Luke 14:1-35 - Hard Sayings of Jesus
Luke 14:1-35
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[fn] 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[fn] 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.’ ”
25 Now great multitudes went with Him. And He turned and said to them,
26 “If anyone comes to Me and does not hate his father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters, yes, and his own life also, he cannot be My disciple.
27 “And whoever does not bear his cross and come after Me cannot be My disciple.
28 “For which of you, intending to build a tower, does not sit down first and count the cost, whether he has enough to finish it—
29 “lest, after he has laid the foundation, and is not able to finish, all who see it begin to mock him,
30 “saying, ‘This man began to build and was not able to finish.’
31 “Or what king, going to make war against another king, does not sit down first and consider whether he is able with ten thousand to meet him who comes against him with twenty thousand?
32 “Or else, while the other is still a great way off, he sends a delegation and asks conditions of peace.
33 “So likewise, whoever of you does not forsake all that he has cannot be My disciple.
34 “Salt is good; but if the salt has lost its flavor, how shall it be seasoned?
35 “It is neither fit for the land nor for the dunghill, but men throw it out. He who has ears to hear, let him hear!”
Luke 14 features teachings from previous chapters because Jesus is in Perea and His new audience hasn’t heard everything He has taught in the past.
I. Luke 14:1-6 - doing good on the Sabbath (Also Luke 13:10-17; Matthew 12:12)
A. Differences
1. Not in synagogue, but in leader's home after morning worship
2. Man present with dropsy or edema
B. When Pharisees were asked “Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath?” ... “they kept silent".
C. Deuteronomy 22:4 (helping a neighbor with his fallen donkey or ox) making point - if we would help animals on the Sabbath, we should help people too.
D. Even with the switch to the Lord’s Day on the first day of the week because of Christ’s resurrection, Christians should be more focused on the good things we should do as opposed to focusing on all the things we shouldn’t do
1. Worshiping God with other believers must be our top priority.
2. Helping people - Jesus helped people on the same day He worshiped (Luke mentions Jesus performing miracles on the Sabbath day five times) and therefore we shouldn’t hesitate to help someone in need on the Lord’s Day so long as corporate worship isn’t neglected.
3. Resting - but should never be used as an excuse not to help someone
II. Luke 14:7-11
A. Parable about being invited to a wedding feast - “whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted.”
B. Prosperity theology very different from the true gospel Jesus and the apostles taught.
1. Financial Times
a. Reporter Edward Luce noted that at Osteen’s Church in Houston the words “optimism, hope, destiny, harvest, and bounty” have largely replaced other words such as “guilt, shame, sin, and hell.”
b. Paula White was also quoted as saying, “Anyone who tells you to deny yourself is Satan.”
(1) Jesus told us to deny ourselves in Luke 9:23
(2) Paula White attributed the works of Jesus to Satan as the Pharisees did in Luke 11:15
C. Jesus promoted a life of selfless humility over a life of selfish pride.
1. If we don’t repent of our great pride we will be greatly humbled.
2. Better way - Live a life of humility; love God with everything you got and love others the way you love yourself
3. We’re not living for our best life now; we’re living for our best life later.
III. Hard Sayings of Jesus
A. Be careful not to soften too much or not soften enough
B. Luke 14:12-14 Invite poor, crippled, lame, and blind rather than neighbors, friends, or relatives because needy can't repay
1. Doesn't mean never invite neighbors, friends, or family to a meal.
a, Last Supper - invited friends (not too poor to invite Jesus over to their own house because Jesus stayed at Simon Peter’s house - Luke 4:38)
b Wanted to emphasis to give a meal to someone who can’t pay you back.
c. Doing things for the sake of the gospel results in a blessing that God will repay at the resurrection of the just.
C. Two different resurrections.
1. John 5:29 - “resurrection of life” and the “resurrection of condemnation.”
2. Acts 24:15 - resurrection of “the just and the unjust.”
D. Faith and Works
1. Ephesians 2:8-10 teaches that we are saved by grace through faith not by works, but at the same time it also says that faith will produce good works.
2. The good works we do for the sake of the gospel will be rewarded at the resurrection of the just which Revelation 20:5-6 calls “the first resurrection." Over such the second death has no power.”
By Phillip Medhurst - Photo by Harry Kossuth, FAL, Link
A. Luke 14:15 - “Blessed is he who shall eat bread in the kingdom of God!”
B. Jews look forward to a great banquet with God in the end times just as much as Christians do.
Isaiah 25:6-9 (NASB) says,
6 The LORD of hosts will prepare a lavish banquet for all peoples on this mountain; A banquet of aged wine, choice pieces with marrow, And refined, aged wine.
7 And on this mountain He will swallow up the covering which is over all peoples, Even the veil which is stretched over all nations.
8 He will swallow up death for all time, And the Lord GOD will wipe tears away from all faces, And He will remove the reproach of His people from all the earth; For the LORD has spoken.
9 And it will be said in that day, "Behold, this is our God for whom we have waited that He might save us. This is the LORD for whom we have waited; Let us rejoice and be glad in His salvation."
C. Luke 14:16-24 - not everyone who is invited to the Marriage Supper of the Lamb will taste it (slightly different version in Matthew 22:1-14)
1. These parables involve a Master or a King (who is God the Father) who sends out His servant or servants (ministers of the gospel) to invite people to a wedding feast for the King’s Son (Jesus Christ).
2. first invitation- something like an RSVP - Wedding feast is a very big deal yet people invited first don’t want to come.- gave dumb excuses:
a. Having to check out land or oxen recently bought - why would you buy something without checking it out first - but if you did, why not wait just a little bit longer?
b. “I have married a wife, and therefore I cannot come.”- wouldn't she want to attend fancy banquet?
3. second invitation - something akin to an official escort. After invitations turned down at last minute; master sends his servant to the streets and alleys of city and highways and fences of rural areas to bring guests to banquet.
D. God sends His good news of the gospel everywhere because the people of Israel largely refused to respond. None of those who were invited yet refused to come will taste the Marriage Supper of the Lamb according to Luke 14:24.
V. Cost of Discipleship
A. . Hate Family?
Luke 14:26-27
26 If anyone comes to Me and does not hate his father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters, yes, and his own life also, he cannot be My disciple.
27 And whoever does not bear his cross and come after Me cannot be My disciple.
1. Jesus does not want you to literally hate your family. We know because Jesus loved His.
a. When on the cross, He told John to take care of His mother after He died - John 19:25-27.
b. Jesus appeared to James after His resurrection (1 Corinthians 15:7) and apparently to Jude so that these half-brothers would not remain in unbelief as they had been before (John 7:5).
2. . Bible speaks of hate in two different ways.
a. In one sense the Bible speaks of “hate” in the same way we traditionally think of that word which is to “despise” someone. (Amos 5:21; Matthew 6:24; and Luke 16:13).
b. In a few other places the Bible uses the word “hate” much differently. (Genesis 29:31 - KJV, ESV)
(1). “Leah was hated” by her husband Jacob who “loved” his other wife Rachel “much more” according to Genesis 29:30.
(2). Jacob didn’t despise Leah he just loved Leah less than Rachel and had six sons and a daughter with her (Genesis 30:20-21).
(3). We are to love our family less than Him
Matthew 10:37-38,
37 He who loves father or mother more than Me is not worthy of Me. And he who loves son or daughter more than Me is not worthy of Me.
38 And he who does not take his cross and follow after Me is not worthy of Me.
Luke 14:33,
So likewise, whoever of you does not forsake all that he has cannot be My disciple.
B. Sell everything we own and become monks and nuns?
Colossians 2:20-23 says,
20 Therefore, if you died with Christ from the basic principles of the world, why, as though living in the world, do you subject yourselves to regulations––
21 "Do not touch, do not taste, do not handle,"
22 which all concern things which perish with the using––according to the commandments and doctrines of men?
23 These things indeed have an appearance of wisdom in self–imposed religion, false humility, and neglect of the body, but are of no value against the indulgence of the flesh.
1. Giving up everything and owning nothing is “self–imposed religion, false humility, and neglect of the body” which ultimately has “no value.”
2. With Colossians in mind, Jesus is saying in Luke that we need to love Jesus more than our family, more than our life, and more than our stuff.
Conclusion:
Anyone who has ears to hear should listen! (Luke 14:35 HCSB) There’s nothing wrong with loving your family. There’s nothing wrong with guarding your life. There’s nothing wrong with owning stuff so long as you love none of those things more than Jesus. Because if you love Jesus the most His love will help you love your family more than you would otherwise. If you love Jesus the most He will make your life a bright and shining witness for Him as you become the salt of the earth acting as a preservative in a dead and rotting world. And if you love Jesus the most you will see your stuff in a proper light. Yeah you may get enjoyment out of it and that’s fine, but ultimately we should hold on to our stuff loosely because in the end it’s all going to burn, but what we give to Christ for the ministry of the gospel – that will last forever.
Click on the player to listen to the full audio sermon.
If the player doesn't work, you can listen to the sermon on Google Drive.
Do you feel an emptiness in your life? Are you seeking answers but don't know where to look? Have you ever wondered if you are good enough? Please read the summary of the gospel message, "Four Things You Need to Know About God"
Please send an email to the Pastor if you have
questions.