There is a sharp contrast in today’s Gospel reading between the opening expression of joy and thanksgiving expressed at the table with Jesus and the overshadowing sadness of the parable. Throughout the Gospels Jesus uses table fellowship and parables about banquets to announce the joy of God’s love for us all.
At least one person at the table with Jesus realized what was happening. He was attentive to his life and God’s action in his life. Being part of the table fellowship, the sense of community, pardon, love, and peace lead him to bless and praise God. He sees the table fellowship and the action of God in his life as a precursor and manifestation of the Kingdom of God. He exclaims in joy and blesses God. He made a public expression of his faith and experience. He was not petitioning God for something, rather he bursts out in joy publicly proclaiming his faith.
God had prepared Israel for centuries for the arrival of the Messiah and the Kingdom of God. Yet as Jesus points out through this parable, those who were most prepared, had the most information and more responsibility, simply did not care to participate and had other values. The parable states very clearly that land, animals, and wives (business, investments, personal life or personal pleasure) are seen as more important by many than being part of the Kingdom of God and proclaiming our joy from experiencing God’s presence. Rather than being part of the joy, they asked to be excused from a responsibility. Religions built on legal responsibilities and rigid laws, rather than experiences of joy, tend to produce a sense of obligation and a need to escape. This is the point of sadness in the parable.
But in the end of the parable, the host of the banquet invites all: the poor and the crippled, the blind and the lame, plus anyone who just happened to be in the streets and plazas. He opened up his banquet to all, especially the folks who would not normally be invited. The joy of the table fellowship and the banquet is extended to all.
Hopefully we are not like those who asked to be excused. Hopefully we all identify ourselves as being part of the crippled, lame and blind who should not be in the Kingdom of God, who through no right of our own find ourselves in the Kingdom of God surrounded by his love. Hopefully our response is to publicly praise God and share our faith openly.
Blessed is the one who will dine in the Kingdom of God.
Image: https://timehrhardt.com/2022/08/31/luke-1415-24-the-parable-of-the-great-banquet/