Luke 14

Jesus Heals on the Sabbath

1 It happened that when He went into the house of one of the leaders of the Pharisees on the Sabbath to eat bread, ¹they were watching Him closely.

2 And there in front of Him was a man suffering from dropsy.

3 And Jesus answered and spoke to the ²lawyers and Pharisees, saying, "³Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath, or not?"

4 But they kept silent. And He took hold of him and healed him, and sent him away.

5 And He said to them, "⁴Which one of you will have a son or an ox fall into a well, and will not immediately pull him out on a Sabbath day?"

6 ⁵And they could make no reply to this.

Parable of the Guests

7 And He began speaking a parable to the invited guests when He noticed how ⁶they had been picking out the places of honor at the table, saying to them,

8 "When you are invited by someone to a wedding feast, ⁷do not take the place of honor, for someone more distinguished than you may have been invited by him,

9 and he who invited you both * will come and say to you, 'Give your place to this man,' and then ⁸in disgrace you proceed to occupy the last place.

10 "But when you are invited, go and recline at the last place, so that when the one who has invited you comes, he may say to you, 'Friend, ⁹move up higher '; then you will have honor in the sight of all who are at the table with you.

11 "¹⁰For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted."

12 And He also went on to say to the one who had invited Him, "When you give a luncheon or a dinner, do not invite your friends or your brothers or your relatives or rich neighbors, otherwise they may also invite you in return and that will be your repayment.

13 "But when you give a reception, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind,

14 and you will be blessed, since they do not have the means to repay you; for you will be repaid at ¹¹the resurrection of the righteous."

15 When one of those who were reclining at the table with Him heard this, he said to Him, "¹²Blessed is everyone who will eat bread in the kingdom of God!"

Parable of the Dinner

16 But He said to him, "¹³A man was giving a big dinner, and he invited many;

17 and at the dinner hour he sent his slave to say to those who had been invited, 'Come; for everything is ready now.'

18 "But they all alike * began to make excuses. The first one said to him, 'I have bought a piece of land and I need to go out and look at it; please consider me excused.'

19 "Another one said, 'I have bought five yoke of oxen, and I am going to try them out; please consider me excused.'

20 "Another one said, '¹⁴I have married a wife, and for that reason I cannot * come.'

21 "And the slave came back and reported this to his master. Then the head of the household became angry and said to his slave, 'Go out at once into the streets and lanes of the city and bring in here the poor and crippled and blind and lame.'

22 "And the slave said, 'Master, what you commanded has been done, and still there is room.'

23 "And the master said to the slave, 'Go out into the highways and along the hedges, and compel them to come in, so that my house may be filled.

24 'For I tell you, none of those men who were invited shall taste of my dinner.' "

Discipleship Tested

25 Now large crowds were going along with Him; and He turned and said to them,

26 "¹⁵If anyone comes to Me, and does not hate his own father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters, yes, and even his own life, he cannot * be My disciple.

27 "Whoever does not ¹⁶carry his own cross and come after Me cannot * be My disciple.

28 "For which one of you, when he wants to build a tower, does not first sit down and calculate the cost to see if he has enough to complete it?

29 "Otherwise *, when he has laid a foundation and is not able to finish, all who observe it begin to ridicule him,

30 saying, 'This man began to build and was not able to finish.'

31 "Or what king, when he sets out to meet another king in battle, will not first sit down and ¹⁷consider whether he is strong enough with ten thousand men to encounter the one coming against him with twenty thousand?

32 "Or else, while the other is still far away, he sends a delegation and asks for terms of peace.

33 "So then, none * of you can be My disciple who ¹⁸does not give up all his own possessions.

34 "Therefore, salt is good; but ¹⁹if even salt has become tasteless, with what will it be seasoned?

35 "It is useless * either for the soil or for the manure pile; it is thrown out. ²⁰He who has ears to hear, let him hear."

Luke 14 Commentary

Chapter 14

Christ heals a man on the sabbath. (1-6) He teaches humility. (7-14) Parable of the great supper. (15-24) The necessity of consideration and self-denial. (25-35)

Verses 1-6 This Pharisee, as well as others, seems to have had an ill design in entertaining Jesus at his house. But our Lord would not be hindered from healing a man, though he knew a clamour would be raised at his doing it on the sabbath. It requires care to understand the proper connexion between piety and charity in observing the sabbath, and the distinction between works of real necessity and habits of self-indulgence. Wisdom from above, teaches patient perseverance in well-doing.

Verses 7-14 Even in the common actions of life, Christ marks what we do, not only in our religious assemblies, but at our tables. We see in many cases, that a man's pride will bring him low, and before honour is humility. Our Saviour here teaches, that works of charity are better than works of show. But our Lord did not mean that a proud and unbelieving liberality should be rewarded, but that his precept of doing good to the poor and afflicted should be observed from love to him.

Verses 15-24 In this parable observe the free grace and mercy of God shining in the gospel of Christ, which will be food and a feast for the soul of a man that knows its own wants and miseries. All found some pretence to put off their attendance. This reproves the Jewish nation for their neglect of the offers of Christ's grace. It shows also the backwardness there is to close with the gospel call. The want of gratitude in those who slight gospel offers, and the contempt put upon the God of heaven thereby, justly provoke him. The apostles were to turn to the Gentiles, when the Jews refused the offer; and with them the church was filled. The provision made for precious souls in the gospel of Christ, has not been made in vain; for if some reject, others will thankfully accept the offer. The very poor and low in the world, shall be as welcome to Christ as the rich and great; and many times the gospel has the greatest success among those that labour under worldly disadvantages and bodily infirmities. Christ's house shall at last be filled; it will be so when the number of the elect is completed.

Verses 25-35 Though the disciples of Christ are not all crucified, yet they all bear their cross, and must bear it in the way of duty. Jesus bids them count upon it, and then consider of it. Our Saviour explains this by two similitudes; the former showing that we must consider the expenses of our religion; the latter, that we must consider the perils of it. Sit down and count the cost; consider it will cost the mortifying of sin, even the most beloved lusts. The proudest and most daring sinner cannot stand against God, for who knows the power of his anger? It is our interest to seek peace with him, and we need not send to ask conditions of peace, they are offered to us, and are highly to our advantage. In some way a disciple of Christ will be put to the trial. May we seek to be disciples indeed, and be careful not to grow slack in our profession, or afraid of the cross; that we may be the good salt of the earth, to season those around us with the savour of Christ.

Cross References

• 1. Mark 3:2
• 2. Matthew 22:35
• 3. Matthew 12:2; Luke 13:14
• 4. Matthew 12:11; Luke 13:15
• 5. Matthew 22:46; Luke 20:40
• 6. Matthew 23:6
• 7. Proverbs 25:6, 7
• 8. Luke 3:8
• 9. Proverbs 25:6, 7
• 10. 2 Samuel 22:28; Proverbs 29:23; Matthew 23:12; Luke 1:52; Luke 18:14; James 4:10
• 11. John 5:29; Acts 24:15; Revelation 20:4, 5
• 12. Revelation 19:9
• 13. Matthew 22:2-14; Luke 14:16-24
• 14. Deuteronomy 24:5; 1 Corinthians 7:33
• 15. Matthew 10:37
• 16. Matthew 10:38; Matthew 16:24; Mark 8:34; Luke 9:23
• 17. Proverbs 20:18
• 18. Philippians 3:7; Hebrews 11:26
• 19. Matthew 5:13; Mark 9:50
• 20. Matthew 11:15

Footnotes

• [a]. I.e. members of the Sanhedrin
• [b]. Lit "behold"
• [c]. I.e. experts in Mosaic Law
• [d]. Lit "Whose son of you...will fall"
• [e]. Lit "recline at"
• [f]. Lit "begin"
• [g]. Lit "recline" at the table
• [h]. Or "banquet"
• [i]. Or "are unable to"
• [j]. Or "field"
• [k]. Lit "I request you"
• [l]. Lit "I request you"
• [m]. Lit "many"
• [n]. I.e. by comparison of his love for Me
• [o]. Or "an embassy"
• [p]. Or "hear!" Or "listen!"