Luke 14

Luke 14:1

Luke: The Man Christ Jesus Jesus on his way from Galilee to Jerusalem An EasyEnglish Bible Version and Commentary (2800 word vocabulary) on Luke 9:51 to 19:44

www.easyenglish.info Ian Mackervoy This commentary has been through Advanced Checking.

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Chapter 14 Dinner with a *Pharisee – Luke 14:1-24 v1 One *Sabbath day, Jesus went to the house of a leader of the *Pharisees. He went to eat a meal with the *Pharisee. The other guests were carefully watching Jesus to see what he would do. v2 There in front of Jesus was a man who was sick. The cause of the illness was too much liquid in his body. v3 Jesus spoke to the lawyers and *Pharisees. He asked whether or not it was legal to cure a person on the *Sabbath. v4 But they would not answer his question. So, Jesus took hold of the man. Then Jesus cured him and he sent him away.

v5 Then Jesus said to the people, ‘You have sons and *oxen. Suppose your son or your *ox falls into a well. You would pull him out at once even on the *Sabbath day.’ v6 And they were not able to argue with him.

v7 Jesus saw how the guests had tried to take the best seats. So, he gave to them this advice. v8 ‘When someone invites you to a wedding, do not sit in the best place. Maybe someone else, who is more important than you, is also a guest at the wedding. v9 The host, who invited both of you, will come. He will say to you, “Let this man sit here.” Then with shame, you will take the least important place. v10 Instead, when someone invites you, sit in the least important place. Your host will come to you. He will say, “My friend, come up to a better place.” Then you will receive honour in front of all the other guests. v11 If people make themselves great, God will make them to be as nothing. But everyone who is humble, God will make to be great.’

v12 Then Jesus spoke to the man who had invited him. ‘When you make a dinner or supper, do not invite your friends and your family. Do not invite your other relatives and your rich neighbours. If you do, they may invite you back. And so they will reward you. v13 But when you have such a meal, invite poor people. Invite people with sick bodies. Invite people who are unable to walk or unable to see. v14 These people cannot pay you for what you have done. However, God will *bless you. You will have your reward when good people rise from death.’

v15 One of the men at the table with Jesus heard this. He spoke to Jesus. ‘Truly happy is the person who will eat the food in God’s *kingdom.’

v16 Jesus replied with this story. ‘A certain man made a great supper and he invited many guests. v17 When it was time to eat, the man sent his servant to tell the guests. His message was: “Come because it is now ready.”

v18 But all the guests made excuses. The first one said, “I have just bought a field. I must go and look at it. Please excuse me.”

v19 Another one said, “I have just bought 5 pairs of *oxen. I am going to test them. Please excuse me.”

v20 Then another one said, “I have just got married. So, I cannot come.”

v21 The servant came back and he reported these things to his master. Then the owner of the house was angry. He told his servant, “Go quickly into the streets and passages of the town. Bring in the poor people and the people whose bodies are sick. Bring in the blind people and the people who cannot walk.”

v22 The servant said, “Master, I have done what you ordered. But there is still room.”

v23 Then the master told his servant, “Go out, to the roads and country paths. Urge the people to come to my house. I want it to be full. v24 I tell you this. None of those men whom I invited first will taste of my supper.” ’

Verses 1-4 It was a *Sabbath day. This is the 4th time that Luke records a disagreement about the *Sabbath (6:1-5, 6:6-11, 13:10-17). A leader of the *Pharisees invited Jesus and other guests to a meal. The host was an important man. He may have been a member of the *Jewish government. It seems that the other guests were enemies of Jesus. They had come to see what he would do. They hoped to find something with which to accuse him.

At the meal, there was a man who was sick. Maybe the *Pharisee had invited him in order to tempt Jesus to cure this man. In their tradition, that would be work on the *Sabbath day. Then they would accuse Jesus of wrong deeds against the *Sabbath rules.

There were other lawyers and *Pharisees there. So, Jesus asked them if it is legal to cure someone on the *Sabbath day. It was a difficult question for them to answer. There is nothing in the Bible to say that it is not legal. But they had their regulations. These regulations had become law to them. By this law, it would be wrong to cure a person on the *Sabbath day. (They would allow a doctor to cure a person if it was a matter of life or death. But this man was not in such a desperate state; he could wait until after the *Sabbath.) The lawyers and *Pharisees would not answer Jesus. So, Jesus cured the man and sent him away.

Verses 5-6 If a son, or even an *ox, fell into a well, they would pull him out. Although it was a *Sabbath day, they would not wait. Immediately they would rescue the son or the *ox. Such an act may have been against their rules for the *Sabbath. But it was not against God’s law. In the same way to cure a man on the *Sabbath day may be against their rules. But it was not against God’s law. The lawyers and *Pharisees could not argue against Jesus.

Verse 7 At special meals such as at a wedding, there was a strict arrangement of places. The most important ones were next to the hosts. The next important ones were those on the sides nearest to the hosts. The least important ones were those furthest away from the hosts. Jesus saw how the guests tried to take the more important places.

They did not sit on chairs. Often, they lay on their left sides on cushions. There were three persons to each cushion. And the middle one of the three was more important than the other two.

Verses 8-11 Jesus spoke about a wedding meal. He advised guests to take lower places rather than important ones. Then if a guest were important, the host would take him to an important place. If a less important guest were in that place, the host would ask him to move. Then it could be that the only place available was the lowest place. The other guests would see this, and it would cause shame for that guest. Suppose however that an important guest was in a lower place. Then the host would come and he would take that guest to a higher place. The other guests would see this, and it would bring honour to that guest.

God will act in a similar way. If people make themselves important, God will give no honour to those people. But to those people who are humble, God will give honour. A person’s position does not depend on his own opinion about himself. It depends on God because God will be the judge of all people.

Verses 12-14 Then Jesus spoke to the *Pharisee who had invited him. Jesus advised him not to invite those people who could invite him back. Jesus did not mean that he should never invite any such person. Jesus is not against normal social life. But in God’s opinion, a host gains no advantage when he only invites those people. Such people may reward the host by the invitations that they give to him. So the host would receive his rewards from people and not from God.

It would be very much better to invite those people who cannot reward the kindness. The reason for such acts must not be for the reward. It must be from a genuine desire to help those people. But God will see it. He will reward such actions when good people rise from death.

At a future time, good people (that is, God’s people) will come back from death. Also, there will be a time when evil people will return from death. Then there will be the judgement day when God will be the judge of all people. He will decide whom to reward, and whom to punish.

Verse 15 Jesus had spoken of the future when God will raise people from death. The *Jews were familiar with the idea of a grand dinner in God’s *kingdom. They believed that the good people of the past would rise from death. And these good people would be guests at that dinner. Also as *Jews, they expected to be guests with them at the dinner. So, one of the guests replied to Jesus. He said that it would be a great honour to be at that grand dinner. It seems that this guest expected to be there. But in fact, some who expect to be there will not be there. Jesus would explain to him that many people are too busy to accept God’s invitation.

Verses 16-17 Jesus told them a story. It was about a man who invited many people to a great supper. None of the people whom he had invited had refused the invitation. The host expected them all to come. It took a long time to prepare for the great supper. When the supper was ready, the host sent his servant to fetch the guests. But they would not come to the supper.

It was the custom in some places to expect a second invitation. It may be that the servant took the second invitation to the guests. And they refused the second invitation. To refuse in this way was an insult to the host.

Verses 18-20 These guests made excuses. The first one had bought a field. He would have looked at it before he bought it. The field, of course, would still be there after the meal. Therefore, it was not necessary to view it at that time. It could wait until after the supper. It is plain that, really, this man did not want to come to the supper.

Another man had bought some *oxen. He would have been satisfied with them before he bought them. Now they were his *oxen and he could test them at any time. It could wait until after the supper. But he too did not want to go to the supper.

Another man had just married a wife. A marriage would not be a sudden affair. He would have known about it before he received the invitation to the supper. The invitation to these suppers would be to men only. He would have to leave his new wife at home while he went to the supper. The wives of the other guests would have to stay at home. As an excuse, he said that he could not go to the supper. If he had wanted to, he could have gone.

All three of these men knew about the supper before the servant came. All three made weak excuses as their reasons not to go to the supper.

Verses 21-24 The servant told his master what had happened. His master was angry. The guests that he had invited had insulted him. But he would not allow those excuses to spoil his supper. If the original guests would not come, he would invite other guests. He sent his servant to the poorer parts of the town. He told him to bring in poor people from there. He included those people who were sick or blind. And he included those people who could not walk.

The servant did what his master told him. But he did not bring in enough guests to satisfy his master. So, the master sent the servant to search wider and to urge people to come in. The servant went to the roads and paths outside the town. There he would find people who had no homes. Even these people, the servant must urge to come to the supper.

Even if the first guests came, the master would not allow them to come in. There would be no further chance for them. They had missed their opportunity.

Jesus told this story to show God’s desire to have a right relationship with people. The supper means a place in God’s *kingdom. He sent the *prophets to invite his people to come in. But very many of them would not accept that invitation. Now in Jesus, there is the invitation for all to come in. He sends Christians to bring in people from all nations. They must bring all types of people. No person is beyond the reach of God. The good news of Jesus is for all people. God will receive all who come to him. But when people refuse God’s invitation, that invitation may not remain open to them. It costs to be a *disciple – Luke 14:25-35 v25 Large crowds came together to Jesus. He turned to them and he spoke to them. v26 ‘If you want to be my *disciple, you must hate your father and mother. You must hate your wife, children, brothers and sisters. You must even hate your own life. If you do not, you cannot be my *disciple. v27 And you must carry your cross and you must follow me. If you do not, you cannot be my *disciple.

v28 Suppose that you want to build a tall building. You would first sit down and you would estimate the cost. Then you would see if you have enough money to finish it. v29 Otherwise, you will start from the base but you will not be able to complete the building. Then everyone who sees it will laugh at you. v30 They will say, “This person started to build. But he could not finish the building.”

v31 Suppose that a king intends to go to war against another king. He would first sit down and he would think about the situation. He would decide whether or not his army of 10  000 soldiers could beat the other army of 20  000 soldiers. v32 He may decide that he cannot win. So, while the other king is a long way from him, he will send some people to him. They will try to arrange for peace between the kings. v33 In the same way, you must give up everything that you have, in order to be my *disciple.

v34 Salt is good. But if salt loses its taste, you cannot make it good again. v35 It is no good for the soil or for garden use. People throw it away. You people who can hear me, listen.’

Verses 25-27 As Jesus travelled, crowds came to him. He taught them what it means to be his *disciples.

The Bible teaches us to love each other. We must not even hate our enemies. In fact, we must love them (Luke 6:27). Here ‘hate’ means to love less. Our love for Jesus must be first and greater than our love for each other (Matthew 10:37). Our love for Jesus must be so strong that, in contrast, our love for our family is like hate.

A *disciple must be loyal to Jesus first. All who want to follow Jesus must be ready to die on behalf of Jesus. It is as if the *disciple dies to himself each day. In other words, the true *disciple does not do what he wants. He lives for Jesus and he follows Jesus.

Verses 28-33 To be a *disciple of Jesus is not easy. The *disciple has to give up everything to follow Jesus. This is a heavy price to pay. A person ought to think about this before he becomes a *disciple. Jesus told two stories to teach this.

A man who wants to build a tall building must think first. He needs to be sure that he has the money to complete the building. If not, he may start to build but he may not be able to complete it. Then people will laugh at him. He was foolish because he did not have enough money to finish the job.

A king decides that he wants to fight against another king. He knows that the other king has more soldiers. So, he thinks hard about whether his 10  000 men can defeat the 20  000 men of his enemy. If his army can defeat the enemy then let them fight. But if not, then he must arrange a peace agreement with the other king.

In the first story, the builder has a choice to build or not to build. A person must think whether he can afford to be a *disciple. He can choose whether he will be a *disciple or not.

In the second story, the king must do something. Either he must fight or he must make a peace agreement. A person must decide whether he can afford to refuse the demands of Jesus.

Jesus does not want as *disciples those people who cannot continue with him. Instead, they should know what it means to be his *disciples. And they make the decision to give up everything for him. By this means, they give to Jesus the control of their lives.

However, Jesus does not expect his *disciples to do these things by means of their own strength. Every Christian would certainly fail if he depended on himself. People can only be strong enough to stand as *disciples of Christ if they depend completely on God. Because he supports his people, even the weakest Christian becomes strong enough to follow Christ.

Verses 34-35 Pure salt is a chemical that cannot lose its taste. The salt that they used was not at all pure. If the pure chemical part became less then the salt taste would be less. Then the salt would be no use.

Jesus expects his *disciples to continue to follow him. If they do not continue, they are of no use to him.

© 2013, Wycliffe Associates (UK)

This publication is in EasyEnglish Level B (2800 words).

November 2013

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var w5 = new Array;w5[0]=’<b%3EPharisees</b%3E ~ a group of Jews who tried to obey all God’s rules. Many of them did not approve of Jesus.