Luke
14:1–24 “1 Now it happened, as He went into the house of one of the
rulers of the Pharisees to eat bread on the Sabbath, that they watched Him
closely. 2 And behold, there was a certain man before Him who had
dropsy. 3 And Jesus, answering,
spoke to the lawyers and Pharisees, saying, “Is
it lawful to heal on the Sabbath?” 4 But
they kept silent. And He took him and healed him, and let him go.
5 Then He answered them, saying, “Which of you, having a donkey or an ox that has fallen into
a pit, will not immediately pull him out on the Sabbath day?” 6 And they could not answer Him regarding these things.
7 So He told a parable to those who were
invited, when He noted how they chose the best places, saying to them: 8
“When you are invited by anyone to a wedding
feast, do not sit down in the best place, lest one more honorable than you be
invited by him; 9 and he who invited
you and him come and say to you, ‘Give place to this man,’ and then you begin
with shame to take the lowest place. 10 But when you are invited, go and sit down in the lowest
place, so that when he who invited you comes he may say to you, ‘Friend, go up
higher.’ Then you will have glory in the presence of those who sit at the table
with you. 11 For whoever exalts
himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted.” 12
Then He also said to him who invited Him, “When you give a dinner or a supper, do not ask your friends,
your brothers, your relatives, nor rich neighbors, lest they also invite you
back, and you be repaid. 13 But when
you give a feast, invite the poor, the maimed, the lame, the
blind. 14 And you will be blessed,
because they cannot repay you; for you shall be repaid at the resurrection of
the just.” 15 Now when one of those
who sat at the table with Him heard these things, he said to Him, “Blessed is
he who shall eat bread in the kingdom of God!” 16 Then He said to him, “A
certain man gave a great supper and invited many, 17 and sent his servant at supper time to say to those who were
invited, ‘Come, for all things are now ready.’ 18 But they all with one accord began to make excuses.
The first said to him, ‘I have bought a piece of ground, and I must go and see
it. I ask you to have me excused.’ 19 And another said, ‘I have bought five yoke of oxen, and I am going to test
them. I ask you to have me excused.’ 20 Still another said, ‘I have married a wife, and therefore I cannot
come.’ 21 So that servant came and
reported these things to his master. Then the master of the house, being angry,
said to his servant, ‘Go out quickly into the streets and lanes of the city,
and bring in here the poor and the maimed and the lame and
the blind.’ 22 And the servant
said, ‘Master, it is done as you commanded, and still there is room.’ 23
Then the master said to the servant, ‘Go out into
the highways and hedges, and compel them to come in, that my house may
be filled. 24 For I say to you that
none of those men who were invited shall taste my supper.’””
Father, We thank You that You know
the way of the righteous and we pray that You will speak to us through the
reading of Your Word (Hebrews 1:1-2).
Amen.
Book #42 (03 NT)
Avg reading time-02 Hours, 16 Minutes
Number of chapters-24
Number of verses- 1,151
Author-Luke
Date-60ad
Audience-Theophilus and Gentile Christians
Jesus-Luke 19:10 “the Son of Man”
Luke (Light) The Book of the Son of Man-Luke 19:10 Dr. Luke (Colossians 4:4) writes this Gospel to confirm the faith of
Theophilus, showing him that his faith in Jesus was not based on fables but of
well-founded historical facts (Luke 1:3-4) and to present Jesus as the Son of
Man (emphasizing the humanity and humility of Jesus) who was rejected by
Israel. Because of this rejection by Israel, Jesus was also preached to the
Gentiles so that they could know God personally and receive salvation.
The Kingdom of Heaven Jesus told us is through the narrow
gate, “for many...will
seek to enter and will not be able.” (Luke 13:24)
Reclining at the table to eat
was the common posture at this time.
When they were eating, they would place their place their “left
elbow…on the table, and the head rested on the hand, sufficient room being of
course left between each guest for the free movements of the right hand. This
explains in what sense John ‘was leaning on Jesus’ bosom,’ and afterwards
‘lying on Jesus’ breast,’ when he bent back to speak to Him (John 13:23, 25).”[4]
“They were all sitting, or rather
‘lying’ - the Mishnah sometimes also calls it ‘sitting down and leaning’ -
around the table, the body resting on the couch, the feet turned away from the
table in the direction of the wall, while the left elbow rested on the table.”[5]
At this time, you walked
everywhere and all the roads were either dusty of muddy, so it was wise to keep
your feet as far away from the table as far as possible.
The Greek word for “parable” is (G3850) παραβολή parabŏlē, Pah-rah-bull-lay,
and it means a placing of one thing by the side of another for
comparison.[8]
At its root (G3846 παραβάλλω paraballō. par-ab-al´-lo) is made up of two
Greek words, (G3844) παρά para, par-ah´, which means beside or alongside,
and (G906) βάλλω ballō, bal´-lo,
which means to throw.
Basically what Jesus is saying here is that when you are
invited to a wedding feast, do not recline at the table on the first couch,
lest someone who is more honorable than you come after you, and you have to be
told by the host to get out of the highest place, and the
displaced guest goes from top to bottom, because the intermediate places have
meanwhile been filled.[12]
It was not uncommon for the hosts at this time to rearrange
the guests after they had seated (or
reclined) themselves.
Today, typically the host uses place cards for seating
guests, but it has been known that there are those who will switch their place
cards around for their own selfish purposes!
(cf. Psalm 138:6; Proverbs 3:34; Proverbs 15:33; Proverbs 18:12; Proverbs 29:23; Luke 1:52; Luke 18:14; Matthew
23:12; James
4:6–10; 1
Peter 5:5).
Psalm
138:6 “6 Though YHWH is on high, Yet He regards the lowly;
But the proud He knows from afar.”
Proverbs
3:34 “34 Surely He scorns the scornful,
But gives grace to the humble.”
Proverbs
15:33 “33 The fear of YHWH is the
instruction of wisdom, And before honor is humility.”
Proverbs
18:12 “12 Before destruction the heart of
a man is haughty, And before honor is humility.”
Proverbs
29:23 “23 A man’s pride will bring him
low, But the humble in spirit will retain honor.”
Luke
1:52 “52 He has put down the mighty from
their thrones, And exalted the lowly.”
Luke 18:14 “14 I
tell you, this man went down to his house justified rather than the
other; for everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles
himself will be exalted.””
Matthew 23:12 “12 And
whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be
exalted.”
James
4:6–10
“6 But He gives more grace.
Therefore He says: “God resists the proud, But gives grace to the
humble.” (Psalm 138:6;
Proverbs 3:34) 7 Therefore
submit to
God. Resist
the devil and he will flee from you. 8 Draw near to God and He will draw near to you. Cleanse your
hands, you sinners; and purify your hearts, you double-minded. 9
Lament and mourn and weep! Let your laughter be turned to mourning and your
joy to gloom. (Recognition of the tremendous
need for cleansing allows no room for merriment. Grieve (lit., “be afflicted”), mourn,
and wail was James’ candid advice. Exchange merriment for mourning and gaiety for gloom (lit., “a downcast look, lowered
eyes”). A contrite spirit of confession is
essential for God’s cleansing.[17]) 10 Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and He will lift
you up.”
Whether a believer is called to resist his human spirit which tends
toward envy or to rejoice in the Holy Spirit who jealously yearns for each
believer’s edification, the call is to shun pride and to submit humbly to God’s
authority. The cure for conflict is a humble spirit which is rewarded by God’s
unmerited favor.[18]
1
Peter 5:5
“5 Likewise you younger people,
submit yourselves to your elders. Yes, all of you be submissive
to one another, and be clothed with humility, for “God resists the proud, But
gives grace to the humble. (Psalm
138:6; Proverbs 3:34)””
1
Corinthians 1:26–29 “26 For you see your calling,
brethren, that not many wise according to the flesh, not many mighty, not many
noble, are called.
27 But God has chosen the foolish things
of the world to put to shame the wise, and God has chosen the weak things of
the world to put to shame the things which are mighty; 28 and the base things of the world and the things which are
despised God has chosen, and the things which are not, to bring to nothing the
things that are, 29 that no flesh
should glory in His presence.”
Proverbs
16:18–20
“18 Pride goes before
destruction, And a haughty spirit before a fall. 19 Better to be of a humble
spirit with the lowly, Than to divide the spoil with the proud. 20 He
who heeds the word wisely will find good, And whoever trusts in YHWH, happy is
he.”
Leviticus
21:17–21
“17 “Speak to Aaron, saying: ‘No
man of your descendants in succeeding generations, who has any
defect, may approach to offer the bread of his God. 18 For
any man who has a defect shall not approach: a man blind or lame, who has a
marred face or any limb too long, 19 a man who has a broken foot or broken hand, 20
or is a hunchback or a dwarf, or a man
who has a defect in his eye, or eczema or scab, or is a eunuch. 21 No man of the descendants of Aaron the priest, who has a
defect, shall come near to offer the offerings made by fire to YHWH. He has a
defect; he shall not come near to offer the bread of his God.”
Andrew Bonar writes in his excellent commentary on the Book
of Leviticus:
“The sacrifices are
the “bread
of God,” as in other places. Can there be in this expression a
reference to God giving us Christ as our bread of life? Can it mean the “bread
which is set before God, in order to be handed to us when he has examined and
accepted it?” And is it to this the Lord Jesus refers, when he says, “the bread that I shall give is My flesh, which I shall give
for the life of the world” (John
6:51)?
These precepts
concerning the priests evidently originate in the necessity that, as being a
type of Jesus, the officiating priest should be one that exhibited no blemish.
The Song of Solomon may cast some light on this passage. In setting forth
purity and loveliness under figurative terms, it uses almost all the references
to the bodily qualities that are found here. Here, the defects are spoken of;
there, the excellencies (see specially Song
of Solomon 5)
If the priest were “blind,”
then the people would be led to misapprehend the type. He could not represent
him whose “eyes were like a flame of
fire.” (Revelation
19:12) If the priest were “lame,”
he could not represent him whose “His legs are
pillars of marble.” (Song of Solomon 5:15) If “mutilated
in the nose” (חָרֻ֖ם), he could not be the type of him whose Church
and Spouse has this said of her, “Your nose is
like the tower of Lebanon.” (Song of Solomon 7:4) If “any limb too long” he
could not be a type of him who, in conscious completeness, “comes Leaping upon the mountains.” (Song of Solomon 2:8) If “broken footed,” he was unlike him whom his
Church celebrates as planting his stately steps so firmly that his feet are “Set on bases of fine gold,” on which the “pillars of marble” rest (Song of Solomon 5:15). His hands are “rods
of gold Set with beryl;” (Song of Solomon 5:14) and could not, therefore, admit of being represented by one “broken-handed.”
He was to stretch out his complete and entire person on the cross; the nails
were to pierce his hands and feet, but yet not a bone be broken. If the priest
were “hunchback” then he would
have represented the High Priest of the Church as inferior to the Church herself,
whose stature “is like a palm tree;”
(Song of Solomon 7:7) her stately figure pre-eminent. If “a
dwarf”, unable to reach up to the altar’s height, he would ill suit
as a type of him whose “countenance is
like Lebanon, Excellent as the cedars.” (Song of Solomon 5:15) If in his eye were cataract, or any white
spot or “blemish,”
then he is not any more like him, whose “eyes are
like doves By the rivers of waters, Washed with milk, And fitly set.”
(Song of Solomon 5:12) If he be diseased, having the “scurvy,” or
itch, or if he have any scab,” (יַלֶּ֔פֶת), however unseen by the common eye,
still he is not as He who is “all fair;”
who has “no spot.” (Song of Solomon 4:7) If in the most secret, hidden pore of his
frame, there be any blemish or defect, he can no more claim to be type of one
whose Church, made like himself, is “all glorious within.”
The priest must be
type of Him who is to give forth his own comeliness and perfection to the
sinner. O how fair is Jesus! His person all perfect; virtue floweth out of it
when it is touched by a sinner’s hand, even as fragrance breathes forth from
the leaf of the balm-tree when it is pressed by the hand of the passer-by. And
this glorious person was the sacrifice as well as priest- “He
offered up Himself” (Hebrews
7:27).”[24]
We saw this morning in Humility
and Blessing …01. The Parable of
the Ambitious Guest (Luke 14:7-11); and 02. Jesus’ Words to the Host (Luke 14:12-14).
Closing Prayer
We will close with the prayer from
Paul in his letter to young pastor Timothy:
“Now to the King
eternal, immortal, invisible, to God who alone is wise, be honor and
glory forever and ever. Amen.” (1 Timothy 1:17) Maranatha (1 Corinthians 16:22),
Come Quickly LORD Jesus! Amen
[1] Robertson, A. T. (1933). Word
Pictures in the New Testament (Lk
14:7). Nashville, TN: Broadman Press.
[2] Robertson, A. T. (1933). Word
Pictures in the New Testament (Lk 14:7).
Nashville, TN: Broadman Press.
[3] Robertson, A. T. (1933). Word
Pictures in the New Testament (Lk
14:7). Nashville, TN: Broadman Press.
[5] Alfred Edersheim, The Life and Times of Jesus the Messiah
[Peabody; Hendrickson, 1993], Bk 3, Ch 21, p389, 1.565
[8] Thayer, J. H. (1889). A
Greek-English lexicon of the New Testament: being Grimm’s Wilke's Clavis Novi
Testamenti (p. 479). New York:
Harper & Brothers.
[9] Kittel, G., Friedrich, G., & Bromiley, G. W.
(1985). Theological
Dictionary of the New Testament
(p. 774). Grand Rapids, MI: W.B. Eerdmans.
[10] Plummer, A. (1896). A
critical and exegetical commentary on the Gospel according to S. Luke (p. 356). London: T&T Clark International.
[11] Robertson, A. T. (1933). Word
Pictures in the New Testament (Lk
14:9). Nashville, TN: Broadman Press.
[12] Plummer, A. (1896). A
critical and exegetical commentary on the Gospel according to S. Luke (p. 357). London: T&T Clark International.
[13] Robertson, A. T. (1933). Word
Pictures in the New Testament (Lk
14:10). Nashville, TN: Broadman Press.
[14] Plummer, A. (1896). A
critical and exegetical commentary on the Gospel according to S. Luke (p. 357). London: T&T Clark International.
[15] Robertson, A. T. (1933). Word
Pictures in the New Testament (Lk
14:11). Nashville, TN: Broadman Press.
[16] Plummer, A. (1896). A
critical and exegetical commentary on the Gospel according to S. Luke (p. 358). London: T&T Clark International.
[19] Lenski, R. C. H. (1961). The
Interpretation of St. Luke’s Gospel
(pp. 772–773). Minneapolis, MN: Augsburg Publishing House.
[20] Lenski, R. C. H. (1961). The
Interpretation of St. Luke’s Gospel
(pp. 772–773). Minneapolis, MN: Augsburg Publishing House.
[21] Lenski, R. C. H. (1961). The
Interpretation of St. Luke’s Gospel
(p. 773). Minneapolis, MN: Augsburg Publishing House.
[22] Lenski, R. C. H. (1961). The
Interpretation of St. Luke’s Gospel
(p. 774). Minneapolis, MN: Augsburg Publishing House.
[23] Robertson, A. T. (1933). Word
Pictures in the New Testament (Lk
14:13). Nashville, TN: Broadman Press.
[25] Robertson, A. T. (1933). Word
Pictures in the New Testament (Lk
14:12). Nashville, TN: Broadman Press.
[26] Lenski, R. C. H. (1961). The
Interpretation of St. Luke’s Gospel
(pp. 774–775). Minneapolis, MN: Augsburg Publishing House.
[27] Lenski, R. C. H. (1961). The
Interpretation of St. Luke’s Gospel
(p. 775). Minneapolis, MN: Augsburg Publishing House.
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