Welcome to Tuesday Bible Study! This is probably my favorite thing to do every week. Bible Study. Because I love to grow my faith. And share it with you. Today we’re in Luke 14. It’s another medium length one and full of Jesus’s words.
Before we start, let’s pray:
Lord Jesus, please lead me, lead us, through this chapter and help us see the things we need, to encourage our faith and grow our knowledge of You, but also, Lord, lead us to walk the way You ask us to. Some of this is difficult to understand, Lord, so I’m asking You, reveal the message, lead the study. To join You in growing the Kingdom, and bring You all the glory. Amen.
Please read Luke 14:1-6
Jesus Heals on the Sabbath
1 It happened one Sabbath, when He went for a meal at the house of one of the ruling Pharisees, that they were watching Him closely and carefully [hoping to entrap Him]. 2 And there in front of Him was a man who had [a]dropsy (extreme swelling). 3 And Jesus asked the lawyers and the Pharisees, “Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath, or not?” 4 But they kept silent. Then He took hold of the man and healed him, and sent him on his way. 5 Then He said to them, “Which one of you, having a son or an ox that falls into a well, will not immediately pull him out on the Sabbath day?” 6 And they were unable to reply to this.
Love is always lawful. Jesus was trying to get their thinking to shift. A new perspective is what He was working towards. His compassion could not let the man with an illness remain ill. Is God working these days to shift your perspective?
Please read Luke 14:7-11
Parable of the Guests
7 Now Jesus began telling a parable to the invited guests when He noticed how they had been selecting the places of honor at the table, saying to them, 8“When you are invited by someone to a wedding feast, do not sit down [to eat] at the place of honor, since a more distinguished person than you may have been invited by the host, 9 and he who invited both of you will come and say to you, ‘Give this man your place,’ and then, in disgrace you proceed to take the last place. 10 But when you are invited, go and sit down [to eat] at the last place, so that when your host comes, he will say to you, ‘Friend, move up higher’; and then you will be honored in the presence of all who are at the table with you. 11 For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled [before others], and he who habitually humbles himself (keeps a realistic self-view) will be exalted.”
Humility keeps a realistic self view. I know this is harder to understand for us today as we don’t really often have honored positions to our seating, but try to imagine it.
Please read Luke 14:12-14
12 Jesus 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 wealthy neighbors, otherwise they may also invite you in return and that will be your repayment. 13 But when you give a banquet or a reception, invite the poor, the disabled, the lame, and the blind, 14 and you will be blessed because they cannot repay you; for you will be repaid at the resurrection of the [b]righteous (the just, the upright).”
The risk in this is the chance you might be repaid. And waiting until the resurrection of the righteous brings many, many gifts, even honor and more for how we live our lives.
Please read Luke 14:15-24
15 When one of those who were reclining at the table with Him heard this, he said to Him, “Blessed (happy, prosperous, to be admired) is he who will eat bread in the kingdom of God!”
Parable of the Dinner
16 But Jesus said to him, “A man was giving a big dinner, and he invited many guests; 17 and at the dinner hour he sent his servant to tell those who had been invited, ‘Come, because everything is ready now.’ 18 But they all alike began to make excuses. The first one said to him, ‘I have purchased a piece of land and I have to go out and see it; please consider me excused.’ 19 Another one said, ‘I have purchased five yoke of oxen, and I am going to try them out; please consider me excused.’ 20 And another said, ‘I have [recently] married a wife, and for that reason I am unable to come.’ 21 So the servant came back and reported this to his master. Then [his master,] the head of the household, became angry [at the rejections of his invitation] and said to his servant, ‘Go out quickly into the streets and the lanes of the city and bring in here the poor and the disabled and the blind and the lame.’ 22 And the servant [after returning] said, ‘Sir, what you commanded has been done, and still there is room.’ 23 Then the master told the servant, ‘Go out into the highways and along the hedges, and compel them to come in, so that my house may be filled [with guests]. 24 For I tell you, not one of those who were invited [and declined] will taste my dinner.’”
The rejection of the invitation of God is far worse for those who do so. See, not one of those who declined the invitation get to taste the dinner. And the marriage supper of The Lamb is something we should be looking forward to with great anticipation. Part of this is a focus story, a priority story, but whatever you do, accept His invitation to believe.
Please read Luke 14:25-27
Discipleship Tested
25 Now large crowds were going along with Jesus; and He turned and said to them, 26 “If anyone comes to Me, and does not [c]hate his own father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters, yes, and even his own life [in the sense of indifference to or relative disregard for them in comparison with his attitude toward God]—he cannot be My disciple. 27 Whoever does not carry his own cross [expressing a willingness to endure whatever may come] and follow after Me [believing in Me, conforming to My example in living and, if need be, suffering or perhaps dying because of faith in Me] cannot be My disciple.
See, He is to be the number One in our lives. Keep your mind stayed on Him and everything else will attain its proper perspective.
Please read Luke 14:28-3328 For which one of you, when he wants to build a watchtower [for his guards], does not first sit down and calculate the cost, to see if he has enough to finish it? 29 Otherwise, when he has laid a foundation and is unable to finish [the building], all who see it will begin to ridicule him, 30 saying, ‘This man began to build and was not able to finish!’ 31 Or what king, when he sets out to meet another king in battle, will not first sit down and consider whether he is strong enough with ten thousand men to encounter the one who is coming against him with twenty thousand? 32 Or else [if he feels he is not powerful enough], while the other [king] is still a far distance away, he sends an envoy and asks for terms of peace. 33 So then, none of you can be My disciple who does not [carefully consider the cost and then for My sake][d]give up all his own possessions.”
Carefully consider the cost. Yet the benefits far outweigh the cost.
Please read Luke 14:34-3534 “Therefore, salt is good; but if salt has become tasteless, with what will it be seasoned? 35 It is fit neither for the soil nor for the manure pile; it is thrown away. He who has ears to hear, let him hear and heed My words.”
Lukewarmness is not what He’s expecting of us. He said, you are the salt of the earth and the light of the world. Be salty and shine bright. But in your saltiness, be kind, let the Spirit guide every word you say. That way you can be sure you will not be too anything. Keep your focus on Him. Keep your faith in Him. Grow it, use it, share it.
Footnotes
Luke 14:2 Or Edema, an abnormal accumulation of serous fluid in the connective tissue, causing swelling.
Luke 14:14 The death of Christ paid the penalty for the sins of believers.
Luke 14:26 An exaggerated figure of speech indicating a lesser degree of love, not actual hostility or aversion toward one’s earthly family.
Luke 14:33 Jesus probably is referring to a willingness and commitment to do so when necessary. Discipleship does not require poverty.