One of his fellow guests on hearing this said to him, “Blessed is the one who will dine in the kingdom of God.” 16 He replied to him, “A man gave a great dinner to which he invited many. 17 When the time for the dinner came, he dispatched his servant to say to those invited, ‘Come, everything is now ready.’ 18 But one by one, they all began to excuse themselves. The first said to him, ‘I have purchased a field and must go to examine it; I ask you, consider me excused.’ 19 And another said, ‘I have purchased five yoke of oxen and am on my way to evaluate them; I ask you, consider me excused.’ 20 And another said, ‘I have just married a woman, and therefore I cannot come.’ 21 The servant went and reported this to his master. Then the master of the house in a rage commanded his servant, ‘Go out quickly into the streets and alleys of the town and bring in here the poor and the crippled, the blind and the lame.’ 22 The servant reported, ‘Sir, your orders have been carried out and still there is room.’ 23 The master then ordered the servant, ‘Go out to the highways and hedgerows and make people come in that my home may be filled. 24 For, I tell you, none of those men who were invited will taste my dinner.’”
Jesus is still at table when a guest says, “Blessed is the one who will dine in the kingdom of God” (v. 15). Jesus answers with a parable that shows the kingdom as a prepared feast and exposes why some never taste it.
In Scripture, God’s salvation is pictured as a banquet (Is. 25:6-8). Divine Wisdom also “prepares a banquet” and calls the simple to come and live (Prov. 9:1-6). Jesus now declares that the banquet is no longer a promise on the horizon but a table already set. When the master sends his servant to announce, “Come, everything is now ready” (v. 17), it means that in Jesus, the time of fulfillment has arrived.
The first invitees offer excuses (vv. 18-20). None of the reasons is evil. A field, oxen, and marriage are good gifts. Yet the parable shows how even good things can become barriers when they are given priority over the Giver. Luke often warns that possessions and plans, if loved out of order, dampen our response to God’s call (cf. Lk. 8:14; 12:16-21). The refusal is not about scheduling conflicts; it is about misplaced love.
The master’s response is swift and generous. He sends the servant to gather “the poor and the crippled, the blind and the lame” (v. 21). This echoes Jesus’ teaching earlier at the same meal about inviting those who cannot repay (Lk. 14:13). The kingdom welcomes precisely those who bring no claim. The reversal theme is unmistakable: those assumed to be far off are brought near, while those first invited exclude themselves.
“Still there is room” (v. 22). The command widens: “Go out to the highways and hedgerows” (v. 23). The image fits Luke’s broader pattern of the Gospel reaching beyond Israel to the nations (cf. Lk. 2:30-32; 24:47; Acts 1:8). The servant’s task is urgent and outward-facing. The master wants a full house. The feast is not scarce; grace is abundant.
The closing warning clarifies the stakes. “None of those men who were invited will taste my dinner” (v. 24). The exclusion is self-chosen. Refusing the invitation becomes its own judgment. In Luke, the great danger is not violent hostility but quiet indifference. The table stands ready; absence reveals the heart.
Taken together, the parable explains the kingdom in plain terms. God prepares a feast in His Son; He sends servants to announce that everything is ready; many decline because lesser goods are given priority; the humble and overlooked are welcomed; the invitation keeps widening until the house is full. The blessing spoken at the table (v. 15) is true, but it belongs to those who come.
Lord Jesus, thank you that the table is set. Prioritize our loves, free us from excuses, and make us ready to come when you call. Amen.
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Sources and References:
• The Holy Bible, New American Bible, Revised Edition (2011).
• The Navarre Bible: St. Luke, Faculty of the University of Navarre (2008).
• The Paulist Biblical Commentary, ed. Chiu et al. (2018), “Luke.”
• Raymond E. Brown et al., The New Jerome Biblical Commentary (1990), “Luke.”
• Bernard Orchard et al., A Catholic Commentary on Holy Scripture (1953), “Luke.”
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