Jesus replied with this story: “A man prepared a great feast and sent out many invitations. When the banquet was ready, he sent his servant to tell the guests, ‘Come, the banquet is ready.’ But they all began making excuses. Luke 14:16-18a
Once a guest list is determined, the party thrower sends out an RSVP. They can invite as many people as they know, but the attendance at their party is determined by their invitees' responses to their RSVP. After all, when the invitation is issued, the recipients must respond. The same is true with the invitation Jesus offers. He offers eternal life to all who place their faith in Him, but we have to choose to accept that invitation.
Jesus taught the importance of responding to His invitation to follow Him while He was at a dinner party in Luke 14. In this passage of Scripture, a man at the table said, "What a blessing it will be to attend a banquet in the Kingdom of God!" (verse 15). Jesus responded to this statement with a story, as He was known to do. He told the story about a man who prepared a great party and invited many people (verse 16). When the final preparations for the party were made, this man "sent out his servant to tell the guests, 'Come, the banquet is ready'" (verse 17). Now, one would have expected that once everyone was notified that the party was ready for them to attend, they would all respond by leaving to attend the party. This did not happen in Jesus' parable. Instead, the guests "all began to make excuses" of various kinds for why they could not attend the party (verse 18). This upset the party planner. He had gone to great lengths to invite them and prepare for the party, but none of them would come when the time came for the party to begin.
Of course, Jesus told the story to illustrate something about the Kingdom of God. You see, God has extended an invitation into His kingdom for everyone. He made all of the arrangements to make eternity with Him forever possible, and Jesus was the culmination of His plan. And yet, the religious leaders of His day did not recognize Jesus as God's son. They had not accepted His invitation. This, indeed, must have broken God's heart.
Still today, God has invited us to follow Him and be a part of His kingdom. The question is, how will we respond to this invitation? Will we follow Him with everything in us, or make excuses? I urge you, friend, to follow Him with everything in you. If you do, you will receive the reward of eternal life with Him forever.
How have you responded to Jesus’ invitation to follow Him and place your faith in Him? Maybe you have yet to accept His invitation. What are you waiting for? Maybe you have placed your faith in Him, but you have strayed from Him, living for yourself. Turn to Him today. Commit to turning back to Him and following Him with every step.
Luke 14:15-24
15 Hearing this, a man sitting at the table with Jesus exclaimed, “What a blessing it will be to attend a banquet[a] in the Kingdom of God!”
16 Jesus replied with this story: “A man prepared a great feast and sent out many invitations. 17 When the banquet was ready, he sent his servant to tell the guests, ‘Come, the banquet is ready.’ 18 But they all began making excuses. One said, ‘I have just bought a field and must inspect it. Please excuse me.’ 19 Another said, ‘I have just bought five pairs of oxen, and I want to try them out. Please excuse me.’ 20 Another said, ‘I just got married, so I can’t come.’
21 “The servant returned and told his master what they had said. His master was furious and said, ‘Go quickly into the streets and alleys of the town and invite the poor, the crippled, the blind, and the lame.’ 22 After the servant had done this, he reported, ‘There is still room for more.’ 23 So his master said, ‘Go out into the country lanes and behind the hedges and urge anyone you find to come, so that the house will be full. 24 For none of those I first invited will get even the smallest taste of my banquet.’”
For God’s will was for us to be made holy by the sacrifice of the body of Jesus Christ, once for all time. Hebrews 10:10
Before Jesus took His last breath, He said the phrase, "It is finished" (John 19:30). Another way of translating this phrase is "Paid in full." Indeed, Jesus' sacrifice meant that our sin debt, which we owe to a holy God, is paid in full when we place our faith in Jesus. We do not have to wonder where we stand with God if we have placed our faith in Christ. His sacrifice was more than sufficient for us.
We read about the sufficiency of Jesus' sacrifice in the book of Hebrews. In Hebrews 10, the writer of the book of Hebrews wrote about the sacrifice that Jesus made on the cross. He compared the sacrificial system in the Old Testament to Jesus' sacrifice. The Old Testament sacrificial system required that people repeated sacrifices "again and again" because these sacrifices "were not able to provide perfect cleansing for those who come to worship" (verse 1). Instead of providing "perfect cleansing" for those who offered sacrifices, these sacrifices "reminded them of their sins year after year" (verse 3). These sacrifices represented God's more excellent plan: Jesus. The writer of Hebrew explains that "God's will was for us to be made holy by the sacrifice of the body of Jesus Christ, once for all time” (verse 10). Because Christ’s sacrifice was “once for all time,” when we place our faith in Him, our sins are fully forgiven. There are no other sacrifices needed. We do not have to do anything to earn or work for forgiveness. This forgiveness is fully offered through the blood of Jesus when he died on the cross as a sacrifice for the sins of humanity.
As I think about Jesus' sufficient, "once for all time" sacrifice, the lyrics from the hymn "In Christ Alone" ring in my head: "No guilt in life, no fear in death, this is the power of Christ in me." Because of the blood that Christ shed on the cross, we do not have to live in guilt over sin, trying to earn God's favor and forgiveness. His sacrifice is sufficient. We can rest confidently, standing firm on the blood that Jesus shed on the cross for us.
Write a prayer of praise to Christ. In your prayer, praise Him and thank Him for His perfect and sufficient sacrifice on the cross on your behalf. Commit to walking in confidence and joy in light of His perfect sacrifice on your behalf.
Hebrews 10:1-18
1 The old system under the law of Moses was only a shadow, a dim preview of the good things to come, not the good things themselves. The sacrifices under that system were repeated again and again, year after year, but they were never able to provide perfect cleansing for those who came to worship. 2 If they could have provided perfect cleansing, the sacrifices would have stopped, for the worshipers would have been purified once for all time, and their feelings of guilt would have disappeared.
3 But instead, those sacrifices actually reminded them of their sins year after year. 4 For it is not possible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins. 5 That is why, when Christ came into the world, he said to God,
“You did not want animal sacrifices or sin offerings. But you have given me a body to offer. 6 You were not pleased with burnt offerings or other offerings for sin. 7 Then I said, ‘Look, I have come to do your will, O God— as is written about me in the Scriptures.’”
8 First, Christ said, “You did not want animal sacrifices or sin offerings or burnt offerings or other offerings for sin, nor were you pleased with them” (though they are required by the law of Moses). 9 Then he said, “Look, I have come to do your will.” He cancels the first covenant in order to put the second into effect. 10 For God’s will was for us to be made holy by the sacrifice of the body of Jesus Christ, once for all time.
11 Under the old covenant, the priest stands and ministers before the altar day after day, offering the same sacrifices again and again, which can never take away sins. 12 But our High Priest offered himself to God as a single sacrifice for sins, good for all time. Then he sat down in the place of honor at God’s right hand. 13 There he waits until his enemies are humbled and made a footstool under his feet. 14 For by that one offering he forever made perfect those who are being made holy.
15 And the Holy Spirit also testifies that this is so. For he says,
16 “This is the new covenant I will make with my people on that day, says the Lord: I will put my laws in their hearts, and I will write them on their minds.”
17 Then he says,
“I will never again remember their sins and lawless deeds.”
18 And when sins have been forgiven, there is no need to offer any more sacrifices.
©2025 Sagebrush Church
