Posted on 01/03/2002 11:19:13 AM PST by ArGee
A very rich man decided that he wanted to show kindness to the people of the fair city where he lived. Since he was very rich indeed, he decided to throw a banquet for the entire city. He rented the largest sports arena in the city and began his plans. He planned for huge amounts of the best food possible, making allowances for every religious and medical diet. He advertised the banquet in every possible manner - television, radio, billboard, door-to-door canvassing. Considering that there might be some who could not travel, he arranged for free bus transportation to and from the event, and some special-needs vehicles for all who could not ride busses. He even scheduled the banquet to run for 24 hours a day for several days so that everyone could be sure of being served.
He planned long and hard and finally the big day came. The rich man ate quickly and then went about wishing all his guests well and personally making sure that all had every need met. After a while he went outside to tour the grounds and talk with those who had not yet gone in, and those who had already left. Everyone was happy. Many were profusely thankful. It was a glorious occasion.
At one point the rich man noticed a group of people sitting outside a locked door with most unpleasant looks on their faces. Sensing they were not happy, he went over to them. He did not introduce himself but simply asked them if he could be of service.
"We want to go in through this door," one of them replied.
The rich man explained to them that the hall was arranged to feed a large number of people as quickly and effortlessly as possible. This required order inside, and the entrances and exits had been carefully planned to be as efficient as possible. He then offered to go call one of the golf carts that were avaialbe to help people who could not walk far to take them to the entrance. But the man replied, "We do not want to go in the entrance. We want to go in this door. We don't understand why we can't go in any door we wish. We think the man who set this banquet up is mean and hateful for insisting we go in through the entrance. He has tried to bill himself as a very kind man by offering this banquet, but he is not kind at all if he will not indulge us and let us go through this door.
The rich man was distressed at these words, but still attempted to please these people. He tried once more to explain to them what was behind this particular door, and how if they went in this door they would disrupt the meal service being offered inside. He offered to drive them himself, not only to the door, but inside the hall to their tables if they would only go through the entrance to enjoy the meal. Again the man said, "No, but only a hateful man would keep us from going through the door of our choosing. And we will sit here and tell anyone who will listen to us what an awful man he is until he lets us in."
At that the rich man was enraged and he shouted, "Enough." Then he called a police officer to have them thrown off of the property and ordered that they not be allowed to return until the banquet was over and all the scraps had been hauled away. Then, mourning for their loss, he turned to visit with other guests.
You can also stress the notion that all they have to do is choose the correct door and they are admitted, and that it is their poor choice that makes them so hapless.
Thank you for your kind words. Of course, I believe that all men (and women) have the opportunity for such a direct encounter. Not a physical encounter, but a direct one. Jesus has promised to come in to any heart that opens to Him. Any heart. No exclusions. No conditions.
Revelation 3:20 (NIV) 20 Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with him, and he with me. (emphasis mine)Shalom.
I'm not buying it.
Oh, yeah. His parable was trying to point out that those who should really have known who He was were not beyond losing their heritage. Christ was trying to say something very pointed to the leaders of Israel.
Shalom.
Every story has a point. Some have several, but I find those harder to follow.
And harder to write.
You are welcome to write the story of those people. No sarcasm implied.
Shalom.
Shields UP!
Thank you.
Shalom.
the door is closed permanently when we face G-d in judgement after death...
We are certianly in agreement on that point... My only disagreement is that our Lord will never display the human emotion of exasperation the rich man showed with those who cannot follow a simple plan (until, as you point out, it's too late)...
It would seem to me that the fable would be more accurate if the banquet being offered was not only the best food available, but the only food available. And if it was indeed the only food available, then requiring the potential diners to use a particular door is non-sensical. If indeed God is omniscient/omnipotent, then there is no reason for a single entry to maintain order. It would be ridiculous to assume that God cannot handle someone coming in the side entrance. There's no reasonable explanation, short of arbitrary fiat for the one entry rule.
And after all, isn't the important thing that we all go to the feast, and not the route we take to get there?
Cristianity requires a person to believe a certain way or they burn in hell for eternity.
This fear makes Christians intolerant of other belief systems (bigotry).
It is not that Christians cannot understand other belief systems; They do not want to.
So a person becomes a Christian, only to escape an eternity in Hell?
That is the most shallow reason for coming to Christ, if you'll permit my saying so. We don't come to Christ because we want to escape torment. We come to Christ because we want Him, for His sake. Anything else is selfishness on our part.
one group would say the rich man told them he had chosen them to be his special friends, but that he expected them to eat a special diet to retain his favor, another group would say that the rich man's son loved them so much he was willing to die for them, and for everybody else as well, and that all you had to do to get into the banquet was acknowledge the sacrifice the son had made.
Another group would say the rich man will feed you if you pray five times a day facing a certain city.
none of these groups would be able to take you to the place where the feast was being held, and show you the banquet, but they would all be very very sure the place existed, and that you would be welcomed if you showed up, and asked to be let in, as long as you had done what the rich man wanted.
these groups would also tell you the other groups were evil, or at best mistaken, and would never get any food. Occasionally one of these groups would murder a bunch of folks from another group, and say the rich man told them to.
For your parable to be accurate, we would have to assume that God reveals himself to us directly on a pretty regular basis- he has not done so to me; (no sarcasm, just statement of fact)if he does so I would be happy to accept his invitation.
See my post 27. The invitation I gave to L,TOWM applies to you also, in all seriousness.
Shalom.
Very good point FaB. I grew up with the Catholic Church and spent 12 years in Catholic schools, yet I was always taught that I was a Christian. There are two things the Biblical Christians tend to forget. Jesus Christ was born a Jew and he had an extremely high tolerance for all people as long as they believed in his Father.
Very well said. I've never seen an invitation, let alone the guy running the banquet! All I've ever seen are third and fourth hand accounts of possible invitations. That's not good enough in my book!
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