Luke 14

CHAPTER 14THEME: Jesus goes to dinner at home of Pharisee; parable of the impolite guests; parable of the great supper; parable about building a tower; parable of a king going to war; parable about salt that loses its tangLuke alone records the delightful occasion of the Lord Jesus going out to dinner at the home of one of the chief Pharisees, and of His giving His host and guests a lesson in etiquette in the devastating parable of the ambitious guest. Also there are two other parables in this chapter that are in no other Gospelthe building of a tower and a king preparing to make war, which both relate to discipleship. He concludes with the parable of the salt that loses its tang.

Luke 14:1

JESUS GOES TO DINNER AT HOME OF PHARISEEJesus is going out to dinner again, and this time we are going to have some fun. I must confess that if a Pharisee had asked me to come to dinner for the purpose of spying on me, I would have refused. The Pharisee was watching for something that would discredit our Lord. This first verse provides the atmosphere, tone, and color of the situation. It was the prelude before the dinner that produced the tenseness.

Luke 14:2

A trap was laid to ensnare the Lord. I believe this man was deliberately planted to motivate our Lord to break the Sabbath by healing him. Notice what He did. The Lord asked the question first, and they were afraid to answer Him.

Luke 14:3

If their ox or donkey fell into something, they would rescue it. In other words, if any of those rascals had had a flat tire on the Sabbath, they would have fixed it, and the Lord knew it. “That’s the reason I’m fixing up this fellow herehe’s in trouble.”

Luke 14:6

This incident created a rather tense situation for dinner.

Luke 14:7

PARABLE OF THE IMPOLITE GUESTSThis scene is as rich as it can be. In that day they did not have place cards at the table. Place cards must have been originated by some hostess who wanted to preserve her furniture! Without place cards at the table, there was a mad rush to get to the best seats. At the table in that day there were four chief places. When the cook said, “Soup’s on,” everyone made a beeline for the table.

In that day couches rather than chairs were used so that the guests reclined at the table. There were three places to recline on each side; the center place was the seat of honor which made four chief places. At the head table there would be seats one, two and three on one side; seat number two, the center seat, would be the place of honor. Around on the other side would be seats four, five, and six, with number five as the seat of honor. Around on the other side are seats seven, eight, and nine, with seat number eight the seat of honor. On the fourth side of the table number eleven would be the seat of honor. It is understandable that one of these old Pharisees could not move as fast as some of the younger Pharisees. When the cook called, “Soup’s on,” the old Pharisee, who had moved as close as possible to the dining area, ran for seat number two. One of the younger Pharisees got there before he did; so he turned the corner fast and tried to reach number five seat. He was too late again because someone was already sitting there. Quickly he tried for seat number eight, but he did not make it to that seat in time either. He turned the corner and made a dive for seat number eleven and made it. It was the lowest seat, but still a seat of honor. He reclined there out of breath. Can you imagine what a hilarious picture it must have been to see these men running as fast as they could for the seats of honor? Now our Lord will correct their manners.

Luke 14:8

The Lord Jesus said, “When you are invited to dinner, don’t rush to get the seat of honor. The host may have someone else in mind for that seat. He would have to come to you and say, ‘Move over to the lowest seat so my guest of honor can sit here.’” To get to the lowest seat, all you have to do is move over one seat, but it is embarrassing. “When you are invited to a dinner, always go to the lowest seat. You will not have any trouble getting it because no one else will be trying for it. Then when the host comes in and sees where you are sitting, he will say, ‘You are to be my guest of honor. Please sit in the seat of honor.’ Then someone else will have to move.” This is good manners and just the opposite of the demonstration this group had just put on. Our Lord draws a great principle from this incident:

Luke 14:11

This is an important principle for us as believers. Next our Lord corrects the host.

Luke 14:12

Our Lord is setting forth another great principle. Most of us have the same guests over to dinner one time, and the next time we go to one of their homes, and so it goes week after week. It is sort of a round-robin situation. The Lord is condemning that practice. There is nothing wrong with having your group in once in a while, but have you ever thought about doing something for those who have nothing? They cannot pay you back; they will not be able to invite you to dinner next week. Do a few things where you will be the giver with no thought of ever being paid back.

Luke 14:15

PARABLE OF THE GREAT SUPPERCan you imagine the tenseness at this dinner? It started with our Lord healing the man with dropsyin the face of their disapproval. Then He looked the guests straight in the eyes and corrected their manners. Then He corrected the host. Believe me, the atmosphere was tense. Nobody was saying a word. This is, without a doubt, one of the pious platitudes that this man is used to giving. In that awkward moment of silence, when no one was saying anything, one old rascal speaks out and says, Blessed is he that shall eat bread in the kingdom of God." I wish I could have been there. I would have asked him, “What do you mean by that?” I doubt that he could have told me what he really meant. At least I have never found a commentator who could explain what he meant. His statement was nothing more than a pious cliche. You hear a lot of pious platitudes in our conservative circles today.

I get so tired of hearing them. One of the most common cliches is, “Praise the Lord.” It is a wonderful thing to praise the Lord, but sometimes it becomes a little boring when a person uses that phrase constantly, but does not praise the Lord in his heart. Let us steer clear of pious cliches. The Lord did not let this rascal get by with his cliche. He turned to him, and I think His eyes flashed with anger as He spoke to him.

Luke 14:16

It was the custom to send out invitations to such a dinner a long time in advance, but as the actual day for the dinner arrived, a personal invitation was extended. God has issued an invitation. What is man going to do with it? God’s invitation is for salvation. You cannot buy your way into this feast. You cannot elbow your way in. You come to this dinner by the grace of God. “For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast” (Eph_2:8-9). You get into this dinner by receiving a gift. The only thing that will exclude any human being from heaven is a refusal to accept the invitation. The Lord Jesus said, “You say, ‘Blessed is he that eateth bread in the kingdom’; that is pious nonsense. Here is what men are doing with God’s invitation:”

Luke 14:18

This is not an excuse, it is an alibi. Someone has said, “An alibi is a lie stuffed in the skin of an excuse.” No one who was invited said, “I will not come to the dinner.” They were simply making excuses to cover up the fact that they did not want to come. The first man to give an excuse was either a liar or a fool. Can you imagine buying property without first looking at it?

Luke 14:19

The first man let possessions keep him away. The second man let business keep him away. Again I have to say of this second man that he is either a liar or a fool. How could this man plow at night? In those days they did not have flood lights. This man was making excuses. “I must make a living,” is a phrase I hear often. People are so busy with their business they have no time for God. One day you are going to die, and you will discover that business will go on as usual without you.

Luke 14:20

There was a law in Israel that excused a man from going to war if he had taken a new wife. This man had the weakest excuse of all. Why didn’t he bring his wife with him and come to the dinner? His natural affection kept him away from the dinner. How many times I have heard a man say, “I don’t come to church because Sunday is the only day I can spend with my family.” These things keep more people from God than anything else: possessions, business, and natural affection. How many people today are kept from God because of these things? Well, God has an engraved invitation for you. It is written in the blood of Jesus Christ and invites you to the great table of salvation.

Luke 14:21

This is a severe statement. If you reject God’s invitation, He has to reject you. You are excluded because of your refusal to accept His invitation.

Luke 14:25

These verses are simply saying that we should put God first. A believer’s devotedness to Jesus Christ should be such that, by comparison, it looks as if everything else is hated. All terms which define affections are comparative.

Luke 14:28

PARABLE ABOUT BUILDING A TOWERIt will cost something to make a decision for Christ. It will cost something to be His disciple. Think it over, friend. You should count the cost before you make the decision.

Luke 14:31

PARABLE OF A KING GOING TO WARA person can be saved by accepting Jesus Christ as Savior, but a person will never follow and serve Him until he is willing to make a sacrifice. That is what this passage is teaching. There is a difference between being a believer and being a disciple. Unfortunately, not all believers are disciples.

Luke 14:34

PARABLE ABOUT SALT THAT LOSES ITS TANGNothing is more worthless than salt that has lost its saltiness. May the Lord deliver us from being useless Christians!