The Great Supper

Luke 14:7-24

And he put forth a parable to those which were bidden, when he marked how they chose out the chief rooms; saying unto them,

When thou art bidden of any man to a wedding, sit not down in the highest room; lest a more honourable man than thou be bidden of him;

And he that bade thee and him come and say to thee, Give this man place; and thou begin with shame to take the lowest room.

But when thou art bidden, go and sit down in the lowest room; that when he that bade thee cometh, he may say unto thee, Friend, go up higher: then shalt thou have worship in the presence of them that sit at meat with thee.

For whosoever exalteth himself shall be abased; and he that humbleth himself shall be exalted.

Then said he also to him that bade him, When thou makest a dinner or a supper, call not thy friends, nor thy brethren, neither thy kinsmen, nor thy rich neighbors; lest they also bid thee again, and a recompense be made thee.

But when thou makest a feast, call the poor, the maimed, the lame, the blind:

And thou shalt be blessed; for they cannot recompense thee: for thou shalt be recompensed at the resurrection of the just.

And when one of them that sat at meat with him heard these things, he said unto him, Blessed is he that shall eat bread in the kingdom of God.

Then said he unto him, A certain man made a great supper, and bade many:

And sent his servant at supper time to say to them that were bidden, Come; for all things are now ready.

And they all with one consent began to make excuse. The first said unto him, I have bought a piece of ground, and I must needs go and see it: I pray thee have me excused.

And another said, I have bought five yoke of oxen, and I go to prove them: I pray thee have me excused.

And another said, I have married a wife, and therefore I cannot come.

So that servant came, and shewed his lord these things. Then the master of the house being angry said to his servant, Go out quickly into the streets and lanes of the city, and bring in hither the poor, and the maimed, and the halt, and the blind.

And the servant said, Lord, it is done as thou hast commanded, and yet there is room.

And the lord said unto the servant, Go out into the highways and hedges, and compel them to come in, that my house may be filled.

For I say unto you, That none of those men which were bidden shall taste of my supper.

Classification: The Jewish Church and Nation, its history, and the causes of its Fall.

Interpretation: An invitation went out to come to this great feast. Invitations were RSVP'd. Efforts were made to plan, decorate, cook, money was spent on the preparations. Then when it came time to dine, those who had RSVP'd came up with excuses not to come.

Those who accepted were the Jews (really the whole house of Israel). They accepted the invitation when they accepted the Law of Moses. The Great Feast was the Atonement of the Savior. But by the time the Atonement was done, the tribe of Judah had already moved on to other things.

The servants that were sent out to let the Jews know that the feast was ready were the Apostles of the Lord.

The Jews had various excuses why they couldn't come. For some, they had left Israel for other lands (the diaspora), others had "married a wife" (idolatry, commitment to the other religions of the time)

The yoke of oxen excuse is particularly interesting to me. This great feast is the Atonement and Jesus said to "Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me;...and ye shall find rest unto your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light." (Matthew 11:29-30). Ultimately what happened was the Jews refused to take upon His yoke, refused to believe that an Atonement was made. They chose to carry on working with their own yokes (burdens, sins, powerlessness) that were far heavier than Christ's. 

So, the Lord sent out His Apostles to invite the gentiles, the poor, the outcast, the thieves and sinners (Go out into the highways and hedges and compel them to come in, that my house may be filled) to accept the gospel and come unto Christ.

Then Jesus said, "none of those men which were bidden shall taste of my supper."

The gospel was extended to those who desperately needed that meal. It was given to those who were starving and in need of nourishment. The invitation was extended to those who gratefully accepted everything that was offered. The tears of gratitude that must have been shed by those who felt unworthy of such an honor must have been tremendous.


Application: The original invitees were the Jews of His day but their excuses are just as prevalent among our church today. "I have bought a piece of ground, and I must needs go and see it." What does he need to go see exactly? It's just ground, it'll be there the next day. I think he just wants to go see his material (earthly) possessions: his boat, his tv, his 4 wheeler, his PS4, all those fun earthly things that keep us from doing the Lord's work and living up to our covenants. "I have bought five yoke of oxen and need to go prove them." Too much today we see people of the Lord choosing to work (or play) on the Sabbath. (I'm completely aware that there are many who really don't have any choice when it comes to working on Sunday. I'm talking about the ones who feel working on Sunday is far more productive than worshiping our Lord.) Keeping the Sabbath day holy is not a "mormon thing". It's one of the ten commandments so we're all subject to it. "I have married a wife, and therefore cannot come." Marriage between the Church and God has always been a theme in the teachings of God to explain how He feels toward us. To say that "I have married a wife" implies that he has chosen another religion, another way of life. We've all seen this happen. We all have someone close to us that chose to go another way. This could also be applied to meaning appetites of the flesh and the desires of the natural man.

The footnote on the word hedges in verse 23 reads "hedged pathways". To me this means one whose way has been blocked by sin, troubles, indecision, or depression. The Savior wanted the gospel to go to them. He knew how much they needed the gospel and He knew how much it would mean to them to have the gospel in their lives. This applies to us today. We still need the gospel in our lives. We still, and always will, need the power of the Atonement in our lives each and every day.

The Master wants this invitation extended to all. We are not just the guests but we are the servants as well. Once we have tasted of the delicious supper it becomes our job to "Go out quickly into the streets and lanes of the city, and bring in hither the poor, and the maimed, and the halt, and the blind...Go out into the highways and hedges, and compel them to come in, that my house may be filled."

The Invitation by Jan Luyken

Parables of Jesus: The Great Supper by Elder F. Melvin Hammond