Day 58 – Friday, March 21, 2025

One Year Journey Through the New Testament

Luke 14

Welcome to our journey through the New Testament!

Instruction on the Sabbath

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. ² And behold, there was a certain man before Him who had dropsy. ³ And Jesus, answering, spoke to the lawyers and Pharisees, saying, “Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath?”

⁴ But they kept silent. And He took him and healed him, and let him go. ⁵ Then He answered them, saying, “Which of you, having a donkey or an ox that has fallen into a pit, will not immediately pull him out on the Sabbath day?” ⁶ And they could not answer Him regarding these things. 

(Luke 14:1–6, NKJV)

Points to Ponder:

• In this passage, Jesus continues to establish His authority over all things. He explained that He was Lord of the Sabbath in Luke 6, and is now doing it again.
• At one of the Pharisees’ homes, Jesus had a meal on the Sabbath. A man had dropsy, which is called edema today. It is a swelling caused by an excess accumulation of water in an area of the body.
• Jesus, as in chapter 6, asks if it is lawful to heal on the Sabbath. Then He healed the man. Afterward, He reminds them that each of them, if they had an ox or donkey (beasts of burden) fall in a pit on the Sabbath, that they would pull it out of the pit to save its life. They had no answer.

Parable of the Ambitious Guest

⁷ So He told a parable to those who were invited, when He noted how they chose the best places, saying to them: 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; 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. 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. ¹¹ For whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted.”

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. ¹³ But when you give a feast, invite the poor, the maimed, the lame, the blind. ¹⁴ And you will be blessed, because they cannot repay you; for you shall be repaid at the resurrection of the just.” 

(Luke 14:7–14, NKJV)

Points to Ponder:

• At this dinner, Jesus noticed where everyone sat as they entered the meal.
• He then shared helpful plan for how to not be ashamed in such a setting. If you enter a banquet hall, sit in the lower (less honorable) seats. If the host comes in and calls you up higher, you will be honored. If you sit in the higher seats (more honorable), and the host comes in and asks you to move lower, you will be ashamed.
• He sums this up with the statement, “…whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted.”
• He further tells them not to invite their friends and family to a banquet, but rather the poor and crippled. They cannot repay you like the others, but you will be repaid in heaven.

Parable of the Great Supper

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 bread in the kingdom of God!”

¹⁶ Then He said to him, “A certain man gave a great supper and invited many, ¹⁷ and sent his servant at supper time to say to those who were invited, ‘Come, for all things are now ready.’ 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.’ 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.’ ²⁰ Still another said, ‘I have married a wife, and therefore I cannot come.’ ²¹ So that servant came and reported these things to his master. 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 here the poor and the maimed and the lame and the blind.’ ²² And the servant said, ‘Master, it is done as you commanded, and still there is room.’ 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. ²⁴ For I say to you that none of those men who were invited shall taste my supper.’ ” 

(Luke 14:15–24, NKJV)

Points to Ponder:

• One of Jesus’ fellow guests said that those who eat bread in the kingdom of God were blessed.
• Jesus then shared a parable about a man who prepared a great supper and invited his guests. Each of them had excuses as to why they could not attend.
• Then the master of the house sent the servants out to invite the poor, crippled, and blind. When that did not fill the room, he instructed them to go out into the streets and compel people to come in. Then the house would be filled. But those who made excuses would never taste the meal.
• Don’t turn away the invitation of the Lord!

Christ Teaches on Discipleship

²⁵ Now great multitudes went with Him. And He turned and said to them, 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. ²⁷ And whoever does not bear his cross and come after Me cannot be My disciple. 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—²⁹ lest, after he has laid the foundation, and is not able to finish, all who see 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, does not sit down first and consider whether he is able with ten thousand to meet him who comes against him with twenty thousand? ³² Or else, while the other is still a great way off, he sends a delegation and asks conditions of peace. ³³ So likewise, whoever of you does not forsake all that he has cannot be My disciple.

³⁴ “Salt is good; but if the salt has lost its flavor, how shall it be seasoned? ³⁵ It is neither fit for the land nor for the dunghill, but men throw it out. He who has ears to hear, let him hear!” 

(Luke 14:25–35, NKJV)

Points to Ponder:

• Jesus here again teaches on the cost of discipleship.
• If you would follow Jesus, you must hate your family, bear your cross, and count the cost.
• In other words, you must forsake everything to follow Jesus.
• While this is absolutely true, it does not necessarily mean that you must automatically hate your family when you accept Jesus as your Savior. It does mean that the priority list of your life gets a reset.
• Jesus rises to the top of the list, and everything else adjusts down. Some things will even move off of the list.
• Put God first, no matter what it costs.

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All Scriptures from New King James Version unless otherwise noted.

Join us this afternoon at 5:00 pm for a discussion of this chapter live online. Live@5 with Dr. Greg Sloop can be found on Facebook on the Dr. Greg Sloop page or on the Kannapolis Church of God Facebook page or Youtube page. Another blog will be posted each weekday at 6:00 a.m.