Daily Bible Reading 22nd October 2026 // Luke 14:15-24
15 When one of those who reclined at table with him heard these things, he said to him, “Blessed is everyone who will eat bread in the kingdom of God!” 16 But he said to him, “A man once gave a great banquet and invited many. 17 And at the time for the banquet he sent his servant to say to those who had been invited, ‘Come, for everything is now ready.’ 18 But they all alike began to make excuses. The first said to him, ‘I have bought a field, and I must go out and see it. Please excuse me.’ 19 And another said, ‘I have bought five yoke of oxen, and I am going to examine them. Please excuse me.’ 20 And another said, ‘I have married a wife, and therefore I cannot come.’ 21 So the servant came and reported these things to his master. Then the master of the house became angry and said to his servant, ‘Go out quickly to the streets and lanes of the city, and bring in the poor and crippled and blind and lame.’ 22 And the servant said, ‘Sir, what you commanded has been done, and still there is room.’ 23 And the master said to the servant, ‘Go out to the highways and hedges and compel people to come in, that my house may be filled. 24 For I tell you, none of those men who were invited shall taste my banquet.’”
While Jesus spoke, one of the guests was obviously listening intently to Him, and applauding in his mind what He was saying. He saw that if this was the kingdom of God whose principles Jesus was enunciating, it was something eminently to be desired, hence his exclamation in 15. It was in answer to this exclamation that Jesus told the parable. Jesus did not deny the blessedness of the kingdom of God in the story - indeed, He emphasised it supremely. But what in effect He did say was this: You admire the ideal I have set before you, but are you prepared to embrace it, and act upon it? Yes, men admire the ideal, but they will not enter into the kingdom, in spite of their admiration. When it comes to the point of invitation, men begin to make excuses. Confronted with the personal issue, which involves them in a personal decision, a personal commitment, they react against it, and will not come to Christ. In this sense, to use the words in 13:23, there are few that be saved because so many refused to come. The invitation into the kingdom is refused because the cost of being made the kind of people who can inhabit that kingdom is too great. This is the point. It is one thing to agree with its message in theory, but the rub comes when men see what it really entails. We shall continue this thought in tomorrow's Note.