Expositor's Bible Commentary Commentary Luke 14:20

"And another said, I have married a wife, and therefore I cannot come." — Luke 14:20 (ASV)

The striking thing is that “all” of them declined. Their excuses are weak. One man “must” go to see a purchased field he probably had seen before he bought it. Contrast his urgent attention to material things with Jesus’ healing a man on the Sabbath (vv.2–4). The second excuse is as worthless as the first; would anyone have bought oxen without examining them? In both instances materialism got in the way of honoring an invitation already extended and presumably accepted.

The third excuse has more validity in the light of Dt 24:5. Also, only men were invited to banquets. Yet marriage was not, especially in that society, an abrupt decision and could hardly have been an unexpected factor that intervened between the first and second invitations. With his superb narrative art, Jesus used these three excuses to show that just as a host may be snubbed, so God’s gracious invitation may be flouted.