Luke 14 – Studies

For those who may wish to ‘study’ this chapter, the following simple resources are provided for you. Each chapter is divided into a number of studies and each study or passage has a simple four-Part, verse-by-verse approach, to help you take in and think further about what you have read.

Passage: Luke 14:1-6: Jesus on healing on the Sabbath  

A. Find Out:    

1. Where did Jesus go & what was happening? v.1
   • One Sabbath, when Jesus went to eat in the house of a prominent Pharisee, he was being carefully watched.
2. Who was there? v.2
   • There in front of him was a man suffering from abnormal swelling of his body.
3. What did Jesus ask the Pharisees with what response? v.3,4a
   • Jesus asked the Pharisees and experts in the law, ‘Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath or not?’ 4 But they remained silent.
4. So what did Jesus do? v.4b
   • So taking hold of the man, he healed him and sent him on his way.
5. How did he justify this? v.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?’
6. How did they respond? v.6
   • And they had nothing to say.

B. Think:

1. What might we think is surprising about this passage?
2. Why did Jesus’ actions court controversy?
3. Yet what was his answer to it?

C. Comment:

The Pharisees normally came to criticise Jesus but on this day of rest he is presumably invited by a leading Pharisee to come for a meal. Presumably the Pharisee wants to check Jesus out and, maybe, even find further grounds to criticise him. It seems surprising therefore that Jesus takes up this offer. We’ve seen already that Jesus knows what is in the minds of men, so he surely knows what is happening here. So why go? Perhaps simply because he knows this man is going to be there who needs healing and he’s going to take this opportunity to challenge the thinking of the Pharisees, even in their own homes!

There is no way that Jesus could ever be accused of being aloof from these religious people. He comes to all men, to any who will receive him, and if that includes a prominent Pharisee, so be it.

Seeing the need he takes the initiative and asks these religious men whether it’s all right to heal on the Sabbath. Possibly they sense a trap and so keep quiet, so Jesus just gets on and heals the man.  Well, I mean, you didn’t tell me not to!!!!  Having done it, he then justifies it by reference to their own rules which allowed a man to work to rescue an animal in distress.  OK, is what he is saying, if it’s all right to help an animal on the Sabbath, I’m sure you’ll agree it’s all right to help a needy person on the Sabbath as well, isn’t it. If they say no, they’re going to look very hard hearted. They keep quiet. Smart move!

D. Application:

1. Right Priorities: God is more concerned with people than with man-made rules! Do i put people before things or rules?
2. Opportunities to show compassion? Jesus looks for every opportunity to express compassion. Do I?

Passage: Luke 14:7-14: Jesus on honour and humility   

A. Find Out:

1. What prompted Jesus to tell the parable? v.7
   • When he noticed how the guests picked the places of honour at the table, he told them this parable
2. What did Jesus warn could happen at a wedding feast? v.8,9
   • ‘When someone invites you to a wedding feast, do not take the place of honour, for a person more distinguished than you may have been invited. 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.
3. So what did he advocate and why? v.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 honoured in the presence of all the other guests.
4. What principle did he lay down? v.11
   • For all those who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted.’
5. What did he say not to do? v.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 neighbours; if you do, they may invite you back and so you will be repaid.
6. What did he say to do, and why? v.13,14
   • But when you give a banquet, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind, 14 and you will be blessed. Although they cannot repay you, you will be repaid at the resurrection of the righteous.’

B. Think:

1. What point was Jesus making about the wedding feast?
2. Why was there a need for that teaching?
3. How did he extend that teaching in verses 12 to 14?

C. Comment:

Jesus is at a meal with a Pharisee and his guests, probably other Pharisees. Now they were a group who delighted in working out the Law but when it came to their lives they fell far short of God’s standards. At this meal Jesus notices how some of the guests grab places of honour, perhaps on the top table near the host. He speaks against this.

He gets them to think about a wedding feast and warns them against being made to look silly by taking a place high up on the table and then being moved down by the host if a more distinguished guest arrives. Instead, he says, you would do better to sit further down and have the host move you up.

At first sight this looks like a simple teaching on humility, but the picture of a wedding feast was often used by Jesus to refer to the time of his return, so it may be there is a hidden warning to the Pharisees that they will not get the places in God’s kingdom they think they will!

But Jesus pushes the teaching a stage further. When you have a meal and invite people, don’t just invite friends or family who will only invite you back. There’s nothing meritorious about that. Instead if you want to be examples of good spirituality, invite the poor and needy who wouldn’t be able to do a return. That would be a genuine act of piety. That is what God is looking for in His kingdom! 

D. Application:

1. Pride? Do we seek for self promotion? Let Jesus do the promoting.
2. Blessing for no return: Do we bless the poor – or only those who will bless us? Am I hospitable to those who are not so well off as I am?

Passage: Luke 14:15-24: Parable of the Great Banquet

A. Find Out:

1. What did one of the people at the meal say? v.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.’
2. So what story did Jesus start telling? v.16,17
   • Jesus replied: ‘A certain man was preparing a great banquet and invited many guests. 17 At the time of the banquet he sent his servant to tell those who had been invited, “Come, for everything is now ready.”
3. What three excuses were given? v.18-20
   • ‘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.” 9 ‘Another said, “I have just bought five yoke of oxen, and I’m on my way to try them out. Please excuse me.” 20 ‘Still another said, “I have just got married, so I can’t come.”
4. What was the master’s response when he was told? v.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.”
5. What yet happened? v.22
   • ‘“Sir,” the servant said, “what you ordered has been done, but there is still room.”
6. What was the master’s response to this? v.23,24
   • ‘Then the master told his servant, “Go out to the roads and country lanes and compel them to come in, so that my house will be full. 24 I tell you, not one of those who were invited will get a taste of my banquet.”’

B. Think:

1. How does verse 15 seem to flow on from verse 14?
2. Who are the people who end up being excluded from the banquet?
3. Who are the people who eventually come to it?

C. Comment:

Jesus has just mentioned the resurrection that will occur at the Second Coming and this was something that was understood by the religious people, so one of the Pharisee guests comments on how good it will be to be part of that experience which will culminate in a feast. There is behind his comment perhaps, an assumption that they will be there – they are qualified! So Jesus tells a story.

In the story there is to be a great banquet but when it comes to the time for it, all the people who had been invited, start making excuses saying they can’t come. The master of the banquet is not put off by this and tells his servant to go out and get as many ordinary poor and needy people as he can find. There is no room left for the others should they try to change their mind.

Whatever else this parable says, it must be a warning to these Pharisees to let nothing get in the way of ensuring they will be at the banquet. Don’t assume anything is what he’s saying, actually it’s the ordinary non-religious people who will end up at the great banquet at the end of time! The assumption is that the original guests (Israel?) were of the same class as the master, but they threw away their qualification, so eventually others with no prior relationship with the master (the Gentiles?) were the ones who eventually were invited, and they came, for no other reason than they were invited and wanted to.

D. Application:

1. Grab the moment! When God turns up, do we make excuses and miss what He’s doing, or will be grab the moment and respond to the Lord?
2. Beggars are not choosers! Are we so hungry for God’s presence that we’ll grab anything of His?  Have we realised our spiritual possibility and recognised our spiritual poverty, so we cry out for the Lord? 

Passage: Luke 14:25-35: Counting the Cost

A. Find Out:

1. Who did Jesus say could not be a disciple of his? v.26,27
   •  Large crowds were travelling with Jesus, and turning to them he said: 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. 27 And whoever does not carry their cross and follow me cannot be my disciple.
2. What did he say a potential builder will do? v.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?
3. Why? v.29,30
   • For if you lay the foundation and are not able to finish it, everyone who sees it will ridicule you, 30 saying, “This person began to build and wasn’t able to finish.”
4. What will a king thinking of going to war do, and why? v.31,32
   •  ‘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? 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.
5. So what did Jesus conclude? v.33
   • In the same way, those of you who do not give up everything you have cannot be my disciples.
6. What did he say about salt? v.34,35
   •  ‘Salt is good, but if it loses its saltiness, how can it be made salty again? 35 It is fit neither for the soil nor for the manure heap; it is thrown out. ‘Whoever has ears to hear, let them hear.’

B. Think:

1. What point is Jesus making in verse 26?
2. What point is he making in verses 28 to 32?
3. What point is he making in verses 34 & 35?

C. Comment:

Jesus now goes on to say things that anyone who wants to win friends and influence people, would NOT say! Crowds are following him, obviously thinking it is good to follow this preacher-healer.  However, Jesus doesn’t just want an audience, he wants those who will commit themselves to him, so, he says, if you want to come with me, love or concern for anyone else must take second place.  In fact, he goes on, you want to consider you have no future (If you carried a cross you were on your way to your death!).

Then he gives two examples of people who will give careful thought to their actions less they be seen to be foolishly hasty – a builder and a warring king. The message is obvious – think about this, don’t act hastily otherwise you may easily give up and your friends will deride you. No, he finishes, unless you are willing, thoughtfully, to give up everything in your old life, you can’t follow me.

Then he finishes this section with reference to salt. The implication must be that he considers his disciples to be salt, purifying and enhancing the world. He comments that he wants them to be wholehearted, because if salt has lost its flavour it loses its effect and it’s only worth throwing out. Everything he says in this passage is that he wants whole heartedness in any who come with him.

D. Application:

1. Half hearted? Are there people or things I put before Jesus? Am I more concerned with what people think of me than what God thinks of me?
2. Whole hearted? Is my commitment whole hearted? Am I a whole hearted worshipper, giver, carer, servant?