Scripture Reading: Luke 14:15-24

Opening Question:

What part of this passage stands out most to you?

Core Question 1:

What excuses do people give for not attending the great banquet? What would be a modern-day equivalent for each of these excuses? Are there other excuses people might give today?

Core Question 2:

Jesus had been watching how the people were scrambling over each other to gain higher status through the way they were seated at the meal. In the parable, whose status was helped or harmed? How?

Core Question 3:

How would this parable have challenged people’s beliefs about the Kingdom of God? How do you think His listeners would have reacted to these changes? What is your reaction?

Core Question 4:

According Josh Ross & Jonathan Storment in Bringing Heaven To Earth:

“In Jesus’s parable of the wedding banquet, the people who had better things to do were important, busy, in-demand people. In other words, the ones who chose not to be included were successful, popular, and admired people. This is a sobering truth indeed.”

Why might there be more temptation for important and successful people to turn away from the Kingdom of God, while people who are down-and-out turn toward Him?

Concluding Question:

How have you experienced this tendency to turn away in your own life?