In this compelling message, Pastor Jack delves into the essence of being a Christian and the longing for perfection. Through the Parable of the Great Supper found in Luke 14, we learn about God’s joyous invitation to all people and the excuses that can prevent us from accepting. Understand the prophetic fulfillment in Jesus’ actions and what it means to embrace the light as God’s children.
If you had to describe the ministry of the Messiah, the gospel ministry of Jesus, what characteristic could you apply to that ministry? It would be the characteristic of light. God is the God of light. The Bible says that God is light and in him is no darkness, none at all.
SPEAKER 01 :
This is Real Life. Welcome to Real Life Radio with Pastor Jack Hibbs. I’m David Jay, thanking you for joining us today as we listen, learn, and are challenged by God’s Word, the Bible.
SPEAKER 02 :
Well, friends, listen, it’s been two years here at the Real Life Network, and God has been so good to us. God put it on our hearts to create a network that would be cancel-free, censorship-free, uncompromising, so that we could bring the truth to anyone, anywhere. God has been so good to us these last two years, everybody, and we want to thank all of you. So today, we are amazed that over 70 million people minutes of biblical worldview truth has been on our programming and viewed by you, the audience, on The Real Life Network. Every piece of our content on The Real Life Network is rooted in God’s Word so that it’s safe, it’s secure. So listen, spread the word with us, will you? Encourage friends and family to join The Real Life Network and that we might grow together this community of believers all around the world.
SPEAKER 01 :
So if you haven’t checked it out already, that’s The Real Life Network, streaming the best in Christian and conservative content. Sign up and start streaming today for free at reallifenetwork.com. That’s reallifenetwork.com. On today’s edition of Real Life Radio, Pastor Jack now continues with his series called The Parables of Jesus and a message titled Parable of the Great Supper. Whenever Jesus spoke to the crowds, he often spoke using relatable stories with common everyday themes, and the Bible calls these parables. Jesus shared this parable during his last week here on earth. And Jesus extends an invitation to all of us. Anyone who answers his invitation will not walk in darkness, but have the light of life. And today, Pastor Jack teaches that an invitation to a great supper requires a response, right? But when it comes to Jesus, many will make excuses why they can’t come. Now, with his message called Parable of the Great Supper, here’s pastor and Bible teacher Jack Hibbs.
SPEAKER 02 :
And Lord, I’m reminded of the devotion this morning by Spurgeon. I think he was talking about how we as Christians should be marked by joy. And that we of all people should be ones who understand the word. If we understand the word, we’ll be a very, very happy people no matter what circumstances are going on. Because we know how this whole thing works out in the end. And you’re on your throne. Nothing has changed. And the world around us is like a tornado. but you abide forever, and every day we wake up, we are one day closer to seeing you forever face to face. How awesome is that? There’s gonna be a day when we get to take you by the finger, and you are going to go through that thing, and maybe you’ll even act like you don’t know, so we can get even more excited when we say, Lord, look at that! And you go, oh my! How sweet that moment will be. Lord, fill us with your joy and with your Holy Spirit. We ask now in Jesus’ name and all God’s people said, amen. Grab your Bibles tonight and turn now as we get into the 11th parable of our study. Turn in Luke chapter 14. Luke 14. Tonight we’re looking at the parable of the great supper. The parable of the great supper, and what you want to be careful about as you go through a study of the parables, this is not the marriage supper of the lamb, that’s different. There’s various gatherings, there’s parables that have very similar settings, so you want to be sure you read them carefully. This one found in Luke’s gospel, the great supper, and if you want to put a different title on it, it would be maybe the great invite. It’s really about God inviting all men and women, boys and girls, to be with him in heaven. But the parable is known as the great supper, and Luke chapter 14, just park your finger right there right now in your note taking, excuse me, you’re gonna want to write down a few things. Keeping this in mind, that for example, In the book of Isaiah, chapter 9, verse 1, the Bible says, Nevertheless, the gloom will not be upon her who is distressed, as when at first he lightly esteemed the land of Zebulun. Listen carefully to this. and the land of Naphtali, and afterward more heavily oppressed her. By the way of the sea beyond the Jordan in the Galilee of the Gentiles, the people who walked in darkness have seen a great light. Your ears are starting to perk up. You recognize this. Those who dwelt in the land of the shadow of death, upon them a light has shined. You know where this is going? This is the famous, awesome, prophetic announcement of the ministry of the Messiah. Isaiah prophesies about this. Matthew chapter four, in your note taking, just write it down next to your margins, right next to this parable, Matthew 4.12 says, now when Jesus had heard that John had been put in prison, that’s John the Baptist, he departed to Galilee. Galilee. And leaving Nazareth, he came and dwelt in Capernaum, which is by the sea in the regions of Zebulon and Naphtali. Why did he do this? Matthew tells us that this Jesus did because the Old Testament prophesied that the Messiah would do that. By the way, Jesus’ life from his inception all the way through to his ascension was all laid out in the Old Testament scriptures. And this is one more event where as we get into the parable of the great supper, Jesus is shown or seen as one casting light. He’s a light giver, meaning that wherever he went, he would bring enlightenment and understanding or the opportunity, I should say, of that to all those who would listen. And so the ministry, if you had to describe the ministry of the Messiah, the gospel ministry of Jesus, what characteristic could you apply to that ministry? It would be the characteristic of light. God is the God of light. The Bible says that God is light and in him is no darkness, none at all. In John chapter eight, verse 12, it says there, John 8, 12, Jesus spoke to them again, saying, I am the what? Light of the world, and he who believes in me shall not walk in darkness. By the way, listen, this is a characteristic trait. God is light, and his children, how do you know if you’re a Christian? Because listen, his kids, will walk in light. Look what it says. That he who follows me shall not walk in darkness. A child of God will not be happy in darkness. A child of God will repulse darkness. Can’t stand darkness. Doesn’t want anything to do with darkness. But he goes on there and says, but have the light of life. Isn’t that awesome? The Christian, because the power of God has illuminated our lives and have saved us, we are renewed and given the mind of Christ, the Bible tells us, and we’re being changed and transformed. We love the light. We come to the light. We wanna come to the light. The Bible says in John 3 that we gravitate toward the light as the children of God because we want our deeds exposed. Listen, a non-believer hides their deeds, doesn’t want them to be exposed. This is an important thing to know. We need to be discerning and understanding when we talk about the great supper and who will be there and who will not be there. It’s rather simple. A Christian, I’m not saying they’re sinless. I’m not saying they’re perfect. But a Christian longs to be perfect. A Christian longs to be sinless, even though we will fail at that. And we won’t be that way until the day we die. Think of that. The moment you and I breathe our last breath here, we enter into perfection. And the glorious thing about perfection is that you and I are perfected. Amen. No more temptation. No more aberrant craving of the flesh or wandering of the mind. Cleansed. Wow. We long for that moment. All of that is… a setup to where we’re going in this parable. Note takers, mark this down, Luke chapter 14. This parable, we know, was spoken by Jesus during his last week on earth, his Passion Week, between Palm Sunday and Resurrection Sunday morning, that week, there in Jerusalem. In fact, let’s do this. Are you there in the Bible, Luke 14? Are you there? You wanna follow along with me? Look at verse one. We’ll start by background, verse one, although our study is in verses 15 to 24. Let’s look at this right now, verse one. Now it happened as he, Jesus, went into the house of one of the rulers of the Pharisees to eat bread on the Sabbath. Oh, that’s a loaded declaration right there. This is gonna be exciting. So Jesus is in the house of some pretty cynical people. And they watched him closely. And behold, there was a certain man before him who had dropsy. The word dropsy, his extremities would swell up. Maybe he would retain water. His ankles, his hands would swell up unnaturally. It’s very sad. And behold, there was a certain man before him who had dropsy. And Jesus, verse 3, answering, spoke to the lawyers and the Pharisees. The lawyers not at law. These are lawyers of theological matters. Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath? Yes. But they kept silent. And he took him and healed him and let him go. You can hear the man run out of the house. He goes running out, door flies open. Then he answered them saying, which of you having a donkey or an ox? that has fallen into a pit will not immediately pull him out on the Sabbath day? Of course, if your donkey falls into a hole, doesn’t matter what day of the week it is, you’re gonna rescue your donkey. You can’t get around town without your donkey. You can’t go on a trip without your donkey. You’re not gonna let your donkey be stuck in that pit. You love your donkey. And they could not answer him regarding these things. Actually, yes, they could. They wouldn’t. They knew the answer. But they wouldn’t answer him. Verse seven, so he told a parable. Look what spawns the parable. They’re sitting there in silence. They already know the answer, but they’re not willing to say it. Hey, listen, do you know the answer to this question? Who’s God? And you’re not willing to say it? Who’s Jesus Christ? What are you making up? Will you make up a story? Oh, he’s an enlightened one. Wrong answer. Who’s Jesus Christ? He’s a prophet. Wrong answer. You see? Interesting, huh? They can’t answer. They can, but they won’t.
SPEAKER 01 :
You’re listening to Real Life with Pastor Jack Hibbs. You know, to hear more episodes and maybe catch up in the series, just go to jackhibbs.com. That’s jackhibbs.com. And for now, let’s get back to our teaching. Once again, here’s Pastor Jack.
SPEAKER 02 :
Verse seven, he told a parable to those who were invited when he noted how they chose the best places, saying to them, when you are invited to anyone or to a wedding feast, Do not sit down in the best place lest one more honorable than you be invited by him. And he who invited you and him came and sat to you saying give place to this man and then you begin with shame to take the lowest place. But when you are invited go and sit down in the lowest place so that when he who invited you, that is the host, says to you, come, he says to you, friend, go up higher, that is, go to the better seat. Friend, this is my house, I want you to sit up in the more honorable seat. Then you will have glory in the presence of those who sit at the table with you. For whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted. Now look at verse 12. Then he also said to them who invited him. So Jesus now speaks to the host in the house. When you give a dinner or a supper, Do not ask your friends, your brothers or relatives, nor rich neighbors, lest they also invite you back and you be repaid. But when you give a feast, invite the poor, the maimed, the lame, the blind. Isn’t that awesome? And you will be blessed because they cannot repay you. For you shall be repaid at the resurrection of the just.” Look at verse 15, here it is. Now when one of those who sat at the table with him heard these things, he said to him, Jesus, now our parable begins. Blessed is he who shall eat bread in the kingdom of God. And Jesus said to that man, said to him, a certain man gave a great supper and invited many. And he sent his servant at supper time to say to those who were invited, come, for all things are now ready. But they all with one accord, that is with one mind, we’ll see this in a moment, began to make excuses. The first said to him, I have bought a piece of ground and I must go and see it. I ask you to have me excused. And another said, verse 19, I have bought five yoke of oxen and I’m going to test them. I ask you to have me excused. Still another said, I have married a wife and therefore I cannot come. Verse 21, so the host being angry said to his servants, go out quickly into the streets and lanes of the city and bring in here the poor, the maimed, the lame and the blind. And the servant said, master, it is done as you’ve commanded and still there’s room. Then the master said to the servant, Go out into the highways and the hedges and compel them to come that my house may be filled. Verse 24. For I say to you that none of those men who were invited shall taste my supper. This is awesome stuff. Number one, church, jot it down. The parable of the great supper, what did we learn about this? Make no mistake about it. Verses 16 to 20 is this. The God of the Bible is joyous. Let me explain. The God of the Bible is joyous. God is joyous. You can’t find the word more often throughout Old and New Testament about joy than coming from the lips of God. He’s the one that invites us to enter into his presence with joy. Amen. God wants us to be having our eyes fixed on heaven because the joy of the Lord, the Bible says, is our strength. Notice it’s not our joy. It’s his joy. From his perspective, we have joy. From our perspective, it’s burdensome, it’s tough, and it’s difficult in life, right? We’re supposed to get our eyes off of us and off of the circumstances around us and look from God’s perspective. And the first thing we realize here is that the God of the Bible is joyous. How do we come to that conclusion? Verses 16 and 17. First of all, Jesus says that there’s a certain man who gave a great supper and invited many. They’re going to understand, the audience, Those within the house are going to understand very quickly that the certain man is an announcement. Jesus is teaching this parable that certain man is none other than the Lord himself. And they’re going to get that. How? Because the conclusion is so very serious. So a certain man gave a great supper and invited many. And he sent his servant at supper time to say to those who were invited, come, for all things are now ready. This is exciting stuff because mark this down. It is the one who’s throwing the party, the invite, to everyone who makes all preparations. The responsibility is upon those to respond to the invite. You were to say, I’m coming. By the way, back in those days, in the first century era, you gave two responses. the host would send out the initial invite, and that’s how they made ready. By how many people responded to the initial, like this, do you think you’re going to come? It was a very soft invite, but do you think you’ll come? Yeah, I think we’re gonna come. The servant would come back and say, hey, you know what, we’ve got 200 responses. That gives the master the ability to say, okay, we want 25 oxen slaughtered, we want 400 sheep, or we want some bananas or whatever, right? And they make preparation. And some time goes by, and then the confirming invite goes. This is the one that’s mentioned here, the confirming invite. So a little bit of background to what you’re dealing with here. You’ve got people who said up front, are you with me? Listen. Yes. We’re very interested in being part of this thing. You can pretty much count on us being there. Listen, at first glance, count us in. Ooh. At first announcement that we’ve heard, yeah, we’ll be there. By the way, isn’t that true in life, period, about things? You know, look, as a church, and maybe you’ve experienced this if you’re involved in such things, as a church, if we get 100 people signed up, do you know how many chairs we wind up setting up? About 33, about 35 chairs. It’s just, you’ll get 100 people signed up for this trip or for this missionary venture or this issue, and you’ll get about 25 to 35 people. It’s just the way that it is. And it’s almost like a science now. You can just bank on it. These guys say initially, which is unspoken, but you gotta know the culture, count us in. And so there’s that announcement. But note this, Jesus is trying to get the audience to understand that God is like a certain man who wants to invite people to a grand party, to a beautiful gathering. Now, we are going to hear some excuses, and I want you to mark these things down. Look at this. We learn from, oh, what verse? The first excuse comes where? In verse 18. But they, with one accord. Mark that in your Bibles. They all have, watch. They all have exactly the same spirit of thinking. It doesn’t mean they’re texting one another and they’re, what’s your gonna be response? No, no, no, no. They’re independent, they’re not in contact with one another, but each of them have the exact same spirit of response. They initially commit when it comes to the actual event, They all have this thought in mind. I gotta think of an excuse. They don’t have a real excuse. Are you with me? They don’t have a real excuse. They gotta think of an excuse. We’ve all been there, haven’t we? When someone says, oh, you’re gonna come, you’re gonna go, you’re gonna do this, and you’re thinking, oh man, I don’t wanna go. And in your mind, you’re thinking, I gotta think of something quick. You know that thing? Don’t look at me like that. You know exactly what I’m talking about. That’s exactly the spirit of these regarding the invite. Oh man, it’s when? I said kinda yes a month ago. It’s when? It’s in a few days. Oh! Oh, you know what? I just remembered. Right? Each of these excuses that you’re gonna hear are a smoke screen for them not wanting to be involved. And this is going to be quite shocking, I think, as we come through this. Verse 18. But they all with one accord, united in the same spirit or belief, began to make excuses. First guy said to him, I have bought a piece of ground and I must go and see it. I ask you to have me excused. One commentator points out, I forget who it was, it’s very, very funny. He points out that in the Jewish culture, which Jesus is addressing here, that it was the custom of the Jews, we would say today, don’t buy anything unless you kick the tires. You know what that means? Anybody remember what that means? No? A few of us do. If there’s a newer analogy, let me hear it. In other words, we would say today, don’t buy the car unless you test drive it. Show me the what? The carpet? Show me the Carfax. Okay, there you go. Okay, so watch. This one commentator points out that in the culture, nobody would buy a thing in the Jewish culture. unless you absolutely tasted it, kicked its tires, checked the Carfax, whatever the, you didn’t do anything, because you wanna be absolutely sure. And that’s good practice, that’s good in anything, okay? So this guy is, Jesus is saying, and the crowd knew the answer. Jesus, in fact, if we were doing it right now, if Jesus was speaking to us, he’d say, you know, there was this one guy, and he said he couldn’t come because he bought some land, and he needed to go see the land he bought. Everybody in the room would go, what a jerk! Are you with me? No one buys land, right? without walking it and in fact, you don’t even buy land because you walked it. You better get a title report and you better get all kinds of investigation first to even before you commit. And so they’re all going, this story he’s telling, what a bunch of dopes. Who would buy land without seeing it? Jesus is radically setting them up. Actually, Jesus is taking advantage of them setting themselves up. This man’s excuse gets weaker. Again, who buys land without seeing it? It’s a poor investment if you put money down for something you didn’t test or look at. Not smart with your money.
SPEAKER 01 :
pastor and Bible teacher, Jack Hibbs, here on Real Life Radio with his message called Parable of the Great Supper. Thanks for being with us today. You know, this message is part of Pastor Jack’s series called The Parables of Jesus. It’s a series highlighting the teachings of Jesus while he was ministering here on this earth. And we’ll continue on the next edition of Real Life Radio. You ever feel like your Christian values are under constant assault? In a world where biblical truth is often labeled hateful or backward, how do we stand firm without becoming combative or isolated? Pastor Jack Hibbs wants to help you find answers with this month’s featured resource, When Culture Hates You. It’s written by Natasha Crane. And in this straight-talking book, you’ll discover how to tackle tough conversations, maintain biblical convictions, and respond to cultural hostility with both grace and truth. Now, think of it as your essential guide for navigating a world that often views faith as the enemy. You’ll learn how to speak confidently on issues of morality, identity, and belief without losing sight of God’s love because sometimes the strongest stance is one that balances conviction with compassion. Now, if you’re ready to stand strong in an ever-shifting culture, look no further. When culture hates you, it’s available for a gift of any amount at jackhibbs.com slash realradio. One more time, jackhibbs.com slash realradio. Did you know that along with the radio program, Pastor Jack also has a TV show with more of the Pastor Jack Hibbs content that you like. It’s called Real Life TV. If you enjoy Pastor Jack on the radio, you’re going to love him on TV. So check out your local listings or visit jackhibbs.com and catch the latest episodes. That’s jackhibbs.com. This program is made possible by the generous contributions of you, our listeners. Visit us at jackhibbs.com. That’s jackhibbs.com. Until next time, Pastor Jack Hibbs and all of us here at Real Life Radio wish for you solid and steady growth in Christ and in His Word. We’ll see you next time here on Real Life Radio.
In this compelling message, Pastor Jack delves into the essence of being a Christian and the longing for perfection. Through the Parable of the Great Supper found in Luke 14, we learn about God’s joyous invitation to all people and the excuses that can prevent us from accepting. Understand the prophetic fulfillment in Jesus’ actions and what it means to embrace the light as God’s children.
