Luke 14

Luke 14:1-6

In this chapter we have, 1. The core which Christ wrought upon a man that had the dropfy, on the Sabbath-day, and his justifying himself therein, against those who were offended at his doing it on that day, ver. 1-6. 2. A lesson of humility given to those who were ambitious of the highest years, ver. 7-11. 3. A lesson of charity to those who feasted the rich and did not feed the poor, ver. 12, 13, 14. 4. The benefit of the gospel created in the parable of the guests invited to a feast, ver. 15-24. 5. The great love of displaytheta laid down, with a caution to all that will be Christ’s discipline, to undertake it deliberately, and with consideration, and particularly to ministers, to retain their favour, ver. 25-35.

1. AND it came to pass, as he went into the house of one of the chief Pharisees to cut bread on the Sabbath-day, that they watched him. 2. And behold, there was a certain man before him, which had the dropfy. 3. And Jesus answering, make unto the lawyers and Pharisees, saying, ‘I, it lawful to heal on the Sabbath-day? 4. And they held their peace. And he took him and healed him, and let him go to. 5. And answered them, saying, ‘Which of you shall have an ass, or an ox fallen into a pit, and will not straightway pull him out on the Sabbath-day? 6. And they could not answer him again to these things.

Christ refused not the invitations of those he knew were his enemies; and though he was well aware of their malicious intentions, he behaved to them with all kindness and courtesy.

1. He dined with a chief Pharisee on the Sabbath-day; and there being present a pitiable object, who was swollen with a dropfy; they watched whether he would heal him; intending, if he did, to accute him as a Sabbath-breaker.

2. Christ, who knew their thoughts, interrogates them on the subject, Whether it was lawful to heal on the Sabbath-day? But they observed a fuller silence, unwilling to preclude the accusation they meditated, by admitting it to be lawful, and yet not knowing how to maintain the unlawfulness of so good a deed.

3. He took the man aside, and healed him, reducing in a moment his diffended body, and sending him away perfectly cured.

And

And in his own justification, and to their conviction and confusion, urges their own practice, to prove the lawfulness of such a work of charity. If they admitted that an ox or an air fallen into a pit, should be lifted out on the sabbath-day, lest it should perish there, how much more forcible was the argument for the cure of a diseased person, whose life was in danger? and how evident did it appear, that their zeal for the sabbath was more hypocrisy, designed only to cover their malignity against him?

4. They could not answer him again to these things, their own conduct spoke their condemnation. Note, At Christ’s bar every mouth shall be flopped.

5. ¶ And he put forth a parable to those which were bidden, when he marked how they chose out the chief rooms; saying unto them, 8. When thou art bidden of any man to a wedding, fit not down in the highest room: lest a more honourable man than thou be bidden of him; 9. And he that bade thee and him, come and say to thee, Give this man place; and thou begin with shame to take the lowest room. 10. But ‘when thou art bidden, go and sit down in the lowest room; that when he that bade thee cometh, he may say unto thee, Friend, go up higher; then shall thou have worship in the presence of them that sit af meat with thee. 11. For ‘whosoever exalteth himself, shall be abafet; and ‘he that humbleth himself, shall be exalted. 12. ¶ Then said he also to him that bade him, When thou makest a dinner or a supper, call not thy friends, nor thy brethren, neither thy kinsmen, nor thy rich neighbours; lest they also bid thee again, and a recompense be made thee. 13. But when thou makest a feast, call the poor, the maimed, the lame, the blind: 14. And thou shalt be blessed; for they cannot recompense thee: for thou shalt be recompensed at the resurrection of the just.

6. 15-24. Though our Lord was courteous, he was far above the flattery of compliment. When he saw occasion for rebuke, he would not, even in the company of persons most distinguished, refrain from faithful admonition.

7. He rebukes the guests for that allegation of preeminence which he observed among them, each covering the most honourable seat at the table. Such pride would expose them to contempt, which humility was the way to honour; for they who affirmingly thrust themselves into the seat of precedence which did not belong to them, might expect to be degraded, when a more honourable person coming in, the matter of the house would say, Give this man place; and this could not fail of covering with confusion the conceited intruder, who must go down lower, and expose himself to the contempt of the company. Much more to their honour would it be, humbly to take the lowest place, as ready to give the preference to others; for then the matter, attentive to place his guests, according to their rank, would respectfully define them to come up higher, and their muscely and humility would gain the regard and esteem of all that fit at table. And as this is the case among men, so is it also before God; whoever exalteth himself, in a proud conceit of his own excellence above other men, shall be abafed, treated with contempt and abhorrence by him who reeth the heart, and knows the true characters of men; and he that humbleth himself, under the deepest sense of his vileness and unworthiness, shall be evaded to the favour of God on earth, and to the enjoyment of his glory in heaven. Note, (1.) Pride is a sin alike odious in the fight of God and man. (2.) Modest diffidence gives a brighter lustre to real worth.

8. He rebukes the matter of the house for his inviting the rich, and neglecting the poor. It be speaks the pride, delithiness, and luxury of the heart, to make profuse entertainments, and invite only the wealthy, at whose tables we expect to be entertained in return. Such feasting is evil; it is an abuse of the creatures of God, and robbery of the poor: not that we are forbid welcoming our friends, or returning their visits: it is the profusion, which would render us incapable of relieving the indigent, the vain affection of those, the ambition of keeping grand company, and the expectation of a recompense in kind, which our Lord condemns. He bids us, on the contrary, with the honorable hospitality of the poor; not thrifty beggars, for that is no charity, but an encouragement to silence; but the maimed, the lame, the blind; these cannot indeed return the favour; but we shall be no losers, God will remember and reward these labours of love at the resurrection of the just.

9. ¶ And when one of them that sat at meat with him, heard these things, he said unto him, 8 Blessed is he that shall eat bread in the kingdom of God. 16. Then said he unto him, 8 A certain man made a great supper, and bade many: 17. And ‘sent his servant at

supper-time to say to them that were bidden, Come, for all things are now ready. 18. And they all with one consent began to make excuse. The first said unto him, 8 I have bought a piece of ground, and I must need no good see it: I pray thee have me excused. 19. And another said, I have bought five yoke of oxen, and I go to prove them: I pray thee have me excused. 20. And another said, I have married a wife, and therefore I cannot come. 21. So that servant came and shewed his lord these things. Then the matter of the house being angry, said to his servant, Go out quickly into the streets and lanes of the city, and bring in hither the poor, and the maimed, and the half, and the blind. 22. And the servant said, Lord, it is done as thou hast commanded, and yet there is room. 23. And the Lord said unto 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 unto you, that none of those men which were bidden, shall taste of my supper.

9. 15-24. Affeated with the discourse of Christ, which breathed such humility and charity, one of the guests broke forth as in a transport, looking forward to the days of the Messiah, when they expected that all plenty, piety, and happiness would universally abound, and said, Blessed is he that shall eat bread in the kingdom of God. Christ immediately replied to this observation by a parable, drawn from the feast before them, and containing intimations which they would be very backward to receive; inebriating to them, that however great the Messiah’s kingdom might be, the Jews in general would repeat it, and the despised Gentiles chiefly partake of the privileges of the gospel.

10. A certain man made a great supper, and bade many. Christ is the master of the feast; all the riches of gospel grace are provided by him for the entertainment of miserable sinners, and his invitation is free and gracious. He bids his servants say, whosoever will, let him come, for all things are now ready; the present moment is the accepted time; there must be no delay; and if we feel our want of pardon, peace, grace, and glory, we shall make none, but press eagerly to be fed with these heavenly provisions.

11. The guests gave the servants a cold reception, and pretended other engagements. The Jewish people in general rejected the gospel, and turned a deaf ear to the apostles and evangelists; and too many in every age resemble them, and find some frivolous excuse for their conduct. One had purchased a farm, and he must need a go and see it; another had bought five yoke of oxen, and he wanted to try them; and a third is just married, and therefore pleads, I cannot come. But the truth is, I will not; his wife would have found a welcome too, that need not have hindered him. Note, (1.) Any thing will serve for a hindrance to those who want an excuse; and the devil will take care that they shall not be at a loss, who have no inclination to duty. (2.) Hearts fail of worldly cares, and let on a mailing wealth, must needs be deaf to gospel-calls. (3.) The folly of the men of the world is great as their foe; for what trifles do they batter heaven! (4.) Inordinate affection to lawful comforts, even to our dearest relatives, may prove a dangerous thumbling-block in our way to glory.

12. The servants returned with grief to their master, and reported the repulse they had met with; and just indignation kindled in the master’s bosom at the ingratitude and contempt shown to his gracious invitation. Note, (1.) Ministers carry their complaints to God against the fools among whom they have laboured in vain, and spent their strength for nought; and a fearful account will such despises of the gospel thornly give. (2.) Abused mercy turns to fiercest wrath; rejection of the calls of grace must need issue in ruin.

13. Though they who were invited refused to come, the feast shall not be lost. The master bids his servants go into the streets and lanes of the city, and bring in the poor, the maimed, the half, and the blind; since the Scribes and Pharisees, with all the rich and noble among the Jews, rejected his salvation, the gospel was to be preached to the lowest of the people, many of whom were brought to the obedience of faith. And when the servants having executed their commission, reported that yet there was room, their Lord sends them into the highways and hedges, even to the Gentile world, to call the vines sinners, and urge them to come in, affaring them of a hearty welcome. Note, (1.) The unbelief of the impenitent shall not prevent the promise of God from taking effect. Christ will have a church and people in the world, though the wife, mighty, and noble reject him. (2.) The gospel hath usually made success among those whom the proud, the wise, and old-kingdoms, despise, born the ignorant, the poor, the publicans and open sinners; nor must the servants think it any disparagement to themselves or their master, that of such is the kingdom of heaven. (3.) The compulsion which Christ’s ministers must use is, the force of argument and

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perfusion; not violence, or the civil power, which can only make men hypocrites. (4.) None are excluded from Christ who do not exclude themselves; there is room, and we are welcome: if we refuse to come, our ruin lieth at our own door.

5. He feals up the defoliers of the gospel under wrath and reprobacy. I say unto you, that none of these unto users hidden, shall taste of my pepper. The unbelieving Jews, to whom the gospel was first preached, and all who hear and reject the counsel of God against their own faults, are justly abandoned as the delusions they have chosen, and left to perish in their sins.

6. ¶ And there went great multitudes with him: and he turned, and said unto them, 26. ‘If any man come to me,’ and hate not his father, and mother, and wife, and children, and brethren, and fifteen, ‘yes, and his own life also, he cannot be my disciple. 27. And ‘whosoever doth not bear his cross, and come after me, cannot be my disciple. 28. For ‘which of you intending to build a tower, fiteth not down first, and counteth the coft, whether he have sufficient to finish it? 29. Left haply after he hath laid the foundation, and ‘is not able to finish it, all that behold 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, fiteth not down first, and confideth whether he be able with ten thousand to meet him that cometh against him with twenty thousand? 32. Or else, while the other is yet a great way off, he lendeth an ambaffage, and defireth conditions of peace. 33. So likewise, whosoever he be of you, that forsaken not all that he hath, he cannot be my disciple. 34. ¶ ‘Salt it good: ‘but if the fair have loft its favour,’ wherewith shall it be feashed? 35. It is neither fit for the land, nor yet for the dunghill; but men cast it out. He that hath ears to hear, let him hear.

7. 2.—34. Multitudes followed Christ, probably in hopes to share in that temporal kingdom which they expected the Messiah would set up. To undeceive them, he lets them know,

8. The terms of discipleship. They will now find that case, affluence, and honour, with which they fastened themselves, but the very reverie: they must be ready to quit their nearest and dearest relations, when Christ’s service calls for them; must be content to leave all behind, and to be banished from their best friends: if parents commanded come in competition with our duty to him, we must not hesitate whom we shall obey: may, our own lives must not be dear to us, when his glory requires us to lay them down. The love of him must confirm us stronger than death; every cross which he is pleased to lay upon us, cheerfully should we take up a content to be nailed to it, if he be ordained. And if without such entire surrender of ourselves to him, we cannot be his disciples, much less may we think we belong to him, if we are afraid to disobligate a friend or a relation for his sake, if we cannot bear a name of infamy, or abusing of reproach. Such as shrink from these latter trials, and are ashamed to make protection of him, will certainly never go with him to prison, or to death.

9. He exhorns his followers seriously and deliberately to weigh the difficulties and dangers, before they embark in his cause; least after having made a protection, they should expose themselves to contempt, and bring heavier ruin upon their souls, by drawing back unto perdition; and this he illustrates by two comparisons, (1.) By a man sitting down to build a tower, who makes an estimate of the charge before he begins the fabric; least otherwise, safely embarking in a work for which his abilities are not sufficient, the unfinished ruins should expose him to contempt. We have this tower of salvation to build on Jesus, the sure foundation; it will cost us much labour, prayer, self-denial, reproach, loss, perhaps of life itself, ere it be finished. Before, therefore, we commence professed disciples, we should well weigh the consequences, whether we have really power from on high, divine faith, and a vital principle of grace, to carry us through. Many have begun, and failed, and thereby exposed themselves to just contempt; for even the wicked world, to whom they return, will ridicule and despise those who draw back from their holy profession. (2.) By one king going to war against another. Before he takes the hold, he will weigh the danger, and consider whether he is a match for his antagonist, and if he finds his strength utterly unequal, it is wisely, before matters are driven to extremities, to send ambassadors, and seek peace. Such is our case: a christian is a soldier, who must expect and prepare to endure herdedy: the powers of earth, corruption, and hell, under Satan, their king, are the many thousand with whom we have to confide. Cooked, therefore, in the panoply of God, and supported with his might in the inner man, we should go forth; and the sword once drawn,

we must never sheath it till death. But if deterred by difficulties, persecutions, and sufferings, we seek an ignominious peace with the world which lieth in wickedness, under the government of that wicked one; and instead of forfeiting all, hugger in the hour of trial; the case is desperate, we shall continue unheard by sin, and cannot be Christ’s disciples.

3. He warns them against apocry, whether mindless or people. Salt it good; my gospel, and they who dispels it, are the salt of the earth; but if the salt hath left its favour, and those who profess to spread the lively truths of God, adulterate the word, and grow degenerate in their temper and manners, wherewith shall it be feigned? The case appears desperate, where such rooted departure from the truth in practice and principle prevails; it is neither fit for the land, nor yet for the dunghill; such persons are not only useless, but noxious, and therefore men cast it out; all good men abandon such faithless profession, and they should be cast out of the church, as they will inflicting be separated eternally from the communion of the faithful in heaven. He that hath ears to hear, let him hear; and let him that thinketh he standeth, take heed lest he fall.