Luke 14:1-24 Dinner with the Pharisees

Luke 14:1-6 Jesus heals on the Sabbath. As contrasted to Luke 13:10-17, the Pharisees' response is silence. Perhaps they had endured enough humiliation, or knew that they had no answer to His question. Perhaps they were already making plans behind the scenes and didn't want to tip their hand. The obvious answer to the question - should EMT's and firefighters and police work on the day of rest - if there is an emergency, there isn't even any need for discussion.

Luke 14:7-11 The parable of seating at a banquet. Jesus uses this metaphor to emphasize the importance of humility in God's kingdom. At a banquet, there is more honor in being publicly invited to come to the head table than in seating one's self there because the public invitation shows the relationship between the head of the banquet and the guest. So in this case humility - taking a low seat, far from the head table - pays off. So too, in God's kingdom, the one who humbles himself will one day be invited by God to the head table, and the one who exalts himself now will be shown to be not that big a deal in God's kingdom.

Luke 14:12-15 The blessing of feeding those who cannot repay you. Matthew 6:4 suggests the same principle. Is this practical or metaphorical advice? Perhaps both. Jesus' point seems to be that if we give to and minister to those who are so poor and helpless that they cannot possibly repay in this life, then we will be repaid at the resurrection of the just. This might even take the form of throwing a banquet for the homeless. But whatever form it takes, laying up treasures for ourselves in heaven is recommended by Jesus. (Matt 6:20, 19:21, Mark 10:21, Luke 12:33, Luke 18:22) It may seem crass in some respect, but if done in the spirit of humility (per the preceding section), it seems an investment with a guaranteed return.

Luke 14:16-24 The parable of the guests who changed their mind. It is not clear if this is aimed at the Pharisees or a more general statement. One interpretation might be that the Pharisees had all of the Law of Moses, but in rejecting Christ they were refusing to partake of God's ultimate celebration of life. This then opened the door for the unchurched and the sinner to participate. The language is rather colorful in emphasizing God's insistence on compelling the outcasts to come. Another possible interpretation has to do with eternal security. Is it possible to accept God's invitation, and then later refuse Him when the time comes to consummate the feast? While it seems unbiblical that God would ever reject those who seek Him, is it possible that when the time comes, in eschatological terms for the rapture of the church, that some will be so attached to their possessions, their worldly occupations, that they would not want to go to be with Him? Or perhaps, taken in the context with the preceding section, perhaps some who have sought Him in the past could become so pre-occupied with worldly activities that they do not have time to minister to the poor? Perhaps the metaphorical banquet really occurs whenever there is bona fide ministry to the poor, and we simply miss that banquet if we are too busy working at our jobs.