Luke 14:1-24
Jesus at a Pharisees House
1 One Sabbath, when Jesus went to eat in the house of a prominent Pharisee, he was being carefully watched. 2 There in front of him was a man suffering from abnormal swelling of his body. 3 Jesus asked the Pharisees and experts in the law, “Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath or not?” 4 But they remained silent. So taking hold of the man, he healed him and sent him on his way.
5 Then he asked them, “If one of you has a child or an ox that falls into a well on the Sabbath day, will you not immediately pull it out?” 6 And they had nothing to say.
7 When he noticed how the guests picked the places of honor at the table, he told them this parable: 8 “When someone invites you to a wedding feast, do not take the place of honor, for a person more distinguished than you may have been invited. 9 If so, the host who invited both of you will come and say to you, ‘Give this person your seat.’ Then, humiliated, you will have to take the least important place. 10 But when you are invited, take the lowest place, so that when your host comes, he will say to you, ‘Friend, move up to a better place.’ Then you will be honored in the presence of all the other guests. 11 For all those who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted.”
12 Then Jesus said to his host, “When you give a luncheon or dinner, do not invite your friends, your brothers or sisters, your relatives, or your rich neighbors; if you do, they may invite you back and so you will be repaid. 13 But when you give a banquet, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind,14 and you will be blessed. Although they cannot repay you, you will be repaid at the resurrection of the righteous.”
15 When one of those at the table with him heard this, he said to Jesus, “Blessed is the one who will eat at the feast in the kingdom of God.”
16 Jesus replied: “A certain man was preparing a great banquet and invited many guests. 17 At the time of the banquet he sent his servant to tell those who had been invited, ‘Come, for everything is now ready.’
18 “But they all alike began to make excuses. The first said, ‘I have just bought a field, and I must go and see it. Please excuse me.’
19 “Another said, ‘I have just bought five yoke of oxen, and I’m on my way to try them out. Please excuse me.’
20 “Still another said, ‘I just got married, so I can’t come.’
21 “The servant came back and reported this to his master. Then the owner of the house became angry and ordered his servant, ‘Go out quickly into the streets and alleys of the town and bring in the poor, the crippled, the blind and the lame.’
22 “‘Sir,’ the servant said, ‘what you ordered has been done, but there is still room.’
23 “Then the master told his servant, ‘Go out to the roads and country lanes and compel them to come in, so that my house will be full. 24 I tell you, not one of those who were invited will get a taste of my banquet.’”
In chapter fourteen of Luke's Gospel we learn something about the culture of Jesus' time...It is said that the culture during His time was an honor and shame culture...And so this would have a society of basically two groups - the have's and have nots...A society where status was very important...Status would be seen as honor...The Pharisees knew the culture...They were a part of the society that had things...When Jesus came He would turn this culture and this type of thinking completely upside down...Jesus somehow gained much honor helping the poor, the crippled, the blind and the lame...Jesus would much of His time be helping these have nots...He gave honor to a group who had none -the poor, the crippled, the blind, and the lame...He was changing a culture...A group or groups that often felt ashamed, yet it would be these groups He would honor and visit with, and often be assisting...And by giving these groups honor, His Honor, His Own honor was elevated as He walked and talked with these groups...
In His Parable of the Great Banquet we can see that the host first invited people he knew and probably his friends and all his acquaintances...We might call this first group of invitations went to people of status, people of honor...And for different reasons the people of status did not accept the invitation to the Great Banquet, from the host...So the host became angry and ordered his servant to go out quickly and bring in new and other guests who were the poor, the crippled, the blind and the lame....Ones that were not originally on the first list -so a second group was made, ones of shame...Those now invited were the have nots, because the first group of guests would not come...A banquet from our Father is one we do not want to miss...
When Jesus was eating at the house of the Pharisees He tries to teach them this lesson about people and equality...Jesus sees all people through the same eyes, and sees us as all as equal...The have nots, are just as important to Him, as the ones who have material wealth and power and fame...Jesus tells the Pharisees to act out of humility and treat all the people alike...When Jesus was eating at a honored and prominent Pharisee's house, He noticed how the guests had picked the places of honor at the table...So He told the Pharisees this parable: “When someone invites you to a wedding feast, do not take the place of honor, for a person more distinguished than you may have been invited...If so, the host who invited both of you will come and say to you, ‘Give this person your seat.’...Then, humiliated, you will have to take the least important place...But when you are invited, take the lowest place, so that when your host comes, he will say to you, ‘Friend, move up to a better place.’ Then you will be honored in the presence of all the other guests...For all those who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted.”...Then Jesus said to his host, “When you give a luncheon or dinner, do not invite your friends, your brothers or sisters, your relatives, or your rich neighbors; if you do, they may invite you back and so you will be repaid...But when you give a banquet, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind, and you will be blessed...Although they cannot repay you, you will be repaid at the resurrection of the righteous.”...
I am not sure that society has changed that much...We, as people, often do things for show...We seem to like to collect material things versus honoring the poor, the crippled, the blind, and the lame...Jesus also talked about helping those groups and doing it in a private manner...Wanting to be seen helping someone is not always good...It is the helping of others that is good, not the personal recognition in the helping of others...When we act out of complete humility, we do not care who sees us...That is a sign of being humble...Jesus embraced helping the poor and the shamed...He had no problems with that, and did not care to be recognized...Jesus was always there to help the lost and the forsaken...He was a humble One who later after His death became exalted...