Trinity 2, 2023

Seminarian Ezekiel Grabau

Trinity 2

Everything is Ready, Come and Get it!

Text: Luke 14:16–24 (ESV)

In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.

“Suppertime! Come and get it!” Mom shouts out the back door. Her youngest son is playing in the sandbox out back. The two older boys are building a fort in the woods that mark the edge of the property. Pa is working in the garden, measuring out the rows for planting later this week. None of them moves. Mom gets the old metal bell and rings it shouting again, “Supper’s ready! Come and get it while its hot!” Some of the boys look up, but none of them want to stop. In impatience she shouts, “If none of you come and eat, I’ll feed your supper to the dog!” If no one comes, no one will get their dinner.

In our Gospel reading, Jesus tells a parable to the Pharisees who have invited him to their banquet. Though missing from today’s pericope, Jesus is responding to one guest’s exclamation, “Blessed is everyone who eats bread in the kingdom of God!” Following the theme, Jesus compares the kingdom of God to a banquet. The question then that Christ seeks to answer is 

WHO WILL EAT BREAD IN THE KINGDOM OF GOD?

    (I.         Surely not the ones who make excuses to reject the invitation.)

  (II.         Only the poor, crippled, blind, lame, and the people on the roads and in the hedges.)

I.

Jesus shows clearly that the ones who make excuses and reject the invitation shall surely not eat bread in the kingdom of God. Who are such people? Well certainly the Pharisees to whom Jesus told this parable. The Pharisees that Jesus was speaking to have already rejected him. At a previous supper, Jesus pronounced his woes upon them because they loved honor more than God’s people. Since then, the Pharisees had been trying to catch him in something he would say (Luke 11:53–54). Their rejection of Jesus is far more serious than any of them realized. Jesus is the Christ, the promised Messiah that the people of Israel had been waiting for. In Luke 17, the Pharisees ask Jesus to tell them when the kingdom of God would come and Jesus answers saying, “behold, the kingdom of God is in the midst of you” (21). The irony is that Jesus Christ is the kingdom of God among them. Though his coming is without the signs that the Jews expected, Jesus Christ is Immanuel, God with us. Moses and the Prophets, which the scribes and Pharisees had studied with legalistic fervor, had told of this coming Messiah. So why do they reject their savior?  

They count the honor of this world more valuable than Christ. Just like the Pharisees should have known and received the Christ with open arms, those who were invited in the parable should have known that the banquet was coming. The man had already sent out the invitations and when the time came for the supper and no one showed, he sent out his servant to tell them “Come for everything is now ready” (16–17).  But instead of eagerly attending, the invitees make excuses and reject their invitation. The first because of a new field, another a new set of oxen, and yet another a new wife (17­–20). These characters considered their own happiness more important than the celebration held by the master of the house. Likewise the Pharisees considered their place of honor among the people more valuable than the kingdom of God. They saw in Jesus only a threat to their power and responded by trying to turn the people against him. But these religious leaders along with the scribes and Sadducees would fail to trap Jesus in his words. Instead, they would have to put him to death to stop him (Luke 22:2).

We too are tempted to reject the Gospel in favor of the things of this world. It is easy to point out the people in our day and age who live like the Pharisees. You know people who call Christianity a religion with good morals and Jesus a great teacher, but never admit that salvation is found in Christ and his Church alone. You know people who switch from one congregation to another because they are looking for a place they like, or more accurately that likes them, rather than looking for the place where God’s Word is taught in its truth and purity. You know people who do not care about the faithful administration of the sacraments, but instead complain, “the service of the sacrament takes too much time” or “regular reception makes the Lord’s Supper feel less special” or “I don’t really need to receive the sacrament weekly.”  

The temptation to value earthly honor and your own time over receiving the gifts of the Gospel threatens to overtake you as well. Getting your work done on time feels more important than gathering around the Word of God with your families. Your reputation among your unbelieving friends and family members seems more valuable than confessing what you believe. You want to spend the short time of rest you have on the weekends doing what you want to do and not coming to the Divine Service. The truth is that even the good things of this world can rise up like weeds and choke our trust in God. When they do, we make excuses for ourselves. We say that the work has to be done and the Word can come later. We say that living in peace is more important than truth. We say that our time is our own and we should choose how to spend it.

In all these things, we make what honor and happiness we can achieve more important than what God is offering us. We begin to reject Christ and his Gospel, like those who made excuses not to attend the banquet. We should view this behavior with fear and trembling for those who reject Christ will not taste of his banquet (24). There can be no doubt that the one who rejects the Gospel, Christ, and the means of grace, can not and will not enter into the kingdom of God. Who then will eat bread in the kingdom of God?     

II.

Only the poor, crippled, blind, lame, and the people on the roads and in the hedges (21–23). Jesus Christ came to bring such outcasts to the table of God. From the beginning, Jesus’ ministry had been to the poor, the crippled, the blind, and the lame. In Luke 4, Jesus declares that the words of Isaiah have been fulfilled in him. He came to proclaim good news to the poor and recovery of sight to the blind (17–21). Again when questioned about whether or not he was the Christ, Jesus points to the fulfillment of promises in the book of Isaiah that the blind would receive their sight, the lame walk, and the poor have good news preached to them (Luke 7:22–23).

Such individuals, the poor, the physically disabled, and the ill, were outcasts of society. They were left on the side of the roads to beg. They were avoided and considered unclean. They were left without any honor or happiness in the world. This is the state we find ourselves in when confronted by the law. When the job falls through and the economy is failing, you realize how poor you are. When your reputation is ruined by conflicts and scandal, you realize how blind you are. When your time is taken away from you by injuries and sickness, you realize how crippled you are. But it was for you that Jesus Christ came.  

Though we are the poor, crippled, blind, and lame who have been rejected by the world, the Son of God came into the world to save us. He gave up the riches of heaven to live in poverty on earth. He took our sickness and infirmities upon himself. He was blindfolded and beaten before being nailed to the cross. He was abandoned there by his Father so that we might be brought into table-fellowship with the Father.

This gift is given most certainly in the Lord’s Supper. In this sacrament we receive the body and blood of Christ shed for us on the cross. We taste and see the goodness of God having been reconciled to Him because of Christ’s sacrifice. This feast is not for those who have attained worldly honor. Certainly not for those who despise the sacrifice of Christ for their own time. Our Lord offers his body and blood to sinners. He compels us to his table with the words, “Given for you” and “shed for you for the forgiveness of sins.” When we hear this Gospel preached to us and receive his body and blood, Jesus restores us into fellowship with the Father. Here you see that all the work has been accomplished in Christ and you can receive the blessings prepared for you. Here you see that God has called together a family united in confessing the truth. Here you see the rest that Christ has called you to and a peace that the world cannot give.

Though we are tempted by the things of this world, the call of the Gospel remains. Certainly we cannot deny that the weeds continue to flourish around us. Though our Lord has provided a foretaste of the feast to come, in his mercy, he permits us to continue abiding in the world until he comes again in glory. We then live as the servants of the Lord. There is still room around the table of Jesus Christ and our Lord desires his house to be filled (22­–23). We must therefore continue to proclaim that Christ has made ready the kingdom of God for all mankind by his death and resurrection. We must be willing to send out the invitation even into the highways and hedges. Many will reject this message. Many will make excuses. Many will deny that they are poor, crippled, blind, and lame. But the call of the Gospel remains. All things are now ready. They are ready for you and all whom the Lord our God will call.

Mom may say that she would feed the boys’ supper to the dog, but the food is not meant for the dog. The food she has prepared is for her husband and for her sons, even if they are late in coming and covered in grime when they come into the house. Jesus Christ has prepared a place for us in the kingdom of God. He has given his body and blood as a foretaste of the heavenly feast for sinners like you and I. So I declare to you, “come for everything is now ready.”

In the name of Jesus.