Luke 14:1-35

Nothing escaped the notice of Jesus. He saw the guests in the house, and their method of procedure in seeking the chief seats. As He watched, He enunciated two great truths of social application. First, He criticized those seeking precedence; and, second, He criticized a hospitality which was extended in the hope of recompense.

One of the guests, moved by the word of the Master, exclaimed, "Blessed is he that shall eat bread in the Kingdom of God." In the parable that followed, the Lord revealed the divine action in the establishment of His Kingdom, and showed the reluctance of the human heart to fulfill its condition.

When Jesus left the house where He had been entertained, He was followed by great multitudes, to whom He uttered, perhaps in words severer than on any other occasion, His terms of discipleship. These were severance from every earthly tie in order to follow Him, and an actual fellowship in the Cross. This was the occasion, moreover, on which He gave the reason for that severity. It was that the work of God which He had come to accomplish was building and battle. It was necessary that He have those on whom He could depend to complete the building and win the battle.