Words in italic type have been added for clarity. They are not found in the original Hebrew or Aramaic.

Luke 14

• About the Title:
  We are encouraged to take up His cross and follow Him. Slivers cause pain.
  Someday God will turn the Slivers (of pain) in this life to Silvers (something of value) in the next life.

A Man with Dropsy Healed on the Sabbath

Luke 14:¹ Now it happened, as He went into the house of one of the rulers of the Pharisees to eat bread on the Sabbath, that they watched Him closely.

• The “ruler” of the Pharisees would be an esteemed and powerful position.
• They were lying in wait for Him to find Him guilty.

Luke 14:² And behold, there was a certain man before Him who had dropsy.

• The swelling of soft tissues under the skin due to the accumulation of excess water, which is the major underlying causes of dropsy are congestive heart failure, liver failure, kidney failure, and malnutrition.

Luke 14:³ And Jesus, answering, spoke to the lawyers and Pharisees, saying, “Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath?”

Luke 14:⁴ But they kept silent. And He took him and healed him, and let him go.

Luke 14:⁵ Then He answered them, saying, “Which of you, having a donkey (or son) or an ox that has fallen into a pit, will not immediately pull him out on the Sabbath day?”

• Donkey G3688 matches the Greek ὄνος (onos) in which ὄνος can be translated as either donkey or son. It is translated both ways, differing on the texts.

• NU and M text read “son”.

To be the son of a donkey, or the donkey of a son, in Greek would be “the onos of an onos“.

Luke 14:⁶ And they could not answer Him regarding these things.

Take the Lowly Place

Luke 14:⁷ So He told a parable to those who were invited, when He noted how they chose the best places, saying to them:

Luke 14:⁸ “When you are invited by anyone to a wedding feast, do not sit down in the best place, lest one more honorable than you be invited by him;

Luke 14:⁹ and he who invited you and him come and say to you, ‘Give place to this man,’ and then you begin with shame to take the lowest place.

Luke 14:¹⁰ But when you are invited, go and sit down in the lowest place, so that when he who invited you comes he may say to you, ‘Friend, go up higher.’ Then you will have glory in the presence of those who sit at the table with you.

Luke 14:¹¹ For whoever exalts himself will be (put down) humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted.”

• Mark 9:35 And He sat down, called the twelve, and said to them, “If anyone desires to be first, he shall be last of all and servant of all.”

Luke 14:¹² Then He also said to him who invited Him, “When you give a dinner or a supper, do not ask your friends, your brothers, your relatives, nor rich neighbors, lest they also invite you back, and you be repaid.

Luke 14:¹³ But when you give a feast, invite the poor, the (crippled) maimed, the lame, the blind.

Luke 14:¹⁴ And you will be blessed, because they cannot repay you; for you shall be repaid at the resurrection of the just.”

• These rewards come after the resurrections.

The Parable of God’s Jewish Rejection and Gentile Replacement.

Luke 14:¹⁵ Now when one of those who sat at the table with Him heard these things, he said to Him, “Blessed is he who shall eat (dinner) bread in the kingdom of God!”

• Everything under God’s Sovereign Authority and Control is the Kingdom of God (theos G2316), which includes the kingdom of heaven (ouranos G3772)
  
  
  

Luke 14:¹⁶ Then He said to him, “A certain man gave a great supper and invited many,

Luke 14:¹⁷ and sent his servant at supper time to say to those who were invited, ‘Come, for all things are now ready.’

Luke 14:¹⁸ But they all with one accord began to make excuses. The first said to him, ‘I have bought a piece of ground, and I must go and see it. I ask you to have me excused.’

• To be excused, they give excuses.

Please Excuse my Excuses

Luke 14:¹⁹ And another said, ‘I have bought five yoke of oxen, and I am going to test them. I ask you to have me excused.’

Luke 14:²⁰ Still another said, ‘I have married a wife, and therefore I cannot come.’

Luke 14:²² And the servant said, ‘Master, it is done as you commanded, and still there is room.’

Luke 14:²³ Then the master said to the servant, ‘Go out into the highways and hedges, and compel them to come in, that my house may be filled.

Luke 14:²⁴ For I say to you that none of those men who were invited shall taste my supper.’ ”

Leaving All to Follow Christ

Luke 14:²⁵ Now great multitudes went with Him. And He turned and said to them,

Luke 14:²⁶ “If anyone comes to Me and does not hate his father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters, yes, and his own life also, he cannot be My disciple.

• The difference between hating and loving is our choices of priority. The perfect priority is to follow Jesus.  The second priority is second best, and in God’s world, second best is bottom of the barrel.
• Not making God your first choice is to relinquish oneself. It is either all or worse than nothing.

• When Esau sold his birthright for a bowl of stew, he spiritually relinquished his firstborn status of being the head of the family, his family lineage to the birth of the Messiah, and his spiritual status because he denigrated being part of the family of God. Being a child of God means our salvation is our birthright.
  
• Ref. Verses:
  • I John ^3:1 Behold what manner of love the Father has bestowed on us, that we should be called children of God!
  • Malachi 1:^2-3 Therefore, “Yet Jacob I have loved; But Esau I have hated,
    And laid waste his mountains and his heritage
    For the jackals (dragons) of the wilderness.”

• Never let anyone or anything disrupt your choice to give your life to God; the consequences of not doing so are unthinkable.
  • John 3:¹⁸ “He who believes in Him is not condemned; but he who does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.

Luke 14:²⁷ And whoever does not bear his cross and come after Me cannot be My disciple.

• A prophecy given by Jesus; He knew what sort of death He would die.

Luke 14:²⁸ For which of you, intending to build a tower, does not sit down first and count the cost, whether he has enough to finish it—

Luke 14:²⁹ lest, after he has laid the foundation, and is not able to finish, all who see it begin to mock him,

• The foundation is Jesus. Be prepared to finish the goal.

• If you don’t take a stand, you stand to be slammed.
• If you don’t have a plan, you plan to fail.
• If you don’t have a goal, you will probably reach it.

Luke 14:³⁰ saying, ‘This man began to build and was not able to finish’?

Luke 14:³¹ Or what king, going to make war against another king, does not sit down first and consider whether he is able with ten thousand to meet him who comes against him with twenty thousand?

Luke 14:³² Or else, while the other is still a great way off, he sends a delegation and asks conditions of peace.

Luke 14:³³ So likewise, whoever of you does not forsake all that he has cannot be My disciple.

• ALL that he has. Not just a tithe.

Tasteless Salt Is Worthless

Luke 14:³⁴ “Salt is good; but if the salt has lost its flavor, how shall it be seasoned?

Luke 14:³⁵ It is neither fit for the land NOR for the dunghill (rubbish heap), but men throw it out. He who has ears to hear, let him hear!”

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{1 of 2} Luke 14-“Silver Slivers of the Cross”
{2 of 2} Luke 14 – “A Wedding of Wonders”

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