“Go Into the Highways and Hedges”
This chapter is based on Luke 14:1, 12-24.
Luke 14:1 Now it happened, as He went into the house of one of the rulers of the Pharisees to eat bread on the Sabbath, that they watched Him closely.
Luke 14:12 Then He also said to him who invited Him, “When you give a dinner or a supper, do not ask your friends, your brothers, your relatives, nor rich neighbors, lest they also invite you back, and you be repaid.
Luke 14:13 But when you give a feast, invite the poor, the maimed, the lame, the blind.
Luke 14:14 And you will be blessed, because they cannot repay you; for you shall be repaid at the resurrection of the just.”
Luke 14:15 Now when one of those who sat at the table with Him heard these things, he said to Him, “Blessed is he who shall eat bread in the kingdom of God!”
Luke 14:16 Then He said to him, “A certain man gave a great supper and invited many,
Luke 14:17 and sent his servant at supper time to say to those who were invited, ‘Come, for all things are now ready.’
Luke 14:18 But they all with one accord began to make excuses. The first said to him, ‘I have bought a piece of ground, and I must go and see it. I ask you to have me excused.’
Luke 14:19 And another said, ‘I have bought five yoke of oxen, and I am going to test them. I ask you to have me excused.’
Luke 14:20 Still another said, ‘I have married a wife, and therefore I cannot come.’
Luke 14:21 So that servant came and reported these things to his master. 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 lame and the blind.’
Luke 14:22 And the servant said, ‘Master, it is done as you commanded, and still there is room.’
Luke 14:23 Then the master said to the servant, ‘Go out into the highways and hedges, and compel them to come in, that my house may be filled.
Luke 14:24 For I say to you that none of those men who were invited shall taste my supper.’ ”
This parable tells us about the danger of neglecting or rejecting truth. God cannot accept a divided heart.
The Saviour was a guest at the feast of a Pharisee. He accepted invitations from the rich as well as the poor, and according to His custom He linked the scene before Him with His lessons of truth.
Among the Jews the sacred feast related to all their seasons of national and religious rejoicing. It was to them a type of the blessings of eternal life. The great feast at which they were to sit down with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, while the Gentiles stood without, and looked on with longing eyes, was a theme on which they delighted to dwell.
The lesson of warning and instruction which Christ desired to give, He now illustrated by the parable of a great supper. The blessings of God, both for the present and for the future life, the Jews thought to shut up to themselves.
They denied God’s mercy to the Gentiles. By the parable Christ showed that they were themselves at that very time rejecting the invitation of mercy, the call to God’s kingdom. He showed that the invitation which they had slighted was to be sent to those whom they despised, those from whom they had drawn away their garments as if they were lepers to be shunned.
In choosing the guests for his feast, the Pharisee had consulted his own selfish interest. Christ said to him,
Luke 14:12 “When you give a dinner or a supper, do not ask your friends, your brothers, your relatives, nor rich neighbours, lest they also invite you back, and you be repaid.
Luke 14:13 But when you give a feast, invite the poor, the maimed, the lame, the blind.
Luke 14:14 And you will be blessed, because they cannot repay you; for you shall be repaid at the resurrection of the just.”
Christ was here repeating the instruction He had given to Israel through Moses. At their sacred feasts the Lord had directed that “the stranger, and the fatherless, and the widow, which are within thy gates, shall come, and shall eat, and be satisfied.” Deuteronomy 14:29.
These gatherings were to be as object lessons to Israel. Being taught the joy of true hospitality, the people were throughout the year to care for the bereaved and the poor. And these feasts had a wider lesson. The spiritual blessings given to Israel were not for themselves alone. God had given the bread of life to them, that they might break it to the world.
The neglected this important. Christ’s words were a rebuke to their selfishness. To the Pharisees His words were distasteful. Hoping to turn the conversation into another channel, one of them, with a sanctimonious air, exclaimed, “Blessed is he that shall eat bread in the kingdom of God.”
This man spoke with great assurance, as if he himself were certain of a place in the kingdom. His attitude was like the attitude of those who rejoice that they are saved by Christ, when they do not comply with the conditions upon which salvation is promised.
His spirit was like that of Balaam when he prayed, “Let me die the death of the righteous, and let my
Christ read the heart of the pretender, and fastening His eyes upon him He opened before the company the character and value of their present privileges. He showed them that they had a part to act at that very time, to share in the blessedness of the future.
“A certain man,’’ He said gave a great supper and invited many, ‘Come, for all things are now ready.’
When the time of the feast arrived, the host sent his servant to the expected guests with a second message, “Come; for all things are now ready.”
But a strange indifference was shown.
With one accord they began to make excuses. The first said to him, ‘I have bought a piece of ground, and I must go and see it. I ask you to have me excused.’ Still another said, ‘I have married a wife, and therefore I cannot come.’ And another said, ‘I have bought five yokes of oxen, and I am going to test them. I ask you to have me excused.’
Still another said, ‘I have married a wife, and therefore I cannot come.’
The “I cannot” was only a veil for the truth—“I do not care to come.”
The invitation they had pledged themselves to accept was put aside, and the generous friend was insulted by their indifference.
By the great supper, Christ represents the blessings offered through the gospel. The provision is nothing less than Christ Himself. He is the bread that comes down from heaven; and from Him the streams of salvation flow.
The Lord’s messengers had proclaimed to the Jews the advent of the Saviour; they had pointed to Christ as “the Lamb of God, which takes away the sin of the world.” John 1:29. In the feast He had provided, God offered to them the greatest gift that Heaven can bestow—a gift that is beyond computation.
The love of God had furnished the costly banquet, and had provided inexhaustible resources. “If any man eat of this bread,” Christ said, “he shall live for ever.” John 6:51.
But to accept the invitation to the gospel feast, they must make their worldly interests subordinate to the one purpose of receiving Christ and His righteousness. God gave all for man, and He asks him to place His service above every earthly and selfish consideration. He cannot accept a divided heart. The heart that is absorbed in earthly sinful affections cannot be given to God.
The lesson is for all time. We are to follow the Lamb of God wheresoever He goes. His guidance is to be chosen, His companionship valued above the companionship of earthly sinful friends. Christ says, “He that loves father or mother more than Me is not worthy of Me, and he that loves son or daughter more than Me is not worthy of Me.” Matthew 10:37.
When eating their food, many in Christ’s day repeated the words, “Blessed is he that shall eat bread in the kingdom of God.” But Christ showed how difficult it was to find guests for the table provided at infinite cost.
Those who listened to His words knew that they had slighted the invitation of mercy. To them worldly possessions, riches, and pleasures were all-absorbing. With one consent they had made excuse.
Refusing the invitation to the feast cover the whole ground of excuses for refusing the gospel invitation. People declare that they cannot imperil their worldly prospects by giving attention to the claims of the gospel. They count their temporal interests as of more value than the things of eternity.
The very blessings they have received from God become a barrier to separate their souls from their Creator and Redeemer. They will not be interrupted in their worldly pursuits, and they say to the messenger of mercy, “Go you way for this time; when I have a convenient season, I will call you.” Acts 24:25.
Others urge the difficulties that would arise in their social relations should they obey the call of God. They say they cannot afford to lose the friendship of their relatives and acquaintances. They prove themselves to be the very actors described in the parable. The Master of the feast regards their flimsy excuses as showing contempt for His invitation.
All these refuse the Saviour’s call because they fear division in the family circle. They suppose that in refusing to obey God they are securing the peace and prosperity of the home, but this is a delusion. Those who sow selfishness will reap selfishness.
In rejecting the love of Christ, they reject that which alone can impart purity and steadfastness to human love. They will not only lose heaven, but will fail of the true enjoyment of that for which heaven was sacrificed.
How did the host react?
He 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 lame and the blind.’
The host turned from those who despised his bounty, and invited a class who were not full, who were not in possession of houses and lands. He invited those who were poor and hungry, and who would appreciate the bounties provided.
“The publicans and the harlots,” Christ said, “go into the kingdom of God before you.” Matthew 21:31. However wretched someone may be they are not too low, too wretched, for the notice and love of God.
Christ longs to have care-worn, weary, oppressed human beings come to Him. He longs to give them the light and joy and peace that are to be found nowhere else. The worst of sinners are the objects of His deep, earnest pity and love. He sends His Holy Spirit to yearn over them with tenderness, seeking to draw them to Himself.
Luke 14:22 And the servant said, ‘Master, it is done as you commanded, and still there is room.’
Luke 14:23 Then the master said to the servant, ‘Go out into the highways and hedges, and compel them to come in, that my house may be filled.
The lowest of the lowest were invited to the greatest feast in written history. The main item on the menu was Jesus, the Bread of life.
Luke 14:24 For I say to you that none of those men who were invited shall taste my supper.’ ”
The highways and byways refer to the dogs, the heathen.