Here is a multiple-choice question to consider today: Jesus invites you to lunch with Him. How would you respond?
A. I would drop everything on my schedule and make sure I was there.
B. I am busy today, so I would ask to reschedule for later today or tomorrow.
C. That is a nice invitation, but I am not coming.
Which answer would you choose?
An Awesome Invitation
In Matthew 22, Jesus told a parable to the religious leaders who oversaw the temple. It was about a king inviting people to a banquet. What stands out to me is that they turned down the invitation because they thought they had better things to do.
“But they made light of it and went away, one to his farm, another to his business, while the rest seized his slaves, mistreated them, and killed them” (Matthew 22:5).
I would like to think my answer to the multiple-choice question at the start of this article would be to drop everything to meet with Jesus.
The truth is, He has invited each of us to a banquet. We can meet with Him in prayer. Through the Holy Spirit, He is truly present with us, and we can have fellowship with Him just as we would in any other setting.
However, because we cannot see Him, because He is not wearing a physical robe, and because we are not sharing a physical meal, we often put it off. We might say, “I will meet with Him another time,” or ignore the invitation completely. Like those religious leaders, we miss the chance to commune with the greatest being in the universe.
I often write about some of my spiritual heroes, including Dallas Willard, Henry Blackaby, Rufus Moseley, Frank Laubach, and others like them.
What set these heroes apart was that they saw the incredible opportunity to share a banquet with the Lord. They gave Him the first and best moments of their days and spent many hours with Him in prayer. That is what separated them from people who answered the invitation with “another time” or “I’m not coming at all.”
The good news is that the same opportunity is available to us. We may not be heroes of the faith, but we are invited to the banquet all the same.
Everyone Invited
During my devotional time, I have been studying the Gospel of Luke. One thing Luke makes very clear is that Jesus’ ministry reached the full range of humanity. It included women, the poor and struggling, and those who were usually excluded. It also included the successful, the professional class, and those with wealth or influence.
The gospel is clear: it is for everyone. No one should be left out. Jesus emphasized this in His parable:
“Go therefore into the main streets, and invite everyone you find to the wedding banquet. Those slaves went out into the streets and gathered all whom they found, both good and bad, so the wedding hall was filled with guests” (Matthew 22:9-10).
The cross of Jesus Christ should tell us all we need to know about God’s desire to have us sit at His banquet table. God wants us to come to the table, but He also wants us to be those who “go into the main streets and invite everyone you find.”
We don’t have an engraved invitation from God to invite people to the banquet. Instead, our words and deeds serve as God’s method of invitation. Not everyone who is invited will come to the banquet, but those who do will be eternally grateful.
YouTube Discussion
Rudy Ross, Bruce Kirby, and I discussed Matthew 22:1-14 on YouTube today.
Real Voices 