Lesson 14 – The Wedding Supper

“Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: if any man hear My voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with Me.” Revelation 3:20.

“The publicans and harlots were ignorant, but these learned men knew the way of truth. Yet they refused to walk in the path which leads to the Paradise of God. The truth that should have been to them a savor of life unto life became a savor of death unto death. Open sinners who loathed themselves had received baptism at the hands of John; but these teach- ers were hypocrites. Their own stubborn hearts were the obstacle to their receiving the truth. They resisted the conviction of the Spirit of God. They refused obedience to God’s commandments.” –Christ’s Object Lessons, p. 277.

DINNER INVITATION

1.When a certain man made a great supper, how did his invited guests respond? Of what religious period was this similar, and what spiritual principles were visible?

Luke 14:16-20. Then said he unto him, A certain man made a great supper, and bade many: ¹⁷And sent his servant at supper time to say to them that were bidden, Come; for all things are now ready. ¹⁸And 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. ¹⁹And an- other said, I have bought five yoke of oxen, and I go to prove them: I pray thee have me excused. ²⁰And another said, I have married a wife, and therefore I cannot come.

Revelation 3:16, 17. So then be- cause thou art lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will spue thee out of my mouth. ¹⁷Because thou sayest, I am rich, and increased with goods, and have need of nothing; and knowest not that thou art wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked.

Matthew 22:14. For many are called, but few are chosen.

“Man is forbidden to give to any other object the first place in his affections or his service. Whatever we cherish that tends to lessen our love for God or to interfere with the service due Him, of that do we make a god”–Patriarchs and Prophets, p. 305.

2.What was the benefactor’s reaction to the rudeness of the invitees, and to whom was his invitation then extended? Who set the example of this in His work of seeking and saving the lost?

Luke 14:21-23. So that servant came, and shewed his lord these things. Then the master of the house being angry said to his servant, Go out quickly into the streets and lanes of the city, and bring in hither the poor, and the maimed, and the halt, and the blind. ²²And the servant said, Lord, it is done as thou hast commanded, and yet there is room. ²³And the Lord said unto the servant, Go out into the highways and hedges, and compel them to come in, that my house may be filled.

Matthew 9:35, 36. And Jesus went about all the cities and villages, teaching in their synagogues, and preaching the gospel of the kingdom, and healing every sick- ness and every disease among the people. ³⁶But when he saw the multitudes, he was moved with com- passion on them, because they fainted, and were scattered abroad, as sheep having no shepherd.

“In the parable, the giver of the feast learned how his invitation had been treated, and ‘being angry, said to his servant, Go out quickly into the streets and lanes of the city, and bring in hither the poor, and the maimed, and the halt, and the blind.’ The host turned from those who despised his bounty, and invited a class who were not full, who were not in possession of houses and lands. He invited those who were poor and hungry, and who would appreciate the bounties provided. ‘The publicans and the harlots,’ Christ said, ‘go into the kingdom of God before you.’ Matthew 21:31. However wretched may be the specimens of humanity that men spurn and turn aside from, they are not too low, too wretched, for the notice and love of God. Christ longs to have care-worn, weary, oppressed human beings come to Him. He longs to give them the light and joy and peace that are to be found nowhere else. The veriest sinners are the objects of His deep, earnest pity and love. He sends His Holy Spirit to yearn over them with tenderness, seeking to draw them to Himself.” –Christ’s Object Lessons, p. 225.

3.What conclusion did the man reach because of his invited guests’ contempt of him and his offer? What did Jesus say about those who despised the great invitation as well as those who attended the wonderful event on short notice?

Luke 14:24. For I say unto you, That none of those men which were bid- den shall taste of my supper.

Matthew 8:11, 12. And I say unto you, That many shall come from the east and west, and shall sit down with Abraham, and Isaac, and Ja- cob, in the kingdom of heaven. ¹²But the children of the kingdom shall be cast out into outer darkness: there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth.

“Every time you refuse to listen to the message of mercy, you strengthen yourself in unbelief. Every time you fail to open the door of your heart to Christ, you become more and more unwilling to listen to the voice of Him that speaketh. You diminish your chance of responding to the last appeal of mercy. Let it not be written of you, as of ancient Israel, ‘Ephraim is joined to idols; let him alone.’ Hosea 4:17. Let not Christ weep over you as He wept over Jerusalem, saying, ‘How often would I have gathered thy children together, as a hen doth gather her brood under her wings, and ye would not! Behold, your house is left unto you desolate.’ Luke 13:34, 35” –Christ’s Object Lessons, p. 237.

THE LAST SUPPER

4.What did Jesus want to celebrate with His disciples? With what question were two of His closest disciples sent to a faithful Jew who was preparing for the Passover? What might be the reason why the man’s name was not recorded?

Luke 22:7-11. Then came the day of unleavened bread, when the pass- over must be killed. ⁸And he sent Peter and John, saying, Go and pre- pare us the passover, that we may eat. ⁹And they said unto him, Where wilt thou that we prepare? ¹⁰And he said unto them, Behold, when ye are entered into the city, there shall a man meet you, bearing a pitcher of water; follow him into the house where he entereth in. ¹¹And ye shall say unto the goodman of the house, The Master saith unto thee, Where is the guestchamber, where I shall eat the passover with my disciples?

Revelation 3:20. Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me.

“‘I am the bread of life: he that cometh to Me shall never hunger; and he that believeth on Me shall never thirst.’ Revelation 3:20; John 6:35. As we need food to sustain our physical strength, so do we need Christ, the Bread from heaven, to sustain spiritual life and impart strength to work the works of God. As the body is continually receiving the nourishment that sustains life and vigor, so the soul must be constantly communing with Christ, submitting to Him and depending wholly upon Him.” –Thoughts from the Mount of Blessing, pp. 18, 19.

5.What did Jesus know that the disciples did not understand? How did He signal that it would be His last supper?

John 13:1, 2, 7. Now before the feast of the passover, when Jesus knew that his hour was come that he should depart out of this world unto the Father, having loved his own which were in the world, he loved them unto the end. ²And supper being ended, the devil having now put into the heart of Judas Iscariot, Simon’s son, to betray him…. ⁷Jesus answered and said unto him, What I do thou knowest not now; but thou shalt know hereafter.

Matthew 26:29. But I say unto you, I will not drink henceforth of this fruit of the vine, until that day when I drink it new with you in my Father’s kingdom.

“Christ knew that the time had come for Him to depart out of the world, and go to His Father. And having loved His own that were in the world, He loved them unto the end. He was now in the shadow of the cross, and the pain was torturing His heart. He knew that He would be deserted in the hour of His betrayal. He knew that by the most humiliating process to which criminals were subjected He would be put to death. He knew the ingratitude and cruelty of those He had come to save. He knew how great the sacrifice that He must make, and for how many it would be in vain. Knowing all that was before Him, He might naturally have been over- whelmed with the thought of His own humiliation and suffering.” –The Desire of Ages, p. 643.

THE CENTER OF WORSHIP

6.Ever since the patriarchal time and the exodus from Egypt, what feast was the center of Israel’s worship. How did John the Baptist present the Lamb of God? Even though they ate the paschal lamb from year to year, who rejected Jesus and His sacrifice on the cross for sinners?

Isaiah 53:6, 7. All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and the Lord hath laid on him the iniquity of us all. ⁷He was oppressed, and he was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth: he is brought as a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep be- fore her shearers is dumb, so he openeth not his mouth.

John 1:29, 10, 11. The next day John seeth Jesus coming unto him, and saith, Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world. ^1:10, ¹¹He was in the world, and the world was made by him, and the world knew him not. ¹¹He came unto his own, and his own received him not.

7.Why was the Passover commemoration instituted, and what blessings did the participants receive by partaking of it? In light of the parable of the great supper, what was the significance of the Lord’s Supper, which He introduced to commemorate His sacrifice in fulfillment of the Passover service?

1 Corinthians 11:23, 24; 10:16, 17; 11:27-30. For I have received of the Lord that which also I delivered unto you, That the Lord Jesus the same night in which he was betrayed took bread: ²⁴And when he had given thanks, he brake it, and said, Take, eat: this is my body, which is broken for you: this do in remembrance of me…. ^10:16The cup of blessing which we bless, is it not the communion of the blood of Christ? The bread which we break, is it not the communion of the body of Christ? ¹⁷For we being many are one bread, and one body: for we are all partakers of that one bread…. ^11:27Wherefore whoso- ever shall eat this bread, and drink this cup of the Lord, unworthily, shall be guilty of the body and blood of the Lord. ²⁸But let a man examine himself, and so let him eat of that tread, and drink of that cup. ²⁹For he that eateth and drinketh unworthily, eateth and drinketh damnation to himself, not discerning the Lord’s body. ³⁰For this cause many are weak and sickly among you, and many sleep.

“None should exclude themselves from the Communion because some who are unworthy may be present. Every disciple is called upon to participate publicly, and thus bear witness that he accepts Christ as a personal Saviour. It is at these, His own appointments, that Christ meets His people, and energizes them by His presence. Hearts and hands that are unwor- thy may even administer the ordinance, yet Christ is there to minister to His children. All who come with their faith fixed upon Him will be greatly blessed. All who neglect these seasons of divine privilege will suffer loss. Of them it may appropriately be said, ‘Ye are not all clean.’” –The Desire of Ages, p. 656.

For Additional Study

“In partaking with His disciples of the bread and wine, Christ pledged Himself to them as their Redeemer.” –The Desire of Ages, p. 656.