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Scripture • World English Bible
Luke 14:15–24
15When one of those who sat at the table with him heard these things, he said to him, “Blessed is he who will feast in God’s Kingdom!”
16But he said to him, “A certain man made a great supper, and he invited many people.
17He sent out his servant at supper time to tell those who were invited, ‘Come, for everything is ready now.’
18They all as one began to make excuses. “The first said to him, ‘I have bought a field, and I must go and see it. Please have me excused.’
19“Another said, ‘I have bought five yoke of oxen, and I must go try them out. Please have me excused.’
20“Another said, ‘I have married a wife, and therefore I can’t come.’
21“That servant came, and told 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 the poor, maimed, blind, and lame.’
22“The servant said, ‘Lord, it is done as you commanded, and there is still room.’
23“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.
24For I tell you that none of those men who were invited will taste of my supper. For many are called, but few are chosen. ’ ”
World English Bible (WEB) • Public Domain
Reflection
In Luke 14:15–24 Jesus tells a parable about a man who prepares a great supper and invites many. When the time comes the invited offer excuses: responsibilities, business, even a new marriage. The host responds by calling in the poor, the maimed, the blind, and the lame—and then into the highways and hedges—because his house must be full. Jesus is exposing two truths about God’s kingdom. First, God’s grace is a present, personal invitation: ‘‘Come, for everything is ready now.’’ The feast is not a future concept only for the morally tidy but a present offer of mercy and restoration. Second, human excuses easily silence obedience. What sounds like legitimate priority—work, family, plans—can become a polite rejection of God’s call.
For men, this cuts against two temptations: pride that assumes we qualify for the feast and a busyness that lets duty replace discipleship. The host’s angry but decisive action shows God’s earnest desire that his house be filled with those who need him. ‘‘Many are called, but few are chosen’’ warns that hearing the invitation isn’t enough; response matters. Choosing Christ is not performance-based merit but a resolute turning to him: accepting the table he sets, leaving excuses behind, and welcoming others into the feast. This passage drives us to examine what we value above God’s kingdom and to act—inviting others, serving the overlooked, and saying yes when Jesus says, “Come.”
Putting Faith Into Action
- Accept an invitation to a church meal or small-group dinner this week and arrive ready to listen, not defend, intentionally sitting with someone who seems overlooked.
- Make a list of two recurring excuses you use that keep you from following Jesus’ call; pray over them, confess them to a trusted brother, and ask him to hold you accountable for one concrete change.
- Invite one person who doesn't yet follow Christ to a simple, no-pressure gathering and clearly say, “Come—everything is ready,” offering to pray with them if they want.
Prayer
Father, thank you that your table is wide and your invitation is urgent: come, for everything is ready. Forgive my excuses and cowardice when your Son calls me to repent, serve, and invite others. Give me courage to leave comforts and calculations behind and to welcome the overlooked with compassion and humility. Make me honest about the priorities that keep me from your kingdom and faithful in the small steps of obedience you give me today. Send your Spirit to open hearts—those I invite and mine—and to fill your house with those who will praise your name. In Jesus’ name, Amen.
Memory Verse
Luke 14:23 — “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. (WEB)
““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.”
Bible Context
Read all of Luke 14
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Bible Context
Read all of Luke 14
Luke 14
World English Bible • WEB
1When he went into the house of one of the rulers of the Pharisees on a Sabbath to eat bread, they were watching him.
2Behold, a certain man who had dropsy was in front of him.
3Jesus, answering, spoke to the lawyers and Pharisees, saying, “Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath?”
4But they were silent. He took him, and healed him, and let him go.
5He answered them, “Which of you, if your son or an ox fell into a well, wouldn’t immediately pull him out on a Sabbath day?”
6They couldn’t answer him regarding these things.
7He spoke a parable to those who were invited, when he noticed how they chose the best seats, and said to them,
8“When you are invited by anyone to a wedding feast, don’t sit in the best seat, since perhaps someone more honorable than you might be invited by him,
9and he who invited both of you would come and tell you, ‘Make room for this person.’ Then you would begin, with shame, to take the lowest place.
10But when you are invited, go and sit in the lowest place, so that when he who invited you comes, he may tell you, ‘Friend, move up higher.’ Then you will be honored in the presence of all who sit at the table with you.
11For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and whoever humbles himself will be exalted.”
12He also said to the one who had invited him, “When you make a dinner or a supper, don’t call your friends, nor your brothers, nor your kinsmen, nor rich neighbors, or perhaps they might also return the favor, and pay you back.
13But when you make a feast, ask the poor, the maimed, the lame, or the blind;
14and you will be blessed, because they don’t have the resources to repay you. For you will be repaid in the resurrection of the righteous.”
15When one of those who sat at the table with him heard these things, he said to him, “Blessed is he who will feast in God’s Kingdom!”
16But he said to him, “A certain man made a great supper, and he invited many people.
17He sent out his servant at supper time to tell those who were invited, ‘Come, for everything is ready now.’
18They all as one began to make excuses. “The first said to him, ‘I have bought a field, and I must go and see it. Please have me excused.’
19“Another said, ‘I have bought five yoke of oxen, and I must go try them out. Please have me excused.’
20“Another said, ‘I have married a wife, and therefore I can’t come.’
21“That servant came, and told 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 the poor, maimed, blind, and lame.’
22“The servant said, ‘Lord, it is done as you commanded, and there is still room.’
23“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.
24For I tell you that none of those men who were invited will taste of my supper. For many are called, but few are chosen. ’ ”
25Now great multitudes were going with him. He turned and said to them,
26“If anyone comes to me, and doesn’t disregard his own father, mother, wife, children, brothers, and sisters, yes, and his own life also, he can’t be my disciple.
27Whoever doesn’t bear his own cross and come after me, can’t be my disciple.
28For which of you, desiring to build a tower, doesn’t first sit down and count the cost, to see if he has enough to complete it?
29Or perhaps, when he has laid a foundation and isn’t able to finish, everyone who sees begins to mock him,
30saying, ‘This man began to build and wasn’t able to finish.’
31Or what king, as he goes to encounter another king in war, will not sit down first and consider whether he is able with ten thousand to meet him who comes against him with twenty thousand?
32Or else, while the other is yet a great way off, he sends an envoy and asks for conditions of peace.
33So therefore, whoever of you who doesn’t renounce all that he has, he can’t be my disciple.
34“Salt is good, but if the salt becomes flat and tasteless, with what do you season it?
35It is fit neither for the soil nor for the manure pile. It is thrown out. He who has ears to hear, let him hear.”
World English Bible (WEB) • Public Domain
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