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| Chapter 14 |
| Bible Text | Notes and Thoughts |
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1 ¶ And it came to pass, as He went into the house of one of the chief Pharisees to eat bread on the Sabbath day, that they watched Him. 2 And behold, there was a certain man before Him who had the dropsy. 3 And Jesus answering, spoke unto the lawyers and Pharisees, saying, "Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath day?" 4 But they held their peace. And He took him and healed him, and let him go. 5 And He answered them, saying, "Which of you shall have an ox or an ass fallen into a pit, and will not straightway pull him out on the Sabbath day?" 6 And again they could not answer Him concerning these things. 7 ¶ And He put forth a parable to those who were bidden, when He marked how they chose out the chief places, saying unto them, 8 "When thou art bidden by any man to a wedding, sit not down in the highest place, lest a more honorable man than thou be bidden by him, 9 and he that bade thee and him come and say to thee, ‘Give this man thy place,’ and thou begin with shame to take the lowest place. 10 But when thou art bidden, go and sit down in the lowest place, that when he that bade thee cometh, he may say unto thee, ‘Friend, go up higher.’ Then shalt thou have honor in the presence of them that sit at meat with thee. 11 For whosoever exalteth himself shall be abased, and he that humbleth himself shall be exalted." 12 Then said He also to him who bade Him, "When thou makest a dinner or a supper, call not thy friends nor thy brethren, neither thy kinsmen nor thy rich neighbors, lest they also bid thee again and a recompense be made to thee. 13 But when thou makest a feast, call the poor, the maimed, the lame, the blind, 14 and thou shalt be blessed, for they cannot recompense thee. For thou shalt be recompensed at the resurrection of the just." 15 ¶ And when one of those who sat at meat with Him heard these things, he said unto Him, "Blessed is he that shall eat bread in the Kingdom of God." 16 Then Jesus said unto him, "A certain man made a great supper and bade many. 17 And he sent his servant at supper time to say to them that were bidden, ‘Come, for all things are now ready.’ 18 And they all with one accord began to make excuses. The first said unto him, ‘I have bought a piece of ground, and I need to go and see it. I pray thee have me excused.’ 19 And another said, ‘I have bought five yoke of oxen, and I go to test them. I pray thee have me excused.’ 20 And another said, ‘I have married a wife, and therefore I cannot come.’ 21 So that servant came and showed his Lord these things. Then the master of the house, being angry, said to his servant, ‘Go out quickly into the streets and lanes of the city, and bring in hither the poor and the maimed and the halt and the blind.’ 22 And the servant said, ‘Lord, it is done as thou hast commanded, and yet there is room.’ 23 And the Lord said unto the servant, ‘Go out into the highways and hedges and compel them to come in, that my house may be filled. 24 For I say unto you that none of those men who were bidden shall taste of my supper.’" 25 ¶ And there went great multitudes with Him, and He turned and said unto them, 26 "If any man come to Me and hate not his father and mother, and wife and children, and brethren and sisters, yea, and his own life also, he cannot be My disciple. 27 And whosoever doth not bear his cross and come after Me cannot be My disciple. 28 For which of you, intending to build a tower, sitteth not down first and counteth the cost, whether he have sufficient to finish it? 29 Lest it may happen, after he hath laid the foundation and is not able to finish it, all who behold it begin to mock him, 30 saying, ‘This man began to build and was not able to finish.’ 31 Or what king, going to make war against another king, sitteth not down first and consulteth whether he be able with ten thousand to meet him that cometh against him with twenty thousand? 32 Or else, while the other is yet a great way off, he sendeth an envoy and desireth conditions of peace. 33 So likewise, whosoever he be of you that forsaketh not all that he hath, he cannot be My disciple. 34 "Salt is good; but if the salt have lost his savor, wherewith shall it be seasoned? 35 It is neither fit for the land, nor yet for the dunghill; but men cast it out. He that hath ears to hear, let him hear." |
v1 Jesus received an invitation to have a meal with one of the chief Pharisees on the Sabbath day, was this real friendship or as Luke records "they watched Him." Had they pretended to be social yet all they wanted was to catch Jesus out. They obviously still had not understood the powers and abilities of Jesus, He could read their hearts and minds. v2 The presence of this sick man may not have been planned, perhaps he had come in the hope of healing. Dropsy is the swelling of the body due to excessive liquid (water) in the body tissues, not a disease in itself but a sign of a more serious problem in the major organs. A condition very obvious to all present. v3,4 Jesus reverses the roll, he challenges the religious leaders present with a question, "Is it permitted to heal on the Sabbath day?" See Luke 6:9. They do not know how to answer, if they say healing on the Sabbath was wrong it would show how wrong their teaching was, if they said it was OK then they could not object to His action. Jesus heals the man. v5,6 Jesus now uses the same question challenge as He has used before, Luke 6:9; Luke 13:15. Which of you would not save an animal on the Sabbath? Again they could not answer. Jesus now uses examples to show the behaviour of those present, the third as a response to a comment. v7-11 The wedding feast Behaviour of the Religious leaders at any social gathering was always to go for the highest position at the table, "they chose out the chief places," Social position was important to the Jewish society, the position of honour or place meant much to them. Jesus tells them to accept a position free at the table, not try to get to the chief places, to start with they may have been reserved for someone else. Take the lower place and let the master invite you to the place he wants you to have. Jesus used the situation to remind that with God humility is the way to receive the real reward from Him. v12-14 Jesus now turns to the host of His meal that day. When you have a feast like this, do not invite your relatives or rich friends, a selfish practice, for these are the people who will return the invitation. Instead invite those who are poor or ill, this will bring reward as these people cannot repay you for your kindness, use your wealth to help others. v14 The words used indicate the double resurrection, one for the believers, one for those who had rejected salvation through Jesus. v15 The man is saying "it will be wonderful to have dinner in the kingdom of heaven." But this remark allows Jesus to show who will be invited to this feast in heaven. God demands true faith, not a religious, casual attitude. v16-24 A great supper This parable would be of great interest to those present, it was the same kind of life they lived. It was the custom to send out invitations a few days or weeks before a feast, then as per custom there was a personal invitation on the day, in this story the servant is sent out to those previously invited. The people invited now find reasons for not coming, an insult under Jewish custom. v18 "I must see the land I have just bought." A foolish excuse as no one would buy ground without first seeing it. Another buys animals without first checking their health etc. If you bought oxen without first testing it would be very foolish, they could be useless and so worthless. As the men had already made their purchases then it would not have made to much of a problem to delay another day and go to the feast. v20 "I have married a wife," this man thought it was a good reason for not coming. It is obvious that none of the guests wanted to come to the feast. Their attitude made the master very angry at this direct insult. v23 The feast was ready, there was no time to spare so the servants were sent out into the streets to bring in the beggars, the poor and the ill into the feast. v22 "Yet there is room." Beggars and poor would have been everywhere so there should not have been a problem in getting a large group. v23 Eastern custom was that the eating cannot start until all the seats taken, so the master sends his servants out to invite strangers outside of the city to come. v24 The master, having been so insulted, refuses to have anything else to do with the initial people invited, those who refused to come were rejected forever. Jesus is indicating that the chosen tribe of Jews would reject His invitation to accept Him as the Messiah, this would result in His invitation to others of the world. A committed disciple. v25,26 Salvation is free, but to be a disciple is costly to a believer. Jesus is at the peak of His ministry, He is followed by large crowds. At this point instead of encouraging more to follow Him, Jesus points our what it will cost - there is no hidden "small print" as He lists the cost. v26 Personal relationships must come second. Jesus is not saying we cannot have love for the family He is telling us we must put them second to Him if we want to be a true follower. Even "self" must take second place, Jesus has to be first. v27 The cross was considered a mark of shame in the time of Jesus, we must be willing to be "crucified" with Him. To be crucified does not mean we must hang ourselves on a cross, that’s physically impossible, but when a person is crucified he can only see one future, he cannot go back to an old life or have any future plans for himself. v28-30 The Jews built towers in the middle of their vineyards to protect them, to ensure a good harvest. An half built tower would not be of much use. Many people and churches "build towers" but they are not completed. v31-32 A king does not normally make war unless he knows that there is a good chance of winning. Similarly a disciple must expect to be at war with the world, we are out numbered but we have God the Father on our side so will finally win. Rom 8:32-39. v32 A Christian must not be willing to "negotiate" or come to terms with the world to get a more comfortable passage. v33 A disciple must be willing to hand everything over to Jesus. Many believers often have parts of their life which they want to keep from the Lord. It costs to be a disciple. v34-35 Salt is used to preserve, the world needs to be preserved from the attacks of evil by the "salt" of Christ, unfortunately, the "salt" of the believer can become dirty, polluted, and not work. Today’s church is often only "salting" itself and not the world. What kind of ‘disciple’ are you? |
Easy English Translation
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