Jesus challenged a core belief of the Jewish people in the
parable of the great banquet found in Luke 14:15-24. Imagine that you are from
a special family and you are the only people in the world that could go to
heaven. God told you this and you make every decision knowing that you have
this special privilege. Then, you invite another religious leader to dinner,
and he tells you a story.
Invited to dine with the Pharisees, Jesus healed a man on
the Sabbath. Knowing that he had their enraged attention, Jesus told an
infuriating story. Jesus spoke of a king, who invited several friends to a
celebration. When they rejected his offer, the king invited the street people
instead.
Illustrating the afterlife, Jesus revealed that everyone has
the opportunity to go to heaven. Each invitation rejection is a metaphor of the
Jews rejecting God’s invitation.
This parable, although short, was one of the reasons that
the Pharisees wanted to execute Jesus.
