Chapter 14 Luke 14
Jesus Heals a Man on the Sabbath (vv. 1-6)
1 One Sabbath a Jesus went to eat a meal at the home of one of the leading Pharisees; b and people were watching Jesus closely. 2 A man whose legs and arms were swollen c came to Jesus, 3 and Jesus spoke up and asked the teachers of the Law and the Pharisees, “Does our Law allow healing on the Sabbath or not?” d 4 But they would not say a thing. e Jesus took the man, healed him, and sent him away. 5 Then he said to them, “If any of you had a son or an ox that happened to fall in a well on a Sabbath, would you not pull him out at once on the Sabbath itself?” f 6 But they were not able to answer him about this.
Interesting Stuff:
a Of the seven recorded miracles done by Jesus on the Sabbath, Luke records five (4:31; 4:38; 6:6; 13:14; 14:1). The other two are in the Gospel of John.
b This was probably someone who was a member of the Sanhedrin. Sabbath meals were prepared the day before.
c Some versions translate the condition as ‘dropsy’, a condition where the body swells because of an accumulation of fluid in the body.
d As in the case of the man with the withered hand (6:9), Jesus took the initiative to shift the burden of proof to the opposition by asking whether it was lawful to heal on the Sabbath.
e To disagree would lead the people to charge them with indifference to human suffering, even though in this case, there was no danger to life. So they kept silent.
f Jesus proceeded to justify his actions by appealing to the normal Jewish custom of being kind to their animals. If they would not leave their children or animal to suffer from being stuck in a well even if it were on a Sabbath, why should they then leave someone to suffer in their illness? When thus confronted, they were caught and had no answers to give.
Questions:
- Describe what happened when Jesus went to eat in the home of one of the leading Pharisees (vv. 1-6).
2. Why were those who were out to catch Jesus unable to answer Jesus’ second question (vv. 2-6)?
Summary of Section:
- One Sabbath Jesus went to eat a meal at the home of one of the leading Pharisees. The people there were watching him closely to see what he would do.
- A man who was suffering from swollen arms and legs came to Jesus.
- Jesus spoke up and asked the teachers of the Law and the Pharisees whether their Law allowed healing on the Sabbath.
- They would not answer Jesus. So Jesus healed the man and sent him away.
- Jesus then asked them whether if they had a son or an ox that happened to fall into a well on a Sabbath, they would not pull him out at once.
- But the teachers of the Law and the Pharisees were not able to answer Jesus’ question.
Nuggets of Wisdom
- Because Jesus’ host was someone of noble status, it can be assumed that those who joined him at the table would likewise be people of high status in the community. Meals were used to advertise and reinforce the social status in the community. Because he was a Pharisee, most of his guests would also be Pharisees. Jesus, in his sharing a meal with Pharisees and instructing them, indicated that he had not closed the door to their turning around to accept the Good News of God.
- Because the intent of the Pharisees was again to watch Jesus’ closely, they refused to answer when Jesus asked them about what was appropriate behaviour on the Sabbath. As in 13:15-16, Jesus followed up his act of healing with a reasoning which they could not object to. This further established Jesus as an authoritative teacher who was able to determine what constitutes acceptable ways of observing Sabbath. It thus opened the way for Jesus to teach further.
The Parable of the Wedding Feast (vv. 7-14)
7 Jesus noticed how some of the guests were choosing the best places, g so he told this parable to all of them: 8 “When someone invites you to a wedding feast, do not sit down in the best place. It could happen that someone more important than you has been invited, 9 and your host, who invited both of you, would have to come and say to you, ‘Let him have this place.’ Then you would be embarrassed and have to sit in the lowest place. 10 Instead, when you are invited, go and sit in the lowest place, so that your host will come to you and say, ‘Come on up, my friend, to a better place.’ This will bring you honour in the presence of all the other guests. 11 For everyone who makes himself great will be humbled, and everyone who humbles himself will be made great.”
12 Then Jesus said to his host, “When you give a lunch or a dinner, do not invite your friends or your brothers or your relatives or your rich neighbours – for they will invite you back, and in this way you will be paid for what you did. 13 When you give a feast, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, and the blind; 14 and you will be blessed, because they are not able to pay you back. God will repay you on the day the good people rise from death.”
Interesting Stuff:
g At banquets, the basic item of furniture was the couch for three, the triclinium. A number of triclinia were arranged in a U-shape. Guests would recline on their left elbows. The place of highest honour was the central position on the couch at the base of the U-shape. The second and third places were those on the left of the main person. After this is the couch on the left, and its most important place being the middle; then the couch on the right, and so on. If an important guest came late, someone would have to be displaced to make room for him. At this feast, there was an undignified scrambling for the places of highest honour and Jesus commented on it.
Questions:
- What led Jesus to tell the parable of the wedding feast (v. 7)?
2. Relate the parable of the wedding feast (vv. 8-10).
3. What lesson was Jesus trying to teach through this parable (v. 11)?
4. What advice did Jesus then give to his host (vv. 12-13)?
Why would he be blessed if he followed Jesus’ advice (v. 14)?
Summary of Section:
- Jesus noticed how some of the guests at the meal were choosing the best places to sit. So he told them the following parable:
a. Jesus said that when invited to a wedding feast, they were not to sit down in the best place because someone more important could have been invited.
b. Then the host would have to come to them and ask them to give up their place for this more important guest. They would thus be embarrassed because they would have to move to sit in the lowest place.
c. Instead, when they were invited, they were to go and sit in the lowest place so that the host would come to them and invite them to sit in a better place.
d. That would then bring honour to them in the presence of all the guests. - Jesus ended by saying that everyone who makes himself great will be humbled and everyone who humbles himself will be made great.
- Jesus then told his host that when he gives a feast, he was not to invite those who could invite him back, like his friends, brothers, relatives or rich neighbours.
- Instead, he was to invite the poor, the crippled, the lame and the blind who could not repay him and he would be blessed. This is because God would repay him on the day of resurrection.
Nuggets of Wisdom
- In the Roman world of that time, social status was very important and a person’s position in society was based on how others around viewed his importance. Thus where one sat or was allowed to sit at a meal was a public advertisement of one’s importance. Invitations to meals were thus carefully considered so as to allow to one’s table only those from one’s inner circle or those whose presence would either enhance or preserve one’s social position.
- The behaviour of the dinner guests gave Jesus the opening for a lesson on humility. He reminded them that a truly humble man does not have to exalt himself. By being humble, his greatness would be seen and he would receive the honour that is due him at the right time.
- In his teachings, Jesus was in fact overturning all the accepted norms of behaviour of their time and was replacing them with God’s ways which are completely revolutionary, the total opposite of our human ways.
- What was also an accepted social behaviour was the practice of reciprocity, i.e., gifts, by unwritten definition, were never ‘free’, but were given and received with strings attached, so that one was obliged to return the favour. Therefore to accept an invitation to dinner was to obligate oneself to extend a similar invitation in return. Thus the powerful and the rich would never think of inviting the poor to their meals because the poor could never return the favour. Moreover, it would also endanger their social status if they were seen in the company of such people.
- Thus Jesus’ counsel to the host that there was no generosity involved in giving to people who could repay him was totally revolutionary to the thinking of that day. Jesus emphasised therefore that true generosity means giving to those who were unable to repay, like the poor, the blind, the crippled and the lame, those who were the outcasts of society.
The Parable of the Great Feast (vv. 15-24)
15 When one of the men sitting at the table heard this, he said to Jesus, “How happy are those who will sit down at the feast in the Kingdom of God!” h
16 Jesus said to him, i “There was once a man who was giving a great feast to which he invited many people.
17 When it was time for the feast, he sent his servant to tell his guests, ‘Come, everything is ready!’ j 18 But they all began, one after another, to make excuses. The first one told the servant, ‘I have bought a field and must go and look at it; k please accept my apologies.’ 19 Another one said, ‘I have bought five pairs of oxen and am on my way to try them out; l please accept my apologies.’ 20 Another one said, ‘I have just gotten married, and for that reason I cannot come.’ 21 The servant went back and told all this to his master. The master was furious and said to his servant, ‘Hurry out to the streets and alleys of the town, m and bring back the poor, the crippled, the blind, and the lame.’ 22 Soon the servant said, ‘Your order has been carried out, sir, but there is room for more.’ 23 So the master said to the servant, ‘Go out to the country roads and lanes and make people come in, n so that my house will be full. 24 I tell you all that none of those men who were invited will taste my dinner!’ ” o
Interesting Stuff:
h This is a reference to the great heavenly feast celebrated with the Messiah. The man made the remark in response to Jesus’ mention of the resurrection day in v. 14. It was widely accepted that there would be a heavenly banquet during that day. He could possibly be thinking that he and his table companions would be among those blessed to eat at that heavenly banquet.
i Jesus used the man’s remark to relate a parable which warns that not everyone will enter the Kingdom of God. All the guests at the table could identify with the parable since it was talking about a great dinner with many people invited.
j In an age where there were no watches and time was fairly flexible, banquets took a long time to prepare and a second invitation was normal. The original invitation must have been accepted. Then according to Jewish custom, a final invitation would be given when the feast was ready. When this invitation came, other things took priority. None of the reasons given was genuine.
l The ‘streets’ were those roads travelled by a variety of people, whereas the ‘alleys’ were small lanes or side paths where the outcasts of society were to be found. Those brought from these places were exactly the ones that Jesus asked his host to invite in v. 13.
n This does not mean that the servant was to use force. The point is that only the utterly poor and the impure would live outside the city walls. Such people would take a lot of convincing that they were really wanted at a banquet because firstly, they could never invite back the host and secondly, they were from a different social class.
o The parable ends with a sombre warning that there would be no second chance for those who had been invited and who did not want to come. Although Jesus did not interpret the parable, the common interpretation is that he could be warning the Jews that their refusal to accept God’s invitation would result in their rejection and the inclusion of Gentiles instead.
Questions:
- What led Jesus to speak on the parable of the Great Feast (vv. 13-15)?
2. Relate the parable of the Great Feast (vv. 15-24).
3. In this parable, what excuses were made?
What did the master ask his servant to do in response to these excuses?
4. Comment briefly on what is represented by the excuses given by those who were first invited to the feast.
5. State two lessons that may be learnt from this parable.
Summary of Section:
- When one of the guests sitting at the table heard what Jesus taught about inviting those who could not pay back, he said to Jesus that happy were those people who would sit down at the feast in the Kingdom of God.
- Jesus then told him the following parable:
a. There was once a man who was giving a great feast to which he invited many people.
b. When it was time for the feast, he sent his servant to tell his guests to come for everything was ready.
c. However, each of the guests began to make excuses and sent their apologies that they could not come.
i. The first one told the servant that he had just bought a field and he must go and look at it.
ii. The second said that he had just bought five pairs of oxen and he was on his way to try them out.
iii. The third said that he had just gotten married and thus he could not come.
d. When the servant went back and told his master, he was furious. He told his servant to hurry out to the streets and alleys of the town and bring back the poor, the crippled, the blind and the lame.
e. Soon the servant came back and said that it was done but that there was room for more.
f. The master told him to go out to the country roads and lanes and make people come in so that his house would be full.
g. He added that none of those men who were invited would taste his dinner.
Nuggets of Wisdom
- The usual interpretation of this parable is that it is about the heavenly banquet and the warning to the Jews that refusal to accept God’s invitation would result in their rejection. God would then include those whom they would never expect to be part of God’s Kingdom – the ‘sinners’ and the Gentiles..
- It also emphasises the truth that people are saved not because of their own efforts but through their response to God’s invitation which He graciously extends to everyone. If they are lost, it is by their own fault because God does not force people to accept His invitation.
- Another interpretation (see References, Joel Green’s The Gospel of Luke) is that the parable is about someone from the noble class like the guests themselves, who undergoes a change of heart and breaks all the social norms and invites the poor and outcasts to his dinner. It will be people like them, Jesus said, who would be blessed and whom God would repay on the resurrection day (v. 14) as they join Him at the heavenly banquet (v. 15).
Counting the Cost of Being a Disciple (vv. 25-35)
25 Once when large crowds of people were going along with Jesus, he turned and said to them, 26 “Whoever comes to me cannot be my disciple unless he loves me more than he loves p his father and his mother, his wife and his children, his brothers and his sisters, and himself as well. 27 Whoever does not carry his own cross q and come after me cannot be my disciple. 28 If one of you is planning to build a tower, he sits down first and figures out what it will cost, r to see if he has enough money to finish the job. 29 If he doesn’t, he will not be able to finish the tower after laying the foundation; and all who see what happened will make fun of him. 30 ‘This man began to build but can’t finish the job!’ they will say. 31 If a king goes out with ten thousand men to fight another king who comes against him with twenty thousand men, he will sit down first and decide if he is strong enough to face that other king. 32 If he isn’t, he will send messengers to meet the other king to ask for terms of peace while he is still a long way off. 33 In the same way,” concluded Jesus, “none of you can be my disciple s unless he gives up everything he has.
34 “Salt is good, but if it loses its saltiness, t there is no way to make it salty again. 35 It is no good for the soil or for the manure pile; it is thrown away. Listen, then, if you have ears!”
Interesting Stuff:
p Some translations have the word ‘hates’ in place of ‘loves me more than he loves . . .’ Jesus did not mean that we are to literally hate our family members. His meaning is that the love his disciple has for him must be so great that the best of earthly loves is hatred by comparison. This is called a hyperbole, something which Jesus used often.
q See chap 9, note r.
r Jesus did not want a blind naive commitment that expected only blessings without fully considering the cost. As a builder estimates costs or a king evaluates his military strength (v. 31), so a person must think through carefully what Jesus expects of his followers before making a commitment.
s Jesus was not discouraging discipleship. He was warning against a faint-hearted attachment. He wanted people to count the cost and be able to consider everything as loss so that they could enter into the joy of being a true disciple.
t The salt in use in first-century Palestine was far from pure. It was quite possible for the sodium chloride to be leached out of the impure salt so that what was left lacked the taste of salt
Questions:
- According to Jesus, what is involved in being his disciple (vv. 25-27)?
2. Describe the two parables he used to illustrate his point (vv. 28-32).
3. What are the lessons that can be learnt about discipleship from these two parables?
4. What was Jesus trying to point out in his parable of the salt (vv. 34-35)?
Summary of Section:
- Once when large crowds were going along with him, Jesus told them that whoever came to him could not be his disciple unless he loved Jesus more than he loved his parents and siblings as well as his wife and children and himself as well.
- He added that whoever did not carry his own cross and come after him could not be his disciple.
- Jesus then gave two illustrations to emphasise his point about counting the cost of discipleship:
a. The first was about building a tower. He said that if one plans to build a tower, he will first sit down and figure out what it will cost to see if he has enough money to finish the job. If the man does not do that, he will not be able to finish the tower after laying the foundations. Then all who see what happened will laugh at him, saying that he began to build but cannot finish the job.
b. The second was about a king going out to fight. Jesus said that if a king goes out with 10,000 men to fight another king with 20,000 men, he will sit down first and decide if he is strong enough to face that other king. If he is not, then he will send messengers to meet the other king to ask for terms of peace while he is still a long way off. - In the same way, Jesus said that no one could be his disciple unless he gave up everything he had.
- Jesus warned that salt was good but if it lost its saltiness, there was no way to make it salty again. It would be no good for the soil or for the manure pile and would be thrown away. He challenged those who had ears to listen to what he was saying.
Nuggets of Wisdom
- Jesus now continued his journey to Jerusalem. Along the way, crowds gathered around him and Jesus took the opportunity to teach them about the cost involved in being his follower.
- Jesus’ lesson was plain. Those who wanted to follow him must be willing to set aside their family loyalties and live as though they were condemned to death by crucifixion. They were no longer to pursue status or accumulate wealth or other self-interests but to be free to identify with Jesus in his suffering.
- He did not want followers who rushed into discipleship without thinking of what was involved. The price is that whoever comes to him must consider all as loss for his sake. The phrase in some versions is ’bid farewell to all you have’ (v. 33). This ‘leaving behind’ is in the present tense, meaning that it is not in the future but it is the normal way of life of a disciple.
- He was not saying that a disciple had to sell all his possessions and give everything away. Jesus meant that his disciple must put aside everything that competes with loyalty to God so that he can fully seek after the things that please God.
- Jesus’ point in the parabolic saying about the salt was to emphasise that those who desire to journey with him as his disciples must carefully consider the cost of discipleship otherwise they would not be worthy of being called his disciple; they would be like the salt that has lost its saltiness.
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