The Feast of Jesus
Luke 14:15-24
June 30, 2019 anno Domini– Redeemer
Last week we poor sinners were made rich in Christ. This week we who are starving and thirsting for life are invited to a great feast.
A man once gave a great banquet and invited many. And at the time for the banquet he sent his servant to say to those who had been invited, “Come, for everything is now ready.” The meal was a long time in the works. This isn’t the Food Network where everything is done and eaten in a half hour – actually 17 minutes because of commercials. This is God’s feast. The menu was planned from before the creation of the world and when Adam and Eve ate that fruit (don’t miss that point) God gave them an appetizer. The Son of a woman will crush the serpent’s head. Throughout the Old Testament, from Moses to Malachi, God prepared course after course, and laid out the whole menu, for the feast of life.
That’s what the Old Testament folks needed. That’s what we need. Read the Old Testament. It’s a mess. Cain murdered his brother Abel and those were the first brothers in the Bible. Abraham lied about being married to his wife Sarah – twice. Jacob bribed his brother Esau and deceived his father Isaac. Judah committed adultery with his daughter-in-law. Absalom waged war against his father David. Hannah and Sarah were barren. Ruth was a widow. Naaman was a leper. Moses was in danger of abortion and infanticide. There were kings like Ahab and Saul who served themselves and queens like Jezebel who helped them. Are we not starving for life in the same way? Thirsting for something that will quench our desire for peace? Yet, how did they and how do we respond when called to the Lord’s feast?
“But they all alike began to make excuses. The first said to him, ‘I have bought a field, and I must go out and see it. Please have me excused.’ And another said, ‘I have bought five yoke of oxen, and I go to examine them. Please have me excused.’ And another said, ‘I have married a wife, and therefore I cannot come.’” (Luke 14:18–20, ESV)
The first one had property to look after – his hunting land, a new cabin, a significant capital investment. It couldn’t wait. It had to be today. Please excuse me. The second one had to work. His International Farmall Oxen just didn’t have the power he needed, and John Deere had these great 10 oxen teams on sale that could really pull. With these he’d get his work done sooner and he would show up for the next feast. Please excuse me. The last man doesn’t even ask for an excuse. He just got married. He’s heading on his honeymoon. I cannot come. Surely you wouldn’t expect me to choose the feast over my pleasure.
There is no sin in property or work or family. These are good gifts from God, among the greatest gifts He gives us. The intimacies of marriage, the procreation and joy of children, the talents and gifts to earn a living to care for ourselves and our families, the gift of a home and property. In fact all of these excuses are legitimate activities. They only become sinful when they are used as an excuse to skip the feast. When you consume them instead of the food and drink of God.
We should not be surprised the vast majority of people in Saint Cloud are not in church this morning. You should not be surprised that you choose not to be here some Sundays. You should be concerned, but not surprised. All of those the Master initially invited responded with one voice – we will not come.
Why do we not come? Because of our corrupted sinful nature we have no appetite for God’s Word. We are like people who will drink sand in a desert mirage. We over consume the cheap and easy snack food of pleasure and property, then complain that we are neither satisfied nor healthy. The hunger for this feast comes only by the invitation. The Holy Spirit creates hunger (faith) in those who hear the Gospel. So let us hear the Gospel.
What is the feast of this parable? Jesus. Dr. Luther describes it well. “God the heavenly Father allowed his dear Son to be butchered, nailed to the cross, and offered up in fervent love, as the true Paschal Lamb sacrificed for the sins of the world.” Jesus suffered on the cross until He was done, or better said until your salvation was done, well done, completely done. Your sins are completely forgiven. Your death is dead. It’s all finished. And the Father wants you to feast on His Son. Luther continues, “Wherever Christians are gathered there you will find the table. The preaching of the Gospel (the news that Jesus died for your sins) is the dish. The servers are the pastors. Christ is the food. Through the pastor’s mouth the food is laid on the table and served, for when the Gospel is preached, this food is served up and offered. There is nothing that compares to the taste of Jesus Christ. He tastes like the forgiveness of your sins, eternal life, peace with God. When you are surrounded by death, sin, disease, terror, fear, hard times, and all sorts of affliction God is letting you feel your hunger and thirst. It won’t be satisfied by property, work, or pleasure. Christ alone will quench you. Christ alone will fill you. And He is here. Come and eat.
God the Father wants you to eat and have life. When the servant returned with the excuses the master of the house became angry and said to his servant, ‘Go out quickly to the streets and lanes of the city, and bring in the poor and crippled and blind and lame.’ And the servant said, ‘Sir, what you commanded has been done, and still there is room.’ And the master said to the servant, ‘Go out to the highways and hedges and compel people to come in, that my house may be filled.” (Luke 14:21–23, ESV) The master’s last command is the strongest. Go out and compel people to come in. The first invited guests took the feast for granted and passed. They were eating elsewhere. The second guests likely knew of the feast and didn’t need much convincing, but those third guests had to be compelled. They were outcasts from society – the lepers, the prostitutes, the sinners. They had never heard of the feast and once they did they knew they would never be invited. But here comes the servant.
“My Master has set a grand feast and He wants you to come.”
“Me? No, you must be mistaken. I have no place at such a feast. Look at me. I’m filthy. It would be scandalous if I showed up at the banquet hall. What would people think of your Master? No. He doesn’t want me.”
“Oh yes He does,” replies the servant. “He knows you. He’s seen what you’ve done and inviting you would make Him a scandal only to those who don’t know Him. He is gracious and merciful. He wants His banquet hall filled. Come on.”
I don’t know which person you are. The person who excuses himself from the feast because he has more pressing concerns or the person who cannot believe you’ve been invited to partake of Christ’s rich forgiveness. We are probably both people. The Feast is prepared. Jesus is the food. Stay away from Jesus and you’re saying “No thanks” to life. You might finally lose your invitation. So come, and feast, yes, even you, on the life-giving food that is Jesus Christ. In His name. Amen.