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28th Sermon of Jesus... The Parable of the Great Supper
(March 27, 1872)

Luke 14:16-24
"Then he said unto him, A certain man made a great supper, and bade many: and sent his servant at supper time to say to them that were bidden, Come; for all things are now ready. And they all with one consent began to make excuse. The first said unto him, I have bought a piece of ground, and I must needs go and see it: I pray thee have me excused. And another said, I have bought five yoke of oxen, and I got to prove them: I pray thee have me excused. And another said, I have married a wife, and therefore I cannot come. So that servant came, and shewed his lord these things. Then the master of the house being angry said to his servant, Go out quickly into the streets and lanes of the city, and bring in hither the poor, and the maimed, and the halt, and the blind. And the servant said. Lord, It is done as thou hast commanded, and yet there is room. And the lord said unto the servant, Go out into the highways and hedges, and compel them to come in, that my house may be filled. For I say unto you. That none of those men which were bidden shall taste of my supper."

This parable shows to you My striving to win mankind for Myself and My teaching. On another occasion I said that I have not come to those who are whole, but to those who are sick so that they may be healed. I also showed what they must be like who want to approach Me and My table, that modesty or humility must be the predominant attribute of a person who wants to follow Me. Thus, the further verses of this chapter clearly point out that he who wants to follow Me, must free his heart from all that is of the world and wholly submit to Me.

Therefore, everyone, before he decides to follow Me, should ask himself whether he possesses strength and perseverance to confess and defend My teaching of love and faith under all circumstances. As I have repeatedly reminded you, - to follow Me, to hear My words and live accordingly, is a serious matter which must not be taken lightly, for only those who know the law, or My will, and still offend against it, although their conscience warns them, are responsible in the strictest sense and, therefore, sinners. In view of this, it also says at the end of this chapter: "Who has ears to hear, let him hear!" In other words: My words should not be heard and then disregarded, but should be taken to heart, pondered well, and then complied with!

Coming back now to the actual parable of the Great Supper, we have to begin, as in most cases, with the interpretation of the words, if the deeper meaning of My speech is to emerge clearly. I said: "A certain man made a great supper." A supper is equivalent to an evening meal. What does that denote? First, we have to interpret these two words in more detail before we go into the meaning of the complete term as used by Me in the parable.

The word "evening" denotes the latter part of the day, when work has ended and rest and recuperation is sought during the night until the morning. Thus, the evening is actually the cope- stone for all the day's activity. And if the evening is to bring rest and satisfaction, all that had been planned in the morning must have been dutifully completed during the day.

It is obvious that a man who has worked and been active all day long is anxious in the evening to regain his used-up strength so as to be able to follow his trade on the following day. And since the body, and indirectly also the soul, by taking in food seeks to replace what has been used up during the day, the physical need, as well as the mental, leads most people to a meal which, since it is taken in the evening, is described as an "evening meal", distinguishing it from the "midday meal", taken at noon and serving a similar need. And since this is not followed by a long rest and regaining of strength, but by further work, it can only be described as a small rest on the road, whereas the evening meal at the end of the day invites not only to a rest, but also to survey what has been accomplished during the day, giving relaxation and satisfaction only to him who can sit down at the table with the calm conviction of having done all that his duty or his conscience required him to do.

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