The Parable of the Great Supper. SECT. CXX. Our LORD foretells, in the Parable of the Great Supper, the Luke XIV. 15,-24 LUKE XIV. 15. AND when one of them that lat at Meat with him, heard thefe Things, he faid unto him, Bleffed is he that fhall eat Bread in the Kingdom of GOD. 16 Then faid he unto a great Supper, and bade many: LUKE XIV. 15. 15. 149 AND while Jefus was thus difcourfing, one of Sect. 120. On this natural Occafion, our Lord thought 16 him, A certain Man made it proper to remind him and the Company, that many, who on mistaken Notions of this Kingdom profeffed to defire it, were under the Force of fuch carnal Prejudices on this Head, that they would in Fact flight and reject it. And to this Purpose be uttered the following Parable, and faid to him that had expreffed fo high a Notion of the Entertainments of his Kingdom, A certain Man made a great Supper, and invited many Guefts; And be fent out his Servant at 17 the Hour of Supper, to say to those that were invited, as they delayed their Coming, My Master defires you would come away as foon as poffible; for all Things prepared for the Entertainment are now ready. And they all began with one 18 [Confent] (b), as if by mutual Agreement they 17 And fent his Servant at Supper-time to say to them that were bidden, Come, for all Things are now ready. 18 And they all with one Confent began to make Ex cuse. had (a) Shall eat Bread.] It is well known, that the Phrase, to eat Bread, fignifies making a Meal; and this not merely at a common Table, but fometimes at a Feast, where the Provifion is very fumptuous. So perhaps it might be, at the Table of this noble Pharifee, ver. 1. (See 2 Sam. ix. 7, 10. xii. 17, 20. and Prov. ix. 5.) Compare Note (e), Vol. i. pag. 518. (b) With one Confent; ano pas] Of all the various Methods, which Learned Men have taken, to fupply the Ellipfis here, (which may be feen at large in Wolfius, Obferv. vol. is pag. 682, 683.) it feems to me moft natural, to understand the Wordens, i. e. with one Confent; which Suppofition is maintained by Beza. The Variety of their Excufes render Corns, with one Voice, lefs proper. 150 The Guests that were first invited refuse to come: Sect. 120. had all contrived to put a Slight on the Entertain- cufe. The first faid unto ment, to excuse themfelves on one Pretence or an- him, I have bought a Piece of Ground, and I muft needs go and fee it: I pray thee 18. 19 And another faid, I have bought five Yoke of Oxen, and I go to prove them: I pray thee have me excused. 20 And another said, I have married a Wife, and 21 So that Servant came Luke XIV. other. The first faid to him that was fent, I have just now purchased a Field, and I am under a Ne- have me excused. cefity of going to fee it; I intreat thee therefore 19 to make my Excufe. And another faid, I have just bought Five Yoke of Oxen, and I am Oxen, and I am going to try them, that I may fee how they will draw; I beseech thee therefore to make my Excufe, and affure thy Mafter that it is important Business 20 that prevents me (c). And another faid, I have very lately married a Wife, and therefore therefore I cannot come. you will eafily perceive I cannot come to attend your Mafter's Feast, and neglect my own (d). 21 And that Servant returning told his Lord all these Things. Then the Mafter of the Houfe, who had made the Entertainment, was very angry, as he reasonably might be, too fee fuch an Affront put upon his fplendid Preparations, and fuch an ungrateful Return made for the peculiar Kindness and Refpect he had fhewn in fending for thefe Guests; and therefore he faid to his Servant, Go out directly into the Streets and Lanes of the City (e), and bring in hither the Poor, and the Difabled, and the Lame, and the Blind, that they may come and partake of the Entertainment; for I had rather fee my House filled with fuch 22 Guests, than empty, as it now is. and thewed his Lord thefe of the Houfe being angry, Things. Then the Mafter faid to his Servant, Go out quickly into the Streets and hither the Poor, and the Lanes of the City, and bring Maimed, and the Halt, and the Blind. in And the 22 And the Servant faid, Servant quickly came back, and faid, Sir, what Lord, it is done as thou haft thou com (c) I beseech thee, make my Excuse, &c.] It is a beautiful Circumstance, that our Lord here represents both thefe Bargains as already made; fo that going to fee the Farm, and to prove the Oxen, that Evening, rather than the next Morning, was merely the Effect of Rudeness on the one hand, and of a foolish impatient Humour on the other; and could never have been urged, had they efteemed the Inviter, or his Entertainment. Accordingly it is commonly found in Fact, that Men neglect the Bleffings and Demands of the Gospel, not for the most important Affairs in Life, with which they feldom interfere; but to indulge the Caprice and Folly of their own Tempers, and to gratify the Impulfe of present Paffions, fometimes excited on very low Occafions. (d) I cannot come, &c.] As the Procefs of the Parable represents a wife and good Man offended with this Excufe among the reft, we must fuppofe fomething in the Circumstance of receiving the Invitation, or of appointing the Time of his own Marriage, which implied a rude Contempt of the Inviter, and made the Reply indecent. It was not neceffary to defcend to fuch Particulars. (e) Into the Streets and Lanes of the City.] This feems the true Diftinction between whales and pupas; the former of which fignifies a Broad, and the latter a Narrow Way, in which laft the Alleys may be included. (f) Into And the Poor are called in to partake of the Feaft. commanded, and yet there is Room. Luke XIV. 151 thou didst please to command, is done; these poor Sect. 120. diftreffed People are come in, and fate down at the Table; and ftill there is Room for more Guests, and Entertainment enough provided to feast many others. And the Lord faid to the Servant, 23 Go out then into the Roads without the City, and rather than fail, look for the pooreft and most helpless Travellers, who are sheltering themselves under Trees and Hedges (f); and if Importunity be neceffary to fuch, press them that you find. there by the most earnest Invitation to come in (g), that my Houfe may be well filled. For I Say 24 unto you, that none of thofe Men who were invited, if they should now be ever fo defirous of it, shall be admitted fo much as to taste of my Supper; fince they have fo rudely and ungratefully flighted it. And all this was as if he had faid, Let me tell you, that fuch will the Divine Conduct be, with regard to the Gofpel. Go D fends his Meffengers in the most importunate Manner to invite you Jews, to come and partake of its rich Entertainment; but you neglect it on the meanest Pretences; and one is too busy, and another too idle,. to attend to it. But he will feverely refent the Affront, and tho' it may feem to you as unaccountable a Conduct, as that which I have reprefented in (f) Into the Roads and Hedges.] Any grofs and abandoned Sinners might be reprefented as in this wretched Condition. See Eph. ii. 12,-17. But it feems an exceffive Refinement of Brennius, to fuppofe, the Hedges here mentioned, refer to the Ceremonial Law as a Partition; as it likewife is, to explain the firft Claufe, as relating to the Profelytes of the Gate, and the fecond to the Idolatrous Gentiles. One might as well infer from ver. 24. that no Jews fhould be faved: And it argues a wrong Tafte in Criticism, to torture every Cir cumftance into a fancied Refemblance. (g) Press them by the moft earneft Invitation to come in.] Nothing can be more apparently weak, than to imagine with St. Auguftin, and many others, that thefe Words can juftify the Ufe of Compulfion and Force in Religious Matters; the Abfurdity and Iniquity of which, I have reprefented at large in my Sermon on that Subject. It is certain, the Word arayna is often ufed to exprefs an Importunity where there could be no fecular Terrors; Mat. xiv. 22. Mark vi. 45. Gal. ii. 3, 14. vi. 12. (as is likewife the Word @apacialqual, Luke xxiv. 29. and Acts xvi. 15.) and feveral Inftances are produced by Elfner, in which the Word fignifies preffing Perfuafion. (Obferv. vol. i. pag. 244, 245.) And here, as it would be moft indecent to imagine Perfons forced to an Entertainment, fo it would have been quite impracticable for a fingle Servant to have compelled a Multitude in this Senfe. There is an Ambiguity in the English Word [prefs,] which much more exactly answers to that in the Original, than the Word our Tranflators ufe: And it feems to me the Part of a faithful Tranflator, efpecially of the Sacred Writings, to preferve the Ambiguities of the Original; tho' a Paraphrafe, which fpeaks only a Man's own Sentiments, may fometimes venture to determine them. ! 152 Luke XIV. 24. Reflections on the Invitations given us to the Gospel Feaft. Sect. 120. in the Parable, will call in the poor, ignorant, and wretched Gentiles, who were wandering in the moft helpless Circumftances, in the Ways of Idolatry and Wickedness; and his Church fhall be filled with them, while you, who reject his Gospel, fhall in righteous Judgment be yourselves rejected by him, and perifh for Want of thofe Mercies which you now defpife. Luke xiv. 24. MA IMPROVEMENT. AY the infinite Mercy of GoD forbid, that this should ever be our Condition! The Gospel Feaft, like the fumptuous Banquet of Abafuerus, (Efth. i. 3, 4.) is of a very long standing: Not only from Ver. 21, 22. Week to Week, but from Age to Age, GOD is fending to invite new Guests; and after all the Millions that have been regaled by it, and nourished up to everlasting Life, there is yet Room for more. Still are his Servants fent from one Time to another, with all the Fervor of the most affectionate Perfuafion, to urge Sinners to accept of these desirable BlefVer. 23. fings; (for fuch only is the Compulfion, that becomes a Feaft, and fuits the Nature of reasonable Creatures.) May we not receive the Grace of GOD in vain! May we not perish, as Thousands before us have done, by making light of the Gospel! Ver. 18,-20. It has often been obferved from this Parable, that they were lawful Occafions, which these unhappy People pleaded as their Excufe for neglecting the Invitation. And how many perish by what is indeed lawful! But the Care of our Eftates or Cattle, our domeftic Affairs, and our dearest Relatives, will be destructive to us, if they be minded as our main Care, and our Hearts be fo attentive to them, as to forget the one Thing needful. Ver. 21. Ver. 15. Are we of the Number of thofe, who tho' once blinded, impoverished, and enfeebled by Sin, are now brought as welcome Guests to the Table, which Divine Love has fpread? Let us adore the Grace, which opened the Door to us, and opened our Hearts to comply with the Call; by its ftrong and powerful, tho' rational and gentle Influence, compelling us to come in. Let the Servants employed in the Meffage urge it with a becoming Earneftnefs; as well knowing, how much the Heart of their great Mafter is in it, and how much the Happiness of Souls depends on their accepting it. Lord! may we fee thy Table furnished with Guests, and ourselves be fo happy as finally to partake of those Bleffings, to which we are now commanded to invite others! For bleffed indeed are they, that shall eat Bread in the Kingdom of GOD! SECT. Whoever will be CHRIST's Difciple, muft take up his Crofs. SECT. CXXI. Our LORD urges upon his Difciples the Neceffity of confidering the Difficulties of Religion, before they take up a Profeffion of it. Luke XIV. 25, to the End. LUKE XIV. 25. 153 AND as great Multitudes attended Chrift (a), Sect. 121. and went with him in this his Journey to-ov You now attend me from Place to Place with 25. If any Man comes to me to be inftructed in my 26 univerfal (a) Great Multitudes attended Chrift.] Perhaps the Cure of the Man who had the Dropfy, and fome Expectations as to the Event of Christ's Vifit to this Pharifee, might caufe a Croud near his Houfe; and what follows might be spoken the fame Sabbath, on our Lord's coming out from thence: But as the Evangelift does not fo exprefsly connect the Paffages, I was not willing to affert it in the Paraphrafe. (b) To act as if he did even hate his Father and Mother, &c.] Strictly fpeaking, to hate our nearest Relatives, and our own Lives, would be unnatural Wickedness, and equally contrary to the Dictates of Humanity, and the Genius of the Gofpel. But it is well known, that one Thing is faid to be loved, and another hated in Scripture, when the former is much preferred; and especially, when out of Regard to it, the latter is neglected and forfaken. Compare Gen. xxix. 31. Deut. xxi. 15,—17. Mal. i. 3. Rom. ix. 13. and Mat. vi. 24. VOL. II. U (c) If |