The host then sent his servant farther out into the countryside to find guests wherever he could. Those taking refuge against the hedges, fences, and walls (Gr. phragmos) would have been people who were especially destitute and needy. The Jews did not normally put hedges around their fields, so the picture is of the servant going out into the heathen world. [1] Compelling (Gr. anagkazo) did not involve forcing them against their wills but urging them to come. It manifested "an insistent hospitality." [2] These people doubtless represent the remainder of humankind living far from the site of the banquet (i.e, Jerusalem). They are the spiritually needy, Jews and Gentiles alike, both in Jesus" day and in the ages that followed before the banquet begins at the commencement of the Millennium (cf. Luke 13:28-30). None of those who received initial invitations but declined the host"s gracious offer would enjoy the banquet (cf. Luke 13:34-35). [source][source][source]
Thus Jesus" correction of the original comment ( Luke 14:15) affirmed that those who would eat bread in the kingdom would be the objects of God"s favor and therefore happy. However they would be those who responded to God"s gracious invitation that He extended through His Servant Jesus, not those who anticipated the banquet but refused the invitation. This parable would have helped Jesus" original disciples appreciate their privilege and the urgency of their mission. Likewise Luke"s original readers and all subsequent disciples should learn the same lesson. The parable contains a revelation of God"s program through the church that Israel"s rejection of her Messiah and God"s consequent postponement of the kingdom made necessary (cf. Romans 11). [source][source][source]