In Luke 14:15-24 we have the parable of the slighted invitation, which our Lord spoke when He heard someone say: "Blessed is he that shall eat bread in the kingdom of God" (vs. 15). The substance of the parable is this: A man made a great dinner or supper. He sent forth his servant when the meal had been prepared to call those who had been invited. But they all began to make excuses. One said that he had purchased a field and had to go to see it. Another had purchased five yoke of oxen and said that he had to prove them. Finally, one man said that he had married a wife and could not come. When the servant reported their begging off from the invitation, the host became very angry and said that they should never partake of his hospitality. Then he instructed his servant to go out into the streets and the lanes of the city and to invite the poor, maimed, blind, and lame. After this had been done, there was still room, which fact the servant reported to his master. Then the latter instructed the servant to go out into the country--the highways and hedges--and to constrain those whom he should find to come and to partake of his master's hospitality, that his house might be filled.

Many people confuse this parable with that that which is found in Matthew 22:1-14, but they are entirely different and should not be confounded. There are certain facts which prove positively that the two accounts are different. One is the time element. The message our Lord gave in the Luke passage was spoken between two and three months before the one recorded by Matthew. Another difference is the location. The one Luke gives was spoken in Perea, in Trans-Jordan. The Matthew passage was spoken at Jerusalem. Another difference is that this one is called a dinner or supper. The Greek word indicates the chief meal of the day, which sometimes was observed at noon, but at other times, in the evening. The word employed by Matthew is entirely different and refers to a breakfast. (One must recognize this fact or else he cannot understand and properly interpret Matthew's parable.) A fourth difference is this: The one making the great supper as recorded by Luke is "a certain man." The one making the feast in Matthew's account is a king. Still another difference is this: The parable in Luke says that the meal is a great feast; whereas the one in the parable of Matthew is a wedding feast, or festivities. In view of these facts we can be quite positive that the two parables are entirely different.

In this connection, let me say that the Luke passage, being spoken first, was the original. But when the Lord Jesus spoke the parable as recorded by Matthew, He gave a special turn to the material and made it fit a definite, specific case. He added new elements that made it practically a new parable. A study of the facts of the context in the Matthew account shows that this parable was designed especially for the leaders of Jewry and indicated how God would deal with them because of their rejection of light--and finally of Himself, the Light of the world. But the parable as recorded by Luke was spoken to those present because of the remark, "Blessed is he that shall eat bread in the kingdom of God." That statement called forth the parable by which Jesus revealed the fact that, though many are invited, all will not accept. Only those who appreciate the grace extended to them by the invitation, who put spiritual things first, are the ones who will accept, and who will enjoy eating bread in the kingdom of God.

Since the neighbors and friends who had been invited to partake of the great supper did not accept the invitation, then the master sent out into a larger circle and insisted upon the poor, the lame, the blind, that they come and enjoy his hospitality. By this element of the parable Jesus meant to teach that most of His countrymen would make excuses for not coming and would reject the invitation. Then the invitation would be sent out beyond the borders of Israel to the poor in spirit and the humble and contrite in heart, who will accept. Those, on the other hand, who make excuses, and who do not accept the invitation, shall never eat bread in the kingdom of God.

Having showed that, when one accepts the invitation, to the great supper which God and Christ prepare for those who thirst after Him, and who want truth, Christ presented the price of discipleship. One must love God and Christ above others, and he must put spiritual interests before all material considerations.

"25 Now there went with him great multitudes: and he turned and said unto them, 26 If any man cometh unto me, and hateth not his own father, and mother, and wife, and children, and brethren and sisters, yea, and his own life also, he cannot be my disciple. 27 Whosoever doth not bear his own cross and come after me, cannot be my disciple. (Luke 14:25-27).

In what sense, one may ask, does Jesus in this passage use the word hate? We know that it is impossible to interpret it as meaning what is ordinarily conveyed by this term. The true explanation is as follows: The terms love, hate, and the like, are often used relatively. As an illustration of this usage I may call attention to this principle: If God says for me to do something, but relatives or friends forbid my doing that or insist that I disobey God and pursue a different course, I shall be hating God and loving my relatives and friends, if I follow their suggestions and ignore what God says. On the other hand, if I ignore what friends say to me and choose and do the will of God, I shall be hating them and loving God. Such is the true meaning of the word as employed in this passage. Whenever there is a choice to be made between doing the wishes of friends and relatives on the one hand and the will of God as expressed in the Scriptures on the other, I must follow God and disregard the wishes of others.

The matter of accepting Christ is a most serious one. A person should sit down, think calmly and deliberately over the matter of whether or not he will accept Christ and follow Him. I fear that too often strong appeals that are directed to the emotions, and that are not based upon solid facts and truths, are made. People, then, being moved by emotions largely, accept Christ in a nominal way, but soon they fall away and become stumbling blocks to others. Jesus taught in Luke 14:28-35 the fundamental principle that men and women must take this matter of accepting or rejecting Him very seriously. He illustrates it by the man who starts out to build a house, but does not first figure the cost. After he has laid the foundation, he is unable to go forward with it. Then he is chagrined when people mock him and lose confidence in him. The same lesson is taught by the story of the king who, before he engages in war with another, does not determine whether or not he with his forces will be able to meet successfully the opposing king. In a manner analogous to these cases is the one "whosoever be of you that renounceth not all that he hath, he cannot be my disciple" (vs. 33). The price of discipleship is great, but it is blessed to be a true disciple and to bear the fruit of the Spirit--to the glory of God.