Returning again to the banquet, it is now time to examine the response of the spurned master. As has been noted, Jesus reports that “the master of the household was furious” (14:21b). With Jesus having said this, a level of expectation has been created among His hearers. It must be certainly be said that Jesus, among other things, is a masterful story-teller. Along with that, the for-too-long-overlooked theological genius of His biographers such as Luke, by their care taken with the Jesus tradition, and their placement of the stories within their narratives as they sought to aid Christ’s church in its kingdom service, only serves to magnify the brilliance of His stories This man of whom Jesus speaks has been publicly humiliated. How and to whom will he now direct his anger? To the surprise of Jesus’ hearers, the man in question does not respond in a manner that would have been expected. He does not plot revenge or engage in a competitive response to this direct assault on his honor. Rather, he “said to his slave, ‘Go out quickly to the streets and alleys of the city, and bring in the poor, the crippled, the blind, and the lame.’” (14:21c).
Quite rightly, Jesus has now funneled the instructions previously provided to His host into the parable that is now on offer, bringing His vision of the messianic banquet to the fore. Yes, this is quite unexpected. The master has reprocessed his anger into the extension of gracious invitations to those who would not normally have been invited to such an occasion. Though this speaks well of the master, let us not forget that his original invitation did not include these people. There was an original guest list, and these individuals were not to be found on that list. Had they lived up to that to which they had previously obligated themselves, the gracious actions of the master would not be taking place.
Because we previously indicated that God could be viewed as the master of this banquet, does that mean that it had never been God’s intention to be gracious? Well, as we place the God of Israel in the role of the master, and as we place Israel in the role of the invited guests who are not living up to expectations, let us consider that God had chosen this specific people to be His intermediaries in the world. Through them, God had intended to bring about His rule and the restoration of His creation. Yes, the eschatological banquet that marked the restoration of God’s rule was going to be for all people, but if all had gone according to the plan that we see in the covenants of God (from Abraham through Israel), all peoples would have been able to enjoy the gracious rule of God in the restored creation because Israel had been effective within God’s plan for His special and chosen people.
God had promised His people that their failure (violation of the basic covenant requirements---especially that of idolatry) would lead to conquering and exile. Because Isaiah writes in association with the first conquering and its associated exile, we see that success on the part of Israel was not to be the case. Now the work that had been slated for Israel was going to be thrown open to the whole of humanity, with this work order channeled through a singular messiah---the human through whom God Himself would act on behalf of Israel and the world. Not only were all peoples going to be able to enjoy the messianic banquet and the kingdom ruled by God that the banquet signaled, but now all peoples, through an allegiance to the One who represented Israel, were going to have a hand in the manifestation and extension of that kingdom.
As we consider the new invitees, we are reminded that these were the same types of people who, in some circles in Jesus’ day, were considered unworthy of entrance into the messianic feast. Yes, though these people were not necessarily subject to oppression, they were something along the lines of social outcasts, and they most probably would not normally be welcomed by a host that had a reputation, his honor, and the honor of his guests to consider. Beyond that, in a way that is also reflective of the words that Jesus had shared with His own host, this man has invited people who would not be able to repay him (14:12). This is unspoken in the parable. What is also unspoken, but here communicated by Jesus and the narrative, is that this master can expect to “be repaid at the resurrection of the righteous” (14:14b). This resurrection of the righteous, of course, was the great eschatological hope, in connection with the renewal of God’s good created world.
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