in evangelism sermons. They are also commonly used at Total Mobilization Sunday (Chongdongwon Juil) services and at invitation events for prospective believers (taesinja). The picture of people making excuses and putting off the invitation also often serves as a sermon illustration addressing priorities in the life of faith.