What’s the biggest, most enjoyable celebration you’ve ever been invited to or attended?

Luke 24:12-35

Matthew 22:1-14 Luke 14:16-23

LUKE 14 “7 When he [Jesus] noticed how the guests picked the places of honor at the table, he told them this parable…”

LUKE 14 “Although they cannot repay you, you will be repaid at the resurrection of the righteous.”

LUKE 14 15 When one of those at the table with him heard this, he said to Jesus, “Blessed is the one who will eat at the feast in the kingdom of God.”

LUKE 14 16 Jesus replied: “A certain man was preparing a great banquet and invited many guests. 17 At the time of the banquet he sent his servant to tell those who had been invited, ‘Come, for everything is now ready.’ 18 “But they all alike began to make excuses. 

LUKE 14 The first said, ‘I have just bought a field, and I must go and see it. Please excuse me.’ 19 “Another said, ‘I have just bought five yoke of oxen, and I’m on my way to try them out. Please excuse me.’ 20 “Still another said, ‘I just got married, so I can’t come.’

LUKE 14 21 “The servant came back and reported this to his master LUKE 14 21 “The servant came back and reported this to his master. Then the owner of the house became angry and ordered his servant, ‘Go out quickly into the streets and alleys of the town and bring in the poor, the crippled, the blind and the lame.’

LUKE 14 22 “‘Sir,’ the servant said, ‘what you ordered has been done, but there is still room.’ 23 “Then the master told his servant, ‘Go out to the roads and country lanes and compel them to come in, so that my house will be full. 24 I tell you, not one of those who were invited will get a taste of my banquet.’”

Matthew 22 Jesus spoke to them again in parables, saying:  2 “The kingdom of heaven is like a king who prepared a wedding banquet for his son. 3 He sent his servants to those who had been invited to the banquet to tell them to come, but they refused to come. 4 “Then he sent some more servants and said, ‘Tell those who have been invited that I have prepared my dinner: My oxen and fattened cattle have been butchered, and everything is ready. Come to the wedding banquet.’

Matthew 22 5 “But they paid no attention and went off—one to his field, another to his business. 6 The rest seized his servants, mistreated them and killed them. 7 The king was enraged. He sent his army and destroyed those murderers and burned their city.

Matthew 22 8 “Then he said to his servants, ‘The wedding banquet is ready, but those I invited did not deserve to come. 9 So go to the street corners and invite to the banquet anyone you find.’ 10 So the servants went out into the streets and gathered all the people they could find, the bad as well as the good, and the wedding hall was filled with guests.

Matthew 22 11 “But when the king came in to see the guests, he noticed a man there who was not wearing wedding clothes. 12 He asked, ‘How did you get in here without wedding clothes, friend?’ The man was speechless. 13 “Then the king told the attendants, ‘Tie him hand and foot, and throw him outside, into the darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’ 14 “For many are invited, but few are chosen.”

Luke 14 Matthew 22 Certain Man Great banquet 1 servant Ludicrous excuses Polite request to servants Other guests invited Servants sent twice for poor, crippled, blind & lame. King Wedding banquet Servants Refusal to attend Abuse & murder of servants King destroys them and their city. Servants sent into streets for “bad & good”

Luke 14 Matthew 22 More room at the table Previously invited guests uninvited Wedding hall filled Man without wedding clothes expelled

These parables are all about PARTIES! Luke 14 Matthew 22 Guests: Guests: These parables are all about PARTIES! Ridiculous excuses Overt rejection of multiple invitations Man: King: --Destroys abusive guests & city --[Wedding crasher] Just looks for others

Why in the world would we want to go???

Planning takes TIME

Matthew 22 4 “Then he sent some more servants  and said, ‘Tell those who have been invited that I have prepared my dinner: My oxen and fattened cattle have been butchered, and everything is ready. Come to the wedding banquet.’

Matthew 22 5 “But they paid no attention and went off—one to his field, another to his business.

Matthew 22 5 “But they paid no attention and went off—one to his field, another to his business. 6 The rest seized his servants, mistreated them and killed them.

Matthew 22 7 The king was enraged Matthew 22 7 The king was enraged. He sent his army and destroyed those murderers  and burned their city.

Matthew 22 8 “Then he said to his servants, ‘The wedding banquet is ready, but those I invited did not deserve to come. 9 So go to the street corners and invite to the banquet anyone you find.’ 10 So the servants went out into the streets and gathered all the people they could find, the bad as well as the good, and the wedding hall was filled with guests.

Matthew 22 11 “But when the king came in to see the guests, he noticed a man there who was not wearing wedding clothes. 12 He asked, ‘How did you get in here without wedding clothes, friend?’ The man was speechless. 13 “Then the king told the attendants, ‘Tie him hand and foot, and throw him outside, into the darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’

Philippians 3  But whatever were gains to me I now consider loss for the sake of Christ. 8 What is more, I consider everything a loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them garbage, that I may gain Christ9 and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ—the righteousness that comes from God on the basis of faith.

Questions to consider: What does this parable teach you about God? What does this parable tell you about people? With whom do you identify most in this story?

Is there an INVITATION from God I’m ignoring or outright rejecting? Is there a DISTRACTION I’m not letting go of? Is there an EXCUSE I’m making that will sound silly in light of eternity?