When analysed, these are pathetic excuses. Each is utterly irrational and perfectly absurd. There is no urgency about going to see a field that has already been bought or trying out five yoke of oxen. There is no shortage of space at this party and the recently married man could have been accompanied by his wife.
Yet, Jesus’ words ring true today: when people are invited to the great party of the kingdom of God, ‘all alike [begin] to make excuses’ (v.18).
Jesus also talks to the crowds about the cost of following him. He urges them to ‘sit down and estimate the cost’ (v.28) and later to ‘sit down and consider’ the cost (v.31). He says, ‘If anyone comes to me and does not hate father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters – yes, even life itself – such a person cannot be my disciple’ (v.26). The word for ‘hate’ is a Semitic idiom that means ‘love less’. It is a relative term meaning not to honour or privilege something above something else. In other words, Jesus must be the number one priority in your life above even family and your own life.
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