A wedding banquet – an exciting occasion. The people invited to this banquet would have been the rich and influential people of the area. Today an invitation would say: come on ……….. day and at ……………. Time. An invitation at the time of Jesus would not have had these details. The people had to be ready for when the banquet was about to start and the servants goes to them and says ”Come Now”. At this banquet the people who eventually came to the banquet were of a much lower class.
Today’s world have the rich and influential people, it also has the poor and unheard people. I am reminded that Jesus spent most of his time with the poor and unheard people – the tax collectors, and the sick. It was these people that were prepared to hear from Jesus and learn about God. The leaders of the community did not want to hear and learn from Jesus.
The parable provides a contrast between the rich and influential people and the poor and unheard people. The contrast is about people who are prepared to hear and learn about Jesus and God and people who are not. We are not the judges of who is prepared to learn about God and those who are not – our role is to invite everyone with the understanding that not all will accept the invitation.
Shirley Bowers
Lay Preacher, Longford UC