Luke 14:1-35
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 which had the dropsy.
3 And Jesus answering spake unto the lawyers and Pharisees, saying,Is it lawful to heal on the sabbath day?
4 And they held their peace. And he took him, and healed him, and let him go;
5 And answered them, saying,Which of you shall have an ass or an ox fallen into a pit, and will not straightway pull him out on the sabbath day?
6 And they could not answer him again to these things.
7 And he put forth a parable to those which were bidden, when he marked how they chose out the chief rooms; saying unto them,
8 When thou art bidden of any man to a wedding, sit not down in the highest room; lest a more honourable man than thou be bidden of him;
9 And he that bade thee and him come and say to thee, Give this man place; and thou begin with shame to take the lowest room.
10 But when thou art bidden, go and sit down in the lowest room; that when he that bade thee cometh, he may say unto thee, Friend, go up higher: then shalt thou have worship 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 that bade him, When thou makest a dinner or a supper, call not thy friends, nor thy brethren, neither thy kinsmen, nor thy rich neighbours; lest they also bid thee again, and a recompence be made 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 them that 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 said he unto him,A certain man made a great supper, and bade many:
17 And 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 consent began to make excuse. The first said unto him, I have bought a piece of ground, and I must needs 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 prove 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 shewed 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 which 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 haply, after he hath laid the foundation, and is not able to finish it, all that 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 ambassage, 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 savour, 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.
Luke 14:3. Is it lawful to heal on the sabbath day. When customs are good, let us keep them; but when they are burthensome and inconsistent, the Saviour refused submission to the traditions of men. Yet he condescended to assign reasons, for we should use great forbearance with misguided men On another occasion he said, My Father works, in the shining of the sun, and I work. Ye also circumcise a son on the sabbath; and if it be lawful for you to wound, why not for me to heal? You help a beast out of a pit, why may I not help this man?
Luke 14:16. A certain man made a great supper and bade many. This parable is to be understood in unison with the invitations of Isaiah 55:1, and with the parable of the marriage feast, Matthew 22. The gospel supper is ready in plenitude of grace and glory, and the gates of righteousness are open.
Luke 14:18. They all began to make excuse. These excuses are of three classes, all under the cover of lawful things, which comprise the three sins against which an apostle has raised his voice. 1 John 2:16. “The lust of the flesh, the desire of the eye, and the pride of life.” They form a climax of insults to the Majesty of heaven. The first said, he had bought a piece of ground, a tun or estate as in the Gothic, and must go and see it. The second, that, being plowing time, he must attend the training of his oxen. The third, being recently married, must receive and return the accustomed visits. And is an estate then more than heaven. Are the labours of husbandry more than the cares of the soul. Is the marriage feast to supersede the gospel supper, the bread of eternal life!
Luke 14:23. Go out into the highways and hedges. St. Paul gives us a comment here. He said to the unbelieving jews, “seeing ye judge yourselves unworthy of eternal life, lo, we turn to the gentiles.” Acts 13:46.
Compel them to come in. The word αναγκαζειν to compel, is used in Matthew 14:22, and Mark 6:45, where Jesus constrained his disciples to get into the ship. So Lydia constrained Paul and Barnabas to dwell in her house. In like manner the Shunamite constrained Elisha to eat bread. The word comprises all the force of entreaty and persuasion, and ought to read here constrain, as in other places. Travellers state that it is customary with people in the east to eat under trees, and lodge under hedges, when they are not able to pay for better accommodations.
Luke 14:26. And hate not his father and mother. When our Saviour sent the twelve to preach, he said, And “loveth” father or mother more than me, is not worthy of me. Matthew 10:37.
Luke 14:28. And counteth the cost. Men who are rash in religion often fall in the hour of temptation. We should well weigh the pleasures and the punishments of sin; we should next investigate religion in all its beauty, in its crosses, and in its vast rewards. We should consider the sanctity it requires, and the duties it imposes. We should then ask, if we break with the world, and close with Christ, whether he be able to save us. Whether he will stand by us in the day of trial, and whether he has always supported his servants in the crisis of danger. After thus counting the cost, as Caleb did, Numbers 13:30, we should at once nobly close with God, and break with every sin. So our Saviour has required us to do, and so St. Paul exhorts the Hebrews to do, with an astonishing force and cloud of argument. Mark 8:36; Hebrews 12:1.
REFLECTIONS.
While our Saviour was in Perea, eastward beyond Jordan, one of the chief pharisees, probably one of the sanhedrim, who were all accounted noble, invited him to dine after the worship of the synagogue was over. At which time, for the Saviour's presence drew the crowd and made it a good tide, the pharisee's house, as appears from the parable below, was crowded with guests. But the enmity of the sect accompanied the feast.
Among the throng about the house or the door, was a man afflicted with the dropsy, imploring a cure. On the other hand, the high sectarians watched him with an evil eye. Jesus therefore put the question frankly. Is it lawful to heal on the sabbath day? Their better nature said yea, but their creed said no. Therefore the lawyers were silent. Like their fathers on mount Carmel, they answered not a word. The Saviour therefore took and healed the man, amidst a cloud of envy and applause.
Among the friends that crowded this great man's house, the Saviour had noticed a decided preference of the highest seats. He therefore took occasion to say, and no doubt with all the grace that the case would admit, that it was better to wait in a lower situation till the master of the house had called them to take their seats. Honour conferred is laudable, but honour assumed is followed with contempt.
The Redeemer was a courtier at the rich man's table, but a courtier of independent character. He addressed them with a parable of the gospel supper, painted with just and impartial characters. The oracle of truth could not flatter the pride and vanity of men. He left not the parable unfinished, for the close had a strong bearing on the moral state of the guests, and on their religious connections. The good and rich man in the parable declared that none of the men who were bidden, and who had contumeliously despised the favour of their superior, should taste of his supper.
To the multitude, the poor that followed him, he was as ingenuous as to the rich. He required self-denial and sacrifice as the first step of his followers, that they should make a proper estimate of the things of time in contrast with those of eternity. That they should persevere in religion, because, if the salt of piety have once lost its savour, it is good for nothing but the dunghill.