The Parable of the Great Banquet
“I am the Bread of Life” – Luther speaks of the joy of feasting upon Christ Himself. The Watchtower starves people by depriving them of all that Christ offers us in Himself.
“Of this the Lord Christ is speaking in this parable of the great banquet. First of all, he extols the great, incomparable goodness and mercy of the heavenly Father, who has prepared a truly great, sumptious banquet, where the food and drink are different from that served in the temporal kingdom; but the guests, though bidden, spurn his invitation. Other guests are then pressed to attend, until his home and table are filled to capacity.
In a spiritual sense, our dear Lord Jesus Christ is himself the banquet. The heavenly Father is the rich man and host; he has prepared a banquet, permitted his dear Son Jesus Christ to be born in human form of a virgin, and to suffer, be slaughtered, cut to pieces and readied ,just as one prepares food. And just as one butchers a hen , puts it on a spit, and roasts it, so the heavenly Father allowed his dear Son to butchered, nailed to the cross, and offered up in fervent love, as the true Paschal Lamb sacrificed for the sins of the world.
However, just as a hen or anything else is not kept on the spit and roasted in order to remain there permanently, but upon being roasted is removed from the spit and placed on the table for people to eat and be nourishded, have their hunger satisfied and become stronger, so Christ, having suffered with terrible pain on the cross, was afterwards removed from the spit of the cross, laid in the tomb, risen from the dead, and so on, in order that the whole world might have this food. For Christ was the world’s genuine Bread of Life, for Jews and Gentiles alike.
SO now this heavenly food, so carefully prepared and subjected to the intense fire of the cross, is served up and offered to the whole world. Wherever Christians are gathered, there you find the table. The preaching of the Gospel is the dish. The servers are the pastors. Christ is the food. Through the pastor’s mouth the food is laid on the table and served; for when the gospel is preached, this food is served up and offered. It is embraced solely in the Word, and is heard by both young and old, learned and unlearned, rich and poor, and the like. Each person receives just as much as anyone else in the world if only he believes, for it is a food that fills and satisfies; yes, it is possible for the whole world to have their hunger sated by this food. All believers partake of Christ, and each receives Him wholly, despite which Christ remains whole, something that does not occur when eating earthly food, whether a hen or capon.
This food is offered in the following way: The gospel is proclaimed, telling how Christ suffered, was crucified, and died for our sins. Everyone in the world is urged to come and not to stay away, to eat of this food, gladly hear the gospel of Christ, and believe what the gospel proclaims. For to the serving up belong three things: First , the dish, which is the Word of God; second, the waiter, that is the pastor’s mouth; and third, to believe it with all one’s heart. When these three things come together, man’s heart and soul begin to eat, saying, Here is a deliciously prepared hen or chicken; here Christ is proclaimed; I see and hear what this food is, the ‘roasted’ Christ; I am to eat of this; hence, I must believe what is proclaimed and taught in the gospel. Whoever believes this with all his heart eats of this Christ.
Now let us consider the matter of taste. What sort of good is this? How does it taste? A really well-roasted hen has a delicious flavor, refreshes the body and soul, sates the appetite, and strengthens the body. In the same way here, when I believe the gospel, I partake of Christ, and this nourishes and strengthens my soul, it tastes of forgiveness of sins, eternal life, and bliss. When we are encompassed by death, sin disease, hard times, peril, terror, fear, and all manner of affliction, this is our hunger and thirst; and that is when we need this food. Specifically, those under great affliction are the ones who find this food so delicious. When these terrified and fearful hearts and consciences hear in the gospel that Christ suffered, was crucified, and died for their sins, allowed himself to be prepared and served up as food for all hungry and thirsty souls, that is, for all terrified and fearful hearts, and believe this without doubting, then their fragile hearts, distressed consciences, and troubled souls experience strengthening, and they are comforted and revived.
Through such faith one is bound to lay hold on the forgiveness of sins, righteousness, life everlasting, and bliss in Christ. For Christ alone can curb this hunger and quench this thirst of the soul, put to flight and drive away the devil and death, so that they can no longer do any harm. For this reason, when you eat of this food, when you believe in Christ, who is held out to you in the gospel, you do not fear; your heart is unencumbered and joyful, and you are able to say, Christ lives; He is my food; in him I believe. Since Christ now lives, I will not let sin, death, and the devil batter me about. Christ has been exposed to intense suffering on the cross and died for me; he is my chicken; who is placed and set before me in the gospel; I Partake of him, and I believe in him. Accordingly, he is now in me, and I am in him. Why should I be fearful of sin, death, and the devil? This is what it means to truly serve up, eat, and taste of this food. And whoever in faith enjoys this food will live eternally.
Thus, this food redeems from death. Whoever tastes of this food and believes in Christ, has the promise that he will not die, but through faith in Christ will inherit life everlasting and, through Christ, conquer death. Although death still controls his body and he has to die, it will cause him no harm . After he is buried and consumed by worms, he will again rise from the dead, and his body will come forth on Judgment Day, for his food, Christ, in whom he is embodied by faith, lives: “Christ being raised from the dead dieth no more; death hath no more dominion over him” (Rom 6:9), and he will bring all back to life.
Concerning this food, Christ says to the Jews (John 6:53-56): “Verily, verily, I say unto you, Except ye eat the flesh of the Son of man, and drink his blood , ye have no life in you. Whoso eateth my flesh, and drinketh my blood, hath eternal life; and I will raise him up at the last day. For my flesh is meat indeed, and my blood is drink indeed. He that eateth my flesh, and drinketh my blood, dwelleth in me, and I in him.” This means whoever with all his heart believes that I have given my body and shed my blood for him need have no fear of death. Even though death consumes him, he will rise again from the dead. As surely as I live, he too will live; even though he dies a temporal death, yet, because he believes in me, I am in him and he is in me, and he will have the power no longer to die. Death will not have dominion over him. I want to be his food forever and to give him life everlasting. For in me there is no death but absolute life only.
In Christ there is pure righteousness and no sin; sin has no dominion over him. Whoever, therefore, possesses Christ and eats of this food, which is pure righteousness and undefiled by sin, is by his eating also righteous. Sin can no longer accuse him, nor is God’s wrath upon him, for Christ is his food, bnd because he believes in him, sin is taken away. Even though he still feels sin, he must look confidently to Christ, to the right hand of the heavenly Father, and hold firmly to the word of the gospel, wherein Christ is set before him. If he does that, sin can do what it will, it ultimately can accomplish nothing, for Christ, our food, is greater than our sin. By the same taoken, our righteousness is not ours (Even though it becomes our through faith) but Christ’s.
Also, in Christ there is pure joy, yes , everlasting joy; he is no longer sorrowful or fainthearted; he no longer sweats drops of blood as he did in theGarden; but in him there is true joy and gladness. And the same Christ, in whom comfort and joy are to be found, has become our food, served up in the Word and eaten by faith. For this reason if we are forsaken, cast down, oppressed, and assailed, we should hasten to Christ, and there revive and strengthen ourselves. If Christ, our food, is filled with gladness, joy, and life, we, too shall be filled with the same. Come sorry, depression, temptation, and whatever else, I ought joyfully lift up my heart and say, I look to Christ, in whom is neither sorrow nor dejection; my faith testifies that he suffered for me, that for me and for my salvation he was crucified, died , descended into hell, rose from the daed, and so on. Even though I still not not feel these things, but instead have listlessness and melancholy stirring within me, nevertheless, such listlessness and melancholy will not overpower me. For in Christ are everlasting comfort, joy, peace, and gladness. These things are set forth for me in the Word. I have laid hold of him in faith, and there is where I put my trust. Though all in this world in confusion and disorder, though death and worms consume me, I shall still rise again and live, just as Christ has risen and lives.
It is a great banquet which our neavenly Father and master of the house has prepared, not just for one, or two, or three, but for the whole world. And were the world twice or many times as big, everyone could be nourished and sated, that is , be redeemed from sin, death, and devil, and be saved; all that is necessary is to believe the gospel and eat of this food. That is how wonderful a banquet iti s. Earthly bread and food, a roasted hen or capon, offers nourishment for day. Perishable food does not satisfy need beyond the grave. It is a small, limited, banquet. But this banquet is great, everlasting, substantial, and imperishable; it nourishes, strengthens, bestows comfort, joy, life, and bliss. It is called a great banquet, taste of this food, and eat and drink at this table in the kingdom of God. It is an eating that is different from the eating in earthly kingdoms or in this world.
Accordingly, in this parable of the great banquet, our dear Lord Jesus Christ teaches and admonishes us to exercise our faith and truly lay hold of him; and wants to be, our food, righteousness, comfort, joy and life, so that we do not suddenly become terrified by sin, death, and the devil, for he is readily able to take all of them away. In him is our true and only consolation. For we humans are all faced with sin and death and cannot escape them. For us there is no other counsel than that we come to this great, delicious banquet and let our dear Lord Jesus be served up to us in the gospel and eat of him, so that our hearts may by faith take comfort in him, and when sorrow or terror comes our way, we can say, Christ is not terrified, nor will he die because of it. When sin comes, we reply, Christ does not become a soundrel and a sinner in heaven. If I am evil, it is not able to injure our Lord Christ; if I am sorrowful, Christ is joyful; if I am hungry, poor distressed, Christ is sated, rich and overflowing with comfort. Since he, therefore, is righteous, holy and alive, I, too, am righteous, holy, and alive. Since neither hunger, nor poverty, nor distress touch him, these very things will likewise not harm me; for he is mine and I am his. And this is all that need to said about the first part of this Gospel. ” (Sermons of Martin Luther, volune VI)
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