What does Luke 14:17 mean?

This parable covers an issue Jesus has covered before. God has chosen the Jews to be His people. He desires to spend eternity with them in paradise. But if they do not respond to His invitation, they disqualify themselves. Jesus' message was more straightforward in Luke 13:22–30. He told a crowd that it wasn't enough to eat the food He provided or even perform miracles in His name. Those works didn't mean that they accepted Him as their Savior. It wasn't even enough to be descended from Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. They need to place their identity in Him, not their national patriarchs, their towns, or their works.

In this parable, Jesus focuses more on choice: to be welcomed at the feast God will provide at the resurrection, the invitees must agree to come. That sounds simple, even self-evident. Yet it's easy to be distracted by life, whether that be expanding one's earthly kingdom or one's family (Luke 14:18–20). It's equally easy to forget that earthly blessings mean nothing compared to God's eternal blessings (Luke 12:13–21; 14:14).

The phrase "for everything is now ready" is poignant. With Jesus' arrival, "The kingdom of God has come near" (Luke 10:11). The Messiah the Jews have been longing for is here! But the Jewish leadership will reject Him and cling to their own pointless earthly influence and power.

During formal banquets, the host usually left his door open for interested people who were not invited to the meal to stand along the walls and listen in. The way Jesus describes the situation, those bystanders are more inclined to accept God's invitation than the religious leaders reclined at the table (Luke 14:21–24).