The Beggar Boy and the Feast
Luke 14:16-24
Ruel was a poor boy. His mother sewed buttons and mended suits in exchange for a little room behind the tailor’s shop. And Ruel begged for their food. Most people were too busy to notice the poor boy on the street corner. But one woman was always kind. Every week when she came from the market she was sure to give him a loaf of bread and some milk or butter. One week there was an extra treat—a little cluster of grapes.
“Thank you very much, ma’am,” Ruel said. “You are very kind!”
“Don’t thank me,” she said with a smile. “Thank my master.”
Ruel watched the woman carry her basket up the street. “I wonder who her master is?” he thought.
One day Ruel got a job cleaning the innkeeper’s stables. The stable boy had hurt his arm and was glad to pay Ruel to shovel for him. It was hard work, but Ruel was glad to do it. “Did you hear about the feast?” the stable boy asked. “The innkeeper has been invited, and I hope that I can go along to tend his horses. They say the man who is giving the feast lives in a great mansion!”
“Who is the feast for?” Ruel asked.
“All his friends I guess. I just wish I was invited!”
“Maybe there will be leftovers,” Ruel said, licking his lips. He was always hungry and just now even table scraps sounded good.
The next afternoon he saw the kind woman again. Her arms were so loaded with baskets that she could hardly walk. “Let me help,” Ruel said, hurrying over.
“Thank you,” the woman said. “I should have taken the master’s advice and brought along help. He sent for a wagon-load of groceries earlier this week, but it wasn’t enough. A feast requires a lot of food!”
“A feast?” Ruel asked, surprised. “I heard about it from the stable boy. Your master must be a very great man.”
“Dear me,” the woman laughed. “My master is greatness itself.”
And Ruel thought so, too, when he followed the woman through a gate and into a beautiful courtyard. He had never seen such a big house or such fine gardens! He ran home with several coins in his pocket to tell his mother all about it.
“I’ve heard there was going to be a great supper,” his mother said. “I was sewing buttons on the mayor’s wedding vest and he told us about it.”
“So he is going, too?” Ruel asked.
“He was invited, but he is getting married this week and said he couldn’t be bothered to go.”
“Too busy to go to a feast?” Ruel was surprised.
“I guess when you have plenty of food, you don’t value it so much,” his mother said, shaking her head. “Were you able to bring home something for our supper?”
Ruel showed her the coins that he had earned and then went back up the street to buy some bread and cheese.
“Maybe I should buy grapes instead of cheese,” he thought. “Mother liked them so much!” He was just trying to figure if he had enough money when a whip snapped behind him. He jumped aside as a team of fine horses and a carriage went by. He was surprised to see the innkeeper in the front seat.
“That’s strange,” Ruel said to himself. “He is taking the road out of town. If the feast is tonight, I am sure he is going to miss it.”
Soon Ruel was standing before the market stalls looking at the juicy fruits and fine cheeses. He was wishing he was rich enough to buy some of both when he realized that there was only one coin left in his pocket. “I must have lost the others when I jumped out of the road,” he thought sadly. “Now we shall only have bread for supper. Poor mother will be disappointed!”
“Do you have any extra change? Just enough to buy some milk or butter?” Ruel stood on the corner, holding out a tin can. It was getting dark and the streets were strangely empty. No one noticed the beggar boy. “They have all gone home to supper,” he thought. “I guess I’d better go, too. Bread is better than nothing.”
He was turning down the alley when he felt a hand on his shoulder. Ruel turned, surprised to see a well-dressed boy looking at him with friendly eyes. “You are invited to my master’s feast,” he said, quite out of breath. “Do hurry and come!”
Ruel’s face grew hot. “There must be some mistake,” he said. “I am only a poor boy.”
But the young servant shook his head. “The master wants you to come. We have brought in the lame and blind from every street corner, but he is not satisfied yet. Aren’t you hungry tonight? That loaf of bread is hardly much food.”
Ruel’s eyes filled with tears. “I was just wishing for a good supper for my mother. Can she come, too? Are you sure your master will have us?”
“It will please my master to have you both. Let us go and get her at once!” the servant said.
The courtyard of the great man was filled with people when they arrived. Ruel had never seen so many beggars and handicapped people in one place! As Ruel and his mother joined the crowd, he heard an excited whisper behind him. “Hey, you were invited, too?” It was the stable boy. With his good arm he was leading a blind old man. “Just think! The innkeeper didn’t come because he wanted to look at some property out of town,” he said in disgust. “I only wish Grandpa could see how beautiful this all is!”
It was a marvelous sight. Ruel and his mother stood in the doorway and stared at the great supper that had been prepared. The long tables were loaded with cheese and fruits of all kinds, baskets of hot rolls and pots of soup. Busy servants were setting out steaming platters of meat and vegetables, and serving food into large bowls. Among the workers Ruel recognized the kind market lady.
“I am so glad you’ve come!” she said, hurrying over with a wash basin and towel. “My master will soon be here, so wash up and sit down.”
“How can this feast be for us?” Ruel was still puzzled. “Where are all the fine guests that were invited?”
“Ungrateful wretches!” the maidservant’s eyes flashed. “They asked to be excused, and excused they are. They will not taste of my master’s supper!”
“I would rather have the poor and hungry any day,” said a deep voice, and Ruel looked up into the kindest face he had ever seen. It was the master himself! Ruel didn’t know what to say, but the great man welcomed them warmly, shaking their hands like they were important guests. Then, taking Ruel’s mother gently by the arm, he led her to a comfortable chair. “My dear lady, do not fear. In my house all that you need will be provided. You are welcome to stay as long as you desire.”
Ruel could hardly believe his ears. For the second time that night his eyes filled with tears. What a great feast indeed! But the greatest of all was the good master, who had taken poor beggars and made them his friends.
