Jesus Tells the Parable of the Great Supper 

At a breakfast hosted by a wealthy Pharisee who followed the teachings of his disciple Abner, Jesus addressed an assembly of influential Pharisees and lawyers in Philadelphia. He shared a parable about a ruler whose invited guests offered excuses and declined to attend his great supper, prompting the ruler to invite the less privileged from the streets, emphasizing inclusion and a rebuke to those who initially refused his invitation. This event resonated deeply, leading to a Pharisee's baptism and later discussions among the apostles about the parable's meaning, which Jesus encouraged them to interpret individually.

A wealthy and influential Pharisee invited Jesus to his house for breakfast, having embraced the teachings of Abner, one of Jesus’ disciples and leaders. With the news that Jesus was expected to be in Philadelphia, around forty visitors, including many leading Pharisees and a few lawyers from Jerusalem and elsewhere, came and were also invited. After Jesus spoke, a silence ensued. One of the lawyers viewed this as a socially awkward moment and mindlessly repeated a popular phrase, “Blessed is he who shall eat bread in the kingdom of God.” Jesus used this as a segue into a parable:

“A certain ruler gave a great supper, and having bidden many guests, he dispatched his servants at suppertime to say to those who were invited, ‘Come, for everything is now ready.’ And they all with one accord began to make excuses. The first said, ‘I have just bought a farm, and I must needs go to prove it; I pray you have me excused.’ Another said, ‘I have bought five yoke of oxen, and I must go to receive them; I pray you have me excused.’ And another said, ‘I have just married a wife, and therefore I cannot come.’ So the servants went back and reported this to their master. When the master of the house heard this, he was very angry, and turning to his servants, he said: ‘I have made ready this marriage feast; the fatlings are killed, and all is in readiness for my guests, but they have spurned my invitation; they have gone every man after his lands and his merchandise, and they even show disrespect to my servants who bid them come to my feast. Go out quickly, therefore, into the streets and lanes of the city, out into the highways and the byways, and bring hither the poor and the outcast, the blind and the lame, that the marriage feast may have guests.’ And the servants did as their lord commanded, and even then there was room for more guests. Then said the lord to his servants: ‘Go now out into the roads and the countryside and constrain those who are there to come in that my house may be filled. I declare that none of those who were first bidden shall taste of my supper.’ And the servants did as their master commanded, and the house was filled.”

When they heard these words, they all left. At least one of the sneering Pharisees present that morning understood the meaning of the parable because he was baptized that day and publicly confessed his faith in the gospel of the kingdom. That night, Abner preached about this parable to the general council of believers.

The following day, all of the apostles engaged in the philosophic exercise of attempting to interpret the meaning of this parable of the great feast. Though Jesus listened with interest to all of these different interpretations, he refused to provide any additional assistance in understanding the parable. He would only say, “Let every man find out the meaning for himself and in his own soul.”