The Greatest Invitation – Come, for Everything is Now Ready!

The parable Jesus tells is aimed at debunking the notion that only Jews would be part of God's kingdom. The master of the house is God, and the great banquet is the kingdom, a metaphor that was suggested by the speaker at the table. The invited guests picture the Jewish nation. The kingdom was prepared for them, but when Jesus came preaching that “the kingdom of heaven is near” (Matthew 4:17), He was rejected. “He came to that which was his own, but his own did not receive him” (John 1:11).

The excuses for skipping the banquet are laughably bad. All three excuses in the parable reveal insincerity on the part of those invited. The interpretation is that the Jews of Jesus’ day had no valid excuse for spurning Jesus’ message; in fact, they had every reason to accept Him as their Messiah.

1. The Context of the Parable (v.12-15)
2. Scene 1: The Invitation to the banquet (v. 16-17)
3. Scene 2: The Refusal of the Invitation through Excuses (v.18-21)
4. Scene 3: The Graceful Invitation (v.22-23)
5. The Meaning of the Parable (v.24)

The master is not satisfied with a partially full banquet hall; he wants every place at the table to be filled. John MacArthur’s comment on this fact is that “God is more willing to save sinners than sinners are to be saved.”

Those who ignored the invitation to the banquet chose their own punishment—they missed out. The master respects their choice by making it permanent: they would not “taste of my banquet.” So it will be with God’s judgment on those who choose to reject Christ: they will have their choice confirmed, and they will never taste the joys of heaven.