Dear Friend,

When a listener exclaimed, "Blessed is he that shall eat bread in the kingdom of God" (Luke 14:15), Jesus responded with a prophetic parable (14:16-23) ending with a stern warning (14:24).

He said a man planned a "great supper" and sent invitations to "many" to be ready to come (v. 16). Sometime later, when the food was prepared, he sent a servant with a second invitation, this one asking the guests to come immediately (v. 17), since in antiquity the food would spoil very quickly if not eaten. Surprisingly, all the guests declined to come, citing lame excuses.

Some said they had bought a "piece of ground," and wanted to examine it (v. 18). But who buys land without first examining it? Others claimed they had bought "five yoke of oxen" and wished to test their ability to pull a plow or cart (v. 19). But who buys work animals without first inspecting them? Both of these answers were dubious at best. It's obvious, these invitees just did not want to come. The host's banquet meant nothing to them.

Some young men protested that they had "married a wife," and wished to remain comfortably behind with their newly wedded spouses (v. 20). This was more understandable. Jewish law excused a newly married man from military service for one year (see Deuteronomy 24:5). But it didn't excuse them from attending banquets! So, this excuse, also, was false. The truth is, they had no desire to attend.

But there is a larger lesson here. According to these guests' own words, worldly, temporal interests - specifically, property, profit, and pleasure - came first in their hearts and schedules, not the "great supper" or its host. Interestingly, all these guests could have attended the supper first, and then returned to their individual interests. But, selfishly, they all apparently refused to change their priorities, even if they insulted the host. So, they begged to be excused, telling his servant, "Send my regrets" (v. 18, MSG).

Enraged at this insult to his, not one but two, gracious invitations, the host sternly banned all these nonresponders: "None of those men who were bidden shall taste of my supper" (v. 24). And he meant what he said.

He immediately took steps to replace the nonresponders, sending another servant to invite others whom the nonresponders would have considered less worthy than themselves, the poor, lame, maimed, and blind (v. 21). These less-worthy ones responded, but still room remained in the host's banquet hall (v. 22).

So, after a pause enabling the host to consider the situation, the servant went out yet again, this time to "compel" (urge, press, apply pressure to) the guests to come. So, many more responded, the host's house was filled, and the banquet proceeded - without the initially invited, excuse-making nonresponders having a second chance. There are two primary interpretations.

To His Jewish audience, Jesus was warning that if the Jews didn't respond to His invitation to heaven by receiving and following Him, those they considered unworthy - those lowly Gentiles! - would respond, and they, the favored Jews, would be left out. And without another chance! Christ-rejecting Jews will never know the blessedness of "eating bread in the kingdom of God" (v. 15).

To Christians today, however, this parable has an End-Times application we must understand. It is this: the banquet in God's kingdom is the Marriage Supper of the Lamb, to occur in heaven at the end of the 7-year Tribulation (Revelation 19:7-9). Those invited are all born-again Christians: our first invitation comes when we're called to faith in Christ; our second, when we hear Jesus' Second Coming is near: "Come, for all things are now ready" (v. 17). And you're hearing this urgent second summons now, in this piece, from this humble servant of God.

Our excuse-making comes in two ways. Let's ponder them.

First, we ignore the message of Jesus' coming altogether, treating it as unimportant, or worse, incredible. Thus, like sinners all around us, we live only for property, profit, or pleasure, or other temporal, worldly interests, and forget about the "great supper."

Second, we believe Jesus is coming again, and even soon, but refuse to put spiritual interests before natural interests. Seeking and buying property and goods constantly, using business equipment or skills to make and save more money, seeking spouses and pleasurable living (and politics, sports, entertainment, indulgence, leisure, and a host of other distractors), all these interests dominate us. They take up all our time, all our energy, and all our resources. Second place goes to our host, Jesus.

We could change these blindly selfish priorities in a heartbeat, but seem strangely paralyzed with a malaise of casual indifference. Oh well, we're saved by grace anyway, so what's the difference if we don't seriously prepare for Jesus' return and marriage supper?

A lot! By either wrong reaction, our nonresponse or our consistent prioritizing of temporal, worldly interests, we send God our regrets. "Sorry, Jesus, I'm unable to attend." Unconsciously, we're forgetting three key facts.

First, our willful neglect of preparing for Christ's appearing and subsequent feast is a deep insult to God's grace. He has in love repeatedly invited us and labored long and hard to "prepare a table before" us (Psalm 23:5). Jesus said, "I go to prepare a place for you" (John 14:2).

Second, if we persist in our nonresponse, He will ban us from the honor of the Marriage Supper of the Lamb. And there will be no second chance!

Third, He will without hesitation replace us with someone else willing to respond. Though we may consider our replacement guests less worthy, He will esteem them more worthy. Why? They responded! They took His banquet seriously! They put His priorities "first," as Jesus taught us (Matthew 6:33).

Today many American Christians take a rather Ameri-centric view of Christianity. We subconsciously imagine God's attention revolves around us and Christians in other continents, cultures, and countries are, well, a little less important. Or, a little less worthy, perhaps? After all, they don't live in this great nation that in its great past has done such great things for Christ - and has been so greatly blessed. Right?

But, like the Jews of Jesus' day, we're forgetting this huge, universal biblical principle: "God is no respecter of persons" (Acts 10:34). And we're forgetting Jesus' stark warning in this prophetic parable: "None of those men . . . shall taste of my supper!" (Luke 14:24). Deceived by their pride, the Jews were confident God couldn't do without them, that the "great supper" would fail if they didn't attend. But Jesus said, and did, otherwise. You and I, and every other Gentile-filled church, affirms this daily.

The point we must see is this: there are utterly devoted, fully surrendered, Christ-loving, Word-studying, Spirit-following, cross-bearing believers all around the world that will respond to Jesus' Second Coming message and get ready. Don't believe it? Just watch what God does in these last days. He can do without our highly respected megachurches, megaministries, flashy pastors, PhDs, celebrity worship leaders, self-serving doctrines, large budgets, and politically correct programs. But we can't do without Him! Two more points need to be made.

First, in Jesus' parable, after the first wave responded (v. 22), there was a pause before the second summons "compelled" people to come and consequently "filled" the house (v. 23). Similarly, after the rapture of the church, there will still be room in heaven (but not in the bride church) for more redeemed ones to attend the Marriage Supper of the Lamb. So, with the mounting pressure of the Tribulation compelling people's attention God-ward, 144,000 Jewish Jesus believers (Revelation 7:1-8) will call Jews and Gentiles to receive Jesus, walk with Him, and go through their faith-proving tests, so they may enter heaven at the midpoint (Revelation 7:9-17) and be guests at the great supper that closes that 7-year period.

Second, there is an anti-rapture virus raging through the American church at present, spreading faster than the new Omicron Covid variant. Many pastors don't want to study the Second Coming. Others refuse to teach their people about it. Excusing themselves, they claim, "It's too controversial, too divisive, too hard to understand." (But it is they who are too intimidated, too indolent, and too irresponsible.) So, they and their congregations give Jesus their regrets.

Consequently, these passive pastors are encouraging millions of God's sheep to brush aside the most vital issue of our times to instead pursue temporal, worldly interests only. Or, to pursue them first, rather than making their top priority preparing for the great supper.

Beware of this deadly virus! If you don't have it, build your spiritual immunity by pondering Jesus' strong-but-healing warning: "None of those men who were bidden shall taste of my supper!" Continuously cultivate more spiritual antibodies by seeking Christ with new earnestness, studying His Second Coming, and searching out and obeying all the Bible's instructions for spiritual readiness. If you've got the virus, seek treatment immediately. Your cure can begin by merely receiving this message and responding to it.

But whatever you do, don't insult the great supper's Host! Don't send Jesus your regrets. If you do, you'll regret it.

Banquet bound,

Greg Hinnant
Greg Hinnant Ministries