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The Gospel of Luke Chapter Fourteen
Commentary by Timothy H. Burdick
While Luke 14 is a relatively small
chapter, it is an extremely rich one. Therefore, I would
encourage those who study it to do so in a spirit of
reflection. Just as Jesus has been invited to a feast, as
reflected in this Chapter, He is inviting you to dine with
Him.
But in verses 1 to 4 of Luke
Fourteen, we see Jesus was invited to this feast for the
wrong reasons. Here’s what it says: “One Sabbath, when Jesus
went to eat in the house of a prominent Pharisee, He was
being carefully watched. There in front of Him was a man
suffering from dropsy. Jesus asked the Pharisees and experts
in the law, ‘Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath or not?’
But they remained silent. So taking hold of the man, He
healed him and sent him away.”
In this section we see Jesus dining
with the socially elite. In that culture breaking bread with
others spoke of intense oneness. It was not something one
did casually. But far from being one with Jesus, the
Pharisees were trying to trick Him. It would appear from the
text that they had brought a very sick man to the feast be a
plant. All eyes were on Jesus, but He turned their
craftiness back on them in the form of a question. Compare
this question, with the question that Jesus asks in Mark
Chapter 3, verse 4 - “Then Jesus asked them, ‘which is
lawful on the Sabbath: to do good or to do evil, to save
life or to kill?’ But they remained silent.” Notice that
rather than argue with His enemies, Jesus was asking the
leaders questions which in both cases brought forth nothing
but silence.
What is even more striking, though,
is to reflect on the way Jesus showed mercy. Compare these
passages, with Hosea 6:6 - ”For I desire mercy, not
sacrifice, and acknowledgement of God rather than burnt
offerings.” Also look at Matthew 5:7 - “Blessed are the
merciful, for they will be shown mercy.” How can you show
mercy in your everyday life?
In order to enhance further
reflection on the part of the leaders, Jesus goes on in Luke
14:5 to initiate this question: “If one of you has a son or
an ox that falls into a well on the Sabbath day, will you
not immediately pull him out?” But again in verse 6 we see
that once again His question was met with silence.
Jesus uses a story (a parable) in
this Chapter in Luke three times. In public speaking, a
story goes a long way toward effective communication. Jesus
knew this and was always ready with a good story to make a
point. See Luke 7:11 - “When He noticed how the guests
picked the places of honor at the table, He told them this
parable: ‘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. If so, the host who invited
both of you will come and say to you, ‘give this man your
seat.’ Then humiliated, you will have to take the least
important place. 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 your fellow guests. For
everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who
humbles himself will be exalted.’”
In that day, instead of chairs, the
guests reclined on pillows. They were seated at certain
points around the table according to their prominence.
Compare what Jesus is saying here,
with Proverbs 11:2 - “When pride comes then comes disgrace,
but with humility comes wisdom.” What is “humility” and how
can you cultivate it in your life?
This would have been a truth that
the rabbis and spiritual leaders would have taught their
pupils. They certainly would have known this Scripture from
the Book of Proverbs. But I wonder if sometimes we tend to
point the finger at others, all the while ignoring God’s
truths ourselves.
Then Jesus addressed His remarks to
the host of the feast, as show in Luke 14:12-14 - ”Then
Jesus said to His host, ‘when you give a luncheon or dinner,
do not invite your friends, your brother or relatives, or
your rich neighbors; if you do, they may invite you back and
so you will be repaid. But when you give a banquet, invite
the poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind, and you will be
blessed. Although they cannot repay you, you will be repaid
at the resurrection of the righteous.”
Jesus was not saying here that
friends or relatives should never be invited over for
dinner, what He was looking at, was the motive of their
hearts. We do the same in the Twenty-First Century. How
often do we give a dinner inviting the homeless? Don’t we
invite those who can repay us? Think about this in the light
of Psalm 139:23-24 - “Search me, O God, and know my heart;
test me and know my anxious thoughts. See if there is any
offensive way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting.”
Verse 15 of Luke Chapter 14 could be
a pious remark with little meaning or this guest could have
had a burst of insight through the Holy Spirit. The man
said, “When one of those at the table with Him heard this,
he said to Jesus, ‘Blessed is the man who will eat at the
feast in the Kingdom of God.’”
In response to this, Jesus told
another story in Luke 14:16-24, “Jesus replied, ‘a certain
man was preparing a great banquet and invited many guests.
At the time of the banquet he sent his servant to tell those
who had been invited, ‘come for everything is now ready.’
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.’ Another said ‘I have just bought five yoke of
oxen, and I’m on my way to try them out. Please excuse me.’
Still another said, ‘I just got married, so I can’t come.’
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.’
Sir, the servant said, ‘what you ordered has been done, but
there is still room.’ Then the master told his servant, ‘go
out to the roads and country lanes and make them come in, so
that my house will be full. I tell you, ‘not one of those
men who were invited will get a taste of my banquet.’”
In those days, two invitations to a
banquet were given. The guests were all told in advance, and
then a servant was sent out when everything was ready. Any
excuses they might have given were considered great insults
to the host, as they had had plenty of time to accept,
decline and/or make other arrangements.
The first man claimed that he had
just bought some real-estate, and had to look it over. What
a flimsy excuse. Who would buy property without first
thoroughly checking it out? The second man claimed that he
hadn’t tried out the five yoke of oxen he had bought. That
would be like putting your money down before test driving a
car. The third man was newly married and I wonder why he
couldn’t have brought his new wife with him?
You may think, “what a lot of silly
excuses.” But don’t we make the same kind of silly excuses
when it comes to spending time with God? Like the host of
the feast, I think that God is grieved when we don’t come to
the feast that HE has prepared.
Looking at it from another
perspective, how many of us go out of our way to invite
those with disabilities into our lives? Many of us are like
the rich guests, inviting each other over for dinner. Can
you think of some ways that you can share Gods feast with
those who may be less fortunate than you are?
Now, let’s look at Luke 14 25-27 -
“Large crowds were traveling with Jesus, and turning to them
He said, ‘If anyone comes to Me and does not hate his father
and mother, His wife and children, His brothers and
sisters—yes, even his own life—he cannot be my disciple. And
anyone who does not carry his cross and follow Me cannot be
My disciple.”’
Jesus knew the fickleness of a large
crowd. And rather than being swayed by them, He attempted to
weed those out who were just looking for a free ride. So, in
the next verse when He uses the term “hate,” He is not
talking about a literal hatred of family, He is saying that
to follow God the Father through Jesus Christ, means putting
God’s interesting above everything else.
Jesus is using what is called in
English, “hyperbole.” Or in Hebrew, we might call it a
comparative. Simply stated: Aside from our love for Jesus,
all other love and desire must pale.
With Him, there was no easy
discipleship. He said that dying to one’s self was the way
we all should live. That is what He meant when He talked
about “taking up the cross,” while in the world; it was An
instrument of pain and shame. To His followers was to become
the banner of glory.
As you reflect on the cross,
meditate on Galatians 6:14 - “May I never boast except in
the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, through which the world
has been crucified to Me, and I to the world.” What does it
mean for you in the twenty-first century to be a disciple of
Christ?
Today, so much of our Christianity
is based on emotion. We live in the day of the mega church,
and many times, speed seems to be our god. We have fast
food, the fast lanes on freeways and fast faith.
But Jesus in His final story within
this Chapter, talked about counting the cost rather than
living on a religious roller coaster. He said, “Suppose one
of you wants to build a tower. Will he not first sit down
and estimate the cost to see if he has enough money to
complete it? For if he lays the foundation and is not able
to finish it, everyone who sees it will ridicule him,
saying, ‘this fellow began to build and was not able to
finish.’ Or suppose a king is about to go to war against
another king. Will he not first sit down and consider
weather he is able with ten thousand men to oppose the one
coming against him with twenty thousand? 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. In the same way,
any of you who does not give up everything he has cannot be
My disciple.”
Jesus will now speak about His
followers as “salt.” Salt has interesting characteristics.
First, it makes people thirsty. The way we live, not
counting the cost of placing our Lord first in life, should
make others think about God and thirst for Him. Second, it
is a preservative. It is only the Holy Spirit within us,
preserving us and helping us that keeps this world in check.
Third, and this is what Jesus directly spoke of in Luke
12:34-35, believers are to “season” the world in which we
live. He said, “Salt is good, but if it looses its
saltiness, how can it be made salty again? It is fit neither
for the soil nor for the manure pile; it is thrown out. He
who has ears to hear, let him hear.”
Jesus is speaking to all of us when
He asks how the “salt” can become “salty” again. Salt is the
seasoning of the Gospel that we must sprinkle on the world.
But we cannot be the witness we should be if sin is in our
lives. 1st John 1:9 tells us how to regain our saltiness:
“If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just and will
forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.”
Then it continues, “He who has ears to hear, let him hear.
In other words, pay attention. I want to close this Chapter
out by asking you to reflect on Psalm 66:18 - “If I had
cherished sin in my heart, the Lord would not have
listened.”
Thank you for reading my commentary
in this Chapter. Please join me next time for Luke 15.
Friday Study Ministries
The First Church On The Net
www.FridayStudy.org
www.FirstChurchOnTheNet.org
"While
we were yet sinners, Christ died for us" (Romans 5:8)
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