Luke 14:1-24: “Jesus Heals Man Of Dropsy On Sabbath /
Teaches Wisdom Of Not Seeking Places Of Honor For Oneself / Parable Of Banquet
Dinner”
By
1.
INTRO:
1.1.
In our last study, we looked
at verses 18-35 of chapter 13.
1.1.1. In that passage we saw that Jesus taught His disciples two of what are
referred to as “kingdom parables.”
1.1.2. Then, when asked if many or few will be saved Jesus taught that in
order to enter into God’s kingdom that one must enter through the narrow door.
1.1.3. Finally, Jesus was warned that Herod was out to kill Him, and to this
Jesus affirmed that He would not be dissuaded from His mission. Then, Jesus pronounced a lament over
1.2.
In our study today, we are
going to look at the first 25 verses of chapter 14.
1.2.1. We will see yet another meal with the Jesus that turns into controversy
as Jesus will heal a man from dropsy on the Sabbath and then teach several
important principles to His disciples and the Pharisees present at the meal.
1.2.2. We will see that at this meal that Jesus will stir the pot of
controversy more than He has at any other meal that He has attended.
1.2.3. Jesus will also teach about the importance of not promoting or exalting
yourself before others, but rather being humble.
1.2.4. Jesus will teach a parable about a banquet dinner that a man held and
then sent his slave to go and to find others to attend the dinner.
2. VS 14:1-6 - “1 It happened that when He went
into the house of one of the leaders of the Pharisees on the Sabbath to
eat bread, they were watching Him closely. 2 And there in front of
Him was a man suffering from dropsy. 3 And Jesus answered and spoke
to the lawyers and Pharisees, saying, “Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath, or
not?” 4 But they kept silent. And He took hold of him and healed
him, and sent him away. 5 And He said to them, “Which one of you
will have a son or an ox fall into a well, and will not immediately pull him
out on a Sabbath day?” 6 And they could make no reply to this.” - Jesus heals a man with dropsy
on the Sabbath
2.1.
We have seen several times
already in our study of this gospel that Jesus is often found eating a meal
with people. These meals however often
turned into sour occasions because of controversy that erupted. Some people invited Jesus to a meal because
they were genuinely wanting to spend time with Him and learn something or be
ministered to in some way by Jesus. As
happened on this occasion, the Pharisees often invited Jesus to a meal because
they were trying to find some kind of a way to trap and condemn Him, and put
Him to death.
2.2.
We see here that those at
this meal were ‘watching Him closely.’
This is because there was a man whom the Pharisees had intentionally
brought to this meal so that Jesus might heal the man and that this would give
them the opportunity to condemn Jesus and bring capital charges against
Him. The Pharisees knew that Jesus was
full of compassion for the infirm and downtrodden in life and could not but
provide healing for those who needed it.
2.3.
Isn’t it a sad and ugly
reality that though these Pharisees could not provide wonderful and miraculous
healing for people in great need that because Jesus could do this very thing
that they were trying to use such situations as Jesus’ healings in order to
condemn Him? There is a horrible twisted
perversion in this, is there not? Also,
shouldn’t those who represent God and serve as His ministers be most interested
in those things which allow for healing and restoration in people’s lives?
2.4.
Darrell Boch writes the
following about this illness translated ‘dropsy’ (from the Greek word
‘hydropikos’), “Its symptoms are swollen limbs and tissue resulting from excess
body fluids. Technically, dropsy is not
a disease, but indicates that another medical problem is present. Dropsy was discussed in ancient Jewish
material as well as in the OT (Lev. 15:1-12)…Some rabbis argued that dropsy
resulted from sexual offenses…or from intentionally failing to have bowel
movements.”
2.5.
We have to wonder why the
Pharisees would try to trap Jesus into performing another healing on the
Sabbath when they had already seen Him do this many times. Jesus never violated the Sabbath laws from
the scriptures in anything that He did, He only violated the traditions of the
Pharisees which they had added onto God’s Law.
Warren Wiersbe writes the following about the fact that Jesus had
already violated the Pharisee’s Sabbath traditions seven times, “On the
Sabbath Day, He had cast out a demon (4:31-37), healed a fever (4:38-39),
allowed His disciples to pluck grain (6:1-5), healed a lame man (John 5:1-9),
healed a man with a paralyzed hand (6:6-10), delivered a crippled woman who was
afflicted by a demon (13:10-17), and healed a man born blind (John 9).”
2.6.
One of the things that we
see happening all throughout the four gospel accounts of Jesus’ life is that
Jesus is really the One who is in control of all of the events that occur. Whenever the Pharisees tried to trap Jesus,
He ends up trapping them instead. Even
in Jesus’ going to the cross, Jesus was voluntarily laying His life down for
mankind, all according to God’s divine and foreordained plan for redeeming
mankind and defeating Satan and his authority over mankind.
2.7.
These Pharisees were
attempting to find an opportunity to judge Jesus, however as the details of
this story point out, Jesus ends up judging their hearts. The Pharisees try to trap Jesus by inviting
Him to lunch on a Sabbath day and planting a severely ill man with dropsy there
at the luncheon. They thought that if
Jesus chose not to heal the man that they could use this to explain to people
that Jesus really did not have compassion for men. However, if Jesus healed the man then He
broke the Sabbath Law (so they thought) and they could condemn Him to
death. However, Jesus turns the tables
on the Pharisees and traps them as He asks them the question of whether or not
it was lawful to heal on the Sabbath?
Now, if they said, “No!”, they would be judged by the people as not
having compassion, for the people desired that Jesus should heal this man on
the Sabbath. However, if they said,
“Yes!”, then they would never again be able to condemn Jesus for healing on the
Sabbath.
2.8.
We see here that just as
happened whenever Jesus trapped the Pharisees in their own devices by His
questions, on this day they have no reply to His question.
2.9.
In verse five, Jesus now
asks the Pharisees another question to which they become mute and cannot
answer, one which also exposes the twisted perversity of their calloused sinful
hearts, “Which one of
you will have a son or an ox fall into a well, and will not immediately pull
him out on a Sabbath day?”
2.9.1. This question by Jesus reveals the hypocrisy of the spirituality of the
Pharisees. Though they sought to hold
others to incredible and unreasonable standards, they excused their own actions
when they did similar things. They were
seeking to condemn Jesus to death for violating the Sabbath Laws by healing
someone experiencing great need or suffering, however on a Sabbath day if their
son or their ox fell into a well they would immediately pull them out.
2.9.2. This time the conviction of their sin causes these Pharisees to become
mute.
3. VS 14:7-11 - “7 And He began speaking a
parable to the invited guests when He noticed how they had been picking out the
places of honor at the table, saying to them, 8 “When you are
invited by someone to a wedding feast, do not take the place of honor, for someone
more distinguished than you may have been invited by him, 9 and he
who invited you both will come and say to you, ‘Give your place to this
man,’ and then in disgrace you proceed to occupy the last place. 10 “But
when you are invited, go and recline at the last place, so that when the one
who has invited you comes, he may say to you, ‘Friend, move up higher’; then
you will have honor in the sight of all who are at the table with you. 11 “For
everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be
exalted.”” - Jesus teaches His disciples the wisdom of not
seeking out places of honor for oneself
3.1.
Having already provided
controversy by healing on the Sabbath, Jesus further stirs the pot on this day
by commenting on how the people invited to this meal each sought out for
himself the best places of honor, and how that doing this could ultimately
result in dishonor.
3.2.
In Israel in Jesus’ day, at
any meal that one might attend there was a cultural distinction observed
concerning which seats would provide one the most distinction or honor. The closer one would sit to the host of the
meal, the more distinction that was brought to them. This led people attending a meal to
immediately attempt to sit at the places of most distinction so that they might
be observed in those seats of honor by others.
3.3.
The lesson that Jesus is
trying to teach His disciples, as well as the guests at this meal, is that of
the importance and wisdom of being humble in heart. One should not go around tooting his own horn
in order to lift up and exalt himself.
Plus, the scriptures give us the hope and promise that if we will humble
ourselves before the Lord that He will exalt us in due time.
3.4.
I have an extended family
member who shall remain nameless for the purpose of this teaching. However, she is a woman who was a very good
musician throughout her life. She
entertained more people in the town where she spent most of her life than perhaps
anyone in the history of the town or region.
Yet, every time anyone spent more than a couple of minutes with her she
would begin tooting her own horn telling you of all of the big name
professional musicians that she ever played with. She had an impressive list she could recite,
but reciting it like this and constantly trying to exalt herself in this way
just caused her to push people away from her and bring her down in people’s
eyes (rather than to exalt her). This is
the same type of thing that Jesus is trying to point out here about the people
in His day. If a person went and sat
down in one of the most venerable places of honor only to have the host reseat
him in a place of less distinction this just brought the person down in the
sight of all instead of exalt him.
3.4.1. Many years ago I read some books by a man named John Powell and he
brought out how that there is an underlying motive working whenever a person
exalts himself, brags about himself, exaggerates his accomplishments, etc. Whenever people do this they are trying to
make themselves better than they are in other’s eyes because they aren’t
convinced of the Lord’s love for them and their worth in His eyes.
3.5.
Jesus reveals the wisdom of
not seeking out honor for oneself by point out that if a person goes and sits
down in a place of low distinction only to have the host reseat him to a place
of more venerable honor that this will have the good result of the person being
exalted publicly.
3.6.
So, to apply this to our
lives as Christians, we need to consider the different ways that we might seek
to bring distinction to ourselves, or toot our own horn. Then, instead of tooting our own horn we
should let others bring distinction to us or venerate us.
3.6.1. As an illustration, when I was a young Christian, there was a family
who attended the church that I first began attending in my home town. This man and his wife had five beautiful
daughters and the family sort of adopted me.
I loved the fellowship with this family, especially the dad, and I had
my eyes on the daughters. I spent time
at this family’s house every single day for a year. Mr. Allen was the dean of the local junior
college in the town, and he enjoyed my company and treated me like I was his
equal. In fact, whenever I was with him
I always felt like I was important and that my opinion on any matter was
important. It was not until six months
had passed until one day it came out that he had a doctorate degree in
meteorology. I was taken aback when I
found this out. This is because most people
who have such a prestigious degree insist that others call them Dr. So and So,
and they hang plaques on their office walls, their business cards always state
their degree, etc. They also tend to act
as iff they are more important than others.
However, Mr. Allen did not seek to bring distinction to himself but
allowed the Lord to exalt him, and when I found out his title, he was and
continues to be a giant among men in my estimation.
4. VS 14:12-14 - “12 And He also went on to say to the
one who had invited Him, “When you give a luncheon or a dinner, do not invite
your friends or your brothers or your relatives or rich neighbors, otherwise
they may also invite you in return and that will be your repayment. 13
“But when you give a reception, invite the poor, the crippled,
the lame, the blind, 14 and you will be blessed, since
they do not have the means to repay you; for you will be repaid at the
resurrection of the righteous.”” - Jesus tells His disciples and those who are
at this feast that when they give a luncheon or dinner that they should not
invite their friends, brothers, relatives, or rich neighbors but rather the
poor, crippled, lame, and blind, for then they shall be blessed
4.1.
On this day, Jesus is not
yet finished making this meal a source of controversy. Having noticing the motive that many have for
their acts of hospitality He seeks to impress upon everyone present that they
need to have a higher motive for the things that they do in extending
hospitality.
4.2.
People in our world have the
same motivations as the people in Jesus’ day for the good things that they do
for people.
4.2.1. People will invite someone over to their house if they know that this
person will in response invite them over later or in some way give them an
equitable payback for being invited over.
4.2.2. People invite family over because family members usually give
paybacks.
4.2.3. Many Christian people think that they are expressing Christian
hospitality to others when they invite them over for meals, however there is a
hidden motive because deep down they know that there will come about a
payback.
4.2.4. Rich people are always having people do nice things for them because
people doing these nice things bank upon the fact that a person with some means
will provide a solid payback.
4.3.
Jesus point in teaching this
is the fact that we as people need to get to the point that we are willing to
do nice and good things for people with no thought of a payback in our minds or
subconscious. It is not that it is wrong
to invite someone over to lunch at our home who is a friend, brother, relative,
a rich person, etc., it is the fact that in considering doing nice and good
things for others that whether or not someone can or will ever pay us back
should never be an issue for us.
4.4.
There is a saying that
derives from what the scriptures teach us that goes like this, “You can
never receive payment for the good things you do twice.” If you receive a reward in this life for
something that you do you will not be rewarded for it when you get to
heaven. Therefore, it is wise to store up
rewards that will be handed out to you by the Lord rather than seek to receive
mere earthly rewards and kudos for the good things that you do. What is at issue is not the good work or deed
that you do, but rather the underlying motive, whether or not you are doing it
in expectation of receiving back an earthly reward.
4.5.
Have you ever noticed how
that with the big telethons on television for the various charity organizations
that whenever companies donate a lot of money that the program televises their
name and receiving a handshake and perhaps a big plaque or banner for the
donation? And, whenever a man or woman
donates a lot of money to a university or other charitable organization that
some wing or building is then named in honor of the person? How many big donations do you think would
come in if there wasn’t this public acknowledgment for donations? I say, not many. You see, here in our world today we are not
any different than the people in Jesus’ day when it comes to the motives in our
hearts for the good works or deeds that we do. Yet, if you want your good deeds and works
to please the Lord and be rewarded by Him then do them in secret and don’t
calculate what you will receive in return for any of the good things that you
do.
4.6.
In Matthew 6:1-6, Jesus taught about the attitude that we
ought to have whenever we do any kinds of nice and good deeds for others, “1
“Beware of practicing your righteousness before men to be noticed by
them; otherwise you have no reward with your Father who is in heaven. 2 “So
when you give to the poor, do not sound a trumpet before you, as the hypocrites
do in the synagogues and in the streets, so that they may be honored by men.
Truly I say to you, they have their reward in full. 3 “But when you
give to the poor, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing,
4 so that your giving will be in secret; and your Father who sees what
is done in secret will reward you. 5 “When you pray, you are not
to be like the hypocrites; for they love to stand and pray in the synagogues
and on the street corners so that they may be seen by men. Truly I say to you,
they have their reward in full. 6 “But you, when you pray, go into
your inner room, close your door and pray to your Father who is in secret, and
your Father who sees what is done in secret will reward you.” Not letting our left hand know what our right
hand is doing speaks of the fact that there ought to be a sort of
unconsciousness about doing good deeds.
Rather than calculating what we might receive in return for our good
deeds, we ought to do things in an unconscious sort of way.
4.7.
Jesus teaches here that
instead of inviting to luncheons or dinners friends, brothers, relatives, rich
people, etc., it would be a greater blessing and wiser to instead invite, ‘the poor, the crippled, the
lame, the blind.’
4.7.1. It would be a greater blessing to invite these ones because there is a
great blessing that is always received in doing things for others when they
cannot reciprocate in return.
4.7.2. It would be wiser to do this because you will receive an eternal reward
in heaven for deeds such as this, and this reward will be received by the Lord
and never fade away.
4.8.
Note that Jesus speaks here
of rewards being handed out at ‘the resurrection of the righteous.” There will be a resurrection of both the
righteous as well as the unrighteous, however there will be a great difference
between the two resurrections. The
resurrection of the righteous will result in rewards being handed out to all,
the resurrection of the unrighteous will be a resurrection to eternal
damnation.
4.8.1. Revelation 20:12-15
describes the resurrection of the unrighteous, “12 And I saw the
dead, the great and the small, standing before the throne, and books were
opened; and another book was opened, which is the book of life; and the
dead were judged from the things which were written in the books, according to
their deeds. 13 And the sea gave up the dead which were in it, and
death and Hades gave up the dead which were in them; and they were judged,
every one of them according to their deeds. 14 Then death and
Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. This is the second death, the lake of
fire. 15 And if anyone’s name was not found written in the book of
life, he was thrown into the lake of fire.”
5. VS 14:15-24 - “15 When one of those who were
reclining at the table with Him heard this, he said to Him, “Blessed is
everyone who will eat bread in the kingdom of God!” 16 But He said
to him, “A man was giving a big dinner, and he invited many; 17 and
at the dinner hour he sent his slave to say to those who had been invited,
‘Come; for everything is ready now.’ 18 “But they all alike began to
make excuses. The first one said to him, ‘I have bought a piece of land and I
need to go out and look at it; please consider me excused.’ 19 “Another
one said, ‘I have bought five yoke of oxen, and I am going to try them out;
please consider me excused.’ 20 “Another one said, ‘I have married a
wife, and for that reason I cannot come.’ 21 “And the slave came back
and reported this to his master. Then the head of the household became
angry and said to his slave, ‘Go out at once into the streets and lanes of the
city and bring in here the poor and crippled and blind and lame.’ 22 “And
the slave said, ‘Master, what you commanded has been done, and still there is
room.’ 23 “And the master said to the slave, ‘Go out into the
highways and along the hedges, and compel them to come in, so that my
house may be filled. 24 ‘For I tell you, none of those men who were
invited shall taste of my dinner.’” - Jesus tells His disciples and the group at
this meal the parable of the banquet dinner
5.1.
Still not finished bringing
controversy to this meal, Jesus now uses this opportunity to teach another lesson
via a parable to His disciples as well as the rest of this group gathered
together on this day. This parable is
triggered by a man reclining at the table with them who makes this comment, ‘Blessed is everyone who will eat
bread in the kingdom of God!’
5.2.
In this parable by Jesus, we
see first of all that ‘a man was giving a big dinner.’ He evidently had initially sent invitations
to many who had promised that they would attend. This man was obviously a man of great
importance, means, and influence. When
the dinner was finally prepared the man sent his slave to tell the people to
now come. However, what we see here is
that one at a time those who had been invited began to make lame excuses for
why they could not attend:
5.2.1. The first man says, ‘I have bought a piece of land and I need to go out and look at it; please
consider me excused.’
5.2.1.1. We can understand why a person who wants to buy a piece of property
first has to go and take a good look at it.
However, knowing that this dinner had been planned for some time this
man could have arranged his affairs in such a way as to look at the property
before or after this dinner. Plus, since
this was most likely a dinner held during the evening there is not much good
that comes from looking at a piece of property in the dark.
5.2.1.2. The point is that when it got right down to it this man believed that
he had more important things priority-wise to do than attend this dinner.
5.2.2. The second man says, ‘I have bought five yoke of oxen,
and I am going to try them out; please consider me excused.’
5.2.2.1. Again, we can understand why a person who was considering buying some
oxen might want to first go and ‘try them out.’ However, why must he do this now? Why in the evening? Why didn’t he so schedule his affairs in such
a way so that he could try out these oxen either before or after this dinner.
5.2.2.2. The point again is that when it got right down to it that this man
believed that he had more important things priority-wise to do than attend this
dinner.
5.2.3. The third man says, ‘I have married a wife, and for that reason I cannot come.’
5.2.3.1. We can understand the importance of spending time with a new wife. This is a priority in a man’s life. However, knowing for some time that this
dinner was coming up this man could have arranged his affairs in such a way so
that he could spend time with his new wife either before or after the
dinner.
5.2.3.2. Also, the scripture allowed a man to take a year of deferred time from
military service after marrying, however there was really no need for a man to
have to avoid social gatherings because of being newly married.
5.2.3.3. Yet again, the point is that when it got right down to it that this man
believed that he had more important things priority-wise to do than attend this
dinner.
5.3.
When the man’s slave reports
back to him about how that when those who were invited were asked to now come
and attend this dinner that they found many excuses for not coming, the man
becomes very angry. After all, this man
has gone to great expense and trouble in order to plan and orchestrate this
wonderful dinner. Since the dinner was
all prepared, the man was determined that someone should attend his
dinner. Therefore, he goes and sends out
his slave to go out and invite the poor and unfortunate, ‘Go out at once into the streets and
lanes of the city and bring in here the poor and crippled and blind and lame.’ When the slave tells the man that even these
ones have been invited and yet there is still room, the man now tells his slave
to, ‘Go out into the
highways and along the hedges, and compel them to come in, so that my
house may be filled.’
5.4.
Now, this parable makes a
very important and enlightening illustration.
5.4.1. The man who plans this dinner is a symbol of the Lord Himself.
5.4.2. The man’s slave pictures God’s servants.
5.4.3. The banquet dinner represents the salvation that the Lord has provided
for mankind through the sending of His only begotten Son to die upon the cross
for the sins of the world. The moment
Christ died upon Calvary’s cross He said, “It is finished.” The banquet dinner was now ready for all who
shall come to the Lord’s table free of charge and partake.
5.4.4. The Jews were originally invited and designated to partake of the table
of the Lord’s salvation. However, for
the most part the people made lame excuses for not attending the banquet dinner
(coming to salvation). Then, others,
namely Gentiles, were invited and throughout history many of these have come to
salvation through Christ.
5.4.5. The Lord went to such great personal expense and trouble in providing
for mankind’s salvation that He desires more than anything that as many as
possible will come to His table of salvation and partake.
5.4.5.1. Christian, I am sure you are thankful to the Lord for going to the
great expense and trouble of sending His only begotten Son to go to the cross
of Calvary to save you from your sins.
Well, show your gratitude by taking serious the commission you have been
given to go and to share with others regularly about the love of Jesus that you
have personally experienced!
5.4.6. We, the church, are now called to go out and present the gospel
challenge far and wide. Poor, crippled,
blind, and lame sinners most see their need to come to Christ for salvation and
so we need to concentrate upon them more than others.
5.4.6.1. Christian, when you see someone who is going through a difficult time
and suffering under the weight and consequences of his life of sin, then pray
about sharing the love of your Savior with him and make feet to your prayers
and go and share the gospel with him.
5.4.6.2. Christian, when you see an opportunity to share the love of God with
someone in such a way that the person can only attribute what you have done to
God in your life, then take this as an calling to pray for him and go and share
the love of Christ with him.
5.4.7. We the church need to take the mission seriously which we have been
given to go out and preach the gospel to all creation and ‘compel’ as
many as are willing to come to salvation.
6. CONCLUSIONS:
6.1.
As we consider this study,
we need to make sure that we apply these truths to our lives.
6.2.
The good works and deeds
that we would want to do, lets do them secretly so that we do not receive our
reward in the here and now but rather from the Lord Himself so that they become
a heavenly and eternal reward for us.
Don’t toot your own horn!
6.3.
Lets be committed to not exalting or
promoting ourselves in the sight of men but rather leave all promotion of
ourselves to the Lord. Lets humble
ourselves so that in due time the Lord will fulfill His promise and exalt us.
6.4.
Lets be committed to showing
our gratitude to the Lord for sending His Son for us (preparing this wonderful
salvation banquet dinner) by going out and trying to compel as many as possible
to come to the feast and be saved through Jesus.
6.5.
Lets look for opportunities
to share the wonderful banquet dinner saving gospel with people who are hurting
and suffering from the consequences of their sins.