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Luke 14

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And it came to pass, as he went into the house of one of the chief Pharisees to eat bread on the sabbath day, that they watched him.

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And, behold, there was a certain man before him which had the dropsy.

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And Jesus answering spake unto the lawyers and Pharisees, saying, Is it lawful to heal on the sabbath day?

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And they held their peace. And he took him, and healed him, and let him go;

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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?

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And they could not answer him again to these things.

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And he put forth a parable to those which were bidden, when he marked how they chose out the chief rooms; saying unto them,

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When thou art bidden of any man to a wedding, sit not down in the highest room; lest a more honourable man than thou be bidden of him;

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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.

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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 shalt thou have worship in the presence of them that sit at meat with thee.

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For whosoever exalteth himself shall be abased; and he that humbleth himself shall be exalted.

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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 recompence be made thee.

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But when thou makest a feast, call the poor, the maimed, the lame, the blind:

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And thou shalt be blessed; for they cannot recompense thee: for thou shalt be recompensed at the resurrection of the just.

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And when one of them that sat at meat with him heard these things, he said unto him, Blessed is he that shall eat bread in the kingdom of God.

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Then said he unto him, A certain man made a great supper, and bade many:

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And sent his servant at supper time to say to them that were bidden, Come; for all things are now ready.

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And they all with one consent began to make excuse. The first said unto him, I have bought a piece of ground, and I must needs go and see it: I pray thee have me excused.

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And another said, I have bought five yoke of oxen, and I go to prove them: I pray thee have me excused.

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And another said, I have married a wife, and therefore I cannot come.

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So that servant came, and shewed his lord these things. Then the master 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 halt, and the blind.

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And the servant said, Lord, it is done as thou hast commanded, and yet there is room.

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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.

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For I say unto you, That none of those men which were bidden shall taste of my supper.

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And there went great multitudes with him: and he turned, and said unto them,

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If any man come to me, and hate not his father, and mother, and wife, and children, and brethren, and sisters, yea, and his own life also, he cannot be my disciple.

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And whosoever doth not bear his cross, and come after me, cannot be my disciple.

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For which of you, intending to build a tower, sitteth not down first, and counteth the cost, whether he have sufficient to finish it?

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Lest haply, after he hath laid the foundation, and is not able to finish it, all that behold it begin to mock him,

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Saying, This man began to build, and was not able to finish.

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Or what king, going to make war against another king, sitteth not down first, and consulteth whether he be able with ten thousand to meet him that cometh against him with twenty thousand?

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Or else, while the other is yet a great way off, he sendeth an ambassage, and desireth conditions of peace.

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So likewise, whosoever he be of you that forsaketh not all that he hath, he cannot be my disciple.

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Salt is good: but if the salt have lost his savour, wherewith shall it be seasoned?

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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.

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Luke 14

The chapter's Sabbath healing of the man with dropsy is the setup for two table teachings: take the lowest seat (the self-exalted will be humbled; the self-humbled will be exalted) and invite the poor, crippled, blind, and lame rather than those who can reciprocate, because your reward will come at the resurrection. The Great Banquet parable — a man whose invited guests all make excuses, so the streets and country lanes are invited instead — is the enacted response to the pious observation blessed is the one who will eat at the feast in the kingdom of God. The cost-of-discipleship teachings are the chapter's most demanding: hate family and even your own life (by comparison with the kingdom's claim), take up your cross daily, give up everything you have. The tower-builder and the king-going-to-war parables communicate that uninformed commitment is worse than no commitment: count the cost before you begin. The salt saying closes with the warning that saltless salt is useless — the disciple who abandons the costly commitment has lost the distinctive quality that made the commitment meaningful.

Luke 14:1

One Sabbath, when Jesus went to eat in the house of a prominent Pharisee, he was being carefully watched — the third Sabbath dinner in Luke (5:29, 7:36, and now 14:1). Being carefully watched (paratēroumenoi, watching closely, under surveillance): the dinner invitation is also a scrutiny operation. The prominent Pharisee's table is where Jesus will be observed and tested.

Luke 14:2

There in front of him was a man suffering from abnormal swelling of his body — the man with dropsy (hydrops, abnormal accumulation of fluid in the body) is placed in front of Jesus: the setup for the Sabbath healing question. Whether he was planted to test Jesus or arrived independently, his presence creates the situation.

Luke 14:3

Jesus asked the Pharisees and experts in the law, is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath or not? — Jesus asks the question before healing rather than healing and then defending (as in the earlier Sabbath controversies). Is it lawful: the legal question is addressed to the legal experts directly.

Luke 14:4

But they remained silent. So Jesus took hold of the man, healed him and sent him on his way — the silence of the Pharisees and experts is the refusal to answer the question they know Jesus will use against them. Jesus interprets the silence as implicit permission (or simply proceeds with the healing): took hold of the man, healed him, sent him on his way. The healing is complete before the argument begins.

Luke 14:5

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? — the child-or-ox-in-a-well argument is the Sabbath emergency precedent: no one leaves a child (or animal) in a well to observe the Sabbath rest. The emergency overrides the restriction. The man with dropsy is at least as urgent as a child in a well.

Luke 14:6

And they had nothing to say — the second silence of the Pharisees communicates the completeness of the argument. They had nothing to say: the logic is unanswerable. The silence after verse 4 was strategic avoidance; the silence here is genuine defeat.

Luke 14:7

When he noticed how the guests picked the places of honor at the table, he told them this parable — the seating observation: Jesus watches the guests compete for the places of honor. The parable that follows is prompted by the visible status-seeking of the dinner guests.

Luke 14:8

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 — the wedding feast as the kingdom's social analogy. Do not take the place of honor: the first instruction. The risk is embarrassment: a more distinguished person arrives and you are displaced.

Luke 14:9

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 — humiliated (meta aischynēs, with shame): the public displacement from the honored seat to the least important place. The self-promotion produces the opposite of the desired result.

Luke 14:10

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 — the alternative: take the lowest place voluntarily. When the host invites you to move up, the honor is public — in the presence of all the other guests. The voluntary humility produces the genuine honor.

Luke 14:11

For all those who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted — the principle beneath the parable: self-exaltation produces humiliation; self-humbling produces exaltation. The principle applies in social settings (the dinner), in the kingdom's ethics (the Beatitudes), and in the eschatological judgment.

Luke 14:12

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 — the instruction to the host is the most socially radical of the dinner teachings. Do not invite friends, relatives, rich neighbors: the standard reciprocal hospitality network. If you do, they may invite you back: the repayment eliminates the grace of the giving.

Luke 14:13

But when you give a banquet, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind — invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind: the people who cannot return the invitation. The list is almost identical to the list of those excluded from the temple cult in the Dead Sea Scrolls and in the Levitical legislation — those who cannot participate in the sacred meals.

Luke 14:14

And you will be blessed. Although they cannot repay you, you will be repaid at the resurrection of the righteous — you will be blessed: the blessing of the non-reciprocal giving. Although they cannot repay you, you will be repaid at the resurrection of the righteous: the eschatological repayment replaces the social repayment. The resurrection of the righteous is Luke's explicit reference to the final resurrection.

Luke 14:15

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 — the pious observation about the kingdom feast is the occasion for the Great Banquet parable. The speaker assumes he will be at the feast — his beatitude for the feast-attenders is an implicit self-congratulation.

Luke 14:16

Jesus replied: a certain man was preparing a great banquet and invited many guests — the Great Banquet parable is Luke's version of Matthew's Wedding Banquet (Matthew 22:1–14), with significant differences. The man preparing the banquet has invited many guests in advance — the standard two-stage invitation process of the ancient world.

Luke 14:17

At the time of the banquet he sent his servant to tell those who had been invited, come, for everything is now ready — the servant sent at the banquet time is the second-stage invitation — the notice that everything is ready and the guests should come. The everything is now ready communicates the completeness of the preparation.

Luke 14:18

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 — they all alike (apo mias, from one, unanimously) began to make excuses. The first excuse is the purchased field: I just bought a field and must go see it. The implausibility is part of the point — no one buys a field without inspecting it. The excuse is a refusal dressed as an obligation.

Luke 14:19

Another said, I have just bought five yoke of oxen, and I'm on my way to try them out. Please excuse me — the five yoke of oxen: another implausible excuse — you test the oxen before purchase. The I'm on my way communicates the urgency: not merely a planned future activity but something he's doing right now. The urgency of the worldly activity eclipses the banquet invitation.

Luke 14:20

Still another said, I just got married, so I can't come — the most brazen of the three excuses: I just got married. The Mosaic provision (Deuteronomy 24:5) that exempted a newly married man from military service does not apply to a social banquet. The I can't come lacks even the please excuse me of the previous two — the rudeness is the point.

Luke 14:21

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 — the owner's anger produces the radical re-invitation: go to the streets and alleys (the public spaces where the homeless and destitute gather) and bring in the poor, crippled, blind, and lame — the same list as Jesus' banquet-invitation instruction to the host (verse 13).

Luke 14:22

Sir, the servant said, what you ordered has been done, but there is still room — still room: the filling of the streets-and-alleys guests has not exhausted the banquet's capacity. The room that remains requires the third invitation.

Luke 14:23

Then the master told his servant, go out to the roads and country lanes and make them come in, so that my house will be full — go to the roads and country lanes: the mission extends beyond the city to the surrounding rural areas — the Gentile mission implied in the geography. Make them come in (anankason, compel, urgently persuade): the urgency of the invitation communicates the host's determination to fill the house. The house will be full: the kingdom feast will not lack for guests.

Luke 14:24

I tell you, not one of those who were originally invited will get a taste of my banquet — the conclusion is irrevocable: the original invitees are permanently excluded. Their refusal is the condition of the exclusion — they chose other things over the banquet. The feast will be full, but not with those who were expected to attend.

Luke 14:25

Large crowds were traveling with Jesus, and turning to them he said — the direct address to the large crowds traveling with Jesus introduces the three cost-of-discipleship sayings. The turning to them is the deliberate reorientation of attention to the traveling crowd.

Luke 14:26

If anyone comes to me and does not hate father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters — yes, even their own life — such a person cannot be my disciple — the hate-family saying is the most demanding discipleship statement in Luke. Hate (misei) is the Semitic comparative: love less than, prioritize below. The family list is comprehensive — every primary human relationship. Even their own life: the self-inclusion makes the demand total.

Luke 14:27

And whoever does not carry their cross and follow me cannot be my disciple — the cross-bearing: the specific instrument of the death that might come to those who follow Jesus. Carry their cross (bastazei ton stauron) and follow me: the disciple's path is behind Jesus, carrying what he carries. The cross is not metaphorical suffering but the specific political execution that awaits the one who follows Jesus to Jerusalem.

Luke 14:28

Suppose one of you wants to build a tower. Won't you first sit down and estimate the cost to see if you have enough money to complete it? — the tower-builder's cost-estimation: no one begins construction without calculating whether the resources are sufficient to complete. Sit down and estimate the cost: the deliberate, rational assessment of what the project requires.

Luke 14:29

For if you lay the foundation and are not able to finish it, everyone who sees it will ridicule you — the unfinished tower: the foundation laid without the resources to build above it. Everyone who sees it will ridicule: the public shame of the incomplete project. The cost-estimation that prevents the ridicule is the analogy for counting the cost of discipleship.

Luke 14:30

Saying, this person began to build and wasn't able to finish — the mockery is specific: this person began and could not finish. The failure is not the attempt but the uninformed attempt. The disciple who does not count the cost and abandons the way is the unfinished tower.

Luke 14:31

Or suppose a king is about to go to war against another king. Won't he first sit down and consider whether he is able with ten thousand men to oppose the one coming against him with twenty thousand? — the king's military assessment: ten thousand versus twenty thousand. The numerical disadvantage requires honest assessment — can this army win?

Luke 14:32

If he is not able, he will send a delegation while the other is still a long way off and will ask for terms of peace — if the assessment reveals military inferiority, the wise king sends for peace terms while there is still negotiating room. The wisdom of the smaller force is to recognize the disparity and negotiate rather than fight and lose.

Luke 14:33

In the same way, those of you who do not give up everything you have cannot be my disciples — in the same way: the military assessment applies to discipleship. Give up everything you have (apotassetai pasin tois heautou hyparchousin): the renunciation of all one's possessions as the condition of discipleship. The cannot be my disciple establishes this as a genuine requirement, not a counsel of perfection.

Luke 14:34

Salt is good, but if it loses its saltiness, how can it be made salty again? — the salt saying addresses the potential of the disciple to lose their distinctive character. Salt that has lost its saltiness is the figure for the disciple who has abandoned the costly commitment — the nothing left to add flavor.

Luke 14:35

It is fit neither for the soil nor for the manure pile; it is thrown out. Whoever has ears to hear, let them hear — neither useful for soil (its agricultural function) nor for the manure pile (even composting cannot use it): the useless salt is discarded. The hearing refrain closes the cost-of-discipleship section: whoever has ears to hear — the capacity for genuine reception — let them hear.