Big Idea: The kingdom of God demands our full commitment; you cannot be a half-hearted disciple.

Understanding the Text

Jesus’s table talk in the house of a leading Pharisee continues with a parable about a similar banquet, which picks up the theme of 14:12–14, the challenge to invite those who cannot reciprocate. In the parable, however, the host represents God himself, whose open-hearted generosity is the model that we are called to follow. But the parable also highlights the obverse of that free grace, the fate of those who, having initially accepted the invitation, then failed to honor it. This raises the possibility of failed discipleship, and the following verses, 14:25–35, explore this theme, not now at the table, but as Jesus continues his journey toward Jerusalem. This paragraph…