Read or listen The Gospel of Luke, chapter 14 online (ESV, Bible Gateway)

Healing of a person suffering from dropsy – Luke 14:1-6

Chapter fourteen contains four discourses of Jesus:
1. Jesus’ question to the Pharisees, verses 1-6
2. Jesus’ speech to the guests at the table, verses 7-11
3. Jesus’ speech to the master of the house, verses 12-14
4. Jesus' response to the praise of a guest at the table, verses 15-24

After the synagogue service, a visiting preacher was usually invited to a meal. It is possible that Jesus had preached in the synagogue that Sabbath. It is not certain what the “ruler of the Pharisees” (verse 1) means. He may have been one of the leaders of the Pharisee movement, even a member of the Sanhedrin, or simply one of the leaders of the synagogue in question. Jewish Sabbath meals were fine, but all the food had to be prepared on Friday, since cooking was forbidden on the Sabbath.

After the synagogue service, a visiting preacher was usually invited to a meal. It is possible that Jesus had preached in the synagogue that Sabbath. It is not certain what the “ruler of the Pharisees” (verse 1) means. He may have been one of the leaders of the Pharisee movement, even a member of the Sanhedrin, or simply one of the leaders of the synagogue in question. Jewish Sabbath meals were very fine, but all the food had to be prepared on Friday, since cooking was forbidden on the Sabbath.

Luke records five miracles of healing performed by Jesus on the Sabbath: Luke 4:31-37, 4:38-39, 6:6-11, 13:10-17, and 14:1-6, and John has two more miracles on the Sabbath: John 5:1-10 and 9:13-17. These healings led to the Pharisees accusing him of breaking the Sabbath. This time, the accusation is not uttered aloud.

The man was not in immediate danger, so the Pharisees thought that the healing could wait until the next weekday. Jesus' question (verse 3) was a difficult one for the Pharisees (compare Matthew 22:15-22). If they had answered yes, they would have violated their own interpretation of the law. If they had answered no, they would have been considered heartless. They thought that the question should have been: "What kinds of diseases may be cured on the Sabbath?"

Pride and modesty – Luke 14:7-11

In all cultures, there is a certain order of rank and seating at banquets. At the Jewish banquet of that time, the host's seat was at the head of the table. They did not sit, but lay down and leaned on their left elbows; in verse 7, "the best places" is "the first places" in Greek. The guest of honor was to the host's left, the next to the host's right, etc. John leaned on Jesus' breast at the Last Supper (John 13:23, 21:20), so he was in the second most prestigious place.

Even the disciples argued about who was the most important (Luke 22:24), so Jesus’ teaching may have been specifically directed at his disciples. Rabbi Akiba taught that one should place oneself 2-3 places lower than where one thinks one belongs. Then one can rise up and not have to descend down. Does Jesus mean this kind of calculation by his advice? Elsewhere in the Bible, we are also told to humble oneself in order to be exalted: Proverbs 25:6-7, Matthew 23:12, Luke 18:14 (see also Job 22:29, Luke 1:51-53, 11:43, 20:46, James 4:10, 1 Peter 5:5).

Jesus is speaking here from the perspective of eternity. Only those who feel completely unworthy before God can be saved (Luke 18:9-14). Man cannot pretend to be guilty of sin, but must truly feel his sinfulness in order to enter the kingdom of God (cf. 1 Tim 1:15). Here is another limitation to the narrow door (Luke 13:24): only sinners can pass through it, , not those who feel righteous on their own.

Invite the poor, because they cannot repay you – Luke 14:12-14

Jesus does not want to forbid inviting close people to a meal, but rather prohibiting calculating (verse 12). True mercy is helping those who cannot repay.

But doesn't this lead to "buying ticket to heaven with good works"?
- No, because God cannot be deceived, he sees into the heart of man. True mercy arises from true love: good is done without realizing it, under the influence of the Holy Spirit, without thinking of God's reward (Matthew 25:37-39). We learn one new feature of the narrow door: heaven cannot be bought, one cannot pass through the narrow gate by seeking one's own advantage.

Some scholars have interpreted the end of verse 14 to mean that Luke knew of no other resurrection than the resurrection of the righteous. But in the Acts of the Apostles, Luke quotes Paul's speech, which also clearly speaks of a resurrection to judgment

"there will be a resurrection of
both the just and the unjust."
(Acts 24:15)

The Old Testament already speaks of the resurrection of all people (Dan. 12:2, see also Isa. 26:19). In the New Testament, a certain "resurrection order" appears: as the "firstborn" Christ, then his own, and finally the others (1 Cor 15:20-28, see also John 5:28-29).

The Great Feast – Luke 14:15-24

Again, Jesus gives an answer that moves the discussion from the general to the personal (compare Luke 13:22-30). Apparently, the man (verse 15) thought that he was without a doubt participating in the heavenly feasts, but Jesus points out that many of the invited reject the invitation and remain outside the Kingdom of Heaven.

Even in the Old Testament, heaven is compared to a feast (Isaiah 25:6), but the image is probably more familiar to us from the New Testament: Matthew 8:11, 25:1-10, Luke 13:29, Revelation 19:9.

In those days, it was common to send out advance invitations (verse 16). This helped to know how many guests were coming and to prepare the appropriate amount of food. Now, however, those who accepted the advance invitations began to back down. All three reasons were excuses.

No one would have bought a field without first examining it (verse 18). Today's farmer doesn't do that either. And no one buys a house over the phone based on a newspaper ad. And the field that was bought wouldn't go anywhere: it would be there the next day.

The oxen, pairs of bulls (verse 19), were tested before purchase. They had to be able to work together, so testing beforehand was essential. In our time, one could imagine a situation where someone would buy a boat and an engine from different places without seeing either one beforehand.

"I have just been married" (verse 20) cannot mean the previous day, because no one would have arranged a feast for the wedding week - the wedding lasted the whole week (John 2:1-10). Besides, the wedding would have been known already at the time of the advance invitation. The exemption of the year for a newly married man in Deuteronomy 20:7 and 24:5 does not apply to such a situation. The man would have been back home in the evening.

In other words, the refusers deliberately and publicly wanted to insult the host of the party. By refusing, they were saying: "We don't appreciate your invitation and your party, we have better things to do. We're not coming!"

The servant was given the task of inviting the city's outcasts to the feast - the poor and crippled and blind and lame (verse 21), but when there was still room, the invitation was extended outside the city (verse 23).

Who is Jesus talking about in the parable? The caller is God. The servant is Jesus. The original ones called are either the Jewish leaders or generally "good" Jews who did not accept Jesus' invitation. The outcasts of the city were the despised Jews; sinners with whom Jesus spent time (Luke 7:36-50). The city represents Israel, the "countryside" and its inhabitants the Gentile world.

The end of the parable is left open: it does not say whether the Gentiles would come or whether the banquet table would eventually be filled. At that point, they were still in the future: Jesus called the "city dwellers," or Jews. The calling of the country dwellers, or Gentiles, became the task of the apostles and the entire Christian church (Luke 24:46-49).

Although the host had been publicly insulted (compare Isa 52: 5), he did not take revenge on the original invitees but showed mercy to others.

What does “demand” in verse 23 mean? If we were invited to the palace of a president or a king, we would surely think that there had been a mistake. We would come up with various reasons why the invitation could not be for me. God’s gracious invitation is equally surprising: those who do not deserve it receive it. In the culture of that time, one had to refuse an unexpected invitation; only after refusing and renewing the invitation could one accept it (Luke 24:28-29, Acts 16:15, see also Genesis 19:3). One could say that the servant’s job was to demonstrate that the invitation was indeed genuine.

Verse 24 is a serious warning against overconfidence in matters of faith (see also Luke 20:9-19). Those who were first invited may be left out of the feast (Luke 13:30).

This parable also brings up a new limitation to the narrow door. Only those who put God's call first in their order of importance can enter through the narrow door. Nothing, not even a good thing, should become more important than that.

The cost of discipleship – Luke 14:25-35

Jesus did not want to attract people to follow him, quite the opposite: he warned on several occasions that one should not follow him on too light a basis.

In verse 26 the word "hate" refers to being willing to give up even close people for the sake of following Jesus. Jesus did not want to abolish the fourth commandment: "Honor your father and your mother." Notice that one thing you should be willing to hate/give up is your own life.

Carrying the cross (verse 27) was an all too familiar and horrifying image for the Jews of Jesus’ day. The condemned to be crucified had to carry his own cross (the crossbar) to the place of execution (Luke 23:26). Carrying the cross does not mean the same thing to all Christians. Carrying the cross should be an everyday practice (Luke 9:23).

“If anyone would come after me,
let him deny himself and
take up his cross daily and follow me."
(Luke 9:23)

The two parables in verses 28-33 may be based on Proverbs 24:3, 6. A tower builder would only face ridicule if he failed, but an unsuccessful military campaign could mean the loss of everything for a defeated king.

Why does Jesus want his followers to be serious? Why doesn't he say, "Try it if you like it. If not, go back to your old life!" It is important to see that matters of faith are revealed only to those who take it seriously (Deut. 29:28, John 7:17). Those who have at some point abandoned their faith are much more difficult to win to Christ than those who have never been Christians (compare Matthew 12:43-45).

However, we must remember that Jesus always gives more than he takes or demands. Even what he takes from our lives is ultimately a relief and help, even though at first it may seem like a great loss. Eternal life is not worth exchanging for anything in this world.

Verse 33 does not always have to be literally fulfilled. It could be translated as: "...unless you are willing to give up everything..." It can only be a question of attitude, readiness, but sometimes also of the act itself. The first Christians gave up all their possessions (Acts 2:44-45, 4:32-37). However, this did not prove to be a good way of doing things, as it was soon abandoned. For example, in connection with Paul's activities, such a thing is no longer spoken of.

Finally, Jesus compares Christians to salt. Salt gives flavor and preserves. In the Old Testament, salt also had a role in the covenant between God and the people of Israel (Numbers 18:19, 2 Chronicles 13:5) and in sacrifices (Leviticus 2:13).

The salt collected from the shores of the Dead Sea often contained impurities that caused the salt to spoil. There was no use for the spoiled salt. It had to be thrown away. If impurities come into the life of a Christian or a church - things that are not in accordance with God's will - a Christian cannot be salt in the world. Spoiled Christianity is ultimately not good enough for God or the world.

This passage brings up another limitation to the narrow door (Luke 13:24). Only those who truly want to be followers of Jesus can enter through it. That door does not lead to fun or the easiest life possible, but to wholeheartedly following Jesus. For some, it leads even to death (verse 27).