The Saviour was a guest at the feast of a Pharisee. He accepted invitations from the rich as well as the poor, and according to His custom He linked the scene before Him with His lessons of truth. Among the Jews the sacred feast was connected with all their seasons of national and religious rejoicing. It was to them a type of the blessings of eternal life. The great feast at which they were to sit down with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, while the Gentiles stood without, and looked on with longing eyes, was a theme on which they delighted to dwell. The lesson of warning and instruction which Christ desired to give, He now illustrated by the parable of a great supper. The blessings of God, both for the present and for the future life, the Jews thought to shut up to themselves. They denied God's mercy to the Gentiles. By the parable Christ showed that they were themselves at that very time rejecting the invitation of mercy, the call to God's kingdom. 220 He showed that the invitation which they had slighted was to be sent to those whom they despised, those from whom they had drawn away their garments as if they were lepers to be shunned.

Frelseren var gæst ved et måltid hos en farisæer. Han tog imod indbydelser fra de rige såvel som de fattige, og som han havde for skik, benyttede han anledningen til at fremdrage lærdomme fra omgivelserne for at illustrere sandheden. Det hellige gæstebud var blandt jøderne knyttet til alle deres nationale og religiøse festligheder. Det var for dem billedet på det evige livs velsignelser. Det store gæstebud, hvor de skulle sidde sammen med Abraham, Isak og Jakob, medens hedningerne stod udenfor og så til med længselsfulde blikke, var et emne, som de elskede at dvæle ved. Den advarsel og undervisning, som Kristus ønskede at bringe dem, belyste han nu med lignelsen om det store gæstebud. Jøderne havde til hensigt at beholde både Guds nuværende og fremtidige velsignelser for sig selv. De ønskede ikke, at hedningerne skulle få del i Guds nåde. Med lignelsen viste Kristus, at de selv netop på det tidspunkt var ved at forkaste indbydelsen til at tage imod nåden kaldet til Guds rige. Han viste, at den indbydelse, som de havde ringeagtet, skulle sendes til dem, som de foragtede, dem, som de var veget tilbage for som om de var spedalske, man skulle gå uden om.