Have you ever had to wait for a table at a fine restaurant? Or felt the anticipation of a Thanksgiving feast while it was still being prepared? When it finally arrived, did you refuse it, or did you receive it with gladness?

The Bible tells us that Jesus has prepared a banquet for us, with every good thing laid on the table, yet many have refused it, and gone away hungry. If you have been hungry for more of Jesus and His provision in your life, and have been wondering how to partake of this banquet, then this study will benefit you today.

Our scripture text for today is going to be Luke 14:16-24:

“Then said he to him, A certain man made a great supper, and bade many:

And sent his servant at supper time to say to them that were bidden, Come; for all things are now ready.

And they all with one consent began to make excuse. The first said to him, I have bought a piece of ground, and I must needs go and see it: I pray you have me excused.

And another said, I have bought five yoke of oxen, and I go to prove them: I pray you have me excused.

And another said, I have married a wife, and therefore I cannot come.

So that servant came, and showed his lord these things. Then the master of the house being angry said to his servant, Go out quickly into the streets and lanes of the city, and bring in here the poor, and the maimed, and the halt, and the blind.

And the servant said, Lord, it is done as you have commanded, and yet there is room.

And the lord said to the servant, Go out into the highways and hedges, and compel them to come in, that my house may be filled.

For I say to you, That none of those men which were bidden shall taste of my supper.”

We see here in verse 16 that a certain man is preparing a banquet – with the understanding that Jesus was telling this parable to the Pharisees, the experts of the Law. He was actually in the house of one of the chief Pharisees. And the context of this parable which Jesus is telling here is spiritual food, spiritual provision.

In this verse we also see that it was a “great supper”, this was not a two-dollar meal from a fast-food drive-through, but this was beyond your wildest dreams, every conceivable dish, every type of bread, and platters of every meat that you could ever desire. And this master also invited many to come.

Verse 17 continues by telling us that this master sent his servant (which is a type of the Holy Spirit) to tell all who were invited to come in because this feast was now ready. But in verse 18, every single one of those who were invited made excuses, and they weren’t even very good excuses… we see some examples of the excuses in verse 18, as well as the next two verses: the first being that one man said that he bought a field and needed to go see it. Now, honestly, it makes no sense to buy a field before inspecting it. It’s akin to being property today without looking it over first.

Another man in verse 19 says that he has just bought five yoke of oxen and needs to go and test them. Again this makes no sense because it’s the same as buying a car without test-driving it first.

Still another man in verse 20, gives the excuse that he has just married a wife and cannot come.

So in verse 21, the servant returned to his master and gave a report about how everyone who was invited had made excuses. Now picture this, because some people say “Oh, this happens sometimes, things come up, it’s no big deal.” But please understand that this is no ordinary feast, this is the most rich and lush banquet in existence… why? Because God has prepared it. There is no hunger or need that is not satisfied by the provisions on His table. Your healing is served at this banquet, your deliverance is served at this banquet, your prosperity and completeness is served at this banquet. And everyone has made excuses not to come.

Continuing verse 21, we see that when the servant reported these things to the master, the master became angry. What makes the LORD angry today? When something stops us from receiving from Him. He has prepared a feast of healing… and no-one is interested or doesn’t believe in it. He has prepared a feast of provision, and no-one wants to accept. He has prepared a feast of Grace and Peace, and everyone has more important things to do than to simply receive. He has prepared a feast of His perfect Divine Love, and we chase after all of our broken systems of human love.

He has done all of the work, He has prepared everything, and all of it is now ready, and we would rather go through the drive-through or rummage through the trash for whatever scraps of rotten diseased food is there, rather than to dine at His table freely. We don’t believe in His perfect goodness.

That’s the real reason why Grace is generally not accepted, because it leaves man nothing to do, Grace truly kills pride, and so prideful man hates and despises the Grace of God. Prideful men want to do something, they feel that they need to add something to what God has done, or that they can do it better.

Next, also in verse 21, the master said to the servant, “Go out quickly into the streets and lanes of the city, and bring in here the poor, and the maimed, and the halt, and the blind.” Now why? Why invite these particular people? Because many of them are already broken, and more ready to receive without pride.

Verse 22 continues that the servant says “Lord, it is done as you have commanded, and yet there is room.”

The Grace and provision of God always exceeds the sin and the lack. The supply of God always greatly exceeds the demand.

Then in verse 23, the master further tells the servant to go out into the highways and hedges, and compel them to come in.

Previously in verse 21, he had told his servant to go in the streets and lanes of the city. Now, he has instructed his servant to go into the highways and hedges. This is outside of the city. The Pharisees knew, or at least professed to know about God and about His great provisions, and they claimed to honor Him, although in reality they treated Him with prideful contempt. But now, this third group who were being invited were outsiders (us), who are to be compelled. You see we are also ignorant of the real goodness of God, we have a hard time believing God is as really good as He is, so often-times, speaking of His goodness, we also think it is too good to be true, or that He is angry with us, or we must in-essence “sing for our supper”, but no… everything is already prepared,

Finally, in verse 24, the master says none of those that were first invited will taste of his supper.

Speaking both physically and spiritually, there are many people who refuse the generosity of God and miss out on all of His benefits here and now, and then continue to deny Him into eternity as well.

So how do we dine at this banquet today? Hebrews 8:1-9 tells us the answer:

“Now of the things which we have spoken this is the sum: We have such an high priest, who is set on the right hand of the throne of the Majesty in the heavens;

A minister of the sanctuary, and of the true tabernacle, which the Lord pitched, and not man.

For every high priest is ordained to offer gifts and sacrifices: why it is of necessity that this man have somewhat also to offer.

For if he were on earth, he should not be a priest, seeing that there are priests that offer gifts according to the law:

Who serve to the example and shadow of heavenly things, as Moses was admonished of God when he was about to make the tabernacle: for, See, said he, that you make all things according to the pattern showed to you in the mount.

But now has he obtained a more excellent ministry, by how much also he is the mediator of a better covenant, which was established on better promises.

For if that first covenant had been faultless, then should no place have been sought for the second.

For finding fault with them, he said, Behold, the days come, said the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah:

Not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day when I took them by the hand to lead them out of the land of Egypt; because they continued not in my covenant, and I regarded them not, said the Lord.”

Because of Jesus Christ, we can see that we are in a New Covenant today; a covenant that as verse 6 tells us, contains better promises than that of the Old Covenant. Those that choose to remain prideful and cling to the Old Covenant and the Law, are rejecting the banquet of Jesus, but today you and I can come and freely eat. We do this by simply embracing and standing on the better promises in Christ Jesus, without trying to add anything to it, or obtain it by some other means than faith.

We serve a New Covenant God, not an Old Covenant God. He has promised to end the Old Covenant, and bring in the New Covenant under better promises. You can not say that God has blessed you for obeying Old Covenant conditions; God is not there operating in the Old Covenant, when today we have the New Covenant brought about by the finished work of Jesus Christ.

So I encourage you today to take your self out of the equation, come and freely dine at the banquet table of the LORD Jesus Christ. Eat as much as you want, and be completely satisfied.