Saying 64: The Great Banquet
A man invited guests to dinner; every one of them had business to attend to — debts to collect, a house to buy, a wedding to cater, rents to gather. So he sent his servant to bring in whoever was found in the streets. Buyers and merchants will not enter my Father's places.
Commentary
Thomas gives four excuses, all commercial, and closes with an explicit anti-trade moral that neither Matthew nor Luke has. Luke’s version turns into an allegory of Israel and the Gentiles; Thomas keeps it a complaint about business.
Parallels
Matthew 22:1–10; Luke 14:16–24
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