96
March, 1936
T H E K I N G ' S B U S I N E S S
INTERNATIONAL LESSON Commentdry Outline and Exposition Blackboard Lesson Children’s Division Golden Text Illustration Object Lesson B y B. B. S utcliffe B y B essie B. B urch B y H elen G ailey B y A lan S. P earce B y E lmer L. W ilder Points and Problems B y A lva J. M c C lain , Ashland Theological Seminary, Ashland, Ohio
APR IL S, 1936 JESUS INVITES ALL PEOPLE L uke , C hapter 14
will, but, by the grace and mercy of the Lord, they were constrained to come. Yet this grace and mercy the Pharisees refused. IV. T he W ithdrawal of the I nvitation (24). Having carelessly cast aside the invita tion, the guests first invited would have no future opportunity to accept, nor to enter the supper room. “The king’s invi tation is the king’s command.” If this maxim is true in relation to an earthly monarch, how much more true is it when the King of kings and the Lord of lords is concerned! When He invites, everything must be laid aside in order that the invita tion may be accepted. Not one who super ciliously rejects the invitation “shall taste o f my supper,” saith the Lord. We should remember that our Lord was teaching con cerning the kingdom o f God, the pleasures of which were set forth under the guise of a great supper. If the false religionists refused the invitation to be there, others were brought in to take their places. In this passage there is an answer to those who refuse to accept the Lord as personal Saviour because they have heard that God chooses some and rejects others. This les son, if it teaches anything, teaches that God chooses every one, but He will not force any one to come against his will. Points and Problems 1. The main point o f the story o f the “Great Supper” is the failure of men to recognize the King of the kingdom when He was present in their midst offering them the kingdom. An unnamed man, sitting with our Lord at meat in the Pharisee’s house, repeated the pious ejacu lation current among the Jews: “ Blessed is he that shall eat bread in the kingdom of G odm ( Lk. 14:15). Notice the sharp contrast in our Lord’s reply, almost a re buke : “ Come; fo r all things are now ready" (v. 17). The man was right in think ing that it will be blessed to eat bread in the kingdom. Christ found no fault with him on this point. But the man’s blindness consisted in failing to see that the kingdom feast was now ready and immediately present, not merely in the far-off future. In other words, men were blind to the presence o f the King. 2. Aside from the dispensational as pect of this scripture, it contains a great spiritual lesson for us. The feast o f God is ready here and now. W e need not wait here in spiritual anemia until we get to heaven. The table is prepared now in the midst of our enemies. Let us take and eat. 3. There are three distinct groups of people spoken o f in the story. First, there are " them that were bidden" (v. 17). Sec ond, there are those in “ the streets and lanes o f the city" (v. 21). Third, there are those in "the highways and hedges". (v. 23). I f the first group refers to the Jewish nation in general, the second prob ably refers to Jews who were regarded as outcasts, “publicans and sinners,” and the
Lesson T ext: Lk. 14:15-24. Golden T ext: “ Come; for all things are now ready” (Lk. 14:17).
son was pride of possession. Second, there was the matter of business affairs s£“I have bought five yoke of oxen, and I go to prove them.” Here again the real reason was hidden. The affairs of business came between the Lord and the invited guest. Third, there was pleasure: “ I have mar ried a wife, and therefore I cannot come.” The things of time and sense are allowed to take precedence over the things of the kingdom o f God. But at the heart of all excuses for rejec ting the Lord’s invitation lies a determined animosity which may be expressed in the words: “I will not” (cf. John 5:40). If any one misses the kingdom, it will not be for want of invitation, but because of rejection of the invitation. And excuses all show the individual’s preference for second-rate things. Those who offer these excuses reveal their practice of giving first place to those things which the Lord re gards as being of secondary importance. Furthermore, the offering of excuses im plies a knowledge of the duty to respond to the Lord’s invitation; a knowledge of the obligation to accept the invitation; a knowledge of ability to perform the duty; and a knowledge of, and therefore con demnation for, the failure to accept the obligation. III. T he E xtension of the I nvitation (21-23). The passage teaches that if those who were first chosen should refuse to accept the invitation, the supper would be pro vided with other guests (vs. 21 , 22 ). Accordingly, servants were sent out into the streets and lanes to bring in the help less and the hopeless ones. These latter individuals were the ones whom the Phar isees despised and o f whom they took lit tle thought, imagining that they surely were not going to be in the kingdom. Our Lord was showing proud religionists that their own places would be occupied by the very ones whom they scorned as being out side the favor o f God. After the helpless were brought in, there was still room ; and the servants were sent out again to compel others to come (v. 23). The Revised Version renders this word “constrain.” In other words, these people were not forced in against their BLACKBOARD LESSON 1 OF THIS WORLD HATH BLINDED THEIR N 0 “MOST Bt 6 FAKt- Ç O^TMene’s A INDS- TO° .( }J
Outline and Exposition I.
T he O ccasion of the I nvitation (15). I n the verses preceding the lesson, we are told that Jesus had accepted an invitation to dinner with one of the Pharisees. And as was His custom, our Lord took advantage o f the opportunity to impart some great truth. In this in stance, He discussed the proper purposes and manner of inviting guests to feasts such as that at which He was Himself a guest. He showed that another and greater invitation was being extended, one involv ing spiritual and eternal matters. Jesus taught His hearers that they were in danger of missing the kingdom because o f their careless and indifferent attitude toward, and their cold response to, the Lord’s invitation to enter it. ' II. T he R ejection of the I nvitation (16-20). In accordance with the custom prevail ing in that country, first an invitation was extended and the time of the gathering was announced. This practice would give those invited some opportunity to arrange their affairs and be prepared when the feast actually took place. Then, when all was ready, servants were sent out to ad vise the guests that the time was at hand (vs. 16, 17). There would be little point in this story if the “certain man” did not picture our Lord Himself as He invites people into the kingdom of God. In the parable, every one was invited, and when the time had arrived, the servant (Jesus Himself) came forth to advise the guests that all was ready. But there was a unanimous rejection of the supper that had been provided (v. 18). The guests all began to make excuse. The parable shows that excuses offered for rejecting the Lord’s invitation generally rise from one or more o f three sources (vs. 18-20). First, there was pride: “ I have bought a piece of ground, and I must needs go and see it.” Certainly no one at that time and in that country would think of buying any property without first being satisfied that it was what the seller represented it to be. The language o f the first objector was merely an excuse under which the man was hiding his real reason for rejecting the invitation, and that rea- [These lessons are developed from out lines prepared by the Committee on Im proved Uniform Lessons o f the Interna tional Council. The outlines are copy righted, 1934, by the International Council o f Religious Education and used by per mission .—E ditor .]
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