15. One of the men sitting at the table with Jesus heard these things. The man said to Jesus, “The people who will eat a meal in God’s kingdom are blessed.”
16. Jesus said to him, “A man gave a big banquet and invited many people.
17. When it was time to eat, the man sent his servant to tell the guests, ‘Come! Everything is ready!’
18. “But all the guests said they could not come. Each man made an excuse. The first one said, ‘I have just bought a field, and I must go look at it. Please excuse me.’
19. Another man said, ‘I have just bought five pairs of oxen; I must go and try them. Please excuse me.’
20. A third man said, ‘I just got married; I can’t come.’
21. So the servant returned. He told his master what had happened. Then the master became angry and said, ‘Go at once into the streets and alleys of the town. Bring in the poor, the crippled, the blind, and the lame.’
22. Later the servant said to him, ‘Master, I did what you told me to do, but we still have places for more people.’
23. The master said to the servant, ‘Go out to the roads and country lanes. Tell the people there to come. I want my house to be full!
24. None of those men that I invited first will ever eat with me!’”
25. Large crowds were traveling with Jesus. He turned and said to them,
26. “If anyone comes to me but loves his father, mother, wife, children, brothers, or sisters more than he loves me, then he cannot be my follower. A person must love me more than he loves himself!
27. If anyone is not willing to die on a cross when he follows me, then he cannot be my follower.
28. If you wanted to build a tower, you would first sit down and decide how much it would cost. You must see if you have enough money to finish the job.
29. If you don’t do that, you might begin the work, but you would not be able to finish. And if you could not finish it, then all who would see it would laugh at you.
30. They would say, ‘This man began to build but was not able to finish!’
31. “If a king is going to fight against another king, first he will sit down and plan. If the king has only 10,000 men, he will plan to see if he is able to defeat the other king who has 20,000 men.
32. If he cannot defeat the other king, then he will send some men to speak to the other king and ask for peace.