So that servant came, and showed 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 here the poor, and the maimed, and the lame, and the blind.
All Commentaries on Luke 14:21 Go To Luke 14
Cornelius a Lapide
AD 1637
So that servant came, and shewed his lord these things, &c. We are here taught that Christ chose the outcasts and poor in place of the Priests and Pharisees who had made light of His gospel. According to that which is written, "The publicans and harlots go into the kingdom of God before you." S. Matt. xxi31. And again, "Many that are first shall be last: and the last shall be first." S. Matthew 19:30.
For albeit that Christ preached from the commencement of His ministry both to the Pharisees and to the multitude, yet the Pharisees, as of higher rank, were the first invited; to preserve the unity of the parable; and also because Christ would have the scribes first, by reason of their position, acknowledge Him, and then be His witnesses amongst the people. But the contrary came to pass. "They," says Euthymius, "who refused to acknowledge Him, were the chief Priests and rulers of the people, and these, who were chosen in their stead, were the humble and the outcasts of the nation." For of a truth "God hath chosen the weak things of the world to confound the things which are mighty." 1 Corinthians 1:27.
Symbolically. S. Augustine says (serm34De Verb. Dom.): Who were those that came, but the poor, and the maimed, and the halt, and the blind? Those who absented themselves were those who thought themselves rich, and robust; who, as it were, could walk well, and see clearly, the hopelessness of whose state was proportionate to their pride.
Let the beggars come to the feast at the invitation of Him who made Himself poor that we might become rich.
Let the weak come, for the physician has no need of those that are whole, but of those that are sick.
Let the lame come and say, "Order my steps in Thy word."
Let the blind come and say, "Lighten Thou mine eyes, that I sleep not in death."
These poor and miserable creatures teach us:
1. That none are to be despised, but that salvation in Christ is to be offered to all.
2. That it is easier for the poor to obey the gospel precepts, and therefore to be saved, than for the rich.
3. That we must despair of no one"s salvation, however wretched, blind, or perverse he may be.
