1One Sabbath, when Jesus went to eat in the house of a prominent Pharisee, he was being carefully watched. 2There in front of him was a man suffering from dropsy. 3Jesus asked the Pharisees and experts in the law, "Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath or not?" 4But they remained silent. So taking hold of the man, he healed him and sent him away.5Then he asked them, "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?" 6And they had nothing to say.
7When he noticed how the guests picked the places of honor at the table, he told them this parable: 8"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. 9If 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. 10But 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. 11For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted."
12Then Jesus said to his host, "When you give a luncheon or dinner, do not invite your friends, your brothers or relatives, or your rich neighbors; if you do, they may invite you back and so you will be repaid. 13But when you give a banquet, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind, 14and you will be blessed. Although they cannot repay you, you will be repaid at the resurrection of the righteous."
15When 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."
16Jesus replied: "A certain man was preparing a great banquet and invited many guests. 17At the time of the banquet he sent his servant to tell those who had been invited, 'Come, for everything is now ready.'18"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.'
19"Another said, 'I have just bought five yoke of oxen, and I'm on my way to try them out. Please excuse me.'
20"Still another said, 'I just got married, so I can't come.'
21"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.'
22" 'Sir,' the servant said, 'what you ordered has been done, but there is still room.'
23"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. 24I tell you, not one of those men who were invited will get a taste of my banquet.' "(NIV)
MAIN IDEAS FROM THIS TEXT
A. Taking a rest-day for God does not mean taking a rest from seeking others' welfare.
5Then he asked them, "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?"
Given that this is yet another “Sabbath lesson” (and we had already taken in the last one only two weeks ago – in Lk 13:10-17), it is tempting to wonder if Luke isn’t getting just a bit repetitive…!
However, we need to be reminded of God’s truth as much as be taught it (Deut 8:11-20; Rom 15:14-16; Php 3:1; 2 Ti 2:8-14; 2 Pe 2:12-15).
It might be, however, that Luke has at least a couple of new purposes in describing this moment: a) to show that, even after the prevous Sabbath healings (Lk 6:1-10, 13:10-17), the Jewish leaders still remained hardened in their hearts; and yet b), whereas before, they were willing to devise many tactics and clever words to try and humiliate Jesus (Lk 6:11; 10:25; 11:53-54), they now had nothing to say or do in response to His wisdom and power (Lk 14:6). Jesus has clearly prevailed over them.
B. Humility now is better than humiliation later.
8"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. 9If 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. 10But 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. 11For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted."
“At an ancient meal, the table was usually in the shape of a U, and the host sat at the base. The seats of honor were located next to him. Often the most honored guests arrived the latest.” (Bock, NIV Application Commentary: Luke, p. 392).
In this passage, Jesus was likely making an allusion to Pr. 25:6-7: “Do not exalt yourself in the king's presence, and do not claim a place among great men; it is better for him to say to you, "Come up here," than for him to humiliate you before a nobleman.”
Since the situation Jesus is speaking of in verses 8 to 10 is not one that we in Western culture would often find ourselves in, His “summary statement” in verse 11 (“whoever exalts…humbles…”) is most significant for our purposes. It has a lot of relevance for
1) the way we relate to others, especially in our speech:
Let another praise you, and not your own mouth; someone else, and not your own lips. (Prov 27:2)
2) the way we relate to God:
God opposes the proud, but gives grace to the humble. (1 Pet 5:5; James 4:6)
Discussion Question #1: What are some of the ways in which we can, as God gives us the grace, cultivate humility and destroy pride in our hearts?
C. The LORD wants us to serve those who can’t repay us for what we do for them.
12Then Jesus said to his host, "When you give a luncheon or dinner, do not invite your friends, your brothers or relatives, or your rich neighbors; if you do, they may invite you back and so you will be repaid. 13But when you give a banquet, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind, 14and you will be blessed. Although they cannot repay you, you will be repaid at the resurrection of the righteous."
We shouldn’t conclude that our Lord is saying that we should never invite our loved ones over for a meal, any more than we should conclude from His words in 14:26 (discussed next week) that we should hate our family members. Jesus is employing hyperbole here, as Semitic statements would often tend to do at this time.
However, what we can conclude is that there isn’t necessarily anything special, generous or charitable about doing things for those we love. Here, it is useful to think back on the words of Christ in Luke 6:32-36, where He is exhorting us to love our enemies: "If you love those who love you, what credit is that to you? Even 'sinners' love those who love them. And if you do good to those who are good to you, what credit is that to you? Even 'sinners' do that. And if you lend to those from whom you expect repayment, what credit is that to you? Even 'sinners' lend to 'sinners,' expecting to be repaid in full.”
In contrast, carrying out hospitality or other forms of service to those who can never repay us is a good test for us who profess to know Christ – a test of whether or not we believe that Christ will acknowlege our deeds when He returns (v. 14, Matt 16:27).
D. Rejecting the rule of God often takes the form of excuse-making.
'18"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.' 19"Another said, 'I have just bought five yoke of oxen, and I'm on my way to try them out. Please excuse me.' 20"Still another said, 'I just got married, so I can't come.'
“All the excuses smack of insincerity. One does not purchase property without seeing it first. And since the purchase was already complete., there was no urgency. The land would still be there after the banquet. Likewise (v. 19), one does not purchase oxen without first testing them. The man who had recently married (v. 20) was excused from business travel, or serving in the miltary (Deut 24:5), but there was no legitimate reason for newlyweds to avoid such a social engagement.” (MacArthur Study Bible, p. 1544).
Discussion Question #2: Even though we may, by God’s grace, be part of His kingdom to come, are we ever prone to making excuses or rationalizations to avoid things the LORD would have us do? What might some of these be? What do these reveal about the state of our hearts?
E. Those who seem to be the “first in line” to take their place in the arrival of God’s kingdom will be rejected if they reject Christ. In their place, God will draw many others who are often labelled as outcasts.
24I tell you, not one of those men who were invited will get a taste of my banquet.'
While Jesus has the Jews in mind here, we should always be prepared to take warning from this passage and all that are like it (i.e. all such passages where Jews are addressed) by asking ourselves if we might be presuming upon God’s favour to us simply because we attend worship, fellowship with God’s people, etc. We must examine ourselves and make sure that our lives are marked by repentance from sin (Lk 13:1-5), the fruit of such repentance (Lk 3:8; 13:6-9) and growing faith in Christ (Lk 8:22-25).
Next week: Luke 14:25-15:10 – The Cost of Discipleship, and the Parables of the Lost Sheep and Coin
