Luke 14:20
Still another said, ‘I have married a wife, so I cannot come.’
BSB
ASV
And another said, I have married a wife, and therefore I cannot come.
KJV
And another said, I have married a wife, and therefore I cannot come.
Or marriage is not blamed; but purity is held up to greater honour, since the unmarried woman careth for the things of the Lord, that she may be holy in body and spirit, but she that is married careth for the things of the world. (1 Cor. 7:34.)
And another said, I have married a wife,.... And his pretence might be, that he had his own marriage feast, and friends to attend, nor could he leave his wife directly; but his circumstances were such as made an invitation to a feast the more agreeable, and he might have brought his wife and friends along with him, who would have been as welcome as himself: and therefore I cannot come.
It is true, he that married was excused by the law from going to war for the first year ( Deut. xxiv. 5 ), but would that excuse him from going up to the feasts of the Lord, which all the males were yearly to attend? Much less will it excuse from the gospel feast, of which the other were but types.
I have married a wife ... - Our Saviour here doubtless intends to teach us that the love of earthly relatives and friends often takes off the affections from God, and prevents our accepting the blessings which he would bestow on us. This was the most trifling excuse of all; and we cannot but be amazed that “such” excuses are suffered to interfere with our salvation, and that people can be satisfied for “such” reasons to exclude themselves from the kingdom of God.
The verses before us contain one of our Lord's most instructive parables. It was spoken in consequence of a remark made by one who was sitting at table with Him in a Pharisee's house. "Blessed," said this man, "is he who shall eat the feast in the kingdom of God." We are left to conjecture as to the object of this remark. It is likely that he who made it was one of that class of people who wish to go to Heaven, and like to hear good things talked of, but never get any further.
Our Lord's reply is in substance this: "The great Feast is prepared already; the invitations are issued, but declined; the feast, notwithstanding, shall not want abundance of guests; but not one of its present contemners--who shall yet come to sue for admission--shall be allowed to taste of it." This shows what was lacking in the seemingly pious exclamation of this man.
Rare words are the text's own signal of a deliberate thread: the fewer the occurrences, the more the places it appears belong together.
The walk8
Follow this verse’s cross-references two steps out. Each card is a verse this one points to, and beneath it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several different paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it. Every stop shows its own words, and every stop is a page.
Through
1 Corinthians 7:33But the married man is concerned about the affairs of this world, how he can please his wife,
leads to
Husbands, in the same way, treat your wives with consideration as a delicate vessel, and with honor as fellow heirs of the gracious gift of life, so that your prayers will not be hindered.
Husbands, love your wives and do not be harsh with them.
If anyone does not provide for his own, and especially his own household, he has denied the faith and is worse than an unbeliever.
Through
Deuteronomy 24:5If a man is newly married, he must not be sent to war or be pressed into any duty. For one year he is free to stay at home and bring joy to the…
leads to
Has any man become pledged to a woman and not married her? Let him return home, or he may die in battle and another man marry her.”
May your fountain be blessed, and may you rejoice in the wife of your youth:
In this way they can train the young women to love their husbands and children,
For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and they will become one flesh.
However, from the beginning of creation, ‘God made them male and female.’
