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Luke 14:15-24 You can read it here: https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Luke%2014%3A15-24&version=NLT

Jesus has been talking about parties, and someone in the crowd gets to thinking about what it would be like to be invited to a party hosted by God.  That would be amazing, right? Jesus’ response here seems pensive. “You’d think so, wouldn’t you? You’d think people would jump at the chance to sit around God’s table.  But you’d be surprised how many won’t bother to show up.”  

We know from recent passages that there has always been a very special place in the heart of God for Israel.  He chose the nation as the means by which the whole world could see how he interacts with hunanity.  There are allegorical passages throughout scripture in which the relationship between God and Israel is described.  One of the most powerful portrayals is in the book of Ezekiel.  Israel is pictured as an abandoned newborn, naked and still covered in blood.  God sees her and has compassion.  He picks her up, nurses, feeds and clothes her.  He provides rich food, jewels and garments for her.  Under his care she grows to be strong and beautiful and he loves her, but she has no respect or love for him.  She rejects him and seduces anyone else who walks by.  Eventually, he stops protecting her from her awful choices and her lovers abuse her horribly and finally reject her.  When she has exhausted herself chasing after those who mistreat and use her, she returns to him and he faithfully restores her.  

The picture of a faithful God and a nation that so frequently rejects his kindness is a devastating one. 

It’s the picture Jesus is drawing in this passage as well.  People are given the honour of an invitation to the gala event of all history, but they don’t show up because they think the events of their lives are more important.  So God responds by extending the invitation to the rest of the world. Eventually, the banquet hall is filled with the sights, sounds and smells of a lavish banquet fit for nobility, but seated at the table are the hungry, broken and neglected now washed and dressed in beautiful garments.  And the nobles who received the invitations are left out, locked out even.  

As we look at what is, frankly, a tragic story, we need to remember that Israel is really a placeholder for all of humanity.  Before we feel indignant or self-righteous looking at the way Israel rejects God, we need to be aware of how easily we can follow the same path.  Life is full of distractions, little gods that entice us to chase after them when the God of the universe is offering us the joy and fulfillment of his presence.  We need to guard our hearts carefully so that we don’t miss the gala because we are too busy buying a cow.