New Testament · Gospel

Luke 14:20

The Great Banquet

Still another said, ‘I have married a wife, so I cannot come.’ Luke 14:20 · Berean Standard Bible
What It Means

Luke 14:20, in plain English

The third guest doesn't even ask to be excused — he just says he got married and can't come. Period.

Why it's here

Marriage is wonderful, but even good things become problems when they crowd out God's invitation. Each excuse gets more blunt and less apologetic.

Who's speaking

This guest is the most direct — and the least polite — in his refusal.

Where it sits in the story

He doesn't even try to soften it. 'I got married. I'm out.' It's the most honest — and the most revealing — of all three excuses.

A Closer Look

The scholarly reading

The third excuse — 'I have married a wife' — alludes to Deuteronomy 24:5, which exempted newlyweds from military service for one year. Unlike the others, this guest offers no apology ('I cannot come'), making his refusal the most direct.

Language and setting

The progression of excuses shows increasing bluntness: the first two say 'please excuse me' (erōtō se, eche me parētēmenon), while this guest simply states impossibility.

Voice

The third guest gives the shortest and most definitive refusal, claiming his new marriage makes attendance impossible.

Significance

The third excuse is the bluntest: I just got married, so I can't come. No 'please excuse me,' no pretense of regret — just a flat no.

In context

Luke 14:18–22

18But one after another they all began to make excuses. The first one said, ‘I have bought a field, and I need to go see it. Please excuse me.’

19Another said, ‘I have bought five yoke of oxen, and I am going to try them out. Please excuse me.’

20Still another said, ‘I have married a wife, so I cannot come.’

21The servant returned and reported all this to his master. Then the owner of the house became angry and said to his servant, ‘Go out quickly into the streets and alleys of the city, and bring in the poor, the crippled, the blind, and the lame.’

22‘Sir,’ the servant replied, ‘what you ordered has been done, and there is still room.’

Read all of Luke 14 — The invited guests make excuses, so the host sends servants into the streets and alleys. God's table will be full — just not with who you'd expect.

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