Luke 14

Jesus Heals And Teaches in The House of A Pharisee; Teachings on The Cost of Following Jesus

In this section, Jesus healed and taught from the home of another religious leader, emphasizing the humility needed to accept His invitation to God’s kingdom.  Luke also included some of Jesus’ teachings on the cost of being His disciple. 

Jesus Visited Another Pharisee

Healing on The Sabbath

In the gospel story, there are seven incidents in which Jesus healed on the Sabbath day. In Luke we have already studied the story of the healing of Simon's mother-in-law (Luke 4:38); of the man with the withered hand (Luke 6:6); and of the woman who was bent for eighteen years (Luke 13:13). To these John adds the story of the healing of the paralytic at the pool of Bethesda (John 5:9); and of the man born blind (John 9:14). Mark adds one more--the healing of the demon-possessed man in the synagogue at Capernaum (Mark 1:21).

Anyone would think that a record like that would have made a man beloved of all; but it is the tragic fact that every miracle of healing that Jesus wrought on the Sabbath day only made the scribes and Pharisees  more certain that he was dangerous and irreligious and must at all costs be stopped.     - William Barclay

Vs. 1-2 - One Sabbath, when he went in to eat at the house of one of the leading Pharisees, they were watching him closely.  There in front of him was a man whose body was swollen with fluid.

Luke noted that “they,” the religious leaders, were attentive to Jesus’ every word but not always with good motive.  Some commentators speculate that this man may have been invited to this meal for the purpose of conjuring this conflict.  

Vs. 5 - And to them, he said, “Which of you whose son or ox falls into a well, will not immediately pull him out on the Sabbath day?”

Luke already recorded (Luke 6 and 13) multiple occasions when Jesus was confronted by religious leaders about His Sabbath activities.  Now again, another Pharisee demonstrated a failure to understand the meaning of the mandate, the love in the law.  

Using a typical Rabbinic method of arguing from the lesser to the greater, Jesus accuses those who hold this position of hypocrisy.  If one cares for the physical needs of animals on the Sabbath, then it follows that one should care for the physical needs of people.            - Thomas Schreiner

His opponents had missed the whole point of this holy day. Had they understood it, they would have seen that deeds of mercy such as His were not merely permitted-they were obligatory.                 - Morris

This incident set the stage for the discussion that followed. That seems to be its primary purpose in Luke’s narrative. This fact accounts for the lack of development that Luke gave this incident. Above all else it established Jesus’ authority to teach the lessons that followed immediately.           - Thomas Constable

Kingdom Humility

If it was the pride and cynicism, like that of Jesus’ host, that would keep the religious leaders and many of Jesus’ own people from entering the kingdom He described, then the purpose of the banquet illustrations that followed seems to be more than general teachings on modesty and etiquette, but rather warnings that only the humble would inherit the kingdom. 

Wedding Banquet

Vs. 8 - When you are invited by someone to a wedding banquet, don’t sit in the place of honor, because a more distinguished person than you may have been invited by your host.

Vs. 11 - For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and the one who humbles himself will be exalted.

Jesus is not offering a lesson on dinner etiquette. Jesus is not concerned about how people sit at a table. But he is concerned about the hearts of these people because it is causing them to miss out on participating in the kingdom of God. The key teaching of this parable is that it is better to let others exalt you than to be humiliated. Don’t assume for yourself a position. Take the lowest place and let others give you honor. Now, while this is practical information, please recognize that Jesus is teaching to their hearts about their relationship to God. Humility is required to enter the kingdom.            - Brent Kercheville

Hosting A Meal

Vs. 12 - He also said to the one who had invited him, “When you give a lunch or a dinner, don’t invite your friends, your brothers or sisters, your relatives, or your rich neighbors, because they might invite you back, and you would be repaid.”

Jesus gave another example of a humble host here to further prove His point.  The humble inherit the kingdom. 

Parable of A Large Banquet (Matthew 22:1-14

Vs. 15-16 - Then one of those who reclined at the table with him heard these things, he said to him, “Blessed is the one who will eat bread in the kingdom of God!”

Then he told him, “A man was giving a large banquet and invited many.”

One who is at the table, after hearing Jesus’ teaching, declares, “Blessed is everyone who will eat bread in the kingdom of God!” Basically, “it’s going to be great for us.” It seems he did not get the message of what Jesus was saying. They are the ones missing out of the kingdom of God. They are missing out on salvation. So Jesus tells a sharper parable to get his message across.             - Brent Kercheville

In reply, Jesus told a parable designed to make the man, and the other guests, realize that many who thought themselves assured of a place in the kingdom were going to miss out.            - Don Fleming

Jesus continued to use the meal in the Pharisee’s house to teach about the messianic banquet and the kingdom to come. He had taught the importance of humbling oneself to participate (7-11) and had justified that requirement (12-14). Now He invited His hearers to humble themselves so they could participate and warned those who rejected His invitation of their fate.

In the parable, the host corresponds to God, and the servant is Jesus. The people invited were the Jews primarily.                  - Thomas Constable

Vs. 23-24 - Then the master told the servant, ‘Go out into the highways and hedges and make them come in, so that my house may be filled. For I tell you, not one of those people who were invited will enjoy my banquet.’

Jesus was clarifying that, because of their prideful excuses, many of His own people would not be present at the kingdom table.  Only those who humbly accepted the master’s invitation would enjoy the banquet. 

This was how most of the Jews treated Jesus’ invitation. They felt they were good enough already and did not need to repent. Consequently, the religiously respectable people were left out of the kingdom, but outcasts such as beggars, tax collectors and prostitutes were included. Even Gentiles from far off places accepted the invitation that the Jews refused.                      - Don Fleming

The Cost of Following Jesus

In continuation of the theme of humility, Luke included some of Jesus’ teachings on the cost of discipleship in this section.  Jesus’ true followers would lead lives of humble surrender. 

The crowds that followed Jesus thought he was on the way to a throne. Jesus told them he was on the way to a cross. If they wanted to follow him, they had to understand what his kingdom was like and what his followers could expect. They had to love him above everything else, and had to be prepared for self-sacrifice and even death.              - Don Fleming

The theme of the cost of accompanying Jesus runs like a refrain throughout Luke. (Luke 9:57-62; Luke 18:24-30).             - Marshall

Hating Life and Family

Vs. 25-26 - Now great crowds were traveling with him. So he turned and said to them, “If anyone comes to me and does not hate his own father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters—yes, and even his own life—he cannot be my disciple.

We must not take his words with cold and unimaginative literalness. Eastern language is always as vivid as the human mind can make it. When Jesus tells us to hate our nearest and dearest, he does not mean that literally. He means that no love in life can compare with the love we must bear to him.             - William Barclay

Bearing A Cross

Vs. 27 - Whoever does not bear his own cross and come after me cannot be my disciple.

Luke 9:23 - Then he said to them all, “If anyone wants to follow after me, let him deny himself, take up his cross daily, and follow me.

On multiple occasions, Jesus compared following Him to “bearing a cross.” His audience would have understood this graphic reference to Roman crucifixion and that Jesus likened the life of Christian discipleship to marching towards one’s own death.  

Calculating Cost

Vs. 28 - For which of you, wanting to build a tower, doesn’t first sit down and calculate the cost to see if he has enough to complete it?

Vs. 31 - Or what king, going to war against another king, will not first sit down and decide if he is able with ten thousand to oppose the one who comes against him with twenty thousand?

Before one embarks on the road to discipleship, one needs to recognize from the beginning that Jesus demands total and complete commitment.                - Thomas Schreiner

Staying Salty

Vs. 34-35 - Now, salt is good, but if salt should lose its taste, how will it be made salty? It isn’t fit for the soil or for the manure pile; they throw it out. Let anyone who has ears to hear listen.

If people were not prepared to give everything for the sake of Jesus, their lives could be of no use to him. They would be as useless as salt that had no saltiness.               - Don Fleming