The Universalist. [volume] (Chicago [Ill.]) 1884-1897, 1896-04-04

and thou shalt be blessed; because they
haze not achereacith to bless thee: for
thou shalt be recompensed IN the resur-
rection of the Just.
Such brave words of humanity, spok
en- directly to the host under such cir
cumstances. must. have brought conster-
nation to those who could see in such
advice only an affront to the host. By
others these words we're rightly under
stood as plea for universal man. From
this point our lesson passage continues
the story.
1. Great Supper is Prepared
VS.. 1917.
And aohen one of them that sat at meat
with him heard these things. he said
unto him. Blessed is he that shall eat
meat IN the kingdom of God. The most
favorable construction that can be put
upon this remark is that it was intended.
as generalization. to dissipate the effect
of the previous penetrating words of
Jesus. The speaker assumes that he
and all the orthodox Pharisees will know
the blessedness of eating bread in the
kingdom of heaven, = that is, in the
reign Of God which the real Messiah
when he comes will bring to Israel, and
which will make Israel blessed above all
the nations of the earth; the Pharisees
the Select, the favorites of God, of course
will have their choice at the feasting in
such Kingdom of God. That Jesus,
the poor rabbi, now formally rejected by
the scribes and Pharisees, could have
place at that feast. the words of the
guest leaves as in his mind, an unsolved
| problem.
The parable has before been with Je
sus, we recall, an effective method of
teaching, when direct speech would have
been scarcely tolerated. He now res
| ponds with a parable.
a certain man made q great feast.
He was rich and prepared to satisfy the
hunger and regale the senses of great
company. And he babe mang. He was,
| we conjecture, a newcomer in his COM
hhoAAoys i1O Wl5ACo " nave d IoDTtecuL-
alive company of the we'll TODD people
of his neighborhood
And he sent forth has servant at sup
per time, to sag to them that acre bid
den, Come, for all things are noao ready.
To send messengers through the neigh
borhood with the announcement, Sup.
per is ready" would be fair courtesy
on the part of the host.
The underlying meaning of the
parable, thus far, is that the Gospel is
offered to men as feast. 1t is helpful
to recall how often Jesus represented the
Gospel as feast.
z. The Invited Guests Offer
EXcuseS.-vs. 1920.
The remarkable thing in this story is
that all the invited guests, when thus
politely and urgently hidden, excused
themselves from coming. Literally ALL,
without exception. OF course it was
done by agreement among themselves.
Samples of their excuses are given. One
sends word that he has bought piece of
land and must go and look at it. Another
says he has bought five yoke of oxen.
and is on his way to test their strength.
Another says that he has married wife
| whether he was recently married he
does not say; he makes this his excuse.
OF course all these are transparent pre-
lenses. While polite on their face, they
are refusals which convey contempt and
insult.
The underlying meaning at this
| point is that the Gospel has been freely
and cordially offered to the Pharisees,
and they were scornfully rejecting it and
we're giving insult to the one who had
invited them to the Gospel Feast.
He came unto his own, and they that
were his own received him not"
3. The Tables Filled With
Willing GuestS,-vs. 21-24.
When, according to the parable, the
servant in charge of the feast went to
his master with his astounding report
that every one of the invited guests had
politely refused to come to the feast, it
speaks we'll for the feast-giver that he
was "angry." If he had been humili-
ated and crushed, as his neighbors in
tended he should be, his feast would
have gone by default. But he promptly
issued this order: Go ont quickly into
the streets and lanes of the city. and
bring IN hither the poor and MANNED
and blind and lame. Such would Of
course come with glad alacrity. This
the servant did. and reported to his
master, Yet there is room. The master
instantly issued second command: Go
out into the highways and hedges that
is, go out of the city into the country
adjacent, and bring in the people you
find, whether laborers or invalids or out
casts,-dnd constrain them to come in,
that my house may be filled. Over
power them with cordially; break down
their negatives with good will; persu ade
them with the enticements of rich and
bountitul repast.
So the feast was not ruined, but was
made a brilliant success. There was
avan nm apparant dispoeition On the M ri