2. The presentation of the gospel as a Divine invitation throws emphasis on another of its essen- tial features,— that it embodies a free gift of gr.-we from God to man. The central idea of hospitality is that one gives freely what the many receive and enjoy 'without money and without price.' Jtsus in the 'parables of grace' teaches us that the gospel contains sometliing infinitely precious wliich is given to us, but which we could never deserve or buy. Religion is not a bargain between man
and God ; it is a boon, a largess bestowed by God on man. It is not commerce, it is reconciliation and friendship. It is thus represented not as an excliange of commodities in a market-place, but as a feast where the one side gives all and receives nothing back, save in realizing the happiness and loyal gratitude of the invited guests. Jesus justi- fies this idea of a one-sided benefit by nearly always making use of a simile of feasting in which a superior invites his inferior to a banquet. It is a king inviting his subjects to the wedding- feast of his son (Mt 22--") ; it is a great man enter- taining a miscellaneous assemblage of guests from all quarters (Lk 14'=-=^) ; it is a father welcoming liome a renegade son with the best of the flock. In all these cases there could be no question of a return in kind. The conditions were satisfied by the coming of the guests, and their happy enjoy- ment of the good things provided. ' The gospel is ever a gospel of grace.
3. A third significant aspect suggested by the simile of an invitation is its voluntariness on both sides. There can be no compulsion in the invita- tion to a feast of rejoicing. Unwilling guests have no place at a banquet. Religion has no room for the idea of spiritual compulsion. The invitation is free to all : acceptance must be as free. Thus is the sacred function of spiritual liberty, of the free- dom of the AvUl, safeguarded by the gospel. Those who refuse or neglect a social invitation may be incurring a grave responsibility ; but they can do so if they choose. The spiritual appeal of religion may also be refused ; it lies with the soul whether it wUI respond to the call of God or reject it.
The word translated 'compel' in Lk 1423 (iti-yxttirn) must be read in its secondary meaninjx of 'constrain by persuasion.' It ' reflects in the first place the ur^^ent desire of the roaster to have an absolutely full house, in the second the feeling tha*, pressure will be needed to overcome the incredulity of country people as to such an invitation to them W\n^ meant seriously. They would be apt to laugh in the senant's face* (Bruce in Expositor's Gr. Test., in loco).
i. The idea of an invitation thus merges into that of response ; and it is important to notice that great stress is laid on this side of the question in the parables. In not a few it is clearly the pivot on which the teaching turns. There is one way in which an invitation may be worthily accepted ; there are several in which it may be rejected : e.g. it may be (1) openly scorned, ('2) accepted and then rejected or ignored, (3) accepted in a wrong spirit, or with an imperfect realization of its privileges and value. Each of tliese situations is dealt with by Christ to typify the attitude of men to His gospel. In the parable of the Marriage of the King's Son, the first guests invited treat the offer with scorn (Mt 22'), and 'make light' of it, pre- ferring to find their satisfaction in their own way, and even maltreating the king's messengers. By tills Jesus exposed the attitude of the Pharisees and scribes towards His gospel, and in a wider sense that of all those who in a thoroughly worldly spirit have since treated His offer of salvation with derision or disrespect. In the parable of the Great Supper, the guests first accepted the invita- tion, ana then, finding other more absorbing in- terests, sent various excuses for not attending. These represent the fickle multitude, who at first thronged to hear the 'gracious words that pro- ceeded out of his mouth,' and afterwards left Him, having exhausted the sensational aspect of His ministry and wonderful works, and having no love for His higher message. Returning to the )>iirable of the Marriage, we find a final episode in winch the man without a 'wedding-garment' is dealt with. Clearly he stands for those who, having heard and accepted the invitation of tlie gospel, show that they have failed to realize the lofty and decorous spirit in which the soul should
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respond to it, and who treat it as a common thing, •with no sense of its high privilege. The care wit)i which Jesus developed these situations in His parables, and proclaimed the doom that followed, shows how deeply He felt the importance of a right attitude towards spiritual realities. It is as though He were repeating in many tones and accents the fact that God offers man His best in tlie invitations of the gospel, and expects man to be at his best in responding to them, otherwise he perils his soul (cf. >It 22'- ", Lk 14-*).