Luke 14:18-20

Those invited refused to participate. They tried to excuse themselves by giving acceptable reasons for not attending the banquet. The three excuses Jesus cited are only representative of many others that other invited guests undoubtedly gave. One man begged off on the ground that he had recently become the owner of some real estate and needed to tend to it. Apparently he was proud of his position as a landowner in his community. Another person with new possessions expressed his greater interest in them than in the invitation. The fact that both of these men inspected their purchases after they bought them shows their love of them since they would undoubtedly have also inspected them before buying them. A third man cited his recent marriage as his excuse implying that pleasure was more important to him. These individuals represent the many who had declined to accept Jesus’ gospel invitation for similar reasons.