NOTES for Luk 14:16-24

Briefly, the main meaning of the parable of those invited to the supper is that those who take part in the feast are not the ones to whom it is "owed," but the ones who are in need. The servant invites those who are close to the one giving the feast, those who had already been warned beforehand about the celebration being prepared. Clearly, the Lord has in mind the Jews, to whom faith in the One God had been given and who awaited the coming of Christ. For us, however, it is essential to keep in mind that immediate concerns about material things turn not only Jews away from participation in the Kingdom. Thanks to two thousand years of Christian culture, all of us have been notified in advance in one way or another. Even if we have not read the Gospel, we know of the existence of the Church, of Christ and His resurrection; we know of the existence of faith and of God.

No less important is the kind of people who do come to this feast. The poor, the blind, the crippled: those who need it most of all. The fact that they were not called from the very beginning does not mean that they are second-class people; the genre of a parable has its own limits, after all. The Kingdom of Heaven is, of course, offered to everyone, and each of us, depending on our own choice, turns out to be either invited but refusing, or needy and agreeing to come. Of course, faith is a gift of the Holy Spirit, but as Christ said, we do not know where He comes from and where He goes. For this gift to take place and become reality, our decision is undoubtedly also necessary: our readiness to ask for this gift and make use of it. This decision, to need God, to respond and come to the feast in the Kingdom of Heaven, is the main thing for which will and freedom have been given to us at all.