Jesus Preaching

LUKE — LESSON 14

Scriptures for this lesson are taken from: Luke 14 and Isaiah 25:6.

In Lesson 13 Jesus and His disciples were on the east side of the Jordan River traveling south toward Jerusalem in the area of Machaerus. King Herod had sent Jesus a threatening message trying to get Him to move out of Herod’s territory. As we move into Luke chapter 14, Jesus has been invited to dine in the home of a prominent Pharisee.

[Luke 14:1-6] (1) One Sabbath, when Jesus went to eat in the house of a prominent Pharisee, he was being carefully watched. (2) There in front of him was a man suffering from abnormal swelling of his body. (3) Jesus asked the Pharisees and experts in the law, “Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath or not?” (4) But they remained silent. So taking hold of the man, he healed him and sent him on his way. (5) Then he asked them, “If one of you has a child or an ox that falls into a well on the Sabbath day, will you not immediately pull it out?” (6) And they had nothing to say.

Jesus had just previously healed a woman on the Sabbath and now He is in the home of a highly esteemed Pharisee, teacher of the law. The other guests were watching Him carefully to see if he would heal someone again. Next to Jesus they had seated a man who had the dropsy. Most likely the man was seated next to Jesus on purpose to see if Jesus would heal him on the Sabbath which they considered a sin. They didn’t fool Jesus at all. Knowing what they were doing; Jesus asked them if it was lawful to heal on the Sabbath. No one gave Him an answer, so He took hold of the ailing man and healed him and told him to go away. He obviously would not have been a regular guest at one of their feasts. Jesus then turned to His host and other guests and asked them if they would not pull out their son or an ox that had fallen in a well on the Sabbath. Would that not be work? They said nothing.

[Luke 14:7-11] (7) When he noticed how the guests picked the places of honor at the table, he told them this parable: (8) “When someone invites you to a wedding feast, do not take the place of honor, for a person more distinguished than you may have been invited. (9) If so, the host who invited both of you will come and say to you, ‘Give this person your seat.’ Then, humiliated, you will have to take the least important place. (10) But when you are invited, take the lowest place, so that when your host comes, he will say to you, ‘Friend, move up to a better place.’ Then you will be honored in the presence of all the other guests. (11) For all those who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted.”

Jesus noticed how the guests had chosen places of honor at the table when they sat or reclined for dinner. Those who sat closest to the host were in the most honored positions. Then He began to tell them a parable. By this parable Jesus tried to give them a lesson in humility. It was much better to take a lessor seat and have the host move you up than to take an honored seat than to have the host move you down. Pride has no place in heaven. Jesus said on several occasions that the humble would receive final exaltation. [See: Luke 18:14, Matthew 23:12]

[Luke 14:12-14] (12) Then Jesus said to his host, “When you give a luncheon or dinner, do not invite your friends, your brothers or sisters, your relatives, or your rich neighbors; if you do, they may invite you back and so you will be repaid. (13) But when you give a banquet, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind, (14) and you will be blessed. Although they cannot repay you, you will be repaid at the resurrection of the righteous.”

Certainly at the Pharisee’s home where Jesus was dining, seated around the table were other Scribes and Pharisees as well as prominent Jews in the community. By inviting these people, the host hoped to receive invitations to the homes of his prominent guests, thus increasing his social status. But Jesus said it was better to invite the poor and the blind and lame people, those who were unable to work to buy food or provide for their families. It was better to feed the needy and be blessed by God than to receive the praise of men. Heavenly blessings are eternal and man’s praise is brief.

[Luke 14:15-24] (15) When one of those at the table with him heard this, he said to Jesus, “Blessed is the one who will eat at the feast in the kingdom of God.” (16) Jesus replied: “A certain man was preparing a great banquet and invited many guests. (17) At the time of the banquet he sent his servant to tell those who had been invited, ‘Come, for everything is now ready.’ (18) “But they all alike began to make excuses. The first said, ‘I have just bought a field, and I must go and see it. Please excuse me.’ (19) “Another said, ‘I have just bought five yoke of oxen, and I’m on my way to try them out. Please excuse me.’ (20) “Still another said, ‘I just got married, so I can’t come.’ (21) “The servant came back and reported this to his master. Then the owner of the house became angry and ordered his servant, ‘Go out quickly into the streets and alleys of the town and bring in the poor, the crippled, the blind and the lame.’ (22) “‘Sir,’ the servant said, ‘what you ordered has been done, but there is still room.’ (23) “Then the master told his servant, ‘Go out to the roads and country lanes and compel them to come in, so that my house will be full. (24) I tell you, not one of those who were invited will get a taste of my banquet.’”

The Scribes and Pharisee present at this banquet were all students and teachers of the Old Covenant scriptures. One of those present commented to Jesus about what a wonderful blessing it would be to eat at the great feast in the kingdom of God. This was probably a response to Jesus telling them in verses 12-14 that there were greater blessings for feeding the poor and needy rather than the rich and powerful. So this Pharisee was saying that they, the righteous sons of Abraham would be blessed at the great feast in the Kingdom of God. This feast is told in Isaiah 25:6: On this mountain the LORD Almighty will prepare a feast of rich food for all peoples, a banquet of aged wine ‐ the best of meats and the finest of wines.

Jesus then told them a story (parable) about a man who prepared a great feast and invited his guests to come and dine with him. But his guests made all kinds of excuses why they could not attend. The master of the house was angry and sent his servant to go out into the streets and invite the poor, the homeless, blind and lame people to come. When there were still not enough guests to eat the feast, they went up and down the roads inviting anyone who would to come to this feast.

This story is Jesus’ response to the man’s statement. The man holding the feast represented God and the guests that were originally invited were His chosen people, Israel. But when God sent His Son, Jesus, to establish His kingdom on earth, then Israel rejected Him. They made all kinds of excuses to say that He was not the Son of God. When the invited guests in the story, meaning the Jews, rejected Christ, then the gentiles who represented all other peoples were invited to come. If those present understood what Jesus was saying about the invited guests, then they would have understood that, according to Jesus, they would not be attending the great feast in Heaven prepared by God Himself. Jesus knew that many Jews and gentiles would reject His Kingdom preferring the praise of men and the temporary riches of this world.

[Luke 14:25-27] (25) Large crowds were traveling with Jesus, and turning to them he said: (26) “If anyone comes to me and does not hate father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters ‐ yes, even their own life ‐ such a person cannot be my disciple. (27) And whoever does not carry their cross and follow me cannot be my disciple.

The great crowds of people following after Jesus had little conception of the meaning of the Kingdom of God that Jesus was teaching. They expected the Messiah to raise an army and defeat the Romans and reestablish the kingdom of Israel as in the time of David. To be a disciple of Jesus meant living a life of dedication and commitment. Jesus did not mean that His disciples should really hate their families, but if following Him required making a choice, then Jesus must come first.

[Luke 14:28-34] (28) “Suppose one of you wants to build a tower. Won’t you first sit down and estimate the cost to see if you have enough money to complete it? (29) For if you lay the foundation and are not able to finish it, everyone who sees it will ridicule you, (30) saying, ‘This person began to build and wasn’t able to finish.’ (31) “Or suppose a king is about to go to war against another king. Won’t he first sit down and consider whether he is able with ten thousand men to oppose the one coming against him with twenty thousand? (32) If he is not able, he will send a delegation while the other is still a long way off and will ask for terms of peace. (33) In the same way, those of you who do not give up everything you have cannot be my disciples (34) “Salt is good, but if it loses its saltiness, how can it be made salty again? (35) It is fit neither for the soil nor for the manure pile; it is thrown out. “Whoever has ears to hear, let them hear.”

Here we have Jesus telling three parables about the cost of discipleship. The first two parables were to encourage the people to think about the cost of being a follower of Jesus before they made a commitment. Jesus’ disciples would be leaving their families for long periods of time; they would be giving up income from their jobs and committing their lives to spreading the gospel. It would be much better to consider all the costs first. It would be better not to commit than to commit and then quit. It all sounds very severe where no one would want to be a disciple. But basically it means that putting Christ first is what is required. Jesus said that when we put Him first all the other things will be given to us. That does not mean expensive automobiles and fancy homes, but rather rich blessings and necessary needs.

In verses 34 and 35 Jesus refers to His followers as salt. A little bit of salt goes a long way for flavoring and preserving food. One faithful Christian can reach many lost people in their lifetime by their witness through words and lifestyle. But a Christian who is unfaithful is worthless as a witness for the Lord.

Lessons for us from Luke 14:

1. Making excuses for not accepting Christ as Savior or for not following His will are unacceptable to Him.

2. The Lord loves a humble spirit.

3. It is our responsibility as Christians to help those in need.

4. As a disciple of Christ, we should always put Him first.

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