With the words of Jesus still very fresh in the ears of His hearers at the meal of the house of this Pharisee, and with the very clear context that Luke is providing with his careful, narrative presentation of the life of Jesus weighing heavily upon the minds of reader and hearer alike, we then go on to read “When one of those at the meal with Jesus heard this, he said to Him, ‘Blessed is everyone who will feast in the kingdom of God!’” (14:15) As it arrives upon the heels of Jesus’ extraordinarily provocative statements to His hosts and those in attendance, as He has been properly re-casting and renewing Isaiah’s vision, the statement continues the unmistakable theme of the messianic banquet. This hearer has been alert to the criticism that has been leveled against those that wanted to narrow down the list of attendees, continue the separation of Israel from the nations, and exclude those that were looked upon as undeserving or unworthy of having a hand or place in God’s kingdom. This alertness apparently leads him to embrace Jesus’ re-opening of the table (a regular feature of His ministry to be sure), hoping to counter the judgment that he rightly senses is coming.
The one who closely tracks the narrative that is being provided knows full well that Jesus is offering a critique, and therefore, the epithets of “hypocrite” and the pronouncements of woe that have been a regular feature of Luke’s presentation and our analysis (even if only implicit), are once again about to be leveled against many in attendance. The words of “blessed is everyone” are a rightful extension of the blessings of the Abrahamic covenant by this speaker, and a clear acceptance of Jesus’ insistence that the notions of exclusion that surrounded the idea of the messianic banquet in Jesus’ day were most certainly not in line with the intentions of the God of Israel; but unfortunately, not all are going to be able to take this step and come into agreement with Jesus on this matter.
Owing to the genius of Luke’s construction, as soon as we hear Jesus begin speaking in response to the statement, we understand the transcendent nature of Jesus’ words. Because the messianic banquet in clearly at the fore, and because of the mention of the kingdom of God (the coming of which was indissolubly linked to the presence of the messiah---the Lord’s physical presence among and for His people), as soon as Jesus says “A man once gave a great banquet and invited many guests” (14:16b), we know that the banquet is that of the messiah and that the “man” in question is the God of Israel. This is prefaced by “But Jesus said to him” (14:16a). This does not signal a disagreement with what has been said, but rather, based on what is to come, a sense of disappointment that not all will readily assent to the vision that has been cast. Jesus continues and says, “At the time for the banquet he sent his slave to tell those who had been invited, ‘Come, because everything is now ready.’” (14:17) If the man giving the banquet is Israel’s God, then the slave in question is His messiah.
Before moving on, a little background by way of social custom is necessary here, as it will shed some Christological light on the situation. We have been discussing standard meal practice throughout this study when useful, and here, it is once again useful so that we do not miss important points due to nothing more than a lack of familiarity with custom. Banquets would have been important events within a community. They would have been community-wide celebrations. Well before the day of the banquet, the presumptive host would send a representative into the community, with invitations, in order to secure an accurate count on affirmative responses. This is what is taking place at the beginning of the parable upon which Jesus has embarked. This is also a two-step process. Well before the banquet, the invitations would be extended and the count confirmed. On the day of the banquet, once the meal was prepared, the representative would go to the houses of those invited, with the announcement that the meal was ready and that it was now time to join the host at the banquet.
These steps are important for a number of reasons, not the least of which would be the ability to prepare a proper amount of food. Not only would there be a need to prepare an appropriate amount of food, but with the social stratifications that were at work in the community, the advance invitations would allow the host to be sure that he was going to be hosting a well-balanced meal---not in the area of the food that is being served, but in the guest list. A host would want to make sure that the right numbers of the right types of people were accepting his invitations and were planning on being in attendance at his banquet. He would want to have the right mix of upper class and lower class, as this would not only bring him the requisite honor that would have been desired, but it could also serve as a demonstration of his own grace and compassion. Additionally, an imbalance that saw too few upper class and too many lower class would be viewed as an insult to the upper class guest. Indeed, the customs of the honor and shame society present a precarious tightrope to be walked.
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