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I. With regard to THE NATURE OF THE FEAST. "A certain man made a great supper and bade many." What, then, is this feast which our Lord has provided, and of which He has sent His servants to invite men to come and partake? First, as bread satisfies hunger, and is necessary to sustain life, so Jesus Christ is that true bread which cometh down from heaven — the bread of the soul — the bread that alone can satisfy and sustain the spiritual and eternal life of man. His flesh is given as meat, and His blood as drink; and this is the feast. I cannot enlarge upon the particulars of this feast, but observe that a feast is not merely bread, it is fulness of bread; it is a rich provision — there is variety of provision. This the gospel gloriously attests; here is everything that man can want; here is not only pardon for the guilty, reconciliation for him that is at enmity with God, but all the rich provision of grace, all the fulness and comfort of the Spirit of God; all the plenitude of His promises is here; there is nothing that the soul can eat or desire, in any state or condition in which it is seen, but is to be found here; in the gospel feast there is all that is wholesome, suited to its tastes, its appetites, its desires, its lofty capacities, and capable of fully and eternally satisfying them. Here, then, the children of God see their privilege. The Saviour is an omniscient Saviour and an omnipresent Saviour — a Saviour present with the Church, knowing every case, every heart, and every want; and He has in Himself fulness to satisfy every longing desire or wish.

II. We are to consider THE CONDITION OF THOSE WHO WERE FIRST BIDDEN TO THIS FEAST, AND FOR WHOM IT WAS SPECIALLY PREPARED. I say specially provided; for you will recollect that these persons were the children of the promise — the heirs of the covenant. "Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel among all nations, beginning at Jerusalem." So St. Paul says, "the gospel is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth; to the Jew first." The three principal grounds on which men slight the gospel are here referred to — they are common, not to the Jews only, but common to the Gentiles. The first ground is wealth. The first said, "I have bought a piece of ground, and I must needs go and see it." The disposition of mind by which a man is induced to seek the increase of wealth is opposed to the gospel This disposition is so fatal to many that it operates, as in the ease of the parable, utterly to exclude them from tasting the supper. It does not so fill and choke up the appetite — it does not so corrode the taste as to prevent their enjoying, as to prevent their fully partaking of this blessing, but it eats them off altogether — they cannot taste of this supper. Is it not so with your hearts, while you are coveting the world? Can you enjoy Christ? You cannot!

2. The second disposition of mind which excludes men from tasting the supper of the gospel grace, is that which involves them in the vortex of this world's cares. This is figured in the parable by the yoke of oxen — "I have bought five yoke of oxen, and must needs go and prove them."

3. Another said, "I have married a wife"; and therefore he was in a greater strait than the other two — he said positively, "I cannot come!" This parable is against those moral people — those honest people — those people whose lives are so irreproachable and blameless in everything except the matter of their salvation. It applies to those that are comparatively enlightened, to those that would be shocked at gross immorality, to those who would not exhibit in their lives, on any account, those vices which they condemn in others; but sin sits enthroned in their heart, in the shape of a secret and subtle covetousness, in a character that absorbs them in their pleasures, and steals and weans their affections from God. And this is, perhaps, the most awful case of all. Go and preach the gospel to those who have no ground of justification; and if you can get them to listen to the gospel, they will fall down at your feet and confess their sin. Examine, trace in your hearts the working of this worldliness, consider the objections that hold you back from Christ, and you will find that they resolve themselves into the excuses of those who were first bidden to this feast. It is the land and the oxen, it is the pleasure of this world, all which perish in their using, and will leave you hungry and naked, and poor and wretched at the bar of God! I come now to speak of —

III. THE CHARACTER OF THOSE WHO REALLY DID ENTER IN AND PARTAKE OF THIS SUPPER. You will observe that those who were thus bidden the second time were described by this character, which marked the destitution of man: "Bring in hither the poor and the maimed, and the halt and the blind"; for this was the spiritual condition of the Gentile world. It marks their destitution — they are poor, they are without God and without hope in the world. In the heathen countries they were without Christian ordinances, without Christian Sabbaths, without Christian instruction. The verse also relates to those who might justly make excuse upon any ground than that of the gospel invitation; who might by self-abasement and humility of spirit say, "How can it be? How can it be that the Prince, the King, and Lord of this supper should send for me? You must be deceiving, you must be making game of me — you must intend some derision; the invitation cannot be for me." "Go," says the King, "and compel them to come in; go and tell them how large the offer is."

(J. Sutcliffe.)

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KJV: Then said he unto him, A certain man made a great supper, and bade many:

WEB: But he said to him, "A certain man made a great supper, and he invited many people.