EXCUSES
Monday
And they all with one [consent] began to make excuse. The first said unto him, I have bought a piece of ground, and I must needs go and see it: I pray thee have me excused. Another said, I have just bought five yoke of oxen, and I’m on my way to try them out. Please excuse me. Still another said, I just got married, so I can’t come.
LESSON
Jesus continued to use the meal in the Pharisee’s house to teach about the messianic banquet and the kingdom to come. He had taught the importance of humbling oneself to participate, and had justified that requirement. Now He invited His hearers to humble themselves, so they could participate, and He warned those who rejected His invitation of their fate.
Those invited refused to participate. They tried to excuse themselves by giving acceptable reasons for not attending the banquet. The three “excuses” Jesus cited are only representative of many others that other invited guests undoubtedly gave. One man begged off on the ground that he had recently become the owner of some real estate, and needed to tend to it. Apparently he was proud of his position as a landowner in his community. Another person with new possessions (“five yoke of oxen”) expressed his greater interest in them than in the invitation. The fact that both of these men inspected their purchases, after they bought them, shows their love of them, since they would undoubtedly have also inspected them before buying them. A third man cited his recent marriage as his excuse, implying that pleasure was more important to him. These individuals represent the many who have declined to accept Jesus’ gospel invitation for similar reasons.
Memory Verse: Genesis 3:12
