Jesus was for the poor and handicapped

JESUS WAS FOR THE POOR AND HANDICAPPED
EDITED BY GLENN PEASE
Luke 14:13 13But when you give a banquet, invitethe
poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind,
BIBLEHUB RESOURCES
Moderation;Disinterestedness;Patience
Luke 14:12-14
W. Clarkson
We find in these words of our Lord -
I. THE CORRECTIONOF A COMMON FAULT. Jesus Christ did not,
indeed, intend to condemn outright all family or socialgatherings ofa festive
character. He had already sanctionedthese by his own presence. The
idiomatic language, "do not, but," signifies, not a positive interdiction of the
one thing, but the superiority of the other. Yet may we not find here a
correctionof social, festive extravagance;the expenditure of an undue
measure of our resources onmutual indulgences? It is a very easyand a very
common thing for hospitality to pass into extravagance, andeven into selfish
indulgence. Those who invite neighbours to their house in the full expectation
of being invited in return may seemto themselves to be open-handed and
generous, whenthey are only pursuing a systemof well-understoodmutual
ministry to the lowertastes and gratifications. And it is a fact that both then

and now, both there and here, men are under a greattemptation to expend
upon mere enjoyment of this kind a degree of time and of income which
seriouslycripples and enfeebles them. Thus that is given to display and
indulgence which might be reservedfor benevolence andfor piety; thus life is
lowered, and its whole service is reduced; thus we fail to reach the stature to
which we might attain, and to render to our Masterand his cause the service
we might bring. In the matter of indulgence, direct or (as here) indirect, while
we should keepawayfrom asceticism, it is of still greaterconsequencethat we
do not approacha faulty and incapacitating selfishness.
II. AN INVITATION TO A NOBLE HABIT. "Callthe poor... and thou shalt
be blessed;for they cannotrecompense thee." An actof disinterestedkindness
carries its blessing with it.
1. It is an intrinsically excellent thing. "To do goodand to communicate" is
honourable and admirable; and to do this with no thought of return from
those who are benefited, is an act of peculiar and exceptionalworth. It takes
very high rank in the scale ofspiritual nobleness.
2. It allies us with the highest and the best in all the universe; with the noblest
men and womenthat ever lived in any land or age;with the angels ofGod
(Hebrews 1:14); with our Divine Exemplar (Mark 10:45); with the eternal
Father himself (Matthew 5:45).
3. It leaves a benign and elevating influence on our own spirit. Every man is
something the better, is so much the worthier and more Christ-like, for every
humblest deed of disinterestedbenevolence.
III. THE PROMISE OF A PURE REWARD. If the idea of recompense is
admitted, everything turns upon the characterofthe reward, so far as the
virtue of the action is concerned. To do something for an immediate and
sensible reward is unmeritorious; to act in the hope of some pure and distant
recompense is an estimable because a spiritual procedure. Our life is, then,
basedupon faith, upon hope, and especiallyupon patience. To do goodand to
be content to wait for our recompense until "the resurrection of the just,"
when we shall reap the approval of the Divine Masterand the gratitude of

those whom we have served below, - this is conduct which our Lord approves;
it bears the best mark it can bear - that of his Divine benediction. - C.
Biblical Illustrator
Call the poor.
Luke 14:12-14
The Church's duty to the poor
J. Parker, D. D.
A recent advertisementon our city walls struck me as singularly suggestive;it
containedthe words, "Godand the poor." Such a conjunction of words is
most remarkable:the highest and the lowest, He who owns all things, and they
who own nothing: it is a conjunction of extremes, and though it lookedvery
extraordinary on a placard, yet if you examine the Old and New Testaments
the idea will be discoveredalmostmore frequently than any other.

I. THE RELATION OF GOD TO THE POOR. There is a strange mingling of
terror and tenderness in God's language in relation to the poor; terror
towards their oppressors tenderness towards themselves.Takethe former
(Proverbs 17:5; Isaiah10:2; Jeremiah 22:13;Amos 5:11; etc.). Such are some
of the sentencesoffire in which God speaks ofthe oppressorof the poor. We
now turn from terror to tenderness. We shall hear how God speaks ofthe
poor themselves. The lips that spoke in fire now quiver with messagessetto
music (Isaiah 58:6, 7). There is an extract which I must give from God's
ancient legislation, and as I read you will be able to say whether everAct of
Parliament was so beautiful (Deuteronomy 24:19-21). And why this beneficial
arrangement? A memorial act; to keepthe doers in grateful remembrance of
God's mighty interposition on their behalf. When men draw their gratitude
from their memory, their hand will be opened in perpetual benefaction.
II. THE RELATION OF THE POOR TO THE CHURCH. "The poor ye have
always with you." For what purpose? As a perpetual appeal to our deepest
sympathy; as an abiding memorial of our Saviour's own condition while upon
earth; as an excitement to our most practicalgratitude. The poor are given
into the charge of the Church, with the most loving commendation Of Christ
their companion and Saviour.
1. The poor require physical blessing. Christ helped man's bodily nature. The
Church devotes itself more to the spirit than to the flesh. This is right: yet we
are in danger of forgetting that Christianity has a mission to the body as well
as to the soul. The body is the entrance to the soul And is there no reward?
Will the Lord who remembers the poor forgetthe poet's benefactor? Truly
not! (Psalm41:1).
2. The poor require physical blessing; but still more do they require spiritual
blessing. The harvest is great, the labourers are few. Do you inquire as to
recompense? It is infinite! "Theycannot recompense thee, but thou shalt be
recompensedat the resurrectionof the just." And yet they can recompense
thee! Every look of the gleaming eye is a recompense!Every tone of
thankfulness is a repayment. God is not unrighteous to forgetour work of
faith. If we do goodunto "one of the leastof His brethren," Christ will receive
the goodas though offeredto Himself. Terrible is the recompense ofthe

wicked!"Whoso stoppethhis ears at the cry of the poor, he also shall cry
himself, but shall not be heard." Much is being said about Charity. .They have
carved her image in marble; they have enclosedherin gorgeouslycoloured
glass;they have placed on her lofty brow the wreath of immortal amaranth;
poesyhas turned her name into rhythm, and music has chanted her praise. All
this is well. All this is beautiful. It is all next to the best thing; but still the best
thing is to incorporate charity in the daily life, to breathe it as our native air,
and to express it in all the actions of our hand. "Let this mind be in you which
was also in Christ Jesus." "Ifthou wilt be perfect, go and sellthat thou hast,
and give to the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven." You will then
be one with God! "Hearken, my beloved brethren, Hath not God chosenthe
poor of this world rich in faith, and heirs of the kingdom which He hath
promised to them that love Him?" Then do not contemn the poor. "He that
giveth, let him do it with simplicity."
(J. Parker, D. D.)
Christian beneficence
W. Cadman, M. A.
I. THE DUTY OF A CHRISTIAN TO DO GOOD;to lay himself out to do
goodto every one within his reach.
1. This arises from the very nature of the Christian character. Gratitude to
Christ leads him to copy the Saviour, "who went about doing good."
2. The duty of laying ourselves out to do goodarises from our Christian
calling. When the Holy Spirit of God makes a difference betweensinners who
are living in ungodliness and walking after the vanity of their minds, why does
He make that difference? Godcalls forth His people to be witnesses forHim,
in such a manner that those who are blind to His glory in creation, and who
neglectHis glory in revelation, cannot refuse to acknowledge it when it is
evidenced and reflectedfrom the people that He has calledby His grace.
When God's people go forth doing good, when they manifest self-denial, when
they are willing to "spend and be spent," in order to contribute to the

temporal necessities orto the spiritual welfare of their fellow-creatures,there
is something in these actions which tells upon the heart that is closedto all
other means of receiving the knowledge ofGod's glory and salvation.
II. THE OBJECT OF CHRISTIAN BENEFICENCE. Whena Christian does
good, or tries to abound in any goodwork, it must not be from
(1)personalvanity,
(2)a desire of human applause,
(3)for worldly recompense.His sole inducement must be the love of Christ; his
one objectthe glory of God; his whole desire to advance the temporal and
spiritual goodof mankind.
III. THE CHRISTIAN'S ENCOURAGEMENT to lay himself out to do good
unto all men, without looking for anything again. "They cannot recompense
thee; but," etc.
(W. Cadman, M. A.)
Christian feasting
W. Jay.
Much Of the impressiveness of our Lord as a preacherarose from the
miracles He performed in confirmation of the divinity of His mission, and the
truth of His doctrine; much also from His adapting Himself to the state and
conditions of His hearers;and much also from His deriving His instructions
and encouragementsfrom present objects and occurrences, forthis always
gives a freshness to our discourse, and a superiority to the artificialness of
study. He sees a sowergoing forth to sow, and for the instruction of the people
is led to deliver a parable on the goodseedof the kingdom.
I. THE OCCASION OF THE ADDRESS. "ThensaidHe also to him that
bade Him." Concerning this invitation let us make four inquiries.

1. Who was it that bade Him? It was one of the chief Pharisees, a man of some
substance and respectability, probably a ruler of the synagogue,orone of the
Sanhedrim. We never read of any of the Sadducees inviting our Lord, nor do
we ever read of the Herodians inviting Him. Though the Pharisees were the
bitterest enemies of Christ, they had frequent interviews with Him.
2. Forwhat was He bidden? Some suppose that this was a common meal, but
the narrative requires us to view it as an entertainment, or some kind of
festivity.
3. When was He bidden? We are told that it was on the Sabbath day.
4. Why was He bidden? He was invited by Martha from a principle of duty
and benevolence, andshe and Mary hoped to derive some spiritual advantage
from Him. I wish I could think that this Pharisee invited our Lord under the
influence of similar motives. But from whatevermotive they were impelled tie
went not to eatand drink only. No, He went about His Father's business, this
He constantly kept in view. He knew what His work required. He knew that
the GoodShepherd must seek afterthe lost sheepuntil He find it. My
brethren, you must here learn to distinguish betweenHim and yourselves. He
had nothing inflammable in Him. The enemy came and found nothing in Him.
But you have much remaining depravity, and are in danger from external
circumstances;you therefore, must watchand pray lest you enter into
temptation; you are safe when in the path of duty, there God has engagedto
keepyou. Let us learn from the Saviour's conduct to exercise goodbehaviour,
that others may not have occasionto speak evil of us on accountof our
religion. Consider —
II. WHAT OUR SAVIOUR FORBIDS.He said, "When thou makesta dinner
or a supper, callnot thy friends, nor thy brethren, neither thy kinsmen, nor
thy rich neighbours; lestthey also bid thee again, and a recompense be made
thee." This "supper or dinner" supposes something costly, for you observe
that in the following verse it is called "a feast." Observe, it is not absolutely
wrong to invite our friends, or our brethren, or our rich kinsmen, or our rich
neighbours; but our Saviour looks at the motive here, "lesta recompense be
made thee"; as much as to say, there is no friendship or charity in all this.

And the apostle says, "Let all things be done with charity." You are to show
more hospitality than vanity, and more charity than ostentation, and to be
more concernedfor those who want your relief. This brings us to consider —
III. WHAT HE ENJOINS."Butwhen thou makesta feast, callthe poor, the
maimed, the lame, and the blind." Here we see what a variety of evils and
miseries are incident to the human race. Here are "the poor," without the
necessariesoflife; "the maimed," whose hands are unable to perform their
office;"the halt," who are indebted to a crutch to enable them to walk at all;
"the blind." Here we learn, also, the proper objects of your compassion, and
the fittest subjects of your charity. It is not necessarythat you should always
have "the poor, the maimed, the halt, and the blind" at your table. You may
fulfil the Saviour's design without this, and do as Nehemiah did, "send
portions to those for whom nothing is prepared."
IV. WHAT OUR SAVIOUR INSURES. "And thou shalt be blessed;for they
cannot recompense thee:for thou shalt be recompensedatthe resurrectionof
the just."
1. The blessedness:"Thoushalt be blessed." Blessedevenin the act itself. Oh,
the pleasures ofbenevolence!How blessedis it even in the review! for this
blessednesscanbe continued and improved on reflection. How superior in the
performance to sordid entertainments! "Thou shalt be blessed" — blessedby
the receiver. Think of Job. He says, "Whenthe earheard me, then it blessed
me, and when the eye saw me, it gave witness to me. BecauseIdelivered the
poor that cried, and the fatherless, and him that had none to help him. The
blessing of him that was ready to perish came upon me; and I causedthe
widow's heart to sing for joy." What do we see yonder when we enter Joppa
with Peter? "Whenhe was come they brought him into an upper chamber:
and all the widows stoodby him weeping, and showing the coats and garments
which Dorcas made while she was with them." "And thou shalt be blessed" —
blessedby the observers. Who does not observe? And who observes and does
not bless on such occasions?Few, perhaps none of us, knew personally a
Reynolds, a Thornton, or a Howard, of whom we have read; but in reading
their history, when we come to their names we cannot help blessing them, and
thus the words of the Scripture are fulfilled, "The memory of the just is

blessed." "And thou shalt be blessed." Above all, blessedby God Himself,
upon whom everything depends, "whose favouris life, and whose loving-
kindness is better than life." He blesses personallyand relatively. He grants
you spiritual and temporal blessings. Davidsays, "Let them curse, but bless
Thou."
2. The certainty of this blessedness — "Forthey cannot recompense thee."
This seems a strange reason, and would tend to check rather than encourage a
worldly man. The foundation of this reasonis this, that charity must be
recompensed. If the poor cannotdo this themselves, some one else must
undertake it for them, and therefore God Himself must become answerable;
and it is much better to have God to recompense us than to rely upon a poor
dying creature. Paul therefore, says, to those who had made a collectionto
relieve him, and had sentit by the hands of Epaphroditus, "My God shall
supply all your need according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus." If,
therefore, the thought ever occurs to your mind, "I know not those persons
who have relieved me; I shall never be able to repay them," so much the
better, for then God must, and if there be any truth in His word, if there be
any love in His heart, He will.
3. The time of this bestowment — "Forthou shalt be recompensedat the
resurrectionof the just." Notthat this will be done then exclusively, for, as we
have already shown, there are advantages attending charity now. But it will
be principally then, publicly then. The apostle says to the Corinthians, "Judge
nothing before the time, until the Lord come, who both will bring to light the
hidden things of darkness, and will make manifest the counsels ofthe heart;
and then shall every man have praise of God." Then will it be done perfectly.
It is not wrong to look for advantage in religion. But you should be upon your
guard not to entertain a notion of meritoriousness in any of your doings. No,
the rewardis of grace, notof debt.
(W. Jay.)
Christ's counselto his host

S. A. Tipple
Our Lord does not here enjoin neglecting and refraining from one's friends,
kinsfolk, and neighbours, to entertain only the poor, maimed, halt, and blind.
What He says is, when you make a dinner or supper — that is, as He
immediately explains, a feast — let it be, not for those with whom you are
accustomedto associate,but rather for the destitute and forlorn outside your
circle. It is a question, you see, notat all of socialfellowship, but of
expenditure, and of the objects to which our greatexpenditures should be
devoted. When you would lavish trouble and money, says Christ, let the
lavishing be, not for your own personalgratification, not with the view of
securing some enjoyment or obtaining some benefit for yourself, but for the
blessing of others. The point on which the whole admonition turns, and to
which it refers, is largenessofoutlay. This is obvious. Our Lord is thinking
and speaking, notof, an ordinary meal such as might be spreadany day, but
of a feast, like the "greatsupper" of the parable that follows:and remember
the occasionofHis words, the circumstances under which they were uttered.
He was dining on the Sabbath, in the house of one of the chief Pharisees, who
had Him to eatBread with him; and everything indicates that it was no
common dinner at which He was present, but an entertainment on a large
scale, gotup probably with much pains, and regardless ofcost. Christ noticed,
we are told, how those who were bidden chose out the chief rooms;nay, such
were the unseemly contests among the guests for precedence, andthe rude
struggling for the best places, whichHe witnessed, thatwhen at last the
tumult had subsided, and all were arranged, He could not forbear remarking
on it in tones of rebuke. Evidently the meal was a grand affair, a banquet
numerously attended and by many notable and distinguished persons.
Contemplating, as He sat there, the profusion, the sumptuousness;picturing
what it had cost — the amount of money, labour, and worry, and perhaps
sacrifice, that had been expended on it — and penetrating that it was all
mainly for selfish ends, with the idea and in the hope of some advantage
through it; Christ turns His greatmournful eyes upon the many with the
words: "Whenyou would make such another feastas this, my friend, at so
much trouble and cost, insteadof calling to it your rich friends, who are likely
to recompense you for it, you should callto it the destitute and afflicted, who

are unable to recompense you, and thus be blessedat the resurrection of the
just." The inner point and spirit of which form of words was this: "Ah! my
friend, it is a mistake to make your greatoutlays of strength and treasure with
a view to your own gratificationand aggrandisement, for it is poor
recompense atthe best, after all. These greatoutlays should be reserved
rather to meet the needs and ameliorate the unfortunate condition of others;
for the blessing of that, though more etherealand less palpable, is infinitely
more worth. You should not burden yourself to win ought of present
enjoyment or acquisition for yourself. If you burden yourself at all, it should
be to supply some want or serve some interest of the necessitous aroundyou."
And the lessonremains for us. Let your extensive expenditures, your toils and
worries, and hardships and sacrifices, be for those outside who require
ministry, rather than for yourself. When it is a question of your own personal
amusement or pleasure, of your own worldly comfort or gain, be content to
spend but little; don't make a fuss, or lie awake anxiously, or go out of your
way for that. If you do so at all, do it when the welfare of others is concerned,
when there are others to be succouredor savedby it; reserve for such ends the
incurring of heavy cost, the taking on of heavy burdens of thought and care.
(S. A. Tipple)
Christian entertainments
J. Parker, D. D.
Jesus Christ did not intend that the rich should never have communion with
one another, or hold intercourse with one another; that would be as absurd as
it would be impracticable. The idea is that, having had your own fellowships
and enjoyments, having eatenthe fat and drunk the sweet, you are to send out
a portion to him that hath none, and a blessing to him who sits in loneliness
and sadness ofheart. I had a wonderful dream some time ago — a singular
dream. It was about the MansionHouse and the Lord Mayor. I saw the great
banquet. ing hall filled, and I lookedand wonderedat the people, for they had
such a peculiar expressionupon their countenances.Theyseemedto be
closing their eyes, and so they were. Alas! they were all blind people, and all

over fifty years of age. It was the greatLord Mayor of London himself who
had invited all the blind people over that age in London to meet one another,
and have one happy night, so far as he could make it, in the ancient
banqueting hall. No loving cup was passedround, lestaccidents should occur;
but many a loving word was spoken, many a sigh full of meaning was heaved
— not the sighof misery, but the sigh of thankfulness. And then a strange
silence fell upon all the guests, and I heard a voice from above saying in the
English tongue quite distinctly, "Theycannot recompense thee, but thou shalt
be recompensedat the resurrectionof the just." Then the banqueting hall
seemedto be filled with spectators — glad witnesses — as if, at last there were
upon the earth some fine touch of Christian feeling, some recognitionof the
mystery of charity and the boundlessness and condescensionofChristian love.
(J. Parker, D. D.)
True Christian festivity
Anon.
I. It should be UNSELFISH. Not extended merely to those from whom we
expecta similar return.
II. It should be MERCIFUL. Extended to those who are generally neglected.
III. THIS FESTIVITY WILL BE REWARDED. Withthe blessing of the poor
now, and the commendation of the Judge hereafter.
(Anon.)
Christian hospitality
M. F. Sadler.
Our Lord really means that hospitality is first to be exercisedtowards those
who need it, because oftheir narrow means, and to whom kindness of this sort
is more pleasant, because they receive suchlittle notice from the world. These

are to be first recipients of our hospitality, and after them our friends,
relatives, and neighbours, who may be supposed to be able to ask us again.
This, of course, is directly contrary to the practice of the world. Now I do not
think that we obey this injunction of the Lord by following its spirit (as the
saying is) rather than its letter. It has been said that "the essenceofthe
beatitude, as distinct from its form, remains for all who give freely, to those
who can give them no recompense in return, who have nothing to offer but
their thanks and prayers," and that "relief, given privately, thoughtfully,
discriminately, may be better both for the giver, as less ostentatious, andfor
the receiver, as tending to the formation of a higher characterthan the open
feastof the Easternform of benevolence." Butit is to be noticedthat the Lord
is not speaking ofrelief, i.e., of almsgiving, but of hospitality. It is one thing to
send relief in a basketto some poor person from your house, and quite
another yourself to proffer to the same personfood upon your owntable of
which you and he jointly partake. By relief or alms you almost of necessity
constitute yourself his superior; by hospitality you assume that he is far more
on the same level with yourself. Partaking offood in common has, by the
absolutely universal consentof mankind, been esteemeda very different thing
from the mere gift of food. If it be said that such hospitality as the Lord here
recommends is contrary to the usages ofeven Christian societyamongstus,
we answer, "Of course it is"; but, notwithstanding this, it is quite possible that
the Christianity of our Christian society, of which we have so high an opinion,
may be very imperfect indeed, and require reformation, if not regeneration,
and that "the open feastof the Easternform of benevolence"may be worthy
of more imitation amongstourselves. Look atthe extravagantcostof some
entertainments — viands setbefore the guests simply because they are costly
and out of season— and considerthat the difference betweena fair and
creditable entertainment and this extravagance wouldenable the giver to act
ten times more frequently on the principle which the Lord inculcates, and for
which he would be rewarded;considerthis, and the folly of such waste, not to
say its wickedness, is manifest.
(M. F. Sadler.)

A model feast
W. Hubbard.
I cannot think there is no connectionwith Divine things in the counsels Christ
gave to His host about making a feast. I think He meant more than to alter a
custom, or change social habits. What He advisedwent deeper, and had a
profounder intention than that. He was reaching down to the foundation of
things; showing how God deals with men, and what are the principles, or what
is the measure and scope ofHis kingdom. He pourtrays a model feast. And if I
mistake not, the portraiture is a pattern of things in the heavens. A place at
the feast, I think He means to say, does not depend upon socialgrade,
position, or attainments, but upon the needs of those who are called. Necessity,
misery, helplessness,were to be the qualifications — poor, maimed, halt,
blind. Friends and rich neighbours were not to be left out; they might come
and share the joy and blessing — the joy of ministering and doing goodto
others; but the sore and the stricken were to be the guests;the invitations
were to be sentspecially to them. The ado, the preparation, the plentifulness,
and the freeness of the feast, must be all for them, to bless them, and make
them glad. That is God's feast. That is how God does. He prepares a feastfor
man roman the sinner, man the miserable, man the outcast, the hungry, the
starved, the diseased, the dying; and He throws it open, and bids them all
come, and sends to fetch them in. And when they gather, He lets His rich
friends, the angels, rejoice with Him; for "there is joy in the presence of the
angels of God over one sinner that repenteth."
(W. Hubbard.)
The poor invited to a feast
W. H. Aitken, M. A.
When I was quite a little boy, there lived in my father's house a man whom, as
I look back, I, in common with most who knew him, cannot help regarding as,
perhaps, the holiest man we were acquainted with. He lived a life of singular
devotion and self-denial, and seemedto walk constantly in the presence of

God. Some little time ago, whenm Liverpool, I accidentallycame across the
person in whose house be had lodgedin the days when he had first devoted
himself to God, when he was quite a young man, before his connectionwith
my ownbeloved father was as close as it afterwards became. This goodman,
who kept the house in which this gentleman lodged, told me a few anecdotes
about him, and, amongstothers, I remember the following:"Ah, Mr.
Aitken!" said the man, "I shall never forgetMr. C's Christmas dinner." I
said, "I wish you would tell me about it;" and he replied, "I will." "Christmas
Day came near, and Mr. C calledup my wife, and said to her, 'Now, I want
you to make the very best dinner you possibly can; I am going to give a
dinner-party.' 'Well, Mr. C,' she said, 'you have been a long time in my house,
and I never heard you talk of giving a dinner-party yet; but I will see to it that
it is a right gooddinner, and there shall be no mistake about it.' 'Do your
best,' he said; 'I am going to invite my friends, and I want everything to be
done properly.' My wife setto work and got a very gooddinner indeed.
Christmas Day came. Towards evening we were expecting the gentlemento
turn up who had been invited by our lodger; we did not know who they were,
but we made sure they would be people worthy of the occasion. After a time,
there came a knock at the door. I opened the door, and there stoodbefore me
a man clothed in rags. He had evidently washedhis face, and gothimself up a
little for the occasion;at the same time he was a beggar, pure and simple. He
said, 'Does Mr. C live here?''Yes,' I replied; 'he lodges here, but you cannot
see him; he is just going to sit down to dinner.' 'But,' said the man, 'I was
invited to come here to dinner this evening.'You may imagine my horror and
astonishment; I could scarcelycontainmyself. 'What!' I said; 'you invited to
come here this evening, a man like you?' I had scarcelygotthe words out of
my mouth before I saw anotherpoor, miserable specimen of humanity
crawling round the corner; he was another of Mr. C 's guests. By-and-by,
there was a round dozen of them, or something like a score;and in they came,
the most haggard, miserable, woe-begone objects youcould possibly conceive.
They went into my wife's nice, smart-looking dining-room, with that grand
white cloth, and all the goodthings which had been so carefully prepared. It
almost took one's breath awayto see them. But when we saw the goodman
himself, setting to work, like the Masterof old (who girded Himself to serve
His disciples) — setting to work to make these men happy, and help them to

spend a pleasantevening, without stiffness or formality, we thought, 'After all,
he is right. This is the best sort of dinner-party;' and we did not grudge the
labour we had bestowed." Now,I have told that little anecdote in order to
illustrate the fact that our Lord's teaching on such subjects is eminently
practical, and that when He gives a suggestion, youmay be sure that it is a
very sensible and sound one.
(W. H. Aitken, M. A.)
Call the poor
Biblical things not generallyknown.
Pocockeinforms us, that an Arab prince will often dine before his door, and
call to all that pass, even to beggars, in the name of God, and they come and
sit down to table, and when they have done retire with the usual form of
returning thanks. It is always customaryamong the Orientals to provide more
meats and drinks than are necessaryfor the feast!and then, the poor who
pass by, or whom the rumour of the feastbrings to the neighbourhood, are
calledin to consume what remains. This they often do in an outer room, to
which the dishes are removed from the apartment in which the invited guests
have feasted;or otherwise, every invited guest, when he has done, withdraws
from the table, and his place is takenby another personof inferior rank, and
so on, till the poorestcome and consume the whole. The former of these modes
is, however, the most common.
(Biblical things not generallyknown.)
Feeding the hungry
It was the custom of St. Gregory, when he became pope, to entertain every
evening at his own table twelve poor men, in remembrance of the number of
our Lord's apostles. One night, as he sat at supper with his guests, be saw, to
his surprise, not twelve but thirteen, seatedathis table; and he called to his
steward, and said to him, "Did not I command thee to invite twelve? and,

behold! there are thirteen." And the stewardtold them over, and replied,
"Holy father, there are surely twelve only." And Gregoryheld his peace;and,
after the meal, he calledforth the unbidden guest, and askedhim, "Who art
thou?" And he replied, "I am the poor man whom thou didst formerly
relieve;" but my name is 'The Wonderful' and through Me thou shalt obtain
whateverthou shalt ask of God. Then Gregoryknew that he bad entertained
an angel; or, according to anotherversion of the story, our Lord Himself."
Christ-like hospitality
It is said of Lord Chief Justice Hale that he frequently invited his poor
neighbours to dinner, and made them sit at table with himself, if any of them
were sick, so that they could not come, he would send provisions to them from
his owntable. He did not confine his bounties to the poor of his own parish,
but diffused supplies to the neighbouring parishes as occasionrequired. He
always treatedthe old, the needy, and the sick with the tenderness and
familiarity that became one who consideredthey were of the same nature with
himself, and were reduced to no other necessitiesbut such as he himself might
be brought to. Common beggars he consideredin another view. If any of these
met him in his walks, or came to his door, he would ask such as were capable
of working why they went about so idly. If they answeredit was because they
could not getemployment, he would send them to some field to gatherall the
stones in it, and lay them in a heap, and then pay them liberally for their
trouble. This being done, he used to send his carts, and causedthe stones to be
carried to such places of the highway as neededrepair.
COMMENTARIES
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers

(13) When thou makesta feast.—Literally, as in Luke 5:29, a reception. In
practice, it need hardly be said, the form of obedience to the precept must, of
necessity, vary with the varying phases of sociallife, and with the lessons of
experience. Reliefgiven privately, thoughtfully, discriminatively, may be
better both for the giver, as less ostentatious, and for the receivers, as tending
to the formation of a higher character, than the open feastof the Easternform
of benevolence. The essenceofthe beatitude, as distinct from its form, remains
for all who give freely to those who can give them no recompense in return,
who have nothing to offer but their thanks and prayers.
Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary
14:7-14 Even in the common actions of life, Christ marks what we do, not only
in our religious assemblies, but at our tables. We see in many cases, thata
man's pride will bring him low, and before honour is humility. Our Saviour
here teaches, thatworks of charity are better than works of show. But our
Lord did not mean that a proud and unbelieving liberality should be
rewarded, but that his precept of doing good to the poor and afflicted should
be observed from love to him.
Barnes'Notes on the Bible
The poor - Those who are destitute of comfortable food.
The maimed - Those who are deprived of any member of their body, as an
arm or a leg or who have not the use of them so that they can labor for their
own support.
Jamieson-Fausset-BrownBible Commentary
13. call the poor—"SuchGod Himself calls" (Lu 14:21)[Bengel].
Matthew Poole's Commentary
See Poole on"Luke 14:12"
Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible

But when thou makesta feast,....An entertainment for others, a dinner, or a
supper:
call the poor, the maimed, the lame, and the blind; that is, the poor maimed,
the poor lame, and the poor blind; otherwise it is possible that rich men may
be maimed, lame, and blind; whereas these are not intended, but such who are
in indigent circumstances, that stand in need of a meal, and to whom it is
welcome.
Geneva Study Bible
But when thou makesta feast, callthe poor, the maimed, the lame, the blind:
EXEGETICAL(ORIGINAL LANGUAGES)
Expositor's Greek Testament
Luke 14:13. δοχὴν, the same word used by Lk. in reference to the feastin
Levi’s house, which was a gathering of the sort here recommendedby
Jesus.—μακάριος,here and always denoting rare virtue and felicity = the
pleasure of doing a kindness not to be repaid, except at the resurrectionof the
just, or by the joy that every really beneficentaction brings now.—τῶν
δικαίων:in specifying the righteous as the subjects of the resurrection the
Speakerhas no intention of indicating an opinion as to the unrighteous:
whether they rise at all, or when.
Cambridge Bible for Schools andColleges
13. call the poor] Matthew 25:35. The duty is recognisedin anotherform by
Nehemiah. “Eatthe fat, and drink the sweet, andsend portions unto them for
whom nothing is prepared,” Nehemiah8:10.
Bengel's Gnomen
Luke 14:13. Κάλεῖ) invite, bid, call, simply; not φώνει,[145]as in Luke 14:12,
ΦΩΝΕῖΝ conveys the idea of something more loud (clear)and formal
(solemn).—ΠΤΩΧΟῪς, the poor) It is such whom God Himself invites Luke
14:21.

[145]Issue a formal invitation, lit. invite with a loud voice, φωνή.—E. and T.
Pulpit Commentary
Verses 13, 14. - But when thou makesta feast, call the poor, the maimed, the
lame, the blind: and thou shalt be blessed;for they cannot recompense thee.
Greatpagan moralists, sick at heart at these dreary, selfishsociety
conventionalities, have condemned this system of entertaining those who
would be likely to make an equivalent return for the interested hospitality. So
Martial, writing of such an incident, says, 'You are asking for gifts, Sextus,
not for friends." Nehemiahgives a somewhatsimilar charge to the Jews ofhis
day: "Eatthe fat, and drink the sweet, and send portions unto them for whom
nothing is prepared" (Nehemiah 8:10). Thou shalt be recompensed at the
resurrectionof the just. There is no doubt that Jesus here was alluding to that
first resurrectionwhich would consistof the "just" only; of that which St.
John speaks ofin rapt and glowing terms: "Blessedand holy is he that hath
part in the first resurrection" (Revelation20:6). This was a doctrine evidently
much insisted on by the early teachers ofChristianity (see John 5:25; Acts
24:15;1 Corinthians 15:23;1 Thessalonians4:16;Philippians 3:11; and
compare our Lord's words againin Luke 20:35).
Vincent's Word Studies
Feast(δοχήν)
Or reception. Used by Luke only. See on Luke 5:29.
STUDYLIGHTRESOURCES
Albert Barnes'Notes onthe Whole Bible

The poor - Those who are destitute of comfortable food.
The maimed - Those who are deprived of any member of their body, as an
arm or a leg or who have not the use of them so that they can labor for their
own support.
Copyright Statement
These files are public domain.
Bibliography
Barnes, Albert. "Commentaryon Luke 14:13". "Barnes'Notesonthe Whole
Bible". https:https://www.studylight.org/commentaries/bnb/luke-14.html.
1870.
return to 'Jump List'
Coffman's Commentaries on the Bible
But when thou makesta feast, bid the poor, the maimed, the lame, the blind.
Boles'comment on this is: "It is far better to give to relieve the distressedthan
to set a feastto those who do not need it."[21]A man is not in the true sense
hospitable who entertains only those who can entertain him. "Such interested
hospitality is not wrong, but it does not lay up treasure in heaven."[22]
With this word to the host, Jesus pinpointed the third of three distortions, or
reverse ethics, which marked the conduct of his hearers. In Luke 14:5, it was
love of property elevatedover love of men; in Luke 14:7, it was pride and
conceitelevatedabove humility; and here in these verses it was selfishness
elevatedabove genuine hospitality.
[21] H. Leo Boles, Commentary on Luke (Nashville: GospelAdvocate
Company, 1940), p. 285.
[22] J. R. Dummelow, op. cit., p. 757.

Copyright Statement
James Burton Coffman Commentaries reproduced by permission of Abilene
Christian University Press, Abilene, Texas, USA. All other rights reserved.
Bibliography
Coffman, James Burton. "Commentary on Luke 14:13". "Coffman
Commentaries on the Old and New Testament".
https:https://www.studylight.org/commentaries/bcc/luke-14.html. Abilene
Christian University Press, Abilene, Texas, USA. 1983-1999.
John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible
But when thou makesta feast,....An entertainment for others, a dinner, or a
supper:
call the poor, the maimed, the lame, and the blind; that is, the poor maimed,
the poor lame, and the poor blind; otherwise it is possible that rich men may
be maimed, lame, and blind; whereas these are not intended, but such who are
in indigent circumstances, that stand in need of a meal, and to whom it is
welcome.
Copyright Statement
The New John Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible Modernisedand adapted
for the computer by Larry Pierce of Online Bible. All Rightes Reserved,
Larry Pierce, Winterbourne, Ontario.
A printed copy of this work can be ordered from: The Baptist Standard
Bearer, 1 Iron Oaks Dr, Paris, AR, 72855
Bibliography

Gill, John. "Commentary on Luke 14:13". "The New JohnGill Exposition of
the Entire Bible". https:https://www.studylight.org/commentaries/geb/luke-
14.html. 1999.
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
call the poor — “SuchGod Himself calls” (Luke 14:21) [Bengel].
Copyright Statement
These files are a derivative of an electronic edition prepared from text
scannedby Woodside Bible Fellowship.
This expanded edition of the Jameison-Faussett-BrownCommentary is in the
public domain and may be freely used and distributed.
Bibliography
Jamieson, Robert, D.D.;Fausset,A. R.; Brown, David. "Commentary on
Luke 14:13". "CommentaryCritical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible".
https:https://www.studylight.org/commentaries/jfb/luke-14.html. 1871-8.
Robertson's WordPictures in the New Testament
When thou makesta feast (οταν δοχηνποιηις — hotan dochēn poiēis). οταν—
Hotan and the present subjunctive in an indefinite temporal clause. Δοχη —
Dochē means receptionas in Luke 5:29, late word, only in these two passages
in the N.T. Note absence ofarticle with these adjectives in the Greek (poor
people, maimed folks, lame people, blind people).
Copyright Statement

The Robertson's WordPictures of the New Testament. Copyright �
Broadman Press 1932,33,Renewal1960. All rights reserved. Used by
permission of Broadman Press (Southern BaptistSunday SchoolBoard)
Bibliography
Robertson, A.T. "Commentary on Luke 14:13". "Robertson's WordPictures
of the New Testament".
https:https://www.studylight.org/commentaries/rwp/luke-14.html. Broadman
Press 1932,33. Renewal1960.
Vincent's Word Studies
Feast( δοχήν)
Or reception. Used by Luke only. See on Luke 5:29.
Copyright Statement
The text of this work is public domain.
Bibliography
Vincent, Marvin R. DD. "Commentaryon Luke 14:13". "Vincent's Word
Studies in the New Testament".
https:https://www.studylight.org/commentaries/vnt/luke-14.html. Charles
Schribner's Sons. New York, USA. 1887.
The Fourfold Gospel
But when thou makesta feast, bid the poor, the maimed, the lame1, the blind:
But when thou makesta feast, bid the poor, the maimed, the lame,

the blind. Jesus'teaching is positive rather than negative, and should
constrainus to live more for charity and less for sociability.
Copyright Statement
These files are public domain and are a derivative of an electronic edition that
is available on the Christian ClassicsEtherealLibrary Website. These files
were made available by Mr. Ernie Stefanik. First published online in 1996 at
The RestorationMovementPages.
Bibliography
J. W. McGarveyand Philip Y. Pendleton. "Commentaryon Luke 14:13".
"The Fourfold Gospel".
https:https://www.studylight.org/commentaries/tfg/luke-14.html. Standard
Publishing Company, Cincinnati, Ohio. 1914.
John Trapp Complete Commentary
13 But when thou makesta feast, callthe poor, the maimed, the lame, the
blind:
Ver. 13. Call the poor] Christ prefers charity before courtesy.

Copyright Statement
Text Courtesyof BibleSupport.com. Used by Permission.
Bibliography
Trapp, John. "Commentary on Luke 14:13". John Trapp Complete
Commentary. https:https://www.studylight.org/commentaries/jtc/luke-
14.html. 1865-1868.
Thomas Coke Commentary on the Holy Bible
Luke 14:13. The maimed,— ' Αναπηρους, the disabled; the word takes in both
the lame and the blind; and may also include those whom the infirmities of
age have rendered helpless. See a fine parallel passagein Pliny's Epistles, lib.
9: epist.
Copyright Statement
Bibliography
Coke, Thomas. "Commentaryon Luke 14:13". Thomas Coke Commentary
on the Holy Bible. https:https://www.studylight.org/commentaries/tcc/luke-
14.html. 1801-1803.
Johann Albrecht Bengel's Gnomonof the New Testament
Luke 14:13. κάλεῖ) invite, bid, call, simply; not φώνει,(145)as in Luke 14:12,
φωνεῖν conveys the idea of something more loud (clear)and formal

(solemn).— πτωχοὺς, the poor) It is such whom God Himself invites Luke
14:21.
Copyright Statement
Bibliography
Bengel, JohannAlbrecht. "Commentary on Luke 14:13". Johann Albrecht
Bengel's Gnomonof the New Testament.
https:https://www.studylight.org/commentaries/jab/luke-14.html. 1897.
Matthew Poole's EnglishAnnotations on the Holy Bible
See Poole on"Luke 14:12"
Copyright Statement
Bibliography
Poole, Matthew, "Commentaryon Luke 14:13". Matthew Poole's English
Annotations on the Holy Bible.
https:https://www.studylight.org/commentaries/mpc/luke-14.html. 1685.
Justin Edwards' Family Bible New Testament
Call the poor; do goodto the needy who cannot reward you.

Copyright Statement
Bibliography
Edwards, Justin. "Commentary on Luke 14:13". "Family Bible New
Testament". https:https://www.studylight.org/commentaries/fam/luke-
14.html. American TractSociety. 1851.
Cambridge Greek Testamentfor Schools andColleges
13. κάλει πτωχούς. Matthew 25:35. The duty is recognisedin another form by
Nehemiah. “Eatthe fat, and drink the sweet, andsend portions unto them for
whom nothing is prepared,” Nehemiah8:10.
Copyright Statement
Bibliography
"Commentary on Luke 14:13". "Cambridge Greek Testamentfor Schools
and Colleges".https:https://www.studylight.org/commentaries/cgt/luke-
14.html. 1896.
Schaff's Popular Commentary on the New Testament
Luke 14:13. Bid. Not the word used in Luke 14:12; the quiet invitation is
meant. Sounding a trumpet before such a feastis forbidden in Matthew 6:1-2.

The poor, etc. This is to be taken as including all modes of providing for the
wants of the classesreferredto. There is little danger that it will be
understood too literally. As the same classesare spokenofin the parable
(Luke 14:21), it is a fair inference that in so doing we follow God’s own
example.
Copyright Statement
Bibliography
Schaff, Philip. "Commentary on Luke 14:13". "Schaff's Popular
Commentary on the New Testament".
https:https://www.studylight.org/commentaries/scn/luke-14.html. 1879-90.
The Expositor's Greek Testament
Luke 14:13. δοχὴν, the same word used by Lk. in reference to the feastin
Levi’s house, which was a gathering of the sort here recommended by
Jesus.— μακάριος, here and always denoting rare virtue and felicity = the
pleasure of doing a kindness not to be repaid, except at the resurrectionof the
just, or by the joy that every really beneficentaction brings now.— τῶν
δικαίων:in specifying the righteous as the subjects of the resurrection the
Speakerhas no intention of indicating an opinion as to the unrighteous:
whether they rise at all, or when.
Copyright Statement

Bibliography
Nicol, W. Robertson, M.A., L.L.D. "Commentary on Luke 14:13". The
Expositor's Greek Testament.
https:https://www.studylight.org/commentaries/egt/luke-14.html. 1897-1910.
E.W. Bullinger's Companion Bible Notes
feast, or reception. Occurs only here and in Luke 5:29.
call. Same word as bid, Luke 14:7.
the poor. Note the Figure of speechAsyndeton (App-6), not emphasizing the
particular classes, but hastening us on to the climax in Luke 14:14. Note the
opposite Figure in Luke 14:21.
maimed = crippled. Only here, and Luke 14:21.
Copyright Statement
Bibliography
Bullinger, Ethelbert William. "Commentary on Luke 14:13". "E.W.
Bullinger's Companion bible Notes".
https:https://www.studylight.org/commentaries/bul/luke-14.html. 1909-1922.
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible - Unabridged

But when thou makesta feast, callthe poor, the maimed, the lame, the blind.
Compare this with the classes Godhimself invites to the greatGospelFeast,
Luke 14:21.
Copyright Statement
Bibliography
Jamieson, Robert, D.D.;Fausset,A. R.; Brown, David. "Commentary on
Luke 14:13". "CommentaryCritical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible -
Unabridged". https:https://www.studylight.org/commentaries/jfu/luke-
14.html. 1871-8.
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers
(13) When thou makesta feast.—Literally, as in Luke 5:29, a reception. In
practice, it need hardly be said, the form of obedience to the precept must, of
necessity, vary with the varying phases of sociallife, and with the lessons of
experience. Reliefgiven privately, thoughtfully, discriminatively, may be
better both for the giver, as less ostentatious, and for the receivers, as tending
to the formation of a higher character, than the open feastof the Easternform
of benevolence. The essenceofthe beatitude, as distinct from its form, remains
for all who give freely to those who can give them no recompense in return,
who have nothing to offer but their thanks and prayers.
Copyright Statement

Bibliography
Ellicott, Charles John. "Commentary on Luke 14:13". "Ellicott's
Commentary for English Readers".
https:https://www.studylight.org/commentaries/ebc/luke-14.html. 1905.
Treasuryof Scripture Knowledge
call
21; 11:41;Deuteronomy 14:29;16:11,14;26:12,13;2 Samuel6:19; 2
Chronicles 30:24;Nehemiah 8:10,12;Job 29:13,15,16;31:16-20;Proverbs
3:9,10;14:31; 31:6,7;Isaiah58:7,10;Matthew 14:14-21;15:32-39;22:10;Acts
2:44,45;4:34,35;9:39; Romans 12:13-16;1 Timothy 3:2; 5:10; Titus 1:8;
Philemon 1:7; Hebrews 13:2
PRECEPTAUSTIN RESOURCES
BRUCE HURT MD
Luke 14:12 And He also wenton to say to the one who had invited Him,
"When you give a luncheon or a dinner, do not invite your friends or your

brothers or your relatives or rich neighbors, otherwise they may also invite
you in return and that will be your repayment.
KJV Luke 14:12 Then saidhe also to him that bade him, When thou makesta
dinner or a supper, call not thy friends, nor thy brethren, neither thy
kinsmen, nor thy rich neighbors; lestthey also bid thee again, and a
recompence be made thee.
When you give a luncheon or a dinner, do not invite your friends Lk 1:53; Pr
14:20;22:16; James 2:1-6
and that will be your repayment 6:32-36;Zech 7:5-7; Mt 5:46; 6:1-4,16-18
Luke 14 Resources - Multiple Sermons and Commentaries
Luke 14:1-14 Jesus the Confronter - StevenCole
Luke 14:7-14 Humbling the Exalted--Exalting the Humble - John MacArthur
JESUS CONTINUES TO REBUKE
THEIR SINFUL PRIDE
And He also went on to sayto the one who had invited Him - Referring to His
host, the leader of the Pharisees in Lk 14:1-note.
Wiersbe - Jesus knew that the host had invited his guests for two reasons:(1)
to pay them back because they had invited him to past feasts, or (2) to put
them under his debt so that they would invite him to future feasts. Such
hospitality was not an expressionof love and grace but rather an evidence of
pride and selfishness. He was “buying” recognition.
Mattoonhas an interesting introduction to this next sectionhe entitles "The
Three Stooges"writing - When I was growing up as a boy, I can remember
watching three men that were constantly doing foolish, nutty things and
beating up on one another. These guys were absolutely crazy and were known
as Moe, Larry, and Curly, otherwise knownas The Three Stooges. Two ofthe
men were actualbrothers, Moe and Curly. The constantbings, bangs, bongs,
dings, dongs, slaps, and punches would almost drive a personcrazy, yet,
people came back for more. In fact, they performed from 1922 to 1975. Their

comedy, mockery, and foolishness drove Adolph Hitler into a rage. They were
the first to do a small film making fun of Hitler. In 1940, their short film
called"You Natzy Spy" put them on Hitler's DeathList. When we look in this
portion of Luke 14, we find the original Three Stooges.These menwere also
characterizedby foolish, stupid thinking and behavior. The reasonwe note
them is because many folks today think and actjust like them. Let's take a
look at this story so you can understand why many folks behave like The
Three Stooges.
Robertson- This is a parable for the host as one had just been given for the
guests, though Luke does not term this a parable.
When you give a luncheon or a dinner, do not invite your friends or your
brothers or your relatives or rich neighbors - Jesus is addressing the idea of
reciprocity, the practice of exchanging things (in this case dinner invitations)
with others (other prideful Pharisees)formutual benefit.
Do not invite (2564)(kaleo)is a command, present imperative with a negative,
which calls for this Pharisee to stop inviting only friends, et al. Jesus is not
saying he could not invite friends, but that he needed a "motive check!" He
should not do so to the exclusionof others. In other words, Jesus is
condemning his socialexclusivism(then and now)!
Friends (5384) (philos) means loved (loved one), dear, befriended, friendly,
kind. Philos can mean kindly disposedor devoted (Acts 19:31). Philos
describes one having specialinterestin someone else. One who is on intimate
terms or in close associationwith someone else
Wiersbe - Jesus does not prohibit us from entertaining family and friends, but
He warns us againstentertaining only family and friends exclusively and
habitually. That kind of “fellowship” quickly degeneratesinto a “mutual
admiration society” in which eachone tries to outdo the others and no one
dares to break the cycle. Sad to say, too much church sociallife fits this
description.
Brothers (80)(adelphos from a = denotes unity + delphus = a womb) means
brother or near kinsman.("ofthe same womb")

Rich (rich man) (4145)(plousios fromploutos = wealth, abundance, riches) is
an adjective which literally refers to having an abundance of earthly
possessionsthat exceeds normalexperience. Rich is used often of material
wealth and was a frequent topic addressedby the Lord Jesus.
Luke's uses of plousios - Lk. 6:24-note;Lk. 12:16-note;Lk. 14:12;Lk. 16:1;
Lk. 16:19; Lk. 16:21;Lk. 16:22; Lk. 18:23; Lk. 18:25;Lk. 19:2; Lk. 21:1
Spurgeon- Our Saviour, you see, keepsto one line of instruction. It was a
feast, so he used the feastto teachanother lesson. It is always well, when
men’s minds are running in a certaindirection, to make use of that particular
current. When a feastis uppermost in the minds of men, it is no use starting
another subject. So the Saviour rides upon the back of the banquet, making it
to be his steed. Note his advice to his host: “Try to avoid doing that for which
you will be recompensed. If you are rewarded for it the transactionis over;
but if not, then it stands recordedin the book of God, and it will be
recompensedto you in the greatday of account.”
Craig Keener - Not to invite people of one’s own socialstatus would offend
them; but Jesus says that the other’s need, not one’s own socialstanding, must
determine the giving of gifts. The Old Testamentforbade charging interest on
a loan and so profiting by one’s neighbor; but Jesus’principle here excludes
looking for any repayment at all; cf. "“Ifyou lend to those from whom you
expectto receive, whatcredit is that to you? Even sinners lend to sinners in
order to receive back the same amount. 35“Butlove your enemies, and do
good, and lend, expecting nothing in return; and your reward will be great,
and you will be sons of the MostHigh; for He Himself is kind to ungrateful
and evil men." Lk 6:34–35-note.(IVP BackgroundCommentary)
They may also invite you in return - The "benefit" of the reciprocity in this
case is an invitation.
And that will be your repayment - As MacArthur says this "was a zero sum
game with no winners, in which the participants’ gains and lossesofprestige
evened out in the end. In Jewishsocietyaninvitation to a meal with a Pharisee
was a kind of currency; they exploited hospitality for the sake of self-glory

and elevation. Disinterestedkindness was foreignto them; everything they did
was self-serving."
Wiersbe - Our motive for sharing must be the praise of God and not the
applause of men, the eternalreward in heaven and not the temporary
recognitionon earth. A pastor friend of mine used to remind me, “You can’t
get your rewardtwice!” and he was right (see Matt. 6:1–18). On the day of
judgment, many who today are first in the eyes of men will be last in God’s
eyes, and many who are last in the eyes of men will be first in the eyes of God
(Luke 13:30).
Repayment (468)(antapodoma from antí = in turn + apodidomi = render;
cognate verb antapodidomi) a noun which means a giving back in return for
something receivedand so that which is offered or given as recompense or
retribution (in both a goodsense and a bad sense). The thing paid back in a
goodsense (Lk 14:12)or bad sense (Ro 11:9).
Bock - The invitation of friends is limited to repayment in an invitation to eat
at their home. But the more gracious actionthat Jesus suggests has a bigger,
more permanent, rewardfrom God. The major point is that customary “pay
back” hospitality is of no greatmerit to God. Fellowshipshould not have
sociallimits. The best hospitality is that which is given, not exchanged.
Mattoon- Jesus gives these Phariseesinstructions for hosting a parry or
dinner. The principles given here are applicable for us today. When people
made a grand feastin Bible days, they would invite famous and important
people to their dinner, which would give them prestige if they attended. These
important folks would return the favor by inviting them to their social
functions. In a sense, they would give to those in authority or important
positions in order to getsomething in return. Jesus was condemning this
motive. Do people do this today? Of course they do.
Luke 14:13 "But when you give a reception, invite the poor, the crippled, the
lame, the blind,
KJV Luke 14:13 But when thou makesta feast, callthe poor, the maimed, the
lame, the blind:

invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind Lk 14:21; 11:41;Dt 14:29;
16:11,14;26:12,13;2 Sa 6:19; 2 Chr 30:24;Neh 8:10,12;Job29:13,15,16;
31:16-20;Pr 3:9,10;14:31;31:6,7;Isa 58:7,10;Mt 14:14-21;15:32-39;22:10;
Acts 2:44,45;4:34,35;9:39; Ro 12:13-16;1 Ti 3:2; 5:10; Titus 1:8; Phile 1:7;
Heb 13:2
TRUE DISCIPLESHIP CALLS
FOR UNSELFISH GENEROSITY
But - A term of contrastwhich should always prompt the question "What is
being contrasted?" In this case the contrastis striking - the wayof the
Pharisees who soughtto be exalted among men, and the way of God, which is
the humble path that leads to true blessing.
When you give a reception, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind (4
groups in Lk 14:21) - This focuses onthose who have need and have no funds
to repay with a reciprocalinvitation. To the Pharisees sucha suggestionwould
be absurd as these low caste people could provide no benefit to them in their
desire for prestige. In fact the Pharisees shunned this genre of non-genteel
folk! The OT clearly taught concernfor the poor and powerless (Dt. 14:28–
29; 16:11–14;26:11–13.)
Guzik - There is something wonderful in giving a gift that can never be
repaid. This is some of the more blessing Jesus spoke ofwhen He said, It is
more blessedto give than to receive (Acts 20:35).
Lame (5560)(cholos)is an adjective that describes a physical “disability that
involves the imperfect function of the lowerlimbs” (Louw-Nida). It is used in
the NT primarily to describe those who are literally crippled in the feet or legs
(Acts 3.2, 11, 14:8, Mt 11:5, 15:30-31, 21:14, Lk 7:22, Jn 5:3) or deprived of
one foot, maimed (Mt 18.8, Mk 9:45). Cholos is used once in a figurative sense
to describe spiritual weaknessin Heb 12:13 (cf Lxx use in 1 Ki 18:21)where

the limb that is lame denotes those wavering betweentwo opinions within the
Christian community.
Gilbrant - This adjective is used in both the Septuagint and the New
Testamentto designate the group of people who suffer such afflictions, usually
grouped togetherwith “the blind” and other handicapped groups. Since the
Law forbade the full cultic participation of people who were physically
impaired, the healing of such people and their consequentreintegrationinto
societywas symbolic of the glories of the coming kingdom of God in both the
Old and New Testaments (cf. Matthew 11:4-6 and Isaiah35:5,6 which is
alluded to there).
Cholos in NT - 14x in 14v - Mt. 11:5; 15:30-31;18:8; 21:14; Mk. 9:45; Lk.
7:22; 14:13,21;Jn. 5:3; Acts 3:2; 8:7; 14:8; Heb. 12:13
Cholos in Septuagint - 11xin 11v- Lev. 21:18;Deut. 15:21;2 Sam. 5:6,8; 9:13;
19:26;Job 29:15; Isa. 33:23;35:6; Mal. 1:8,13;
Blind (5185)(tuphlos from tuphlóo = envelop with smoke, be unable to see
clearly) canrefer to literal blindness as here in Luke 14:13 (cf Mt 9:27, 28;
11:5; 12:22; Lk 7:21, 22;Jn 9:1, 2, 3.;Acts 13:11 Lv 19:14; Job29:15) but
more often the NT uses tuphlos to describe spiritual blindness. Figuratively
the picture is of one's mind as blind, ignorant, stupid, slow of understanding,
being unable to understand, incapable of comprehending (see Mt 15:14;
23:16, 17, 19, 24, 26; Lk 4:18; Jn 9:39,40,41;Ro 2:19; 2Pe 1:9; Rev 3:17; Isa
42:16,18,19;43:8) This sense speaksofboth mental and spiritual blindness,
often the result of self-deceptionso that one is unable to understand (spiritual
truth). The Greek writers used tuphlos to describe those who were "mentally
blind".
Keener - Well-to-do persons in the Greco-Romanworldusually invited people
of somewhatlowersocialstatus in return for receiving honor, but these
invitees would still be relatively respectable, notabsolute dependents or
beggars, as crippled, lame and blind people would be in that society, or
peasants (although many Jewishteachers might regard inviting beggars and
peasants as an actof piety). The crippled, lame and blind were not permitted
on the premises of the probably Essene community at Qumran. (Ibid)

Cole - True ministry out of Christian love serves and gives without thought of
return. It isn’t manipulative, serving for what you canget out of it. As
Christians, we should serve others out of love for God and others. To go
Jesus’way, you have to have your focus on eternity, not on the rewards of this
life. You have to believe that God “is a rewarder of those who seek Him”
(Heb. 11:6). Often there are many blessings that come back on you in this life
when you serve the Lord. But, often there are not any visible rewards here
and now. You serve and no one notices. You give to help a needy personand
you getripped off, and the person never even says, “Thanks.”One testof
whether your motives are right in your service for Christ is, “Are you hurt
when you don’t get the recognitionyou think you deserve?” (WOE!)Another
test is, “What is your attitude toward the poor and the hurting?” If you’re
only willing to serve those who can pay you back or who might later be able to
advance your cause, you’re using people, not loving them. Jesus confronts our
motives for service. Any selfishmotives in serving Christ are sin.
Bock - Unlike much of ancient culture, Jesus urges that reciprocitynot be a
factorin deciding whom to invite (Marshall1978:584). Hospitality is
generositywhen no motive exists besides
Mattoon- He instructed them to invite those who were poor, maimed, lame,
and blind. By doing this, they would show they were not controlledby a spirit
of repayment, that their giving was unselfish, and their love was genuine. The
Lord is trying to getus to examine our motives of service and doing things for
others. Is it for self-gloryor for God's glory? Are we seeking to be seenof
others? Are we trying to gain something down the road? One day our motives
will be revealed.
Paul alludes to this by giving us a "motive check" in First Corinthians
Therefore do not go on passing judgment before the time, but wait until the
Lord comes who will both bring to light the things hidden in the darkness and
disclose the motives of men’s hearts; and then eachman’s praise will come to
him from God. (1 Cor 4:5)
Comment - "Judge nothing before the time", for all such judgment must be
premature and faulty, partial and inconclusive, invalid and illegal. The "time"

is when the Lord comes and sets up His Judgment Seat. In view of this "time",
all human verdicts must be prejudice. Then the Lord will bring into the light
the hidden things of darkness, those deepinner springs that lurked unseen,
things of which we were not aware, and will make manifest the counsels ofthe
heart, those secretdesires and motives which were concealedbut were the
basis of decisionand action. Then everything will be "named and open". Then
eachshall receive the praise that is his due from God, the only praise that
really matters, the only judgment that possessestrue value. (What the Bible
teaches – 1 and 2 Corinthians) (Ed: The truth this verse prompts me to pray
Ps 139:23-24 frequently!)
A New Tradition
When you give a feast, invite the poor, the maimed, the lame, the blind. —
Luke 14:13
In the United States, Thanksgiving is traditionally a day of feasting with
family. But changing circumstances may lead us to rethink our holiday
traditions.
It happened to Sharon Randall during a year in which her mother died, her
father-in-law had to be moved to a resthome, and her husband was
undergoing treatment for cancer. As the Thanksgiving holiday drew near, the
Randall family decided it was time for a new approach. So instead of
preparing a feastjust for themselves, they invited people outside their family
circle to join them. The next year they expanded the guestlist even more.
“If your family has changedand you need a new tradition,” says Sharon,
“look around. You’re not alone. Invite someone to join you for Thanksgiving.
Or volunteer to help serve at a church or shelter or community dinner.”
Those are challenging words for every followerof Jesus Christ. Perhaps it’s
time to start a new tradition for your next holiday feastby inviting people
outside your usual circle, or by serving those in need. In Luke 14:12-14, Jesus
said that when we include those who can’t repay us, we are blessedin a special
way. Sharing the feastis Thanksgiving indeed! By David C. McCasland(Our

Daily Bread, Copyright RBC Ministries, Grand Rapids, MI. — Reprinted by
permission. All rights reserved)
Just a "cup of cold water" was given in His name,
But the soul of the giver was never the same!
For he found that when giving was done with a zest,
Both the heart of the giver and takerwere blest. —Anon.
Life takes onnew meaning when we give ourselves to others.
Luke 14:14 and you will be blessed, since they do not have the means to repay
you; for you will be repaid at the resurrectionof the righteous."
KJV Luke 14:14 And thou shalt be blessed;for they cannot recompense thee:
for thou shalt be recompensedat the resurrectionof the just.
for you will be repaid Pr 19:17; Mt 6:4; 10:41,42;25:34-40;Phil 4:18,19
at the resurrectionof the righteous Lk 20:35,36;Da 12:2,3;Jn 5:29; Acts
24:15
THE PROMISE OF
FUTURE BLESSING
You will be blessed, since they do not have the means to repay you - The point
is that you "gave" expecting nothing in return. You gave with pure motives,
motives of compassionand love for your fellow man. These are God-like
attributes. And God honors selfless graciousness. While they do not have the
means to repay, God does and God will repay! Note that "be blessed" is the
"Divine Passive"indicating it is God Who will repay.

Wiersbe - If our hearts are right, God will see to it that we are properly
rewarded, though getting a reward must not be the motive for our generosity.
When we serve others from unselfish hearts, we are laying up treasures in
heaven (Matt. 6:20) and becoming “rich toward God” (Luke 12:21). Our
modern world is very competitive, and it is easyfor God’s people to become
more concernedabout profit and loss than they are about sacrifice and
service. “Whatwill I getout of it?” may easilybecome life’s most important
question (Matt. 19:27ff). We must strive to maintain the unselfish attitude that
Jesus had and share what we have with others.
Blessed(3107)(makarios fromroot makar, but others say from mak = large or
lengthy) means to be happy, but not in the usual sense ofhappiness basedon
positive circumstances. Fromthe Biblical perspective Makarios describesthe
person who is free from daily cares andworries because his every breath and
circumstance is in the hands of His MakerWho gives him such an assurance
(such a "blessing"). Makarios describesthe kind of happiness that comes
from receiving divine favor. God wants to bless His creation, but we must be
in a position to receive His blessing. Proud people are not in such a position,
for "Godis opposedto the proud, but gives grace (cf"blessing")to the
humble." (James 4:6-note).
Rob Morgan- Makarios (blessed)means happy, fortunate, blissful. Homer
used the word to describe a wealthy man, and Plato used it of one who is
successfulin business. Both Homer and Hesiod spoke ofthe Greek gods as
being happy (makarios)within themselves, because theywere unaffected by
the world of men-who were subjectto poverty, disease, weakness, misfortune,
and death. The fullest meaning of the term, therefore, had to do with an
inward contentedness thatis not affectedby circumstances. Thatis the kind of
happiness Goddesires for His children, a state of joy and well-being that does
not depend on physical, temporary circumstances (cfPhp 4:11, 12, 13). (From
his sermonentitled "Blessed")
Repay...repaid(paid back)(467)(antapodidomifrom antí = in turn +
apodídomi = render <> from apo = from + didomi = give) means to give back
in return for something received. The idea is to practice reciprocitywith
respectto an obligation. It means to pay back something owed. Antapodidomi

is a strong verb (having two prefixes) and is emphatic as indicated by its two
uses in this verse.
For - term of explanation - Clearly Jesus explains how you will be blessed. The
blessing will not be bestowedby those who have to means to repay but by God
has has all means to repay and to repay throughout eternity! I would callthat
a blessing almost beyond belief. That God would safe us is "reward" enough,
but that He will rewardus in eternity future is nothing short of indescribably
amazing grace!
You will be repaid at the resurrectionof the righteous - Contrastthe
repayment of the Phariseesfrom one man to another in time, with the
repayment from God throughout eternity! This type of mindset is living with
an eternal perspective. With what perspective are you spending your short
time on earth?
Will be repaid - The passive voice is the "Divine Passive"indicating it is God
Himself Who will repay their selfless generosity.
Keener - Judaism taught that the righteous would ultimately be rewarded at
the resurrectionof the dead; here Jesus applies this truth to distribution of
resources.ThatGod repaid those who helped the poor was alreadytaught in
the Old Testament(Prov 19:17).
One who is gracious to a poor man lends to the LORD, And He will repay him
for his gooddeed. (Pr 19:17-Bridges'note)
Spurgeon- It should be your ambition to have something setdown to your
credit “at the resurrection of the just.” If you do someone a kindness with a
view to gaining gratitude, you will probably be disappointed; and even if you
should succeed, whatis the gratitude worth? You have burned your firework,
you have seenthe brief blaze, and there is an end of it. But if you getno
present return for your holy charity, so much the better for you.
Daniel alludes to God's repayment at the resurrection of the righteous -
“Many of those who sleepin the dust of the ground will awake
(RESURRECTION), these to everlasting life (cf "REPAYMENT""ofthe

righteous"), but the others to disgrace (cftemporal "disgrace"in Lk 14:9)
and everlasting contempt. “Those who have insight will shine brightly like the
brightness of the expanse of heaven, and those who lead the many to
righteousness, like the stars foreverand ever. (Da 12:2,3-note)
Luke mentions the resurrectionof the righteous again in Acts
Acts 24:14-15 “Butthis I admit to you, that according to the Way which they
call a sectI do serve the God of our fathers, believing everything that is in
accordancewith the Law and that is written in the Prophets;having a hope in
God, which these men cherish themselves, that there shall certainly be a
resurrectionof both the righteous and the wicked.
Jesus describes this resurrectionin the Gospelof John
John 5:28-29 Do not marvel at this; for an hour is coming, in which all who
are in the tombs will hear His voice, 29 and will come forth; those who did the
gooddeeds to a resurrectionof life (= "resurrectionof the righteous"), those
who committed the evil deeds to a resurrection of judgment.
Keener - Resurrectionwas a holistic Jewishhope that the dead (or at leastthe
righteous dead) would be raised to a new bodily existence of some sort at a
future time....Jewishpeople expectedthe resurrectionat the end of the age,
usually associating it with the time of the Messiah’s coming and his kingdom.
(NIV Cultural Backgrounds Study Bible)
Resurrection(386)(anastasisfrom ana = up, again+ histemi = to cause to
stand) literally means “to stand again" or "to cause to stand again" and most
NT uses refer to a physical body rising from the dead or coming back to life
after having once died.
The resurrectionis distinguished from belief in reincarnation, which usually
involves a series ofrebirths from which the soulmay seek release.
Resurrectionhas primary reference to the body. The resurrectionis the
central, defining doctrine and claim of the gospelfor as Paul wrote "if Christ
has not been raised, then our preaching is vain, your faith also is vain." (1 Cor
15:14)

Stein on of the righteous - From Acts 24:15 it is evident that this is short for
“of the righteous and the unrighteous.” Compare John 5:28–29;2 Tim 4:1; cf.
also Luke 10:12;11:31–32;Rom 2:5–11.
John Piper - This is the way Jesus saidthe hope of the resurrectionis
supposedto change our behavior. For example, he told us to invite to our
homes people who cannot pay us back in this life. How are we to be motivated
to do this? “You will be repaid at the resurrection of the just” (Luke 14:14).
This is a radical callfor us to look hard at out present lives to see if they are
shaped by the hope of the resurrection. Do we make decisions onthe basis of
gain in this world or gainin the next? Do we take risks for love’s sake that can
only be explained as wise if there is a resurrection? May God help us to
rededicate ourselves fora lifetime to letting the resurrectionhave its radical
effects. (Seeing and Savoring Jesus Christ)
Righteous (1342)(dikaios from dike = right, just) defines that which is in
accordancewith high standards of rectitude and in this contextpertains to
being in accordance withwhat God requires. He requires righteousness and
provides it by grace through faith in Christ (cf verb form dikaioo translated
justified in Lk 18:14). In Matthew 13 Jesus describes the righteous as those
"who will shine forth as the sun in the kingdom of their Father." (Mt 13:43).
MacArthur -The Lord had concluded His illustration with a reference to the
resurrectionand reward of the righteous. The scribes and Pharisees
understood that He was referring to eternallife, and challenging them to
humble themselves to receive it. Earning that resurrectionwas their supreme
hope. They believed that by enduring the minute prescriptions, deprivation,
self-sacrifice,and rituals of their religious systemthey would gain eternallife
in God’s kingdom. In all false religions the promise of a goodlife in the future
after death motivates people to put up with the restrictions and burdens
imposed on them in this life.
Who’s On My GuestList?

When you give a feast, invite the poor, the maimed, the lame, the blind. And
you will be blessed. —Luke 14:13-14
I love hosting festive dinners. Sometimes I’ll say: “Tonia, we haven’t had
anyone over for dinner in a while. Who do you think we should invite?” We
go through our proposedguest list and suggestfriends we have never invited
or have not invited in a while. And it seems like this list is normally comprised
of people who look and sound and live like we do, and who can reciprocate.
But if we were to ask Jesus whomwe should have over for dinner, He would
give us a totally different guestlist.
One day a prominent Pharisee invited Jesus into his home, probably for table
fellowship, but possibly to watch Him closelyso he could trap Him. While
there, Jesus healeda man and taught the host a significant lesson:When
making out your guest list for a dinner party, you should not be exclusive—
inviting friends, relatives, rich neighbors, and those who can pay you back.
Instead, you should be inclusive—inviting the poor, the crippled, the lame,
and the blind. Although such people would not be able to pay the host back,
Jesus assuredhim that he would be blessedand that God would rewardhim
(Luke 14:12-14).
Just as Jesus loves the less fortunate, He invites us to love them by opening up
our hearts and homes. By Marvin Williams (Our Daily Bread, Copyright
RBC Ministries, Grand Rapids, MI. — Reprinted by permission. All rights
reserved)
The poor and needy everywhere
Are objects of God’s love and care,
But they will always know despair
Unless His love with them we share.
—D. De Haan
Opening our hearts and homes blesses bothus and others.

I'll PayYou Later
You shall be repaid at the resurrectionof the just. —Luke 14:14
Suppose a boss were to say to an employee, “We really appreciate what
you’re doing around here, but we’ve decided to change the waywe pay you.
Starting today, we’re going to pay you later—afteryou retire.” Would the
employee jump for joy? Of course not. That’s not the way things work in this
world. We like our payment now—orat leastevery payday.
Did you know that Godpromises to “pay” us later—much later? And He asks
us to be happy about it!
Jesus suggestedthat our ultimate reward for the goodthings we do in His
name comes after we die. In Luke 14, Jesus saidthat if we care for the poor,
the lame, and the blind, our reward for such kindness will come at the
resurrectionof the righteous (Luke 14:14). He also said that if we are
persecuted, we should “rejoice in that day and leap for joy! For indeed [our]
reward is greatin heaven” (6:22-23). Surely, the Lord gives us comfort, love,
and guidance today, but what wonderful things He has planned for us in the
future!
This may not be the way we would have planned it; we don’t enjoy waiting for
things. But imagine how glorious it will be when we receive our rewards in
Jesus’presence. Whata grand time we’ll have as we enjoy what God has
reservedfor later. By Dave Branon (Our Daily Bread, Copyright RBC
Ministries, Grand Rapids, MI. — Reprinted by permission. All rights
reserved)
Beyond earth's sorrows,the joys of heaven,
Eternal blessings with Christ my Lord;
Earth's weeping ended, earth's trials over,
Sweetrestin Jesus, O blest reward! —Gilmore
What is done for Christ in this life will be rewarded in the life to come.

GuestList
When you give a feast, invite the poor, the maimed, the lame, the blind. And
you will be blessed. —Luke 14:13-14
Qumran was a first-century Jewishcommunity that had isolateditself from
outside influences to prepare for the arrival of the Messiah. Theytook great
care in devotional life, ceremonialwashings, and strict adherence to rules of
conduct. Surviving documents show that they would not allow the lame, the
blind, or the crippled into their communities. This was basedon their
conviction that anyone with a physical “blemish” was ceremoniallyunclean.
During their table fellowship, disabled people were never on their guestlists.
Ironically, at that same time the MessiahofIsraelwas at work in the cities
and villages of Judea and Galilee. Jesus proclaimedHis Father’s kingdom,
brought teaching and comfort, and workedmighty miracles. Strikingly, He
proclaimed: “When you give a feast, invite the poor, the maimed, the lame,
the blind. And you will be blessed” (Luke 14:13-14).
The contrastbetweenJesus’words and the guestlist of the Qumran “spiritual
elite” is instructive to us. Often we like to fellowship with people who look,
think, and act like us. But our Lord exhorts us to be like Him and open our
doors to everyone. By Dennis Fisher (Our Daily Bread, Copyright RBC
Ministries, Grand Rapids, MI. — Reprinted by permission. All rights
reserved)
The gospelmust be sharedwith all,
Not just with those like you and me;
For God embraces everyone
Who turns to Him to setthem free. —Sper
The inclusive gospelcannotbe shared by an exclusive people. —George
Sweeting

BARCLAY
DISINTERESTED CHARITY(Luke 14:12-14)
14:12-14 Jesus saidto the man who had invited him, "Wheneveryou give a
dinner or a banquet, do not callyour friends, or your brothers, or your
kinsfolk or your rich neighbours, in case they invite you back againin return
and you receive a repayment. But when you give a feast, invite the poor, the
maimed, the lame and the blind. Then you will be happy, because theycannot
repay you. You will receive your repayment at the resurrectionof the
righteous."
Here is a searching passage, becauseit demands that we should examine the
motives behind all our generosity.
(i) A man may give from a sense of duty.
He dropped a penny in the plate
And meekly raisedhis eyes,
Glad the week's rentwas duly paid
For mansions in the skies.
We may give to God and to man much in the same way as we pay our income
tax--as the satisfactionofa grim duty which we cannot escape.
(ii) A man may give purely from motives of self-interest. Consciouslyor
unconsciouslyhe may regard his giving as an investment. He may regard each
gift as an entry on the credit side of his accountin the ledgerof God. Such
giving, so far from being generosity, is rationalized selfishness.
(iii) A man may give in order to feel superior. Such giving can be a cruel
thing. It can hurt the recipient much more than a blunt refusal. When a man
gives like that he stands on his little eminence and looks down. He may even
with the gift throw in a short and smug lecture. It would be better not to give
at all than to give merely to gratify one's own vanity and one's owndesire for

power. The Rabbis had a saying that the best kind of giving was when the
giver did not know to whom he was giving, and when the receiverdid not
know from whom he was receiving.
(iv) A man may give because he cannothelp it. That is the only realway to
give. The law of the kingdom is this--that if a man gives to gain rewardhe will
receive no reward; but if a man gives with no thought of reward his rewardis
certain. The only real giving is that which is the uncontrollable outflow of
love. Once Dr Johnsoncynically described gratitude as "a lively sense of
favours to come." The same definition could equally apply to certain forms of
giving. God gave because he so loved the world--and so must we.
JIM BOMKAMP
Jesus teacheshere that insteadof inviting to luncheons or dinners friends,
brothers, relatives, rich people, etc., it would be a greaterblessing and wiser
to instead invite, ‘the poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind.’
4.7.1. It would be a greaterblessing to invite these ones because there is a
greatblessing that is always receivedin doing things for others when they
cannot reciprocate in return.
4.7.2. It would be wiser to do this because you will receive an eternal reward
in heaven for deeds such as this, and this reward will be receivedby the Lord
and never fade away.
4.8. Note that Jesus speakshere of rewards being handed out at
‘the resurrectionof the righteous.” There will be a resurrectionof both the

righteous as wellas the unrighteous, howeverthere will be a great difference
betweenthe two resurrections. The resurrectionof the righteous will result in
rewards being handed out to all, the resurrectionof the unrighteous will be a
resurrectionto eternal damnation.
GENE BROOKS
Luke 14:12-14 – Jesus applies the principle in a fascinating way. If his host
really cares about honor from God, he should invite the poor and powerless,
who can never repay him in this life (Prov. 19:17). Jesus uses the word for a
formal dinner party or reception, a striking word for socialoutcasts.[3]Eating
with someone oflower socialstatus couldjeopardize one’s own social
standing. But Jesus says Godis concernedfor the poor. He will exalt the
person who cares forthe helpless, rather than the powerful who canrepay
you for your kindness.
f. APPLICATION:Pride backfires and makes us selfish. We start playing
the childish game of who’s better than whom. We always end up losing. We
naturally tend to seek recognitionand esteemfrom others, but Jesus says that
those who seek self-glorificationwill ultimately find themselves humbled,
while those who put others first will be exalted. The highest calling of a
Christian is to look out for others first, encouraging them to be all that God
would have them to be.
DR. THOMAS CONSTABLE
Verses 12-14

The lessonabout inviting guests14:12-14
Jesus addressedthe former parable to His fellow guests, but He directed this
teaching particularly to His host. This lesson, like the former parable, could
have applied only to socialrelationships. However, Jesus"teaching was never
simply ethical. It always had a spiritual dimension (cf. Luke 6:32-36). Jesus
was teaching on both levels. If the Pharisees did not perceive or rejectedthe
lessonabout Jesus" ministry, they could at leastprofit from the ethical
instruction. In much of Jesus" teaching the alternatives were not really "do
not do this but do that" as much as "do not do as much of this as that." This
was common Semitic idiom, and it accounts forJesus" strong statements.
The principle that Jesus recommendedto His host for selecting guests is one
that God had used in inviting people to the messianic banquet. Inviting those
who could not repay the favor resulted in the greatergloryof earthly hosts as
well as the divine host. If earthly hosts behaved as the heavenly host, that
behavior would demonstrate true righteousness,and God would reward it.
Otherwise they would only receive a temporal reward from their guests. This
lessonvindicated Jesus" ministry to the "have nots" and explained why He
did not caterto the "haves" (cf. Luke 4:18; Luke 6:20-21). It also indirectly
appealedto the Pharisees to receive Jesus"invitation to believe on Him for
blessing.
"We cannot be certain that the ruler of Luke 14wasa silent believer like the
ones mentioned in John 12. Perhaps he was not, because he had invited Jesus
to dinner at the risk of criticism from his fellow Pharisees. But one thing we
do know is that he was a believer, for if he had not been, then a guarantee of
reward could not have been given to him.

"What a fortunate host this man was!In return for this dinner, he gets from
our Lord an invaluable lessonin Christian etiquette. If a believer uses his
hospitality to entertain people who have no way of repaying him for it, God
Himself becomes the Paymaster. And the resurrection of the just, which
includes of course the Judgment Seatof Christ, becomes the payday!
"When was the last time that you or I extended hospitality in such a way that
it would only be repaid to us in that future resurrection payday? Maybe we
should rethink our guestlists!" [Note:Zane C. Hodges, "Stopand Think! (
Luke 14:13-14), Rewardable Hospitality," The KERUGMA Message3:1
(Spring1993):3.]
BOB DEFFINBAUGH
Guidelines for the GuestList
(14:12-14)
12 Then Jesus saidto his host, “When you give a luncheon or dinner, do not
invite your friends, your brothers or relatives, or your rich neighbors; if you
do, they may invite you back and so you will be repaid. 13 But when you give
a banquet, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind, 14 and you will be
blessed. Although they cannotrepay you, you will be repaid at the
resurrectionof the righteous.”
Our Lord’s words in verses 7-11 were directed towards the guests, who were
jockeying for position at the table. The host, however, had no need of doing
this, for his chair was guaranteed. He had the only reservedseat. But there is
much evil to be exposedon the part of the host, for those he invites are those
who promote his standing. The same spirit is seenin the host, but in a

different way, and thus Jesus deals with this, too. He is going to leave no one’s
sins unveiled.
It is not just where one sits at the table that gives one status, but also whom
one is sitting with at that table. I remember someone saying that status would
be to be sitting in the Oval Office with the President of the United States, to
have the red phone ring, and for the Presidentto hand it to you, saying, “It’s
for you.”
I do not know this as a fact, but it occurred to me as I studied this text that the
Jews ofthat day may not have been introduced to the “potluck dinner.” We
all know that a potluck dinner is one that everyone contributes to. It has
become a part of our culture, and very often when we invite someone to our
table for dinner they ask what they canbring. It would seemthat this thought
never occurredto the person of Jesus’day. If people ate “potluck” then there
would have been no need to reciprocate, but as it was, whenone person
invited another to dinner, they provided the entire meal, and the guestwould
reciprocate by doing likewise. This seems to be the backdropfor what Jesus is
saying in our text.
When planning a banquet, the temptation is to invite those who are most
likely to do us some goodin return. Thus, one thinks first of inviting family
members or rich friends, who will reciprocate in kind. We are tempted to give
in order to get. Jesus taught that this practice should not only be revised, but
reversed. In this world, men invite their friends and the rich, in order to gain
from their reciprocalinvitations and hospitality. In God’s economy, men are
gracious to the helpless and to those who cannot pay them back, so that when
the kingdom of God is establishedon the earth (at the resurrectionof the
righteous), God may reward them. Thus, Jesus advocatedinviting as “guests”
at our next banquet the poor, the crippled, the lame, and the blind (verse 13).
Doing so assures us of God’s blessings in heaven.
While the words of our Lord in verses 7-14 should be seriouslytakenand
applied in a literal way, let us take note of the fact that Jesus was speaking a
parable (verse 7, cf. v. 12). The parable and its principle is thus to be much
more broadly applied.

JOHN MACARTHUR
Humbling the Exalted--Exalting the Humble
Sermons Luke 14:7–14 42-193 Sep25, 2005
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This morning we continue in our study of Luke's gospel. We come to chapter
14 and verses 7-14. Luke 14:7-14. Some of you will remember some years
back a very famous incident with a religious cult leaderby the name of Jim
Jones. It's become pretty much legendary. Jim Jones led his followers down
to a South American country known as Guyana and there he managed to
convince them to all drink Kool-Aid lacedwith cyanide and hundreds of
people committed suicide in a mass demonstration of how effective a leader
Jim Jones was.
What happened that day in Guyana when all of those people, men, women,
and children, committed suicide and believed that they were following Jim
Jones into heaven was really a parable. It was really a metaphor, really a
picture. In fact, it was a very dramatic and unforgettable picture of what all
false leaders do to their followers. The real tragedyof Jonestownwas not that
all those people died physically. The real tragedywas that they died eternally.
The real tragedywas not that their bodies were left in a South American
jungle. The realtragedy was their souls will spend eternity in eternal hell;
everlasting punishment. But Jim Jones is no solitarymonster by the way. He

is no solitaryfigure, though there have been I suppose few who have been so
dramatic in the way they have led their followers to physical death. All false
teachers, in effect, do the same thing spiritually.
The greattragedy of false leaders is that they leadpeople into hell. And like
so many in the history of the world who follow false teachers, the Jews trusted
their religious leaders. Theytrusted their religious leaders with their lives as
people do today. All across the planet and always since there has been
religion people have put their souls in the hands of their trusted religious
leaders who like Jim Jones leadthem down the path to eternal destruction.
And the leaders of the Jews were no different. The people expectedto follow
their leaders into heavenand instead, they followedtheir leaders into hell.
That is standard for people in a religion. They trust their leaders. They
expectthat their leaders know the path to life, that they know the way to
heaven. But the horrible reality is people follow their religious leaders away
from God forever. There is only one way to heaven and that is through faith
in the Lord Jesus Christ. He alone is the Savior and the true gospelis the only
way to enter heaven.
The leaders of Israel, as they had done throughout the Old Testament, led
their people into judgment. And they were doing it again during the ministry
of Jesus Christ. Chapter13 ends "Oh Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the city that kills
the prophets and stones those sentto her." You have always done it this way.
"How often I wanted to gather your children togetherjust as a hen gathers
her brood under her wings and you would not have it. Behold your house is
left to you, desolate."
This is their history. Kill the prophets that are sent from God with the truth.
Stone the messengersthat come from heaven with the messageofsalvation.
They will take this all the way to the point where they will kill the Son of God,
the MessiahHimself. And the people will do it under the leadership of their
trusted religious leaders. This is nothing new. This is the way it always is.
People follow their false leaders into deceptionand lies and destruction.
Now as we have been working our waythrough the gospelof Luke, we have
come to understand that the leaders of the people during the time of our Lord

were a group called the Pharisees. And though there were only 6,000 ofthem,
they were the influencers. “Pharisee” comesfrom a word that means
separated. As we saw lasttime, they found their prominence before Christ.
They found it in a period betweenthe Old and the New Testamentcalledthe
inter-testamental period. They rose to prominence in that time when Greek
culture was having tremendous inroads into Israeland into the thinking of the
Jewishpeople and they wanted to pull the people back from the influences of
paganculture. They were the fundamentalists.
They are a kind of a branch of the Hasidim, the pious ones. They opposedthe
encroaching influence of Greek and Roman culture, especiallyunder
Antiochus Epiphanes, the Greek ruler who did such horrific things in Israel.
Their archrivals in Jewishsocietywere a group calledthe Sadducees. They
were wealthy, the Sadducees were. Theywere aristocratic. Theywere priests
and Levites at the top of the sortof socialfoodchain. While the Pharisees
were middle class andthey were lay people, but they had the influence with
the people and even though they knew their movement needed to reach the
people, they treated the people with a greatmeasure of contempt, as we read
in John 7:49.
They viewed the people in a condescending fashionas contemptuous and
ignorant and beneath them. But at the same time, they felt the responsibility
to the law of God to protect the people from the encroaching influences of
paganidolatry. It was 70 A.D., after our Lord had gone back to heavenand
three decades lateror so when the temple was destroyed. With the
destruction of the temple in 70 A.D. and the destruction of the city, the
Sadducees disappearedfrom history, because they basicallywere
concentratedin the temple. They were concentratedin the leadership of the
nation and when the temple was destroyedand Jerusalemwas destroyedit
was the end for them. That left one other somewhatwell-knowngroup called
the Zealots. Theywere the terrorists. They went around stabbing Romans as
we know.
They had a revolt in the year 135 A.D., and it was calledthe Bar Kokhba
revolt. It was crushed and the Zealots were eliminated. The Phariseesthen,
in the secondcentury, became the dominant Jewishleadership. The dominant

viewpoint of Judaism was a Pharisaic viewpoint. They codified that in
writings call the Mishnah. You may have heard of the Mishnah. It is the
written compilation of the orallaw, the oral rituals and the oral tradition.
They finally wrote it all down. The Mishnah when it was all written down in
that secondcentury sealedtheir leadership.
Sadducees were gone, Phariseeswere gone, the Esseneswere gone and
Pharisaismis synonymous with historic Judaism. From the secondcentury
on, Pharisaismis Judaism, and today Orthodox Judaism is the vestiges of
Pharisaism. So they have been around a long time. And so, because they
captured the people through the synagogues, theywere the ones that gotinto
the synagogues, disseminatedtheir teaching in the synagoguesandthe
synagogueswere the grass-roots,localmeeting places where the people went
to schooland were taught.
At the time of Christ, they were ritualized, they were external, but their hearts
were not changed. Theywere full of pride. As I said, they were
condescending evento the people they were trying to reachand they were
hypocritical. Jesus blisteredthem in Matthew 23 with the worst kind of
denunciation He gave to anybody. They became the arch-hypocrites and
Jesus denouncedthem for it. In fact, they were so hypocritical and this is
almost humorous if it weren't so sad, that the JewishTalmud, the Jewish
Talmud, which is the compilation of rabbinic writings from antiquity, lists
sevenclassesofPharisees,six of which are hypocrites. So even the Jewish
rabbis saw them as hypocrites, and certainly they were.
Jesus calledthem blind leaders of the blind, Matthew 15:14. And truly they
were. They went around making proselytes and Matthew 23:15 says they
made them far more the sons of hell than they themselves were. Now
naturally they came into conflict with Jesus. In fact, most of the conflict in the
ministry of Jesus is with the Pharisees andthey're underlings, the scribes who
were the legalexperts that basicallybuilt the academic and interpretive
foundation for Pharisaism. And so as we know in studying the life of Jesus He
was ever and always in conflict with the Phariseesand the scribes or lawyers.

They saw Him as a threat to their popularity. They saw Him having grass-
roots impact in synagoguesand towns and villages and being a threat to their
powerbase, a threat to their religious system, a threat to their viewpoints,
because He was swaying the people. Now our text is one of the confrontations
betweenJesus and the Phariseesand scribes among many. And our Lord
directs His words at them and while He minces no words, there is a measure
of mercy in what He says. He speaks to them always about the sin of
hypocrisy and pride. He unmasks their evil intensions toward Him. And yet
there is a...there is a mercy in what He says because it is also a call for them to
repent. Being unmaskedif they can only see the truth of who they are, they
can turn and recoverand come to Him and enter the kingdom.
But they must humble themselves. And so Jesus directs His words at their
pride and calls for humility. Let me read this sectionhere in chapter14 very
quickly. We'll start at verse 1 so you getthe setting. “Came about when He
went into the house of one of the leaders of Pharisees onthe Sabbath to eat
bread, they were watching Him closely. There in front of them was a certain
man suffering from dropsy," or edema as we saidlast week. "And Jesus
answeredand spoke to the lawyers and Pharisees saying, is it lawful to heal on
the Sabbath or not? But they kept silent and He took hold of him and healed
him and senthim away. And He said to them, which one of you shall have a
son or an ox fall into a well and will not immediately pull him out on a
Sabbath day? They could make no reply to this. And He beganspeaking a
parable to the invited guests when He noticed how they had been picking out
the places ofhonor at the table, saying to them, “Whenyou are invited to
someone...bysomeone to a wedding feast, do not take the place of honor, lest
someone more distinguished than you may have been invited by him and he
who invited you both shall come and say to you give place to this man and
then in disgrace you proceedto occupy the last place.
“But when you are invited, go and recline at the last place so that when the
one who has invited you comes, he may say to you, friend move up higher.
Then you will have honor in the sight of all who are the table with you for
everyone who exalts himself shall be humbled and he who humbles himself
shall be exalted." And he also went on to sayto the one who invited him,
"When you give a luncheon or a dinner do not invite your friends or your

brothers or your relatives or rich neighbors lest they also invite you in return
and repayment come to you, but when you give a reception, invite the poor,
the crippled, the lame, the blind and you will be blessed, since they do not
have the means to repay you, for you will be repaid at the resurrectionof the
righteous."
Lunch at the home of a Pharisee, andlast time we saw how it began. It began
with a miracle as Jesus healedthe man with edema, Jesus violating their
Sabbath tradition, but not violating the law of God. There is no such
prohibition for healing on the Sabbath in the Bible. This was their own
embellishments. But He unmaskedtheir hypocrisy by saying, “Do you think
I'm breaking your law to heal this man who's drowning in this fluid in his
body? But if you had a son or an ox that fell into a well of fluid and it was the
Sabbath day, you'd gethim out because youlove your son and because your
ox is worth money.”
And He unmasked their hypocrisy and that's why they couldn't reply. Having
done that, He then turns to speak in verse 7 and He speaks, it says, a parable.
Actually there are a couple of stories, a couple of scenariosthat He paints here
that are so fascinating. Let's just look at three things: first the illustration,
then the assumption behind the illustration, and then the application, very
simple.
The illustration: Jesus uses this socialeventon a Sabbath afternoonfollowing
the synagogue service in the morning where He has been invited to be a guest
at the home of a Pharisee, not because theywanted to honor Him, but because
they wanted to discredit Him. That's why they had the man with dropsy there
right in front of Him. They wanted Him to violate the Sabbath so they could
then have in the view of everyone a violation of the law that would prove to
everyone that He had no regardfor the law of God, no regard for the law of
Moses,no regardfor the religious traditions of Judaism, and therefore He
could not be from God. So they were setting Him up. But in the end, they
were unmasked as hypocrites and sat there in silence. And so He had then
commanded the attention of everyone. They had nothing to sayand He had
plenty to say.

And so he says, does Luke, that Jesus beganspeaking a parable to the invited
guests;the invited guests, back in 3, lawyers and Pharisees. Theyhung out
and they didn't open up to embrace anybody outside their circle. They were
the spiritually superior and they didn't like the riffraff to be in their midst.
The only reasonJesus was there was to set Him up. The only sick man with
edema... By the wayas I saidlast time, which was believe to be related to sin
particularly sexual sin or some horrible bodily uncleanness. The only reason
they would allow an unclean man like that and a sinner which they believed
was under the judgment of God in their midst was to be part of the set-up to
discredit Jesus.
And so, Jesus speaksto these Pharisees andtheir scribes a parable, a parabol.
Now let me tell you what a parable is because it's very broad. I think
sometimes you think of a parable and you think it's kind of an allegory. It
isn't. A parable has a variety of meanings. It is not allegory. Thatis to say it
is not a kind of story where everything has a secretmeaning. It's not a story
where there's some mystical, spiritual meaning that is the true meaning. It's
simply a story to make a point. It is a figurative story. It is a figurative
example. It is a metaphor. It is an analogy, a story that illustrates. And in
this case as typicalin the use that Jesus gives to them, they are earthly stories
that illustrate heavenly issues.
They are a simple story about something with which people are familiar that
opens to their understanding something with which they are not familiar.
This is just an earthly kind of behavior that illustrates a heavenly kind of
behavior. As I said, the silence has set the stage for Jesus to speak and the
miracle has been done, the questions that they would not answerleave them in
silence and He launches His teaching. And He does it, verse 7, when He
noticed how they had been picking out the places of honor at the table.
While they were watching Him, as it says back in verse 1, watching Him
closely, He was watching them. They were watching Him to try to catchHim
in a violation of the law. He was watching them for the moment when they
would reveal their self-promoting hearts, and there it was. Middle voice in the
Greek:Picking out for themselves the places of honor at the table. This is a

mad, Pharisaic scramble for the best seats. Now, ifI can just give you a little
bit of a backgroundin terms of Jewishhistory.
In later years, they wrote a lot about this. Typically the table would be in the
middle. It would be a long table. And around the table would be people
seatedin a U-shaped fashion. There was only one head of the table and then
down both sides to the far end. It could be a long table or a series oftables so
that it could be a long way. The host would sit in the middle at the head of the
table and then in importance the guests wouldsit on his right and his left and
then it would begin to flow all the way down to the leastimportant people
being way down at the other end.
That's pretty much how it still is at important events. The places of honor
were not marked with a sign. They were determined by the host. But the
nearer you were to the host, the more honor you had. And honor was a big
thing for them. I mean, they lived in an honor-shame kind of world and that
was a part of the culture itself, but in particular was a part of their
perspective because they were desperatelydesirous of being elevatedin the
eyes of men.
In Matthew chapter23, in verse 5, "Theydo all their deeds to be noticedby
men." That is an indicted of the Pharisees andthe scribes. Theydo all their
deeds to be noticed by men. "They love the place," verse 6, "of honor at
banquets and the chief seats in the synagogues.” And they loved to be called
rabbi and teacherand father and leader, and so forth. They loved that and so
there was this mad scramble to get the seats nearestto the host who was a
prominent Pharisee. InLuke 11:42, "Woe to you Pharisees,you pay tithe of
mint and rue and every kind of gardenherb," He says. And then in verse 43,
"Woe to you again, you love the front seats in the synagogues." Theywere
into the front seat, the seats thatwere reserved for those to be honored. And
this is such an obvious characteristic that it appears a number of times in the
Scripture. In thinking just here off the top of my head, Luke 20:46: "Beware
of the scribes who like to walk around in long robes and love respectful
greetings in the marketplaces andchief seats in the synagogues andplaces of
honor at banquets, but who devour widows’houses, and for appearance sake
offer long prayers."

It was all about appearance. So here they are in a mad scramble to get the
best seats nearestthe host. The display gave the Lord the necessaryparable
to teachthe truth that was so critical. And at the same time a gracious truth
as well. He gives them essentiallywhat amounts to an indictment of their
pride and an invitation to the kingdom. If you go down in verse 15, He even
says, "Blessedis everyone who shall eat bread in the kingdom." This is one of
the guests who says this, and he knows that Jesus has been talking about the
kingdom.
I mean, his people gotthe message, the people sitting around. One of those
reclining at the table says to Him, "Blessedis everyone who eats bread in the
kingdom." They knew what He was talking about. These illustrations had to
do with the kingdom of God and they knew it. By the way, they had
interesting seats in those days...a little reading about that...calledtriclinium; it
seatedthree people. It was a couch and it seatedthree people on eachcouch.
So there'd be one couchat the head with the host in the middle and the most
important dignitaries on either said. And then those couches would go along.
They reclined on their elbow and ate at leisure as you know.
Now how did you get the chief seat? How did that work? How did you get to
the front? Well, Jesus explains how you get to the front: because you have the
capability to reciprocate. The end of verse 12: "Repaymentcome to you."
This is how the whole system worked, OK? The hosthonored you because
you honored him. That was the game they played. The closerto the host, the
more important you were. Becausethe host honored you, you then had to
honor the host. If you show him honor, he'll show you honor. It was all about
reciprocation. And so in a sense only the people who were able to reciprocate
could scramble for the chief seats. The restwho didn't have what it took to
reciprocate wouldn't want to be held to that standard. So it was the more
prominent ones, perhaps the more wealthy ones.
Now Jesus says to them, let me say this to you. "Whenyou're invited by
someone to a wedding feast, don't take the place of honor, lest someone more
distinguished than you may have been invited by him. And he who invited
you both shall come and sayto you, ‘Give place to this man,’ and then in
disgrace you proceedto occupy the last place. But when you're invited go and

recline at the last place so that when the one who's invited you comes he may
say to you, ‘Friend move up higher.’ Then you will have honor in the sight of
all who are at the table with you."
I mean, what does He say? Is this etiquette? Is He giving them goodadvice to
be a better hypocrite? No, this is an analogy, parabol. Something placed
alongside something else. This is an illustration, an example, an analogy, a
metaphor, a picture. And He's not even talking about lunch. He's talking
about a wedding feast. So He moves Himself awayfrom that event so as not to
directly criticize that and He picks the most formal and the biggesteventthat
a community that would have, a wedding feast.
And He says, "When you are invited to a wedding feastdon't take the place of
honor." Don't rush to that chief seatand find that all of a sudden somebody
shows up who is more distinguished in the eyes of the host or more capable of
reciprocationthan you are. And you're going to find yourself being told, get
out of that seat, give place to this man. And then in disgrace you're going to
find yourself at the back. You've gone from the proverbial penthouse to the
outhouse. The wise thing to do, He says in verses 10 and 11, is start at the last
place so that when the one who has invited you comes and sees youthere, he's
going to say, ah prosanabain, move all the way up. You belong in the front.
And then you're going to have honor in the site of all who are the table.
They're going to say oh look, oh look at him going wayup. That's good
advice. I think that’s...that's practicaladvice, you know, be humble when you
go to an event like that. Don't rush to sit in the chief seat.
You know, in a sense this was nothing new, nothing really revolutionary.
These guys were experts in the Old Testament. Theywere experts in the law
of God. They probably remember Proverbs 25:7. "It is better for it to be said
to you come up here than that you should be put lowerin the presence ofthe
prince whom your eyes have seen." Justbuilt on that Proverbs 25:6-7. It's a
lot better to be told to come to the front than to be told to go to the back. Is
that all it's about? No, it's way more than that. This is all about the kingdom
of God. This is all about clamoring for the chief place in the kingdom of God,
rushing in a display of pride and arrogance to the front only to be told by
God, getout of that seat.

In your effort to getprominence before the Host of Heaven, before the Master
of heaven you think to elevate yourself. Like the Pharisee in Luke 18, "I
thank you that I'm not like other men. I tithe." I do this, I fasttwice a week,
etc., etc. I'm a righteous...andthis is a rush for the chief seatnext to the Host
of heaven in the kingdom. And what's going to happen is you're going to be
sent to the very end. Think not to elevate yourselves only to end up shamed,
only to end up reassigned, only to end up removed from any proximity to the
host, sentto the farthest most remote place in the domain of the host. Jesus is
saying, you've gotto learn how to humble yourself. You've gotto learn how to
take the last place. This is the message He gave over and over and over and
over. Humble yourself. Humble yourself. Take the lowly place and God will
lift you up.
And then in verse 12, He turns to the host who's not a part of the mad
scramble because his seat's alreadydetermined. But He's not going to let him
off the hook. So He says to him, verse 12, went on to sayto the one who had
invited him, "When you give a luncheon or a dinner, do not invite your
friends or your brothers or your relatives or rich neighbors, lest they also
invite you in return and repayment come to you." There's that reciprocation
system. "But when you give a receptioninvite the poor, the crippled, the
lame, the blind, and you will be blessedsince they do not have the means to
repay you, for you will be repaid at the resurrection of the righteous." Ah,
now we know we're talking about a spiritual reality. And so did they know.
That's why one of them commented about the kingdom of God in verse 15.
They knew exactly what He was talking about. In fact, he may have said more
and this is just a condensedpart of it.
By the way, we know here in this sectionthat the man had invited Jesus
because verse 12 says, "He also went on to say to the one who had invited
Him." Jesus wasn'ta drop-in guest. It was all set up to trap Him. He was
there on their perspective for evil purposes. On His, He was there to give them
mercy and an invitation to come to the kingdom. Since this man was left off
the hook because he wasn'tin the scramble, Jesus had to come up with
another perspective to help him view his own pride.

And so He says, "Whenyou give a luncheon or a dinner..." There were only
two meals a day in Jewishlife. There was ariston, early in the day, deipnon,
dinner at the end of the day. On the Sabbath, they added a third one in the
morning, but it was only those two meals, and so He says when you invite
someone for any of those meals, do not invite...and let me just clarify this, do
not only invite. This is a Semitic idiom. “Notso much” would be a way to say
it. It's not so much for you to invite your friends or your neighbors or your
relatives or rich neighbors. It's not that that's an absolute prohibition, don't
ever do it under any circumstance. Of course, you're going to have your
friends. Of course, you're going to have your brothers and relatives and your
rich neighbors because they're you're neighbors.
But what He is saying here is: Don't do that exclusively. And what He's doing
is addressing the pride and the superiority and the self-seeking thatHe saw in
their separation. And what they did was they only invited the people who
could invite them back. It was...How canI understand this? I guess maybe
one way to sayit would be this. An invitation to a meal with a Pharisee was a
kind of currency in the marketplace of Jewishsociety. Itwas a kind of
currency. They exploited hospitality for the sake ofself-gloryand elevation.
It was the "you scratchmy back, I'll scratchyour back" kind of thing. It was
a way to elevate them. I'll elevate you and you elevate me. And Jesus says,
why don't you instead of doing that all time and only inviting the people who
are going to promote you the way you promote them, why don't you give a
receptionand invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind and be blessed.
Why don't you, He is saying, humble yourselves? Why don't you humble
yourselves?
Reciprocitybasicallyruled the ethics and the actionof the socialstructure of
the Pharisees. Itwas a gift obligationsystem. It was a kind of currency as I
said. Every gift had strings. To acceptan invitation was to agree to an equal
obligation, which controlledwho was invited. You didn't invite somebody
who couldn't reciprocate. Onlythose who could reciprocate were invited and
the better and more lavish could be the reciprocation, the closerthey sat to the
host. And the lowly, my, the poor and the crippled, the lame and the blind
had no capacityto reciprocate. And even if you invited them, they wouldn't

acceptan invitation because they would know they would then be obligated
and be unable to perform. And so it would be too embarrassing to ever accept
that kind of invitation.
You see the hypocritical Pharisees hadno such thing as a disinterested
kindness. It was all self-serving. Our Lord is deconstructing their categories
you might say. He's overturning their conventionalwisdom. He's exposing
their selfishness. Youonly do this for the people who canpay you back, who
can elevate you and honor you. Just a note or two here: “Reception” in verse
13, dochn, a party, a banquet, a feast. Why don't you invite the destitute and
the maimed and the people who can't walk and the people who can't see?
Those people would never be invited, never unless as we saw with the man
with dropsy, they were a foil to trap Jesus for a higher purpose.
They separatedthemselves from the riffraff. This would be the death of their
elevation. This would defeatthe whole system. The divide that defined
Pharisees wasa divide betweenholy and the unholy, the rich, the poor, the
honored and the despised. And if they invited these people, the separation,
the middle would collapse andthe system would come crashing down. And
that's why the Pharisee in Luke 18 says, "Ithank you God that I'm not like
that guy." Who? Thatwas emblematic of how they viewed anybody below
them.
Jesus says:If you do that you'll be blessed. Since they don't have the means to
repay you, God, implied, who will repay you at the resurrectionof the
righteous. If you were to humble yourselves to that degree, you would give
evidence of having the kind of heart that is prepared to enter the kingdom.
Our Lord is speaking about eternity. That's what the resurrectionof the
righteous indicates.
The resurrectionof the righteous simply means that time when the righteous
come before God for their eternal reward. John 5:28 and 29, Jesus is going to
be there as the judge of the resurrection of the righteous and the unrighteous.
But Jesus is saying, you want to be a part of the resurrection of the righteous
entering into the kingdom of God eternally then you're going to need to
humble yourself and the kind of humiliation and self-effacing that is going to

allow you to open your arms and embrace all the people you hate, all the
people you separate from.
By the way, the resurrectionwas a big thing to the Pharisees. Theybelieved
in the resurrectionaccording to Acts 23:6 and Acts 24:15. There were
certainly other words that Jesus saidclarifying all of this. It was all about
humbling yourself. It was all about forgetting this reciprocityidea. All about
knowing you're unworthy. You're no better than the lowestof the low. Jesus
is saying the kingdom is only open to those who humble themselves. That's
the illustrations. Look at the assumption behind them in verse 11. "For
everyone who exalts himself shall be humbled and he who humbles himself
shall be exalted." And here again, without saying so, God is the humbler and
God is the exalter. This is a spiritual axiom. This is a spiritual principle.
This is the assumption behind the parables. This is the presupposition.
Everyone who exalts, hupso, who elevates, who lifts himself up shall be,
tapeino, lowered, brought low, abased.
And it is God who does this. He is the unnamed actorin verse 11. Proverbs
16:5, they knew that. "Everyone who is proud in heart is an abomination to
the Lord and it will not be unpunished." God judges the proud and God
blesses the humble. In fact, at the very beginning of the gospelof Luke in the
Magnificatof Mary, Mary says in Luke 1:46, "My soul exalts the Lord, my
spirit has rejoicedin God my Saviorfor His regard for the humble state of His
bond slave." And then down in verse 51, "He's done mighty deeds with His
arm. He scatteredthose who were proud in the thoughts of their hearts and
has brought down rulers from their thrones and exalted those who were
humble and filled the hungry with goodthings and sent awaythe rich empty-
handed."
I mean there is Mary acknowledging that Godreaches out to rescue the
humble and brings judgment on the proud. Now what Jesus is saying here is
not about socialreconstruction. It's not some kind of etiquette training to be a
better hypocrite. It's not moral motivation. It's a picture of salvation that
ends in final judgment, the judgment of the righteous. The resurrectionof the
righteous is where those who lived like this, because they were humbled and
put their trust in the living God and in His Son are then rewardedby God.

It is also, as I said, the resurrectionof the unrighteous where those do not
humble themselves will be humbled by God, sent to the remotestpart of the
divine domain where there is darkness and torment and weeping and wailing
and gnashing of teeth like the servants who are sent awayfrom the banquet
into outer darkness. So, the assumption, the truth behind the illustration is
that honor and blessing and God's kingdom, salvation, eludes those who think
they can scramble for it and earn it. Honor and blessing and God's kingdom
comes to those who know they don't have it, they can't earn it, they don't
deserve it, and they come humbly to Godpounding their breast, “God, be
merciful to me a sinner.”
By the way, the narrow door is not enteredby people bloated with the edema
of pride. It's not entered by people carrying baggage, the baggage oftheir
achievementand their works. You saywell, do you think Jesus explained
this? I don't know. I think He probably did explain some of it. That's why
when He said the resurrectionof the righteous immediately they would have
known He was talking about the kingdom. That's why the question comes,
"Blessedis everyone who shall eat in the kingdom of God." They knew what
He was talking about. And yet there's a sense in which Jesus is not obligated
to explain things because in Matthew it says, "He's hidden these things from
the wise and prudent and revealedthem unto babes." And that's why in
many cases Jesus tells parables, explains them only to His own disciples.
But here I think He extended mercy to them. His message to them, always the
same:Works, merit, external religion, useless, pride in your own achievement,
your own position, your ownreligiosity will shut you out of the kingdom. And
then finally just to comment about the application. It's just this. Nobody's
going to enter the kingdom by merit. Nobody's going to enter the kingdom by
goodworks, by righteous deeds, certainly by self-promotion, spiritual pride.
Nor did God make extra laws to make some people more proud. But that's
Pharisaism. The idea was they would make more laws so when keeping those
more laws, they would then be more righteous. Thatis really blasphemy.
Salvationhas always been to the humble and the brokenand the contrite and
those who come and plead for mercy and grace and nothing more. And we'll
see a lot more on this in chapter 18. But let me close with just some

reminders. In the greatestevangelistic sermon, the one that opens the New
Testament, Jesus saidthis, "Blessedare the poor in spirit for theirs is the
kingdom of heaven. Blessedare those who mourn for they shall be comforted.
Blessedare the meek for they shall inherit the earth." It's about bankruptcy
of spirit. It's about weeping over your condition. It's about meekness. That's
the wayinto the kingdom.
In the wonderful 4th chapter of James, it is crystalclear. Listen, verse 6.
"Godis opposedto the proud, but gives grace to the humble." What do you
do about it then? "Submit therefore to God. Resistthe devil, he will free
from you. Draw near to God. He will draw near to you. Cleanse yourhands
you sinners. Purify your hearts you double-minded. Be miserable and mourn
and weep. Let your laughter be turned into mourning and your joy to gloom.
Humble yourselves in the presence of the Lord and He will exalt you."
It's always like that. That's the way to the kingdom. It was Paul, a Pharisee
and the son of a Pharisee, zealous killerof Christians, defender of Pharisaism,
who was broken, penitent, saw himself as the chief of sinners, saw all of his
merit and religious achievementas manure, Philippians 3. Who casthimself
on the mercy of God and said, "It is a trustworthy statementdeserving full
acceptancethat Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners among whom
I am foremostof all." Jesus was saying to them that day and to us the way
into the kingdom is the way of humility, humbling yourself as a wretched
sinner before God.
Father, we thank You now as we come to this table that You have humbled us,
that You have brought us to this place of humility. This is not some human
virtue, but You have brokenus by Your spirit and Your word. And You have
drawn us to an awarenessofour own sin and hopelessnessandthen You have
lifted us to look at the cross and see there the sacrifice forour sins. We thank
You for the Lord Jesus Christ who responds to our humiliation our shame,
our sorrow with grace and salvation. Father, we now thank You for the
wondrous time we've had in Your word. It's glories are endless and may we
apply its truth. Would You humble us before You, the great and Almighty
God? Show us the folly of human pride and religious merit and efforts and
ceremonyand ritual. May we fall on our faces, humbling ourselves, pleading

for mercy that You will always give the penitent believer in Christ and know
that one day having been humbled we will be by You exalted in the glory of
Your eternal kingdom. Work Your work in every heart. We pray in Christ's
name, amen.
A. MACLAREN
THE LESSONS OF A FEAST
‘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 watchedHim. 2. And, behold, there
was a certainman before Him which had the dropsy. 3. And Jesus answering
spake unto the lawyers and Pharisees, saying, Is it lawful to heal on the
Sabbath day? 4. And they held their peace. And He took him, and healed him,
and let him go; 5. And answeredthem, saying, Which of you shall have an ass
or an ox fallen into a pit, and will not straightwaypull him out on the Sabbath
day? 6. And they could not answerHim againto these things. 7. And He put
forth a parable to those which were bidden, when He marked how they chose
out the chief rooms; saying unto them, 8. 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; 9. And he that bade thee and him come and say to
thee, Give this man place; and thou begin with shame to take the lowestroom.
10. But when thou art bidden, go and sit down in the lowestroom; that when
he that bade thee cometh, he may sayunto thee, Friend, go up higher: then
shalt thou have worship in the presence ofthem that sit at meat with thee. 11.
For whosoeverexaltethhimself shall be abased;and he that humbleth himself
shall be exalted. 12. Then said He also to him that bade Him, When thou
makesta 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
recompense be made thee. 13. But when thou makesta feast, call the poor, the
maimed, the lame, the blind: 14. And thou shalt be blessed;for they cannot

recompense thee:for thou shalt be recompensedat the resurrectionof the
just.’—LUKE xiv. 1-14.
Jesus neverrefused an invitation, whether the inviter were a Pharisee ora
publican, a friend or a foe. He never mistook the disposition of His host. He
accepted‘greetings where no kindness is,’ and on this occasionthere was
none. The entertainerwas a spy, and the feastwas a trap. What a contrast
betweenthe malicious watchers atthe table, ready to note and to interpret in
the worstsense everyaction of His, and Him loving and wishing to bless even
them! The chill atmosphere of suspicion did not freeze the flow of His gentle
beneficence and wise teaching. His meek goodness remaineditself in the face
of hostile observers. The miracle and the two parables are aimed straight at
their errors.
I. How came the dropsical man there? Possiblyhe had simply strayed in to
look on at the feast, as the freedom of manners then would permit him to do.
The absence ofany hint that he came hoping for a cure, and of any trace of
faith on his part, or of speechto him on Christ’s, joined with his immediate
dismissalafter his cure, rather favours the supposition that he had been put as
the bait of the trap, on the calculationthat the sight of him would move Jesus
to heal him. The setters of the snare were ‘watching’ whether it would work,
and Jesus ‘answered’their thoughts, which were, doubtless, visible in their
eyes. His answerhas three stages—aquestionwhich is an assertion, the cure,
and another affirming question. All three are met with sulky silence, which
speaks more than words would have done. The first question takes the
‘lawyers’on their own ground, and in effectasserts that to heal did not break
the Sabbath. Jesus challenges denialof the lawfulness of it, and the silence of
the Phariseesconfesses thatthey dare not deny. ‘The bare fact of healing is
not prohibited,’ they might have said, ‘but the acts necessaryfor healing are.’
But no acts were necessaryfor this Healer’s powerto operate. The outgoing of
His will had power. Their finespun distinctions of deeds lawful and unlawful
were spiders’ webs, and His act of mercy flew high above the webs, like some
fair wingedcreature glancing in the sunshine, while the spider sits in his
crevice balked. The broad principle involved in Jesus’first question is that no
Sabbath law, no so-calledreligious restriction, canever forbid helping the

miserable. The repose of the Sabbath is deepened, not disturbed, by activity
for man’s good.
The cure is told without detail, probably because there were no details to tell.
There is no sign of request or of faith on the sufferer’s part; there seems to
have been no outward acton Christ’s beyond ‘taking’ him, which appears
simply to mean that He called him nearer, and then, by a simple exercise of
His will, healed him. There is no trace of thanks or of wonder in the heart of
the sufferer, who probably never had anything more to do with his
benefactor. Silently he comes onthe stage, silentlyhe gets his blessing, silently
he disappears. A strange, sadinstance of how possible it is to have a
momentary connectionwith Jesus, andeven to receive gifts from His hand,
and yet to have no real, permanent relation to Him!
The secondquestion turns from the legalto a broader consideration. The
spontaneous workings ofthe heart are not to be dammed back by ceremonial
laws. Needcalls for immediate succour. You do not wait for the Sabbath’s sun
to set when your ox or your ass is in a pit. (The reading ‘son’ insteadof ‘ox,’
as in the RevisedVersion margin, is incongruous.) Jesus is appealing to the
instinctive wish to give immediate help even to a beast in trouble, and implies
that much more should the same instinct be allowedimmediate play when its
objectis a man. The listeners were self-condemned, and their obstinate silence
proves that the arrow had struck deep.
II. The cure seems to have takenplace before the guests seatedthemselves.
Then came a scramble for the most honourable places, onwhich He looked
with perhaps a sad smile. Again the silence of the guests is noticeable, as well
as the calm assumption of authority by Jesus, evenamong such hostile
company. Where He comes a guest, He becomes teacher, andby divine right
He rebukes. The lessonis given, says Luke, as ‘a parable,’by which we are to
understand that our Lord is not here giving, as might appear if His words are
superficially interpreted, a mere lessonof proper behaviour at a feast, but is
taking that behaviour as an illustration of a far deeper thing. Possiblysome
too ambitious guesthad contrived to seathimself in the place of honour, and
had had to turn out, and, with an embarrassedmien, had to go down to the
very lowestplace, as all the intermediate ones were full. His eagernessto be at

the top had ended in his being at the bottom. That is a ‘parable,’ says Jesus,
an illustration in the region of daily life, of large truths in morals and religion.
It is a poor motive for outward humility and self-abasementthat it may end in
higher honour. And if Jesus was here only giving directions for conduct in
regard to men, He was inculcating a doubtful kind of morality. The devil’s
‘darling sin
Is the pride that apes humility.’
Jesus was not recommending that, but what is crafty ambition, veiling itself in
lowliness for its own purposes, when exercisedin outward life, becomes a
noble, pure, and altogetherworthy, thing in the spiritual sphere. Forto desire
to be exaltedin the kingdom is wholly right, and to humble one’s self with a
direct view to that exaltation is to tread the path which He has hallowedby
His own footsteps. The true aim for ambition is the honour that cometh from
God only, and the true path to it is through the valley; for ‘God resisteththe
proud, but giveth grace to the humble.’
III. Unbroken silence still prevailed among the guests, but again Jesus speaks
as teacher, and now to the host. A guestdoes not usually make remarks on the
compositionof the company, Jesus couldmake no ‘recompense’to His
entertainer, but to give him this counsel. Again, He inculcateda wide general
lessonunder the guise of a particular exhortation appropriate to the occasion.
Probably the bulk of the guests were well-to-do people of the host’s own social
rank, and, as probably, there were onlookersofa lower degree, like the
dropsicalman. The prohibition is not directed againstthe natural custom of
inviting one’s associatesandequals, but againstinviting them only, and
againstdoing so with a sharp eye to the advantages to be derived from it. That
wearyround of giving a self-regarding hospitality, and then getting a return
dinner or evening entertainment from eachguest, which makes up so much of
the sociallife among us, is a pitiful affair, hollow and selfish. What would
Jesus say—whatdoes Jesussay—aboutit all? The sacredname of hospitality
is profaned, and the very springs of it dried up by much of our socialcustoms,
and the most literal application of our Lord’s teaching here is sorely needed.

But the words are meant as a ‘parable,’ and are to be widened out to include
all sorts of kindnesses andhelps given in the sacredname of charity to those
whose only claim is their need. ‘They cannotrecompense thee’—so much the
better, for, if an eye to their doing so could have influenced thee, thy
beneficence wouldhave lost its grace and savour, and would have been simple
selfishness, and, as such, incapable of future reward. It is only love that is
lavished on those who can make no return which is so free from the taint of
secretregardto self that it is fit to be recognisedas love in the revealing light
of that greatday, and therefore is fit to be ‘recompensedin the resurrectionof
the just.’
RICH CATHERS
14:12-14 Gracious Invitations
: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.
:12 He also said to him who invited Him
This is the man who is hosting the meal, a “ruler of the Pharisees”(14:1)
Jesus is going to give this important man some tips on the next time he sets up
a dinner party.

:13 But when you give a feast, invite the poor, the maimed, the lame, the blind.
:14 And you will be blessed, because they cannotrepay you; for you shall be
repaid at the resurrection of the just.”
:14 they cannot repay you
Think about inviting people who are not able to pay you back for your
invitation.

:14 you shall be repaid at the resurrection
When you get to heaven, you will be rewarded.
:13 invite the poor, the maimed, the lame, the blind
These are people to focus on when you invite.
Note: Can I make a request? When you invite people like this, don’t just
dump them on the church doorstep. Take anactive role in their lives. More
than once I’ve had people invite a troubled personto the church, only to
expectthat we do all the heavy lifting. Don’t just invite, be a friend, help out.
Can’t I just spend time with my friend?
Of course. Jesus spenttime with His friends.
Just don’t think that it’s going to earn you any specialrewards from the Lord
when all you do is hang out with people who are “easy”to be with.
The problem is when we getto the point where all we ever do is spend time
with people we’re comfortable with.
Lesson
No Comfort Zone
In a way, Jesus has just demonstrated this to his host. Jesus had been invited
to a dinner party, and for some, they might think that it’s time to relax and
take it easy. But Jesus sees this man with dropsy and turns to heal the man.

From time to time in church we are blessedto have visitors who are a little
different than others.
Some might have a different colorof skin than you do.
Some have disabilities.
Some are homeless.
Some don’t smell very well.
How are you going to treat these people? Are you going to treat them like
Jesus wants to treat them?
Video: OneTimeBlind - Comfort
These are the very people that God will in turn invite to His greatWedding
Feast(14:21), so in a way, Godis asking us to have the same heart that He has
– a heart for the lost.
Why was I a Guest?
Series:Luke
Sermon by J. Ligon Duncan on Nov 28, 2010
Luke 14:7-15
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The Lord's Day Morning
November 28, 2010
Luke 14:7-24
“Why was I a Guest?”

Dr. J. Ligon Duncan III
If you have your Bibles, I'd invite you to turn with me to Luke chapter14.
We’re going to be looking at verses 7 to 24 today. And as you get to that
passagein your Scripture, I'd like you to take your hymnals back out and
turn right back to number 715, the hymn we just sang, because Iwant you to
see an image that's used in the hymn and compare it to what we're about to
read.
The first stanza of this hymn speaks aboutthanksgiving to God for the good
harvest that He's provided. It's the classic harvesthymn. We sing it very often
at Thanksgiving time. I'm sure that was the occasionit was originally
intended for. But in the second, third, and fourth stanzas, that theme of
thankfulness to God for the harvestthat He's given, the rich provision that
He's given to His people, the hymn writer takes and turns into a meditation at
a spiritual level on the final harvest. And the harvest becomes a metaphor for
the establishmentof the fullness of God's kingdom at the secondcoming of the
Lord Jesus Christ. And we're spokenof as the harvest that He's going to
gather home to Himself. So the picture of the harvest that starts out in stanza
one becomes a picture of God's final kingdom and the gathering in of all
things at the end.

Now, of course that's not an image that the author of this hymn came up with.
If you look at the top of the page, you’ll see a passage from Matthew 13 where
Jesus Himself uses the harvestas an image for the final judgment, for the
secondcoming, and for the gathering in of God's people and the separating of
the wheatand the tares. So that is an image of the final coming of God's
kingdom in its fullness and power.
Well, in the passage today, Jesus is going to use a similar image. It's an image
that you find in various places in the Gospel. It's the image of a banquet or a
feastor a party. Jesus, in the passage, is literally at a party and He makes
some comments about the etiquette of the guests and the host at the party, but
by the time He finishes this encounter with the guests and the host at the
party, He has turned the party image into a discussionabout the end, and the
coming, and the establishmentof God's kingdom.
As we look at the passagetoday, I want you to see three parts to it. First of all
in verses 7 to 11, Jesus is going to address the issue of the humility of His own
disciples. And you’ll see that there is a sectionin verses 7 to 11 that is directly
addressedto the invitee. Look at verse 7 — “He told a parable to those who
were invited.” So the comments in verses 7 to 11 are especiallyaddressedto
the guests that were at this party.
Then, if you look at verses 12 to 15, He will change the emphasis of His
exhortation from humility to generosity. And that sectionof this story is
directed not at the guests but at the host, at the personwho has thrown this
party and come up with the guestlist and invited these people in. So we see
again, if you look at verse 12 — “He saidalso to the man who had invited
Him” — so from talking first to the guests, now He talks to the host of the
party.
And then there's this awkwardthing that's sort of blurted out in verse 15 by
someone atthe dinner table and it evokes a third sectionin this passage. Jesus
tells another story beginning in verse 16 and this is directed especiallyto the
person who blurts out the phrase that's recordedin verse 15. And so from
verses 16 to 24, Jesus changes the discussionespeciallyto ask us to think about
who is going to be on the invitation list to the final party, to the party that God

is going to throw in the new heavens and the new earth in the day of the
coming of the Lord. Who's going to be on that invitation list? So He speaks
about humility, He speaks aboutgenerosity, and then He turns our attention
to the issue of who's on the invitation list to the final party.
Well let's pray before we read God's Word.
Heavenly Father, we thank You for Your Word. We ask that You would
arrestour attention with it, that You would take our minds off the cares of
this life and world for a few minutes to think about something very, very
important, the most important party that will ever occurand who will be
there and what their characteristicsare and who will not be there and what
their characteristicsare. We pray, O Lord, that we would see very
particularly what You have for us as we come to sit under Your Word. Search
us out. Searchout our hearts, O Lord, and show our hearts to us so that we
see ourselves and see our need and see Your provision in Christ, in whose
name we pray. Amen.
This is the Word of God beginning in Luke 14 verse 7:

“Now He told a parable to those who were invited, when He noticed how they
chose the places ofhonor, saying to them, ‘When you are invited by someone
to a wedding feast, do not sit down in a place of honor, lest someone more
distinguished than you be invited by him, and he who invited you both will
come and say to you, ‘Give your place to this person,’and then you will begin
with shame to take the lowestplace. But when you are invited, go and sit in
the lowestplace, so that when your host comes he may sayto you, ‘Friend,
move up higher.’ Then you will be honored in the presence ofall who sit at
table with you. For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who
humbles himself will be exalted.’
He said also to the man who had invited Him, ‘When you give a dinner or a
banquet, do not invite your friends or your brothers or your relatives or rich
neighbors, lest they also invite you in return and you be repaid. But when you
give a feast, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind, and you will be
blessed, because theycannot repay you. Foryou will be repaid at the
resurrectionof the just.’
When one of those who reclined at table with Him heard these things, he said
to Him, ‘Blessedis everyone who will eatbread in the kingdom of God!’ But
He said to him, ‘A man once gave a greatbanquet and invited many. And at
the time for the banquet he sent his servant to say to those who had been
invited, ‘Come, for everything is now ready.’ But they all alike beganto make
excuses. The first said to him, ‘I have bought a field, and I must go out and see
it. Please have me excused.’And another said, ‘I have bought five yoke of
oxen, and I go to examine them. Please have me excused.’And anothersaid, ‘I
have married a wife, and therefore I cannotcome.’So the servant came and
reported these things to his master. Then the masterof the house became
angry and said to his servant, ‘Go out quickly to the streets and lanes of the
city, and bring in the poor and crippled and blind and lame.’ And the servant
said, ‘Sir, what you commanded has been done, and still there is room.’ And
the mastersaid to the servant, ‘Go out to the highways and hedges and compel
people to come in, that my house may be filled. ForI tell you, none of those
men who were invited shall taste my banquet.’”

Amen, and thus ends this reading of God's holy, inspired, and inerrant Word.
May He write its eternal truth upon all our hearts.
You know, this is a parable which perhaps speaks uniquely to you, because
among all the people that I have ever dwelt, I have never dwelt among a
people who know as much about a party as you. No wonder the saying has
been coined that “we may lose the game but we’ll win the party afterwards”
— a say that has peculiar meaning and application this morning, I might add.
We know a lot about parties. We know a lot about socialetiquette. There are
particular standards that we have for parties. When I go to parties in other
parts of the country, they just don't quite measure up to the kinds of parties
that you give here. There's a lot of attention to detail and socialetiquette and
there's a lot of interaction that happens still in this culture around gatherings,
frequent gatherings, that has been lost in other parts of our culture.
Well, Jesus is at a party, and while He is at that party He takes opportunity to
address the guests that are present at that party because He sees something in
their behavior that tips His hat as to the state of their hearts. And He talks to
them about something very, very important. It's the issue of humility. And
then He turns to the host of the party, the personwho's giving the party, and
He sees in the guestlist something that tips Him off as to what that person
who's giving the party really wants to get out of that party and He speaks to
him about something that is very, very important — being generous as
opposedto being selfish, being selfless insteadof being self-preoccupied. And
then someone atthe party, in an awkwardmoment in the conversationblurts
out a saying, a saying which in and of itself is true, but a saying which perhaps

indicates that the personwho said it was nervous because ofwhat Jesus had
just said. He said something that was actually pretty bold, pretty
countercultural, pretty contrary to the normal etiquette of parties and there
was an awkwardsilence. And the person blurts out this saying and Jesus, in
response to that saying, directs their attention to a greaterand a more
important party than the party that they are in, the party that GodHimself is
going to give at the end of time. And He beckons them all and you and me to
think about who is going to be there. Let's look at these things togetherthis
morning.
I. Jesus callHis disciples to cultive habits of humility.
The first thing I want you to see is the humility that Jesus speaksofin verses 7
to 11. Jesus calls His disciples to deliberately cultivate habits of humility. And
it's interesting, while He's at this party He's noticing how people are
positioning themselves to be in the most important seats. Now my friends, all
of us know something of this. Mostof us have been to a party or a gathering
or a reception when there was a certainperson or certain people that we
really, really wanted to talk to. There were people who were going to be very
important who were there and they’re the ones that we want to see and we
position ourselves in the room to make sure that we getto see those people.
Have you ever decided before you went to a socialgathering or to the party,
“You know it's this one person that I really, really want to talk to”? It may be
a very important political figure or it may be a personwho is very important
in terms of philanthropy in the community or it may be a famous celebrity
who's there and we really, really want to talk to him. Invariably, something
happens like this — as we're moving across the room, we've positioned our
prey and we're moving in for the conversation, somebodystops us and talks
with us for twenty-sevenminutes about something that we have no interest in

whatsoever, blocking us repeatedly from getting to the person that we really
want to talk to.
Well, Jesus was observing something like this among the guests at the party.
Look at verse 7 — “He told a parable to those who were invited when He
noticed how they chose the places of honor.” And then notice how He ends His
words to them, verse 11 — “Foreveryone who exalts himself will be humbled
and he who humbles himself will be exalted.” This is a very important
statementof Jesus abouthumility and the need to cultivate habits of humility.
Isn't it interesting that Jesus is at a party and He's watching party behavior
and He's drawing deductions about people's hearts from the way they behave
at a party and He is commending to them the practice of humility even in the
way they behave at a party? It's a sign again, isn't it, that Jesus cares about
every aspectof life.
It's interesting that the passagedoesn'tsay, “Oh, Jesus is too holy ever to go to
a party.” No, Jesus is found at parties all the time in the gospels but even
when He's at parties He's thinking about what is most important and He's
looking at how people behave. And He's exhorting these people who are
positioning themselves to be humble instead. Why? Well in part, because
pride can keepyou from the party that really counts. Pride is something that
can keepyou from the party at the end that God is going to throw. And so He
exhorts His disciples especiallyto practice deliberate habits of humility even
in the context of a party.
A friend of mine a few years ago saidto me that this passagehadstruck home
to him and he had determined that wheneverhe was in a room that he would
first go speak to the people in the room that are perceived to be least
important rather than seeking to go speak to the people who are perceivedas
the most important in that particular room. Another friend of mine was with
us when he said this and overheard this and said, “Ah, so that's why you
always come to speak to me first when we're at a party!” But it's interesting
that even in socialgatherings this friend of mine was trying to think about
what is the right and Christian and humble way of behaving in this social
engagement? ShouldI go immediately and sidle up to the most important
person in the room and capitalize on his or her time, or should I go speak with

other people who are not perceivedas being the focus of the event or the most
important in the room? Well Jesus is exhorting these guests who are clearly
positioning themselves in places of honor to be humble, to deliberately
practice habits of humility even in the contextof a party. Why is He saying
that? He's saying that in part because His disciples are characterized by
humility.
I love what J.C. Ryle says about this passage. He says this:
“Humility may wellbe calledthe queen of the Christian graces. To know our
own sinfulness and weaknessandto feelour need of Christ is the very
beginning of saving religion. It is a grace which has always been the
distinguishing feature in the character of every true Christian. All do not have
money to give away. All do not have time and opportunities for working
directly for Christ. All do not have gifts of speechor tact or knowledge in
order to do greatgoodin this world. But all converted people should labor to
adorn the doctrine they profess by humility. If they can do nothing else, they
can strive to be humble.”
And then Ryle asks a very pointed question: “What is the root and spring of
humility?” Where does humility come from? How do you get humble? Here's
his answer:
“One word describes it. The root of humility is knowledge,right knowledge.
The man who really knows himself and his ownheart, who knows God and
His infinite majesty and holiness, who knows Christ and the price at which He
was redeemed, that man will never be a proud man. He will count himself like
Jacob, unworthy of the leastof all God's mercies. He will say of himself like
Job, ‘I am vile.’ He will cry like Paul, ‘I am a chief of sinners.’He will think
anything goodenough for him and in lowliness of mind he will esteem
everyone else at better than himself. Ignorance, nothing but sheerignorance,
ignorance of self, of God, of Christ, that is the real secretofpride. From that
miserable self-ignorance, may we daily pray to be delivered. He is the wise
man who knows himself, and he who knows himself will find nothing within
him to make him proud.”

Now Jesus in this passageactuallyreminds us of this because in the passageat
the end it is clear that one of the points that He is making is that whereas the
religious people of Israelhave rejectedHim, the Gentiles will receive Him.
And He groups them in with those who are crippled, lame, blind, and poor.
You know, a lot of people may look at the members of First Presbyterian
Church and think that we're people of privilege and from a worldly
standpoint many of us are. But if we are believers in Jesus Christ, guess who
we are? We are the crippled, the lame, the poor, and the blind, and those who
are out by the hedges. We are not the ones who gotthe original invitation to
the party.
And our attitude to being at the party is simply, “How in the world did I get
on this guestlist because I'm among the crippled and the lame and the blind
and the poor?” That's the attitude of the true believer and Jesus is speaking to
that in this passagein verses 7 to 11.
II. Jesus wants His disciples to unselfish and generous.
But then, having addressedthe guests who were jockeying position, He now
speaks to the host of the party, the one who invited them. Look at verse 12 —
“He said also to the man who invited Him, ‘When you give a dinner or a
banquet, do not invite your friends or your brothers or your relatives or your
rich neighbors. But when you give a feast, invite the poor, the crippled, the
lame, and the blind.’” Now Jesus has just said something very provocative at
this dinner party. He turns to the host and He begins to critique his guestlist!
Can you imagine what that did to the conversation? Now canyou imagine
sitting around the dinner table with a friend to whose home you had been
invited for a nice engagementparty and let's say that friend's daughter is
going to be married soonand an engagementparty invitation list will be made
for her. And what if at that engagementparty you said, “You know, you really
ought not to invite your friends and your wealthy neighbors. You ought to

invite those who are crippled and lame and blind and poor, the outcasts, the
dregs of societyhere in Jackson. That's who you should invite to your
daughter's engagementparty.” There would be awkwardculinary noises if
you said that at a party. That's exactly what Jesus does.
My family and I were at a Mexicanrestaurant just a couple of days ago and
when we walkedin there was a streetperson. He lookedlike a homeless man,
he smelled like a homeless man, and he was clearlymentally disturbed. My
daughter and I thought that he needed to be immediately removed from the
room because his odor was permeating the whole place. The Mexicanfamily
that ownedthe restaurant however, they were very kind to him and patient.
Even when he would stand up and dance badly to the Mexicanmusic that was
playing over the speakersystem, evenwhen he would getup and down
repeatedly and wander around the room, they very patiently and kindly took
care of him. I don't think he paid for his meal. And eventually after he had
eaten, they very kindly escortedhim out of the restaurant. I know they lost
business because I saw people come into the room and go out of the room.
Now I don't know whether they went into other rooms in the restaurantor
not, but this Mexicanfamily was giving greatcare to this homeless, smelly
outcast.
Now, Jesus is saying to this man who has invited Him to this very nice dinner
party, “You know, next time you give a dinner party, don't invite the wealthy
and prominent. Invite some smelly outcasts.”It was a provocative thing.
What is Jesus saying? Forone thing, Jesus is saying this not to tell us that we
can't ever have friends and family on our party lists, but to emphasize the
importance of His disciples taking care of those who are poor and
downtrodden and overlookedby everybody else. Jesus spottedin this host's
attitude something that was self-serving. In other words, his guestlist
indicated that one of the things that this host wantedto getout of this party
was some reciprocity. He wanted either to get status and position because he
had thrown a really goodparty or he wanted to getsome reciprocal
invitations to some goodparties because he had thrown a goodparty. But
there was at leasta part of his heart that wanted to getsomething out of his
guests and the very prominent nature of the guestlist gave that away.

And Jesus is saying to His disciples, “You ought to look at people and not ask,
‘What canI get out of them?’ but ‘What is my opportunity to give in this
situation that couldn't be given back to me?’” And He stressesthatin the
passage. Didyou notice how He says, “You invite them” verse 12 “in order to
be repaid, but when you give a feast, invite those who cannot repay you. Let
God repay you. Bless those who can't repay you.” It's an exhortation for
Jesus’disciples to care for the poor and those who cannotrepay them. Jesus is
indicating here the kind of unselfish concernand generous care that His
followers will show to those who are disadvantaged, who are physically
impaired or economicallydeprived.
Again, I love what J.C. Ryle says about this passage:
“It is certainthat our Lord does not mean by this parable to forbid us from
showing any hospitality to our relatives or friends. It doesn't mean that people
of any means must be permanently written off of our guest lists and
invitations. But,” Ryle goes onto say, “we must not forget that this passage
contains a deep and important lessonand we must be carefulthat we do not
limit and qualify that lessonuntil we have pared it down and refined it into
nothing at all. The lessonof the passageis plain and direct. The Lord Jesus
would have us care for our poorerbrethren and help them according to our
power. He would have us know that it is a solemnduty never to neglectthe
poor, but to aid them and relieve them in their time of need.”
III. Jesus wants His disciples to care more for Him than they care for the
world.
Now, that rather awkwardexhortationat the dinner party apparently leads
someone there, look at verse 15, to break the silence with these words —
“Well, blessedis everyone who will eatbread in the kingdom of God!” Now

again, that statementis true, but it seems to be attempting to downplay the
radical thing Jesus has just saidabout the crippled and the lame and the blind
and the poor. It's almostlike the guy says, “Yes Jesus, it's wonderful that
crippled and lame and blind and poor people can come to the party, but
really, anybody who's at that party is blessed.” And it's almost as if Jesus says,
“Yes friend, let's think about who is going to be on that invitation list because
it may surprise you who's there and who's not there at the party at the end of
time.”
And so we see it in verses 16 to 24. Jesus begins to describe a typical
circumstance for an invitation to either a wedding feastor a party or some
kind of banquet. Now in Jesus’culture, two invitations would have been sent
out to wedding parties or feasts orbanquets. There would have been an
invitation that would have been sent out that would have indicated a date or a
time at which a party was going to be given. And then a secondinvitation
would be sent out on the day that the party was going to occur. That invitation
would be delivered personally. Servants would go out and personally say,
“The party is to begin at this particular time and it's to be at this particular
location. Come now.” The guests would have alreadyindicated that they were
going to come, they would have done their version of an RSVP, and then on
the day of the party the servants would come to them and deliver a verbal,
direct, secondinvitation to bring them to the party.
And in this story all of the people that had been given the original invitations
start making excuses as to why they can't come. Now you notice, none of the
excuses are for doing bad things. They’re not saying, “Oh I have to rob a
bank; I can't come. I have to cheat on my wife; I can't come. I have to defraud
the government of its taxes; I can't come.” None ofthe things that they’re
giving as excuses are bad things, they’re goodthings — business, “I bought a
field, I bought some new animals, just married my wife.” They’re all good
things, but they’re excuses for not coming to the party.
What is Jesus saying here? Well in part, of course, He's speaking to the
Jewishpeople of His own time who thought, “Who's going to be at the party
that God throws when the kingdom comes in its fullness? Righteous, Jewish
people, and you cantell those people because Godblessesthem. And those

people that are crippled, lame, blind, and poor, clearlyGod's judgment is on
them. The kind of people that are going to be at the party at the kingdom at
the end, they’re righteous, Jewish, upright citizens, well-respectedin their
community, many of them wealthy. Those are the people that are going to be
at the party.” And Jesus says, “No, actuallythe invitation list is going to have
none of them. It's going to be the crippled, the poor, the lame, and the blind,
and those who are out at the highways and byways.” Notice how He says this
in such a dramatic way. Verse 24 — “I tell you, none of those who were
invited will taste my banquet.”
What's Jesus saying in this passage?Jesusis saying that over concernwith
this world can keepus from the party; who are all caught up in things that we
think are very important — marriage and family and business — and we miss
the claims of God, we miss the kingdom of God, and we miss the invitation of
God's party. In this passage,these people caredmore about the business of
everyday life than they did the claims of God.
So what's Jesus saying in the passage?He's saying, “Don'tmiss the party.
Don't miss the party.” Those who are invited missedthe party because they
caredabout their own party more than the party that Godis going to throw in
His kingdom. And the people that ended up being there, frankly they didn't
deserve to have an invitation to the party, but they caredmore about God's
party than anything else.
Jesus is giving a solemnwarning to all of us. And very frankly, in this passage
as it speaks ofhumility and generosityand the true kind of fellowship that we
ought to long for, it's very apparent to me that this is uniquely applicable to
us. And Jesus’message is, “Don'tmiss the real party.” That's a timely
messagefor us, don't you think?
Let's pray.

Heavenly Father, we ask that You would grab our attention so often given to
the cares andconcerns of this life and the busyness of this life and the things
that we seek for and long for and desire and aspire for in this world and our
eyes are off of You and Your joys and Your claims and Your party. By God's
grace, wakeus up today. Draw us to Yourself. And when You draw us there,
grant that we would give You all the praise and all the glory, for You’re the
one who brings the strangers home. You’re the one who brings us to Your
table. It's not done because we're good, becausewe're not. We’re the least, the
lost, and the limping. We’re the very last people that deserve the privilege of
Your fellowship or an invitation to Your party. Teachus these truths. We ask
it in Jesus'name. Amen.
Now we're going to sing this passage. IsaacWatts did a rendering that very
beautifully applies this image to the question of salvation. Turn to number 469
and let's sing, “How Sweetand Awesome is the Place.”
Receive now the Lord's blessing. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christbe with
your spirit. Amen.

DON FORTNER
Living ForEternity
Text: Luke 14:12-15
Subject: Eternity
Date: Sunday Evening—October5, 2001
Tape # X-82a
Readings: Ron Wood & Merle Hart
Introduction:
My text will be Luke 14:12-15. Beforewe look at the text itself, let me remind
you of the background.
It is Saturday evening, the JewishSabbath, and the Lord Jesus has been
invited to dinner by one of the leaders among the Pharisees (14:1), the most
zealous of the zealous law-keepers among the Jews. There is no indication that
I know of that our Saviorwas ever invited back a secondtime to a Pharisee's
house. And it is not hard to see why.
It seems like every time he openedhis mouth, he undressedsomeone's
hypocrisy. There never was anotherman whose words were so penetrating
and so exposing. When our Lord spoke, he openedand exposedthe hearts of
men.
(Heb 4:12-13) "Forthe word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than
any twoedgedsword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit,

and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of
the heart. {13} Neither is there any creature that is not manifest in his sight:
but all things are naked and opened unto the eyes of him with whom we have
to do."
When our Lord spoke, he spoke as one having authority, divine, penetrating,
omniscient authority. The Phariseesonce reportedof him, “Neverman spake
like this man” (John 7:46).
It seems that every time our Lord spoke in a crowd, large or small, there was
a division because ofhis words. Those who are "ofthe truth" listen and obey.
He tells us, "My sheep hear my voice and I know them and they follow me"
(John 10:27,4). Those who are not of the truth do not have ears to hear or eyes
to see. The Lord says to them, “Why do ye not understand my speech? even
because ye cannot hear my word…He that is of God heareth God's words: ye
therefore hear them not, because ye are not of God” (John 8:43,47).
The Healing
The first thing our Lord did at this Saturday dinner was heal a man of
dropsy. He askedthe law-experts and Pharisees if they thought healing on the
Sabbath was lawful. They did not answer, but their silence clearly meant, No
it is not lawful.
Back in Luke 13:14 the synagogue ruler had said, “with indignation, because
that Jesus had healedon the sabbath day, and saidunto the people, There are
six days in which men ought to work:in them therefore come and be healed,
and not on the sabbath day.” Our Lord responds to their silence here the
same way he responded to that.

(Luke 14:5) "And answeredthem, saying, Which of you shall have an ass or
an ox fallen into a pit, and will not straightwaypull him out on the sabbath
day?"
Again, no answer.
Hypocrisy Undressed
The Masterleaves it for them and us to draw the inference. It is
unmistakable.—Religionists,legalists, andself-righteous Pharisees have a
keeninterest in their own welfare. When the things of God seemto stand
betweenthem and their personalinterests, they have no difficulty bending the
Word of God and the things of Godto accommodate theirinterests. The
preservationof their owninterests is clearlymore important than the will of
God the Word of God, and the worship of God.
But when it comes to another person's need, whose illness, pain, or loss is no
skin off their noses, they become conveniently rigid their hardness, that is to
say, in their spirituality! The meanest, most wicked, hard-hearted people in
this world are religious people who have no idea who God is, “whose godis
their belly!” Our Lord held such men in utter contempt; and I do, too. The
first lessonfor us to learn from this event in the earthly life of our Lord is
this:—Religion without Christ makes men and womentwofold more the
children of hell than they were before.
The first thing our Lord did at this dinner party was heal that poor man with
the dropsy, exposing the hard-heartedness of his religious host. He publicly

undressed the man’s hypocrisy. Notthe most ingratiating thing to do to your
host, but certainly the most gracious.
Pride Undressed
Then, the secondthing did must have been even more shocking. Our Master
publicly undressed the pride of the dinner guests, right there in front of
everybody. He has been sitting there watching them come in. And what does
He look for? How they are dressed? Where they are from? What are their
jobs? No. He looks for what they love. The keeneye of omniscience knows
where our treasure is. Sooneror later, he will expose it. Where our treasure is
there our hearts are, So the Lord watches andsees whatthe treasure of these
religious men is. Here it is—they love the praise of men. They love to be
esteemedfor occupying the seats ofhonor. He watches as they move in and
out of conversations,weaving their way, unnoticed by other
What does the Son of God think of this love of honor and esteem, this love of
distinction? Turn back to Luke 11:43, and see.
(Luke 11:43) "Woe unto you, Pharisees!for ye love the uppermost seats in
the synagogues, andgreetings in the markets."
(Luke 20:46-47) "Beware ofthe scribes, which desire to walk in long robes,
and love greetings in the markets, and the highestseats in the synagogues,and
the chief rooms at feasts;(47) Which devour widows'houses, and for a show
make long prayers: the same shall receive greaterdamnation."

Two things go hand in hand with loving the place of honor: exploitation of the
weak and condemnation of those deemed less honorable. If crave the praise of
men and a widow's house stands in your way, you will devour it without a
thought. But in the end your own house will collapse in the flood of God's
judgment. If we pursue the seatof honor on earth, there will be no seatfor us
in among the redeemed in glory (Luke 14:11;Matt. 5:3, 5, 7; 18:3).
(Luke 14:11) "Forwhosoeverexaltethhimself shall be abased;and he that
humbleth himself shall be exalted."
(Mat 5:3) "Blessedare the poor in spirit: for theirs is the kingdom of
heaven."
(Mat 5:5) "Blessedare the meek:for they shall inherit the earth."
(Mat 5:7) "Blessedare the merciful: for they shall obtain mercy."
(Mat 18:3) "And said, Verily I say unto you, Except ye be converted, and
become as little children, ye shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven."
Motive Undressed
You might think the Lord has ruffled enough feathers for one evening. He had
publicly undressed the hypocrisy of the legalists and their pride. Our Lord
knew how to spoil a dinner party. But he is not done. Up to this point, he has
been talking in generalto the guests atthe party. Now he turns (vv. 12-14)to

address the host. Here, he undresses the man’s motive, the motive of his heart,
before all his guests.
(Luke 14:12-14) "Thensaid 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
recompense be made thee. (13) But when thou makesta feast, callthe poor,
the maimed, the lame, the blind: (14) And thou shalt be blessed;for they
cannot recompense thee:for thou shalt be recompensedatthe resurrectionof
the just."
What an unusual way of thinking! What strange reasoning!The Lord says,
“When you have a lavish dinner party, don’t invite your relatives, friends, and
rich neighbors, who can repay you, but those from whom you can expect no
gain or advantage of any kind.”
Our Lord could not have been more coarselyblunt if he had put his finger
right in this proud Pharisee’sface. He said, “You, sir, hope to go to heaven
because ofyour goodness,and there’s no goodness inyou. You are motivated,
in all your displays of goodness,by your own, personalinterest. Everything
you pretend to do for others, you really do for yourself. And that shall be your
eternal ruin.”
Who on earth would talk like that? Probably someone whose Kingdom is not
of this world (John 18:36);someone who knows that 1000 years onthis earth
are like yesterday when it is gone (Psalm 90:4); someone who knows that our
life is but a vapor that appears and in a moment vanishes away(James 4:14);
who knows that he who saves his life now will lose it and he who loses it now
in love will save it (Mark 8:35); and who knows that there the resurrection,

the day of judgment, and eternity are real. That Someone is the Son of God,
our Savior. No man ever spoke like this man.
Lessons Intended
But why did our Lord speak as he did at this dinner party? Why did he do the
things he did? Was it merely to show up these men? Was it simply to expose
their condemnation? Was it just to publicly humiliate them? Of course not!
Our Master’s purpose in his behavior and in his speech, here and always, was
to teachand instruct us in very important spiritual things, to setforth the,
gospelof God’s free grace in him. Let me show you some of the obvious
lessons ourLord would have us learn from this passage.
I. The first thing to be learned from our Masterhere is the fact that the
Son of God came into this world to seek, serve, andsave poor, needy sinners
from whom he could never receive any recompense.
Be sure you do not misunderstand me. There is no doubt that our Lord
teaches us, indeed the grace ofGod experiencedin the heart teaches us as well
as the whole of Holy Scripture, that we ought always to care for the poor and
needy among us, particularly for those who are numbered among the saints.
“The poor shall never cease outof the land” (Deut. 15:11); and those who are
able ought to be forward in assisting them. Not to do so is to hate and despise
them; and those who do not love their brethren do not know God(1 John
3:14-17).
(1 John 3:14-17) "We know that we have passedfrom death unto life, because
we love the brethren. He that loveth not his brother abideth in death. (15)
Whosoeverhatethhis brother is a murderer: and ye know that no murderer

hath eternal life abiding in him. (16) Hereby perceive we the love of God,
because he laid down his life for us: and we ought to lay down our lives for the
brethren. (17) But whoso hath this world's good, and seethhis brother have
need, and shutteth up his bowels of compassionfrom him, how dwelleth the
love of God in him?"
As we ought to care for the poor, so too, we ought to give particular care and
attention to our weakerbrethren. Bearing one another’s burdens, we fulfill
the law of Christ (Gal. 6:20.
But out Lord is not teaching this Pharisee a lessonin moral uprightness. His
aim is much higher. Like the man describedin verse 2, who had the dropsy,
you and I are poor, helpless, perishing sinners. We could do nothing for
ourselves. We could not help ourselves. And no one else could help us, if they
were so inclined. When the Lord first begins his work of grace in us, it is not
because we wanthim, or have come to him, or have prayed for help. Not at
all! This man apparently expected nothing from the Lord Jesus. There is no
indication that he even lookedat him. But the Mastertook up the rich
Pharisee’s invitation to dinner because that poor man with the dropsy was
there for whom the time of mercy had come.
· A Certain Man
· In A Certain Place
· At A Certain Time
· For a CertainPurpose
II. The secondthing that is obvious here is the fact that in order to save such
poor, needy sinners as we are, the Son of God took the lowestplace among
men.

Again, humility is a gift of grace. The grace ofGod humbles men. But our
Lord is not teaching this crowdto make themselves humble, that they might
be exalted and recompensedin the Day of Judgment. Indeed, such self-serving
humility is not humility at all, but a mere show of humility. Our Lord is
describing true humility, his own (Phil. 2:1-11). His humility is exemplary. We
ought to be of the same mind. But he is the pattern. His humility was
voluntary. He humbled himself unto the very lowest, not that he might be
exalted, but for the love he has to us and to the glory of God. For that, he has
been exalted and shall be recompensedin the Day of Judgment.
(2 Cor 8:9) "For ye know the grace ofour Lord Jesus Christ, that, though he
was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor, that ye through his poverty
might be rich."
(Phil 2:1-11) "If there be therefore any consolationin Christ, if any comfort
of love, if any fellowshipof the Spirit, if any bowels and mercies, (2) Fulfil ye
my joy, that ye be likeminded, having the same love, being of one accord, of
one mind. (3) Let nothing be done through strife or vainglory; but in lowliness
of mind let eachesteemother better than themselves. (4) Look not every man
on his own things, but every man also on the things of others. (5) Let this mind
be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus:(6) Who, being in the form of God,
thought it not robbery to be equal with God: (7) But made himself of no
reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the
likeness ofmen: (8) And being found in fashionas a man, he humbled himself,
and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross. (9) Wherefore
God also hath highly exalted him, and given him a name which is above every
name: (10) That at the name of Jesus everyknee should bow, of things in
heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth; (11) And that every
tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the
Father."

(Isa 45:20-25) "Assemble yourselves and come;draw neartogether, ye that
are escapedof the nations: they have no knowledge thatset up the woodof
their graven image, and pray unto a godthat cannot save. (21)Tell ye, and
bring them near; yea, let them take counsel together:who hath declaredthis
from ancient time? who hath told it from that time? have not I the LORD?
and there is no God else beside me; a just God and a Saviour; there is none
beside me. (22)Look unto me, and be ye saved, all the ends of the earth: for I
am God, and there is none else. (23)I have sworn by myself, the word is gone
out of my mouth in righteousness, andshall not return, That unto me every
knee shall bow, every tongue shall swear. (24)Surely, shall one say, in the
LORD have I righteousnessand strength: even to him shall men come; and all
that are incensed againsthim shall be ashamed. (25) In the LORD shall all the
seedof Israelbe justified, and shall glory."
(Isa 53:9-12) "And he made his grave with the wicked, and with the rich in
his death; because he had done no violence, neither was any deceit in his
mouth. (10) Yet it pleasedthe LORD to bruise him; he hath put him to grief:
when thou shalt make his soul an offering for sin, he shall see his seed, he shall
prolong his days, and the pleasure of the LORD shall prosper in his hand. (11)
He shall see ofthe travail of his soul, and shall be satisfied:by his knowledge
shall my righteous servant justify many; for he shall bear their iniquities. (12)
Therefore will I divide him a portion with the great, and he shall divide the
spoil with the strong;because he hath poured out his soul unto death: and he
was numbered with the transgressors;and he bare the sin of many, and made
intercessionfor the transgressors."
III. The third thing our Redeemerteaches us here is that there shall be a
ResurrectionDayand a Judgment Day.

Everything our Saviordid in this world he did with eternity before his eyes.
He lived in the constantawarenessofeternity. Oh, may God give us grace to
do the same!
(2 Cor 4:17-18) "Forour light affliction, which is but for a moment, worketh
for us a far more exceeding and eternalweight of glory; (18)While we look
not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen:for the
things which are seenare temporal; but the things which are not seenare
eternal."
(2 Cor 5:1) "For we know that if our earthly house of this tabernacle were
dissolved, we have a building of God, an house not made with hands, eternal
in the heavens."
A. You and I are immortal souls.
B. We are all dying creatures, moving rapidly to the grave.
C. There shall be a resurrectionof the dead, both of the just and of the
unjust, a resurrectionof life and a resurrectionof damnation.
(John 5:28-29) "Marvelnot at this: for the hour is coming, in the which all
that are in the graves shall hear his voice, (29) And shall come forth; they that
have done good, unto the resurrection of life; and they that have done evil,
unto the resurrectionof damnation."
D. There shall be a Day of Judgment, at which we shall all be recompensed
for all that we have done forever.

(Acts 17:31) "Becausehe hath appointed a day, in the which he will judge the
world in righteousness by that man whom he hath ordained; whereofhe hath
given assurance unto all men, in that he hath raised him from the dead."
(Rev 20:11-15) "And I saw a greatwhite throne, and him that sat on it, from
whose face the earth and the heaven fled away;and there was found no place
for them. (12) And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God; and the
books were opened:and another book was opened, which is the book of life:
and the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books,
according to their works. (13)And the sea gave up the dead which were in it;
and death and hell delivered up the dead which were in them: and they were
judged every man according to their works. (14)And death and hell were cast
into the lake of fire. This is the seconddeath. (15) And whosoeverwas not
found written in the book of life was castinto the lake of fire."
· The Judge shall be that Man who was crucified at Calvary, that Man
who is seatedon the throne in heaven, that Man who is God, the God-man,
our Mediator, the Lord Jesus Christ.
· The basis of judgment shall be the record in heaven, the books of God’s
remembrance, and another book called, “the Book ofLife.”
· All shall perish, all shall be forever damned, whose names are not found
written in the Book ofLife.
o —Just Recompense!
o —ExactRecompense!
o —Eternal Recompense!
Let us learn to live every day in the immediate prospect of the last greatday,
when the dead shall be raised to meet God in judgment. There shall be a
resurrectionafter death. Let this never be forgotten. The life that we live here

in the flesh is not all. The death of these bodies is not the end of our existence.
The visible world around us is not the only world with which we have to do.
All is not over when the last breath is drawn, and men and women are carried
to their long home in the grave.
The trumpet shall one day sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible.
All that are in the graves shallhear Christ’s voice and come forth: they that
have done goodto the resurrectionof life, and they that have done evil to the
resurrectionof damnation.
Let us live like men and women who believe in a resurrectionand a life to
come, and desire to be always readyfor another world.—So living, we shall
look forward to death with calmness.—Soliving, we shall take patiently all
that we have to bearin this world. Trials, losses, disappointments, ingratitude,
will affectus little. We shall not look for our reward here. We shall feel that
all will be rectified one day, and that the Judge of all the earth will do right
(Gen. 18:25).
But how canwe bear the thought of a resurrection? What shall enable us to
look forward to death, the resurrection, the judgment, and eternity without
alarm? Faith in Christ! Believing him, we have nothing to fear. Our sins will
not appearagainstus. The demands of God’s law will be found completely
satisfied. We shall stand firm in the great day, and none shall lay anything to
our charge (Rom. 8:33).
· All whose names are written in the Book ofLife, all who stand before
God in Christ, washedin his blood, robed in his righteousness, shallbe
forever blessed.
o —Just Recompense!

o —ExactRecompense!
o —Eternal Recompense!
(Jer 23:6) "In his days Judah shall be saved, and Israel shall dwell safely: and
this is his name whereby he shall be called, THE LORD OUR
RIGHTEOUSNESS."
(Jer 33:16) "In those days shall Judah be saved, and Jerusalemshall dwell
safely: and this is the name wherewith she shall be called, The LORD our
righteousness."
(Jer 50:20) "In those days, and in that time, saith the LORD, the iniquity of
Israelshall be soughtfor, and there shall be none; and the sins of Judah, and
they shall not be found: for I will pardon them whom I reserve."
Illustration: RowlandHill’s Dream
There seems to have been one man in that crowdwho heard and understood
our Lord’s words. Perhaps everything recordedin this passage came to pass
specificallybecause the Lord had come to seek andfind this one sinner, whose
time of love had come. Look at verse 15.
(Luke 14:15) "And when one of them that satat meat with him heard these
things, he said unto him, Blessedis he that shall eatbread in the kingdom of
God."
I agree with him.—“Blessedis he that shall eat bread in the kingdom of God.”

DevotionalHours with the Bible, Volume 5: Chapter 34 - Jesus Dines with a
Pharisee
By J.R. Miller
Luke 14:1-14
"One Sabbath, when Jesus went to eatin the house of a prominent
Pharisee, He was being carefully watched." Our Savior did not refuse any
invitation to a proper socialfunction. His example is important for us. He
wants His people to be IN the world, though not OF the world. He does not
desire us to withdraw from men--but to live with them in life's common
relations, only being careful all the while--that we live the true life as citizens
of heaven. We are to be the salt of the earth--our influence tending to purify
and sweetenthe life about us. We are to be the light of the world--shedding
brightness upon earth's darkness, helping weakness, comforting sorrow.
John the Baptistwould not have acceptedthe invitation of this Pharisee.
He was an ascetic.His theory of life required him to keepout of the world,
witnessing againstits evil, by withdrawing from it. But Jesus did not follow
John in this. He gave men a new type of religion. His first public act, after
returning from His temptation, was to acceptan invitation to a wedding feast.
His theory of life was that the truest and most effective protest againstthe
world's evil--may be made from within, by living a holy, godly, and beautiful
life--in the midst of the world's evil.
Jesus had a reasonfor accepting socialcourtesies.He wished to show the
divine sympathy with all human life. We used to be told that He often wept--
but never smiled. But we cannot think of Jesus never smiling. His whole life
was one of gladness. He went among men--that they might know He was
interestedin their lives.

Life was not easyfor most people in our Lord's day. Their work was hard,
and they were not kindly treated by those who employed them. Their burdens
were heavy. They were poorly paid. Jesus wantedthem to know that He was
their friend; that He caredfor them, sympathized with them. He was ready
for every opportunity to get near to them, that He might do them good. When
He attended dinners, feasts, orweddings--He was not satisfiedmerely to eat
and talk over the empty trivialities which are usually discussedaround the
table on such occasions. He found time always--to say some serious, thoughtful
words, among the lighter things--which those who heard Him would not
forget. Some of His most important teachings were givenat feasts.
We scarcelyknow why this Pharisee invited Jesus to dine with him. We
cannot suppose that it was really a cordial, friendly invitation; that he wished
either to honor Jesus orto have the pleasure and privilege of entertaining Him
and hearing His profitable conversation. Possiblyit was a sinistermotive
which led him to give the invitation--a plot to getJesus nearto him, that he
might catch Him in His words--or lead Him to do something or say something
which could be used againstHim. It may bej that the presence of the man with
the dropsy that day--was part of the same evil intention. It was on the
Sabbath, and if Jesus wouldheal this man on that day, there would then be
cause for criticism, such healing being consideredby the Pharisees, a
desecrationofthe Sabbath. Of course, the sick man may have come in of his
own accord, drawn perhaps by the hope that Jesus wouldhear him. But there
is room for the suspicion that his being present that day, was part of a scheme
to get Jesus to violate the Sabbath rules, as they were interpreted by the
scribes.
Jesus was not afraid of any such plots. He never thought about expediency
or diplomacy, when an opportunity for doing goodcame His way. We are told
that He "answering spoke."Whatdid He answer? No question was asked
Him, so far as we are told. Evidently He answeredthe thoughts of the lawyers
and Pharisees who were watching to see if He would heal the sick man. Jesus
is always aware ofwhat is going on within us. Our thoughts are as open to
Him--as our acts are to our neighbors! We should not forgetthis when our
thoughts and feelings, are not what they should be.

The question Jesus askedbrought up the subjectof Sabbath healing. The
Jews consideredit wrong. But they did not care to answerHim just now--so
"they held their peace." TheywantedHim to healthe man, that they might
bring their charge againstHim. Jesus healedthe man. Thus He teaches us to
think for ourselves in matters of duty--and not to be influence by what we
suppose other people will say. Too many people take their moralities largely
from the opinions of others, doing this and not doing that, to meet the
approval of others. But that was not the way Jesus did. His rule of life--was
God's opinion. "I do always the things that are pleasing to Him." That should
be our rule of life.
Jesus askedanotherquestion. "If one of you has an ox that falls into a well
on the Sabbath day, will you not immediately pull him out?" This question
His critics would not answer. They admitted that it was right to relive a dumb
animal in such a plight. But if it was right on the Sabbath to help an ox out of
a pit--how could it be wrong to help a suffering man out of his trouble on the
same holy day? Surely a man is worth more than an ox, dearerin God's sight,
and we should be more willing to relieve a man than an ox. Thus Jesus
stripped the Sabbath of the disfigurement which human hands had put upon
it, and setit forth in its beauty, what God meant it to be when He first gave it
to man.
There was another lessonwhich Jesus wantedto teachthat day. So He
"put forth a parable." He had noticed that as they took their places at the
dinner, the guests scrambledfor the best places atthe table, the seats of
honor. There is much of this same spirit yet in the world. One sees it on
railway trains, on steamers in hotels and boarding houses, almosteverywhere.
Nearly everybody wants the best--and scrambles to get it. Sometimes it is seen,
too, where members of families try to getthe choicestthings on the table, the
most comfortable seat, or the brightest, airiest room. Often bitter strife
occurs, and harsh wrangles take place betweenbrothers and sisters--each
demanding the best. It will be wise to study this lessonvery carefully and to

apply it to ourselves--the kind of applicationwe should always make first in
studying Christ's words.
Jesus said, "When someone invites you to a wedding feast--do not take the
place of honor." We would say that common politeness would prevent any
guestat a dinner from rushing for the seatof honor. It is understood in all
refined society, that these favored places are for the guests who are specially
honored that day. Even these guests, thoughthey know they are to have the
distinction, do not take their places unbidden--but wait to be invited to them.
"But when you are invited, take the lowestplace," saidthe Masterfurther.
Thus the religion of Christ teaches the most beautiful humility and
courtesy. We are not too seek to be ministered unto--but to minister (see
Matthew 20:28; Mark 10:45); not to getdistinction and praise--but to live
humbly and quietly.
Kossuth said that of all natural emblems, he would choose the DEW as the
emblem for his life. It makes no noise, seeks no praise, writes no record--but is
content to sink awayand be lost in the flowers and grass blades, and to be
remembered only in the fresh beauty and sweetnessit imparts to all nature.
Those who always demand that they shall be recognizedand that their
names shall be attachedto everything they do, have not learnedthe mind of
Christ. Our aim should be to seek to have Christ honored, then to do goodto
others, and to be remembered only in the blessing and goodwhich we leave in
other lives.
"Foreveryone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles
himself will be exalted." Jesus tells us, further, that those who look after their
own honor--shall fail to be honored, while those who live humbly, modestly,
without seeking distinctionor praise, shall receive the best promotions.
The lastteaching of the passage is also very important. "But when you
give a banquet, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind--and you will
be blessed. Although they cannot repay you, you will be repaid at the
resurrectionof the righteous." Mary Lyon used to say to her graduates, "Go
where nobody else wants to go--anddo what nobody else wants to do." That is

another version of the teaching of Jesus here. The rich have plenty of
invitations--Christian love should seek to give pleasure to those who do not
have much of it. If you are at a party, and there is one personpresent who
seems to getno attention, that is the one whom, according to our Lord's
teaching here, you should be most interested in and should take particular
pains to make happy. Among your neighbors are some who have many things
to make up their enjoyment--friends, money, health, books, social
opportunities. But there are others who lack in these regards. While you are
to love all your neighbors, your love should show itself especiallytowardthe
latter class--those who have less and who need you more.
JOHN STEVENSON
INSTRUCTIONSTO THE HOST
And He also went on to sayto the one who had invited Him, "When you give a
luncheon or a dinner, do not invite your friends or your brothers or your
relatives or rich neighbors, lest they also invite you in return, and repayment
come to you. 13 But when you give a reception, invite the poor, the crippled,
the lame, the blind, 14 and you will be blessed, since they do not have the
means to repay you; for you will be repaid at the resurrectionof the
righteous." (Luke 14:12-14).
Jesus has just given a living parable. I think that this sectionis another
parable that grows out of the one given in the previous verses. This one is
directed to the host who had invited Jesus to the table. He was a leaderof the
Pharisees.He had prestige. The people who had been invited to the meal were
evidently also prestigious. The guest list was a "Who’s Who" of the religious
circle of the day.
The lessonis one of giving. The point is that when we give to those who are
able to reward or repay us in some way, we are not really giving. We are only

making a self-centeredinvestment. Realgiving involves giving to one who is
unable to ever repay in any way.
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Verse 10
Luke 14:10
I. To take the "lowestroom" towards God is: (1) To be content simply to take
God at His word, without asking any questions or raising any doubts, but to
acceptat His hand all that God graciouslyvouchsafesto give you—the pardon
and the peace;to be a receptacle oflove, a vesselinto which, of His free mercy,
He has poured and is pouring now, and will go on to pour for ever, the
abundance of His grace. (2)Next, it is to be just what God makes you—to rest
where He places you—to do what He tells you—only because He is everything
and you nothing—consciousofa weaknesswhichcan only stand by leaning,
and an ignorance which needs constantteaching—to be always emptying,
because Godis always filling.
II. How are we to take the lowestroomtowards man? It is quite useless to
attempt to be humble with a fellow-creature, unless you are really humble
with God. Do not put yourself up into the chair of judgment upon any man;
but rather see yourself as you are;everybody is inferior in something—far
worse than that man in some things. So your words will not grow censorious;
and if you sit low enough, you will be sure to speak charitably. Sympathy is
power, but there is no sympathy where there is self. Self must be destroyed to
make sympathy. Do not mistake patronising for love. When you comfort
sorrow, look wellto it that you touch another's grief with a reverentialhand.
And sin—whateveryou do, never treat sin with roughness or contempt. The

Pure and Holy One never did that. He dealt with the worst sinner delicately. If
you ask, "How am I to go lower?" among the thousand rules I selectone—
exalt Christ. If Christ do but occupy His right place in your heart, you will be
sure in the presence ofthat majesty and of that beauty to go and sit down in
the lowestroom.
J. Vaughan, Sermons, 1867, p. 37.
References:Luke 14:10.—T. BirkettDover, A Lent Manual, p. 11; Preacher's
Monthly, vol. ii., p. 251;G. Matheson, Moments on the Mount, p. 270;G. H.
Wilkinson, Church of England Pulpit, vol. iv., p. 310.
Verse 11
Luke 14:11
This is one of the sayings which we gather from the Gospels to have been
frequently in our Lord's mouth, and this means that it had some variety of
application—now graver, now lighter. In the passagewhichwe just read, it
was His comment on an exhibition of what we should call vanity. On the
surface He seemedto point not so much to the spiritual fault which was at the
root of the pushing for the first seats, as to its futility, to the punishment which
certainly and speedily overtook. The first seat, so claimed, could only be held
for a moment, till the host came. Then the guests would be sorted; to have
placed himself too low would bring credit, and to have placed himself too high
humiliation.
I. What our Lord said was typical. It was a parable in the sense that it was of
a characterHe spoke. This was only a trait of it. Those who chose the chief
places at the feastwere the same class ofpersons as in other and more serious
ways thrust themselves forward—"trustedin themselves and despised
others." And it was a parable, in the sense that while speaking ofan outward
act and of an immediate and visible reward, He was thinking of the whole
view of human life, and of the objects and rewards of human endeavour of

which those were a type. It was a parable of the false and of the true estimate
of greatness, ofthe reversalof human judgments, of the blindness and
littleness of human ambitions.
II. Humility is the necessaryand inevitable attitude of a Christian soul—ofa
soul which keeps in sight the revelation of God in Jesus Christ, which knows
itself a child of God, fallen, lost, yet restoredand pardoned in Him. This
attitude is never lost. It affects all relations. As betweenthemselves men vary
of course greatly. God has ordered human life, and all its natural motives and
situations are part of His providence. He does not wish us to blind our reason,
and to say that that is goodwhich conscienceandcommon sense tell us to be
mean and bad. He makes the desire to excel, the pleasure of success, to be the
springs of energy which are generallynecessaryto a manly and useful life. We
may sometimes puzzle ourselves if we try in theory to make it clearhow such
judgments on others and such natural ambitions canharmonise with the spirit
of perfect humility. But the honest heart solves the difficulty in action.
E. C. Wickham, Wellington College Sermons, p. 188.
Verses 12-14
Luke 14:12-14
Christ's Counselto His Host.
Are ordinary dinner-parties wrong, then, in the eye of Christ, our Law-giver?
Does He really condemn the customof having our friends and socialequals to
dine with us, and really demand that we entertain instead, if we entertain at
all, only those who are conventionallybelow us—only the poor and destitute,
the most melancholy objects, the most miserable creatures we canfind?
I. With respectto the passagebefore us, the veiled message, the enfolded spirit
of which I should like to penetrate and seize, there are those, doubtless, who
will maintain that it needs no explanation, that what our Lord taught at the
Pharisee's table was just this: that His host should give up entertaining his

well-to-do relatives and friends, who were able to return the compliment, and
should devote himself instead to the entertainment of the "poor, the maimed,
the lame, and the blind," by which he would secure a greaterrecompense.
This, they would affirm, is what He calledupon the man to do, as the best and
blessedestthing; but it is not for us to do nowadays. With some other of His
counsels and admonitions, it cannotbe carried out by us; is not suitable or
applicable to the present time. In reply to which I say, that it never was
suitable or applicable, and hence could not have been intended by Christ. He
never defied or contravenedhuman nature: how could He? God created
human nature, in all lands and ages, to go out after intercourse with kindred
spirits, with persons of our own tastes and habits, of our own rank or order;
and hence I know, and am sure, that Christ the Son of man never meant what,
on a superficial glance, He seems to be meaning here. The question is one not
at all of socialfellowship, but of expenditure; and of the objects to which our
greatexpenditure should be devoted. When you would lavish trouble and
money, says Christ, let the lavishing be not for your own personal
gratification, but for the blessing of others.
II. But the admonition of the text reaches beyonddining; it applies generally
to the habit of laying out freely, profusely, unstintedly, in order to any
comfort, profit, or enlargementfor ourselves, andexhorts us insteadto
confine such laying out to generous and benevolent projects—to the work of
giving pleasure, of rendering service, ofcommunicating good, which is the
very principle and Spirit of Him who, when He poured out His soul unto
death, did it to bring us to God. Now this has its own peculiar and very grand
recompense, says Christ, from which they who are mainly intent on expending
for themselves are shut out, in the blessednessofwhich they can have no
share. It finds its recompense in the "resurrectionof the just." Yes, in every
resurrectionout of evil into goodcondition, out of disorder and wrong into
righteousness andorder that is accomplishedon earth, it is reward. But there
is something besides, mostpresent and near; for there is always a resurrection
of the just within us, as often as we do anything with outlay, for love and
goodness.It begets infallibly a revival, a fresh quickening and expansion of
the spirit of love and goodness;and herein is the constantly-abiding, ever-
returning recompense of those whose gracious habit it is to look not upon

their own things, but upon the things of others. Their truest and bestreward
lies in the heavenly quality and capacitythat is being daily fosteredand
deepenedwithin them.
S. A. Tipple, Christian World Pulpit, vol. xii., p. 280
OUR DAILY BREAD
The PoorMan's Banquet
March 20, 1995
Read:Luke 14:12-24 |Bible in a Year: Joshua 4-6; Luke 1:1-20
Go out . . . and bring in here the poor and the maimed and the lame and the
blind. —Luke 14:21
During the North African campaignof World War II, some German troops
became detachedfrom their source of supplies. With their throats parched by
the intense desert sun, they were overjoyedwhen they found a newly
constructedBritish waterline. Shooting it full of holes, they fell on their
stomachs and began gulping furiously.
But they realized something too late—the British had been testing the pipeline
with salty seawater. Within 24 hours all of the Germans were dying of thirst.
Recognizing the severity of their situation, they quickly surrendered.

In a similar way, life’s painful reverses are sometimes required to break down
the willful resistance ofpeople who would rejectGod’s terms of surrender.
Jesus’parable in Luke 14 reminds us that misfortune can be a blessing if it
makes us willing to acceptGod’s invitation. He said that only the poor and
needy acceptedthe offer to attend the banquet. The rest were too self-
sufficient and preoccupied.
Whether our need is salvationor development of Christlike character,
adversities are often necessaryto help us sort out what really counts. May we
see them as God’s loving invitation to take our place at the “poorman’s
banquet.”
God offers us His matchless grace
If only we believe,
But not until we sense our need
Will we His love receive. —DJD
Admitting our weaknessmakes roomfor God's strength.
By Mart DeHaan
LANGE
Luke 14:12. Then said He also.—Thesecondparable is not a eulogy on the
host because he had invited the Saviour, although He did not belong to the
high in rank, and to his friends (Ebrard), but Isaiah, on the other hand, a
sharp rebuke on accountof a fault which is almost always committed in the
choice of guests atsplendid banquets. It Isaiah, of course, apparentthat the
precept of the Saviour must not be understood absolutely, but a parte potiori.
The Mosaic law had already allotted to the poor and needy a place at the
feast-table, Deuteronomy14:28-29;Deuteronomy 16:11;Deuteronomy 26:11-

13, and the Saviour also wills that one should henceforth show his kindness
not exclusivelyor primarily to those who can most richly requite the same.
The thought that the origin of the Christian Agapæ must be derived from this
precept (Van Hengel) is purely arbitrary.
Lest they also invite thee again.—The commonunderstanding with which one
gives a feastto a man of consequence, namely, that he shall be invited in turn,
the Saviourhere represents as something that is far more to be avoided than
anxiously to be sought. It is of like characterwith the ἀπέχειν τὸν μισθόν,
Matthew 6:5. “Metus, mundo ignotus.” Bengel. Only where one does
something, not out of an everyday craving for advantage, but out of
disinterestedlove, does the Saviour promise the richestreward.
Luke 14:14. At the resurrectionof the just.—The last phrase, τῶν δικαίων,
would have been entirely purposeless if the Saviour had here had in mind the
generalresurrectionwhich He describes, e. g., John 5:28-29. He distinguishes
like Paul ( 1 Thessalonians 4:16;1 Corinthians 15:23)and John ( Revelation
20:5-6) betweena first and a secondresurrection, comp. also Luke 20:34-36,
and impresses thereby on this oftcontroverteddoctrine the stamp of His
unerring αὐτὸς ἔφα. At all events, this word contains a germ which is further
developed in the later apostolic writings. Comp. Bertholdt, Christol.
Judœorum, § 38. That which according to Paul and John intervenes between
the first and secondresurrection, the Saviour here leaves untouched, without,
however, in any respectcontradicting it. That He does not speak ofδικαίωνin
the Pharisaical,but in the ethical, sense, Isaiah, ofcourse, understood. Nor is
He here concernedto praise His host, who had invited Him, Luke 14:1,
apparently with a perverse intent, but only to lay down the generalprinciple
which in socialintercourse may never be lost out of mind, and to allude to the
joyful prospectat which every one may rejoice who obediently conforms
himself to this precept.

Who Should We Invite to Thanksgiving Dinner?
Resource by John Piper
Scripture: Luke 14:12–14 Topic: Fellowship& Hospitality
Matthew 28:19 and 20 is calledthe GreatCommissionnot because it is better
than all the other commissions in the Bible, but because it includes all the
other commissions. Go and make disciples of all nations includes the whole of
our duty once we understand what making a disciple means. It means two
things:
1) Bringing people to Christ through faith and baptism.
2) Teaching them to do all that Jesus commanded. The Great Commissionis
all-inclusive because it demands that we do all that Jesus commanded.
Therefore, we are engagedin fulfilling the Great Commissionwheneverwe
help others obey Christ, and we will never be finished with the Great
Commissionuntil we do everything Christ has told us to do.
It is obvious, then, as a pastorthat my agenda is setfor me already. My sole
task is to call people to Christ and then do all in my powerto help them keep
all of Jesus'commandments. And missions week, with its emphasis on calling
people to faith worldwide, leads with an inescapable biblicallogic to the task
of "teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you." And that is
where we are this morning.
In two and a half weeksmostof us will have a thanksgiving feast. In order to
fulfill the GreatCommissionthat we observe everything Jesus commanded,
we need to know whom Jesus wants us to invite to that feast. So I want to talk
about that while there is still time.
Bending the Law for Their Own Comfort

The text is Luke 14:12–14. It is Saturday, the Jewishsabbath, and Jesus has
been invited to dinner by one of the leaders among the Pharisees (14:1), the
most zealous of all law-keepers among the Jews. There is no evidence that I
know of that Jesus was everinvited back a secondtime to a Pharisee's house.
And it is not hard to see why. It seems like every time he opens his mouth, he
undresses somebody's hypocrisy. There never was another man whose mouth
was more closelytied to the human heart. Was there ever a word that came
out of Jesus'mouth that did not touch the ultimate issues ofthe soul? No man
ever spoke like this man. "Forthis very thing I was born and for this I came
into the world: to bear witness to the truth. Everyone who is of the truth hears
my voice" (John18:37).
So when Jesus spokeout at a Saturday dinner and when we hear him through
the gospels today, a division is created. Those who are "ofthe truth" listen
and obey. "My sheep hear my voice and I know them and they follow me"
(John 10:27, 4). Those who are not of the truth do not have ears to hear or
eyes to see. Jesus says to them, "Why do you not know what I say? It is
because you are not able to hear my word . . . The one who is of God hears the
words of God. This is the reasonyou do not hear, because you are not of God"
(John 8:43, 47). So let's take heed how we hear the words of Jesus, lestwe be
found indifferent or antagonistic to his teaching and so prove ourselves to be
outside the fold. I pray that the way we hear today will prove that we are all
among the number of whom Jesus said, "Father, I have given them the words
which thou gavestme, and they have receivedthem and know in truth that I
came from thee."
The first thing Jesus does atthis Saturday dinner is heal a man of dropsy.
Perhaps he was lying outside the Pharisee'shouse as they entered(like
Lazarus used to lay at the rich man's gate). Jesus askedthe law-experts and
Pharisees ifthey thought healing on the sabbath was lawful. They did not
answer, but their silence clearlymeant, No it is not lawful. In Luke 13:14, the
synagogue ruler had said, "There are six days in which work ought to be
done, come on those days and be healedand not on the sabbath day." And so
Jesus says here at the dinner the same thing he saidthere in the synagogue:
"Which of you, having a son or an ox that has fallen into a well, will not
immediately pull him out on a sabbath day?" (14:5). No answer.

Jesus leaves it for them and for us to draw the inference, namely: You law-
experts and Phariseeshave a keeninterest in your own welfare. When the law
seems to stand betweenyou and the safetyof your valuable ox, you have no
difficulty relativizing the law. The preservationof your own comfort is clearly
a higher commitment than rigorous sabbath keeping. But when it comes to
another person's need, whose illness is no skin off your nose, then the law
becomes convenientlyrigid to protectyou from involvement. O, the
wickednessofreligious people! whose highestlove, whose god, is not the Lord
but selfishconvenience, and for whom the holy law of God is either rigid or
robbery depending on whether it protects or threatens that convenience.
I talkedto a womanrecently who has made a policy of lying to an institution
in this city in order to gain a certain convenience. I said, "That's wrong and it
will not square with your claim to be a followerof Christ." She said, "I think
the Lord understands." In other words, the law is rubber. But if you ask what
she wants from her husband and what she thinks the Scriptures require of
him, then the law is not rubber anymore. It is rigid. Inconsistent? Notreally.
It is a very consistenteffort to manipulate God for the sake ofone's
convenience.
So it is clear, isn't it? No one will go out of here today without understanding
this, I hope: you can be at your furthest ebb from God in the very exercise of
your religion. Man at his worst is religious man using his religionto protect
himself from the inconvenience and disturbance of needy strangers.
Seeking the Praise of Men
That is the first thing Jesus does whenhe comes to dinner. Not the most
ingratiating thing to do to your host, but perhaps the most loving. The second
thing Jesus does is to undress the pride of the dinner guests right there in
front of everybody. He has been sitting there watching them come in. And
what does he look for? How they are dressed? Where they are from? What
are their jobs? No. He looks for what they love. Jesus always watchesuntil he
knows where our treasure is. Because where your treasure is, is where your
heart is, and Jesus wants the heart! So Jesus watchesand he sees whattheir

treasure is: they love the praise of men. They love to be esteemedfor
occupying the seats ofhonor. And he watches how they move in and out of
conversations, weaving their way unnoticed to the bestseats. Nobodyfools
Jesus. He is master, absolute master, of every situation!
What does Jesus think about the guest's whose treasure is the praise of men?
In short, he thinks they will go to hell if their values don't change. Listen to
what he said in two other places about this form of idolatry. Luke 11:43:
"Woe to you Pharisees!for you love the bestseatin the synagoguesand
salutations in the marketplaces." Luke 20:46, 47:"Beware ofthe scribes who
like to go about in long robes and love salutations in the market places and the
best seats in the synagoguesandthe places of honor at the feasts, who devour
widows'houses and for a pretense make long prayers. They will receive the
greatercondemnation." Two things go hand in hand with loving the places of
honor at the feast:exploitation of the weak and condemnation. If your
treasure is the praise of men and a widow's house stands in your way, you will
just destroy it. But in the end, your own house will collapse in the flood of
God's judgment. So Jesus here says in Luke 14:11, "Everyone who exalts
himself will be humbled and he who humbles himself will be exalted." If you
pursue the seats of honor on earth you will have no seatat all in heaven (cf.
Matthew 18:3; 5:20).
Living by the Law of Reciprocity
Now you would think Jesus has ruffled enough feathers at one dinner:
exposing the legalist's ability to twist the law in order to protecttheir selfish
convenience, and exposing the pride of those who crave the praise of men. You
would think the party is over. But he is not done yet.
He said also to the man who had invited him, "Wheneveryou give a dinner or
a banquet, do not invite your friends or your brothers, or your relatives or
your rich neighbors, lest they also invite you in return and it be a repayment
for you. But when you give a feast, invite the poor, the maimed, the lame, the
blind, and you will be blessed, because they cannotrepay you. For it will be
repaid to you in the resurrection of the just." (Luke 14:12–14)

Up till now Jesus has talkedto the guests. Now he turns to the host. "Don't
touch that snake, lestit bite you and you die." "Don't climb that rope, lestit
break and you fall." "Don't invite your friends and brothers and relatives and
rich neighbors to dinner, lestyou be repaid in kind." What an unearthly
argument! "Danger!Repayment ahead!" "Warning! This repayment may be
dangerous to your health!" Who on earth would talk like that? Probably
somebody whose kingdomis not of this world (John 18:36);somebody who
knows that 1,000 years on this earth are like yesterdaywhen it is gone (Psalm
90:4); somebody who knows that our life is but a mist that appears and in a
moment vanishes away(James 4:14); who knows that he who saves his life
now will lose it later, and he who loses it now in love will save it later (Mark
8:35); and who knows that there will be a resurrectionunto eternallife, a
resurrectionof the just to live with God a million millennia of eons, if indeed
he was our God on this earth. Jesus is the man. No man ever spoke like this
man. And the people who callhim Lord ought not to be like any other people.
Take heedhow you hear. There are some whose first and only reactionto
Jesus'words will be: "Well, he can't mean that, because then we would have
no more church suppers, no more Sunday Schoolsocials,no more family
reunions, and even the Lord's Supper would have been wrong." Then, having
thus defused the text and bent the sword of the Spirit, they move on to the
next passageand right on through the New Testamentjustifying themselves
and, just like the Pharisees, manipulating the law of Christ to preserve their
unruffled tradition and convenience.
There is no better defense againstthe truth than a half-truth. And the half-
truth is, Jesus does not intend to end all family meals and gatherings of
friends. But the truth is: there is in every human heart a terrible and powerful
tendency to live by the law of earthly repayment, the law of reciprocity. There
is a subtle and relentless inclination in our flesh to do what will make life as
comfortable as possible and to avoid what will inconvenience us or agitate our
placid routine or add the leastbit of tensionto our Thanksgiving dinner. The
most sanctifiedpeople among us must do battle every day so as not to be
enslavedby the universal tendency to always actfor the greatestearthly
payoff.

The people who lightly dismiss this text as a rhetorical overstatementare
probably blind to the impossibility of overstating the corruption of the human
heart and its deceptive powerto make us think all is wellwhen we are
enslavedto the law of reciprocity, the law which says:always do what will pay
off in convenience, undisturbed pleasures, domestic comfort, and social
tranquility. Jesus'words are radical because oursin is radical. He waves a red
flag because there is destruction aheadfor people governed by the law of
reciprocity.
It Really Matters Who You Invite to Dinner
I stress the dangerof living for earthly repayment (for ease, convenience,
comfort, tranquility) because Jesus stressedit. Listen to these other sayings.
Luke 6:24: "Woe to you that are rich, for you have receivedback your
consolation."The rich are condemned because the use of their money showed
where their heart was:they used it to secure their lives and pad themselves
with comfort and luxury and consolation, insteadof using it to meet the needs
of the suffering.
Jesus takes this saying from Luke 6:24 and makes a parable out of it in Luke
16:19ff.:
There was a rich man who was clothedin purple and fine linen who feasted
sumptuously every day. And at his gate lay a poor man named Lazarus, full of
sores, who desiredto be fed with what fell from the rich man's table; and the
dogs came and lickedhis sores. The poorman died and was carried by the
angels to Abraham's bosom. The rich man also died and was buried; and in
Hades, being in torment, he lifted up his eyes and saw Abraham far off and
Lazarus in his bosom. And he called out, "FatherAbraham, have mercy upon
me, and send Lazarus to dip the end of his finger in waterand coolmy tongue,
for I am in anguish in this flame." But Abraham said, "Son, remember that
you in your lifetime receivedback your goodthings, and Lazarus in like
manner evil things. But now he is comfortedhere and you are in anguish."

Why didn't the rich man give Lazarus the crumbs from his table? Because
Lazarus was in no position to pay back any goodthing. The rich man's life
was governedby the law of reciprocity, by the earthly benefits he could
receive back in all his dealings. He wore the finest clothes and feasted
sumptuously and did not inconvenience himself with the poor, sick man at his
very door. And so he went to hell, where everybody will go who uses his
money to feastsumptuously with comfortable, respectable guests insteadof
using it to alleviate suffering.
When you give a feast, invite the poor, the maimed, the lame, the blind, and
you will be blessed, becausethey cannot repay you. For you will be repaid at
the resurrectionof the just.
You will be blessedbecause they cannotrepay you! You will be blessed
because they cannotrepay you! What an amazing thing for Jesus to say!We
get ourselves bracedfor some good, solid self-denial. We screw on our
willpower to exercise some disinterestedbenevolence.And Jesus turns around
and says:Your self-denial for the poor will bring you great blessing. Your
benevolence is not, nor ever could be, disinterested. Indeed, your eternal
interest is at stake. "It is more blessedto give than to receive" (Acts 20:35).
"If you lose your life (in love) for my sake, you will save it" (Mark 8:36). So in
the end, for those who obey, there is no self-sacrifice. Who wouldn't count
everything as rubbish in order to gain Christ?
Why does it make such an eternaldifference whom you invite to Thanksgiving
dinner? It is not so much that this one afternoonis all-determining. The
reasonit makes an eternaldifference is that it, along with many other
occasions,reveals where our treasure is. Is Jesus, with his commands and
promises, more valuable to us than tradition and convenience and earthly
comfort? Is he our treasure or is the world? That question is not decided
during an invitation at church. It is decided at Thanksgiving dinner, and hour
by hour every day, by whether we are willing to inconvenience ourselves for
those who can't repay, or whether we avoid them and so preserve our placid
routine. It matters whom you invite to Thanksgiving dinner because it matters
where your treasure is.

On the back of your bulletin there is a paragraphwhich says, "If you would
like to enjoy the blessing of having a Lao or Hmong family to join you for
Thanksgiving Dinner, please callthe church office between8 and 4:30 or
evenings call Rick or Marie Wilson." I pray that we will all see the connection
betweenthis opportunity and Luke 14:12–14.
EVERYTHING YOU EVER WANTED TO KNOW ABOUT HOSPITALITY
SERIES:JESUS, SAVIOR OF THE LOST
By Ron Ritchie
I could see the leaves turning colorand feel the slight change in the weather
that came every Octoberin the farming district of northern Pennsylvania. We
had put all the corn and hay into the barns, and we were ready for winter. It
was about 6:30 pm on a Wednesdayevening in 1952 whenI arrived at the
main office of the orphanage where I had lived and workedfor the past eight
years. I was 19 years old, a senior in high school, and the draft board was
breathing down my neck hoping to get me into the Koreanconflict upon
graduation.
Two men who were in charge of the home met me in the main office and
promptly informed me I was to leave the home that evening and not come
back. I had the sense that something was wrong;the reasons theygave were
weak, strange, andlater proven to be untrue. But they had been building a
case againstme over a number of years, and this was a chance for them to get
rid of me. Finally they beganheading toward me physically to force me out,
and I broke in total frustration and just startedswinging. I knockedthem
both down, then pickedone of them up and pushed him through a French
door. I slammed out of the office and into the cold night with only the clothes
on my back and just startedwalking. I was angry, scared, penniless, homeless,
and alone. I walkedeightmiles to the town where my high schoolwas. When I

finally arrived in town it was about 8:30. I didn't know what to do or where to
go, but I remember passing a little Baptist church just as a prayer meeting
was breaking up, and I thought, "Not more Christians!" Then, being
physically and emotionally spent, I collapsedon the ground. When I came to I
was being placed into an ambulance they had sent for. I opened my eyes and
saw the one face I was hoping to find in that little town, that of Don Vaughan,
my high schoolEnglishteacher. All I remember before I passedout again
were his words:"It's okay, Ron, I'll take care of you. Don't worry about
anything."
Since 1949 Donhad always been there for severalof the kids from the home,
and I was one of "his boys." That night he took me into his home because he
had already takenme into his heart. I had no future and no hope. But he took
care of me for a week, and then he found a room for me on the third floor of
an old farm house, provided some money for me to get settled, found me a job
after schoolat a localgrocerystore, and helped me finish my senior yearof
high school. He was there when I graduatedfrom high schoolon a Friday
night, and he was there the next day when I got on a train to go to the Korean
war. Here was one man, whom I found out years later was a Christian, who
opened his heart and home not only to me but to many other "sick" young
men and women, and offered love, support, encouragement, and healing year
in and year out. He was a godly man who truly understood what the apostle
Paul meant when he encouragedthe saints in Rome to "practice hospitality"
(Romans 12:13). This wonderful "loverof strangers" is now lying on his sick
bed a few houses awayfrom the very office where it all beganfor me so long
ago. I picked up the phone and calledhim Monday, and the first thing he said
was, "Ron!How's one of my boys?"
As we turn to Luke 14:1-24, we find a hospitable Pharisee inviting Jesus into
his home for a Sabbath luncheon. Now, hospitality is one of the gifts that God
has placedinto our hearts because hospitality is in his heart. The original
meaning of hospitality is to be a "loverof strangers."We cansee how, since
the days after the fall of Adam, all of us have become strangers to God
because ofour sin. But God, who is rich in mercy and grace, was willing to
reachout in love to all of us who were strangers by sending his Son Jesus
Christ to die for our sins. He declares eachand every one us who is willing to

acknowledge Jesus as Lord and Savior, no longer strangers but sons and
daughters of God, and invites us to recline at table with him forever. In Luke
14 we will see our Lord use this luncheon invitation to lead his hostand the
guests into the spiritual realities of true hospitality as demonstrated by God
the Fatherand his Son to both the Jews and the Gentiles. The first spiritual
lessonconcerning true hospitality is to...
I. Provide opportunities for healing
Page:2
Luke 14:1-6
And it came about when He went into the house of one of the leaders of the
Pharisees onthe Sabbath to eatbread, that they were watching Him closely.
And there, in front of Him was a certain man suffering from dropsy. And
Jesus answeredandspoke to the lawyers and Pharisees, saying, "Is it lawful to
heal on the Sabbath, or not?" But they kept silent. And He took hold of him,
and healedhim, and senthim away. And He said to them, "Which one of you
shall have a son or an ox fall into a well, and will not immediately pull him out
on a Sabbath day?" And they could make no reply to this.
Now Jesus was still in the district of Perea on the eastside of the Jordan. It
was once againa Sabbath. There is no mention of our Lord's attending a
synagogue service,but somehow afterthe synagogue serviceour Lord was
invited into the house of a leading Pharisee for the Sabbath luncheon. This
leading Pharisee may have been a member of Israel's supreme court, which
might explain the need for a hidden agenda, as he and the other scribes and
Pharisees were "watching Him closely," whichhas the sense in the original
language ofwatching with evil intent.
This is the seventh time in the gospels that our Lord has come into conflict
with the Phariseesoverwhat one could or could not do on the Sabbath. Now
besides Jesus, some scribes andPharisees andthis man who was suffering
from dropsy were invited to Sabbath lunch. It appears that this man was
placed in front of Jesus so that the Pharisees andscribes could watchwhat he
would do on the Sabbath. The Lord and everyone else understoodthat dropsy

would eventually be fatal if the buildup of body fluids around the heart and
lungs was not stopped. Once again we get a picture of the fatal spiritual
condition of the nation of Israelin this man's physical condition. We can also
see the hardened hearts of the religious leaders, the shepherds of Israel, whom
we might have expectedto say to our Lord, "Jesus, we have a dear man in our
community who is suffering terribly with dropsy, and we all know it's just a
matter of time before he will die. We have prayed for him and our best
medical people have tried to help him, but all to no avail. We have heard of
your love and mercy toward the sick, and we were hoping that if we brought
him to this luncheon you might be moved to heal him, to the glory of God."
But insteadthey placed this sick man in front of Jesus, setting Jesus up in the
hope that he would do something to break the Sabbath.
Jesus lookedatthe Phariseesand scribes and, knowing their hearts, asked
them a question before they could speak. "Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath,
or not?" Foronce again the Jewishleadershipwas sticking to the letter of the
law rather than the spirit of the Law. It was true that one was not to work on
the Sabbath, for if he did he would be accusedoflawbreaking, resulting in
death by stoning (see Exodus 20:11; 31:15). But over and over againour Lord
was seeking to teachthe people that the Sabbath was made for man and not
man for the Sabbath. In the early history of Israelthe Sabbath was designed
by God so his people would experience rest, resulting in a deep inner joy. It
was a foretaste ofthat spiritual resting from all work that the people of God
would one day attain in Christ. Our Lord teaches us in Hebrews 3-4 to strive,
to work hard at entering our Sabbath rest. What does he mean? We're to
work hard to stop depending on ourselves to accomplishwhat God wants us to
accomplishin this community. We're to work hard at depending on Jesus
Christ, resting from our labor so God can work in and through us.
In the days of Jesus, however, the Sabbath observance had become largely
external and formal, and there was more concernfor the letter of the law than
for the needs of humanity. Jesus had a desire to walk before his Father and
keepthe Law of Moses.The Law of Moses neversaid you couldn't heal
someone who was sick on the Sabbath. Although Jesus upheld the authority
and validity of the Law of Moses, his emphasis was not on its external
observance, but on the spontaneous performance of the will of Godthat

formed the basis of the Law. His clashes with the religious leadership came
over the 39 principles they had added, the "traditions of men."
"But they kept silent. And He took hold of him [the man with dropsy], and
healed him, and sent him away. And He said to them, 'Which one of you shall
have a son or an ox fall into a well, and will not immediately pull him out on a
Sabbath day?' And they could make no reply to this." Our loving and
merciful Lord evaluated the immediate situation: He saw the Pharisees'
hearts, he knew it was the Sabbath, and he lookedat
Page:3
the sick "stranger" before him. The man's life hung in the balance, and there
was no reasonto wait another day before offering him physical and hopefully
spiritual healing. He reachedout with a heart of compassionand healedhim
immediately, with no comment, and sent him away. It was an amazing
moment. Was there rejoicing? Notfrom the Phariseeswho were present.
Once againour Lord was seeking to demonstrate to the nation of Israelhow
spiritually sick they were, almost unto death, and how willing he still was to
offer them spiritual healing, and to do it quickly. He then challengedthe
religious community with the reality that the Law of Mosesdid not forbid
them from saving their sons or oxen from a fatal death if they fell down a well
on a Sabbath day, but rather they would immediately pull them out. So our
Lord, upon seeing the immediate physical dangerof the sick man before him,
healed him quickly without breaking the Sabbath. And the Pharisees did not
rejoice;they were speechless.You see, whenJesus came to the luncheon, he
came to offer life. But they had setup a hidden agenda to try to trap him,
using the food as a distraction. Now, God does not callus as Christians to
open our homes and our hearts with a hidden agenda. All of you have been to
homes-I have-where they give you a fortune cookie with a Bible verse in it or
something. You kind of wonder, "What is going on here?" especiallyif your
hosts haven't built a relationship with you. They're just doing their thing, but
their heart isn't in it.
One woman was trying to lead her husband to the Lord. She calledme and
told me her husband had left her. When I askedher why, she told me she had

Bible verses all over the refrigerator door, Christian songs playing all the
time, and Bible verses attached to all the food inside the refrigerator. She put
tracts in his lunch and a tract on his car window in the morning. She had a
Bible on his side of the bed and a Bible on her side. I said, "If I were your
husband, I would have left you long ago!That's harassment!" She was truly
harassing her husband with Jesus. She said, "What should I do?" I told her,
"Go geta grocerybag and put all that paraphernalia in it, then ask God to
forgive you. Ask him to give you a heart for your husband, for who he is just
as a human being." To make a long story short, she did that, and I had the joy
of seeing him come into the kingdom. She was there, because she really did
love him when all the silliness was over.
When I was a young pastorover at Walnut Creek PresbyterianChurch, the
Lord began blessing our high schoolministry, which was very small. We
gatheredtogethera staff that loved kids and loved Jesus. It started to grow
and kept blossoming, and we ourselves didn't know what was going on; no one
was taking any credit for it. Our small group became two hundred fifty or
three hundred kids who attended our Sunday morning "Dialog" in the church
gym. This was before the Jesus movement, and you just didn't hear about
those kinds of things in 1969. It wasn't long before other Presbyterian
ministers in our area heard about this growing ministry, and invitations were
offered to our staff to share with them what the Lord was doing among us.
One day I was askedto attend a lunch with my senior pastorand a senior
pastor from anotherchurch. I thought we were meeting to have some
fellowship among kindred spirits over a meal. But it became clearthat the
other pastor had a hidden agenda. He beganto talk with my boss about our
youth ministry. We quickly found out that he was not rejoicing with us about
the spiritual healing and maturing that was happening among the teenagers;
jealousyand angerstarted showing through when he told us he thought it
wasn't fair for our church to have so many young people. He wanted my boss
to see if they could arrange to have a set of buses come by our church each
Sunday morning and take half of our kids to his church. He was trying to
figure out how to get in on a goodthing without a relationship. He wantedthe
numbers, but he didn't want to love them. Talk about a hidden agenda!

That's why we have to be very careful in our hearts when we offer hospitality,
that it's pure. We need to pray that the Lord will use it to his honor and glory,
and we'll leave all the silly tricks out of the conversationand the meals. We
need to watch every meal very carefully to see who's who and what's going on,
and to be led by the Spirit on how to be sensitive, goodhosts so that men and
women who come into our homes sick leave healed. Our Lord wants us as his
spiritual children to be lovers of strangers, expressing our love in such a way
that they canbecome spiritually healed, not misused by a hidden agenda or
some evil plot.
The secondspiritual lessonwe find is...
II. When you are a guest, do not exalt yourself
Luke 14:7-11
Page:4
And He began speaking a parable to the invited guests when He noticedhow
they had been picking out the places ofhonor at the table; saying to them,
"When you are invited by someone to a wedding feast, do not take the place of
honor, lest someone more distinguished than you may have been invited by
him, and he who invited you both shall come and sayto you, 'Give place to
this man,' and then in disgrace youproceedto occupy the lastplace. But when
you are invited, go and recline at the last place, so that when the one who has
invited you comes, he may sayto you, 'Friend, move up higher'; then you will
have honor in the sight of all who are at the table with you. Foreveryone who
exalts himself shall be humbled, and he who humbles himself shall be
exalted."
In the culture of the Middle Eastat that time (and still the case today), when a
family hosted a greatbanquet or a wedding feast, they would have the
servants set up round tables for the meal. Cushions were setup in a U-shape
around three sides of the table so that three people could recline at eachtable.
The place of honor was in the center of eachU-shape, the next highest to the
left, and the lastto the right. So in any given feastthe host might have as
many places of honor as tables setup. Everyone knew what seatwas the place

of honor among the three seats. Normallyall the guests would stand around
until the hostcame in and pointed out who was to sit in the places of honor.
It is interesting that our Lord againused a feastto demonstrate a spiritual
truth. In the accountof the banquet given in Luke 13:29-30, our Lord taught
the people that only those who place their faith in him as their Messiahand
Savior would eat with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, the prophets, and also the
Gentiles. And in that story the Lord taught that "some are last who will be
first and some are first who will be last." Now in this story he is about to teach
them the spiritual principle that "everyone who exalts himself shall be
humbled, and he who humbles himself shall be exalted."
We don't know how many people were in the Pharisee's home that Sabbath
afternoon, but we do know that they did not wait for the word from the host,
but almostrushed to the tables to take the places ofhonor. Our Lord may
have been thinking of Proverbs 25:6-7:"Do not claim honor in the presence of
the king, and do not stand in the place of great men; for it is better that it be
said to you, "Come up here, than that you should be put lower in the presence
of the prince, whom your eyes have seen." The host and the other people
could not see that this man Jesus reallywas the King of the universe, for he
was clothed in the robes of a servant, waiting for the host to tell him where to
sit.
The apostle Paulwould write some 30 years after our Lord's resurrection,
"Do nothing from selfishness orempty conceit, but with humility of mind let
eachof you regard one another as more important than himself; do not
merely look out for your own personalinterests, but also for the interests of
others. Have this attitude in yourselves which was also in Christ Jesus, who,
although He existedin the form of God, did not regard equality with God a
thing to be grasped, but emptied Himself, taking the form of a bond-servant,
and being made in the likeness ofmen. And being found in appearance as a
man, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even
death on a cross. Thereforealso Godhighly exalted Him, and bestowedon
Him the name which is above every name...." (Philippians 2:3-9.) Our Lord
wanted to use this parable to demonstrate that these spiritual leaders of Israel
were not interestedin humbling themselves. Theywere interested only in their

own power, position, and pride. So they rushed to the places of honor; they
didn't ask the host where to sit, but just took what they eachthought was their
rightful place, and ended up fighting over the places ofhonor. They weren't
shepherding the sick community; they were working very hard to get to
undeserved honor.
I hope you never get to see the early tapes of my first few years at PBC!I
don't want anybody to know how bad it was when I first arrived. Ray
Stedman summed them up for me one day in a loving rebuke when he said,
"Ritchie, why do you always seemto want to be the baby at every dedication,
the bride at every wedding, and the corpse at every funeral?"
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That was rather to the point, and I didn't know what to do about it. I asked
the Lord to deal with me concerning my pride, which drove me to want to sit
at undeserved places of honor. Shortly after that rebuke, I found myself
waiting at a red light at the corner of Middlefield and Page Mill late one
Thursday night after a long elders'meeting. I askedthe Lord whether he was
trying to saysomething to me through Ray. The Lord placed a verse on my
heart from 1 Peter5:5-7:
"You younger men...be subject to your elders;and all of you, clothe
yourselves with humility towardone another, for God is opposedto the proud,
but gives grace to the humble. Humble yourselves, therefore, under the
mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you at the proper time, casting all
your anxiety upon Him, because He cares for you."
Part of the problem when we're tempted to be proud is that we don't believe
God is going to take care of us, so we have to take care of ourselves. This
passagesays to castit all on him, and he will take care of us. If you're
wrapped in robes of humility it means you're resting in Christ-back to the
Sabbath rest. I'm not a young man anymore, but the truth of this verse still
grips my heart and pulls me into line when I am tempted to at leastbecome
the "corpse atevery funeral" rather than just my own.

Our loving Lord is encouraging his spiritual children to reflecthis character
by becoming lovers of strangers, inviting these strangers into our hearts and
homes with the hope that our time with them might provide some emotional
or spiritual healing. He also wants us to live our lives in humility before him
rather than spending time seeking to exalt ourselves to undeserved places of
honor. When we are invited to others' homes and enter in an attitude of
humility, men and women can approachus without feeling intimidated, and
they can find out who we are so that there's life and conversation. And in that
conversationthere may be greatopportunity to share the truth of Jesus
Christ, just by our life and the way we treat them. It can open doors so you
can turn around and invite them to your home. Now the third principle Jesus
offers the host of this luncheon is....
III. Review your guestlist
Luke 14:12-14
And He also went on to sayto the one who had invited Him, "When you give a
luncheon or a dinner, do not invite [only] your friends or your brothers or
your relatives or rich neighbors, lest they also invite you in return, and
repayment come to you. But when you give a reception, invite the poor, the
crippled, the lame, the blind, and you will be blessed, since they do not have
the means to repay you; for you will be repaid at the resurrectionof the
righteous."
As our Lord lookedaround Him He could see that most of the people at the
luncheon seemedto be kinfolk, friends, or rich neighbors of the host, all of
whom sometime in the future could repay this present luncheon by having a
party themselves and inviting all the same people. They all knew eachother
and were on the same plane socially. The makeup of the party would be the
same, only the host would change. Our Lord saw that the motive of the host's
heart was one of selfishness, security, and exclusiveness. In reality the
luncheon was a picture of what sort of ministry the spiritual leaders were
conducting among the people of God in Israel: exclusive, self-promoting, and
immediately rewarding. But the lifestyle he wanted them to have would setup
a picture of how to have a ministry the way he did. He walkedamong the rich

as well as the poor, among those who were of reputation as wellas those
without reputation. It seems as if he constantly had people from both spheres,
both rich and poor, come to him and feel very comfortable with him. But the
wrong wayto give a party is to have a very selectlist.
So he said, "But when you give a reception, invite the poor, the crippled, the
lame, the blind, and you will be blessed, since they do not have the means to
repay you; for you will be repaid at the resurrectionof the righteous." This
principle would certainly challenge the motives of their hearts, as it might our
own. Our immediate temptation might be to say, "But Lord, those kind of
people will never be able to invite us to their house for a party. And Lord,
those kind of people are not really our kind of people; they have no manners,
no
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socialgraces, no business cards and contacts, no cleanclothes. Lord, get
serious, that kind of party would be a waste of time and energyin this day and
age." Butour Lord's challenge to this Pharisee was reallya summary of his
whole life and ministry. Remember in the beginning of his ministry he quoted
Isaiah61 in the synagogue ofNazareth:"The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me,
because He anointed Me to preach the gospelto the poor. He has sent Me to
proclaim release to the captives, and recoveryof sight to the blind, to set free
those who are downtrodden, to proclaim the favorable year of the Lord."
(Luke 4:18-19.)
The Young Couples Class used our house lastnight for a get-togetherofabout
about sixty people. The Young Couples Class always brings their kids, lots of
them! And the kids know very few rules: "CanI jump in the hot tub before
we take off the cover?" "CanI go upstairs and play with your computer?"
"Canwe swing from the chandelier?" I was all over the place. As I mentally
lookedover the list lastnight, out of all those people who were in our house I
think there were only two who could ever invite us to their home. All the rest
were still struggling; they'll probably never be able to repay in like manner, at
leastwhile I'm on this earth! That's the right wayto give a party, though. It

was so much fun, so much joy, so pleasurable-allthe babies, all the different
kinds of people from all walks oflife.
On the other hand, Friday night we were with some friends talking about how
we had been at a party where we were absolutelydead mackerels. We were
not on the normal guest list, and the host slipped us in. Everybody knew that
we were slipped in, and it was just as if we were invisible for four hours. Have
you ever been invisible for four hours? You eatyour pâté. They talk about
everything that you don't know anything about, and they make sure you don't
know. They talk about all the people you don't know, and you have nothing to
say. No one wants to talk to you, because you're not on their list and you
aren't getting on their list.
The Lord wants us to have a love for strangers, as we saw reflectedin his own
ministry, regardless oftheir physical or financial condition. What the Lord
wants us to see is the spiritual condition of all those strangers around us. Some
of them are spiritually bankrupt and crippled by some addiction or legalism,
others are lame because ofsome sin in the past or present, and then there are
those who are spiritually blind to the truth of God. It may not seemvery
rewarding to reachout to those kinds of people on this earth, but our Lord
promised those who are willing to trust him and to live as he lived on earth
that there are two rewards: You will be blessedwith a sense of wholeness,
peace, and joy; you feel right about who you are and who you're with as you
love and minister among the strangers ofthis world. And then because you
have placed your faith in Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior, you will be
rewardedby God at the resurrectionof the righteous.
I was recently made aware of a situation in which a young woman was having
a very difficult physical problem. She needed to move out of her living
situation in order to regainher health. I calledup a couple who are part of
this spiritual family and askedthem if they would check out this situation and
give me some suggestions as to who might be able to offer her a spare room in
their home for a few months until she could get back on her feet. After a
couple of days I receiveda phone call from this couple who had takenthe time
to interview the woman and pray about the situation. They had finally decided
that they were willing to become lovers of this stranger. She now lives with

them, and we can all join with them in prayer that this woman will be
physically and spiritually healed.
Our loving Lord is encouraging his spiritual children to reflecthis character
by becoming lovers of strangers, towardthe end of providing some emotional
or spiritual healing. He wants us to live our lives in humility before him rather
than spending time seeking to exalt ourselves to undeserved places ofhonor.
And now we have been called to review our guestlist to make sure we include
not only our family and friends, but also the physically and spiritually
handicapped. Finally, our Lord will offer the hostof this luncheon a fourth
spiritual principle:
IV. Prepare to be slighted
Luke 14:15-24
And when one of those who were reclining at the table with Him heard this, he
said to Him, "Blessedis everyone who shall eat bread in the kingdom of
God!" But He said to him, "A certainman was giving a big dinner, and he
invited many; and at the dinner hour he sent his
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slave to say to those who had been invited, 'Come; for everything is ready
now.' But they all alike beganto make excuses.The first one said to him, 'I
have bought a piece of land and I need to go out and look at it; please consider
me excused.'And another one said, 'I have bought five yoke of oxen, and I am
going to try them out; please considerme excused.'And another one said, 'I
have married a wife, and for that reasonI cannot come.'And the slave came
back and reported this to his master. Then the head of the household became
angry and said to his slave, 'Go out at once into the streets and lanes of the
city and bring in here the poor and crippled and blind and lame.' And the
slave said, 'Master, whatyou commanded has been done, and still there is
room.' And the mastersaid to the slave, 'Go out into the highways and along
the hedges, and compelthem to come in, that my house may be filled. ForI
tell you, none of those men who were invited shall taste of my dinner.'"

The Jewishpeople had the prevailing idea that once the Messiaharrived and
setup his kingdom, they would all participate in a continuous banquet (see
Isaiah25:6-9). Our Lord pickedup on that statement and began to teachthem
a parable: The man was the Lord God, who for some 1500 years had made
plans to have a great dinner for the Jewishnation. So he sent out invitations in
advance for many in the nation to come to the banquet he was preparing.
Finally the day came when the meal in the kingdom of God was ready, so he
sent out his servants to summon all those who were invited, "Come, for
everything is ready," symbolizing the life, death and resurrectionof our Lord
Jesus. This was the feastin which all from the Jewishnation who had placed
their faith in God and his SonJesus would recline at table with Abraham and
his spiritual seed. But eachand every one who was invited found some excuse
not to come. The Lord gave a party for Israel, and very few came!They were
so busy with the cares ofthis world, the burden of riches, and the pleasures of
life that they refused to leave them for the banquet they had been invited to in
advance. The bottom line was that they did not like him and treated him with
indifference, contempt, and deceit.
"And the slave came back and reported this to his master. Then the head of
the householdbecame angry and said to his slave, 'Go out at once into the
streets and lanes of the city and bring in here the poor and crippled and blind
and lame.'" The Lord had the party anyway. This is a beautiful picture of the
ministry of our Lord Jesus Christ as he reachedout to the spiritually
handicapped within the nation of Israel and invited them to come into the
kingdom of God. But once the slave brought all of them in there was still room
for more, and so they went out into the highways and along the hedges and
compelled the Gentiles to come in, that his house might be filled. In this
statementwe find once againin the heart of God his love for the estranged.
We also see the terrible judgment placedon all in the nation of Israelat that
time who had receivedthe invitation but refused to come. They would not get
a secondinvitation.
Everything You Ever Wanted to Know about Hospitality would be a great
title for a book if one were called to put on numerous dinner parties. But as
we can see now from Luke 14, our Lord wantedus to understand that the true
meaning of hospitality is becoming, by his power, love and grace, lovers of

strangers with a view toward their physical, emotional, and spiritual
wholeness.
Our Lord used this luncheon meal to show the Jewishnation through the man
with dropsy how spiritually sick they were and how willing he was to heal
them if they would humble themselves and accepthim as their Messiah. Some
of the Jews acceptedhim as their Messiah, but most rejectedthe invitation as
well as the Host and his Son. So our wonderful Lord and lover of strangers
turned to the Gentiles, and as many as receivedhim as their Lord and Savior,
he gave the gift of eternallife and a ministry of reconciliation.
That little English teachera long time ago said, "Ron, I'll take care of you.
Don't worry about anything, you're coming to my house." Foralmost forty
years now we've had this relationship, and just recently it's been growing
deeper and deeper. (This is a man who married but never had children.) I told
him Monday, "You know, Don, every time I call you, I know your name is
Don, but why do I want to sayPapa?" There was a long silence on the phone.
Then he said, "Thank you, son." I was a stranger, an alien, homeless, andhe
brought me in and made me a son, I'll recline at table forever with the Lord
because ofhim.
The goodnews is that in this generationour risen Lord is still a lover of
strangers, Jewsand Gentiles alike. You may be at this moment estranged
from God, but he will welcome you to his banquet of eternal life if you
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will just accepthis invitation of love and forgiveness as expressedin the death
and resurrectionof his SonJesus.
Catalog No. 4259Luke 14:1-24 44th MessageRonRitchie August 25, 1991
Copyright (C) 1995

J. C. RYLE
Places ofHonor, Luke 14:7-14
And he put forth a parable to those which were bidden, when he marked how
they chose out the chief rooms; saying unto them, When you are bidden of any
man to a wedding, sit not down in the highest room; lest a more honorable
man than you be bidden of him; And he who bade you and him come and say
to you, Give this man place; and you begin with shame to take the lowest
room. But when you are bidden, go and sit down in the lowestroom; that
when he who bade you comes, he may sayunto you, Friend, go up higher:
then shall you have worship in the presence ofthem that sit at meat with you.
For whoeverexalts himself shall be abased;and he who humbles himself shall
be exalted. Then said he also to him that bade him, When you make a dinner
or a supper, callnot your friends, nor your brethren, neither your kinsmen,
nor your rich neighbors;lest they also bid you again, and a recompense be
made you. But when you make a feast, callthe poor, the maimed, the lame,
the blind: And you shall be blessed;for they cannot recompense you: for you
shall be recompensedat the resurrectionof the just.
Let us first learn from these verses — the value of humility. This is a lesson
which our Lord teaches in two ways. Firstly, He advises those who are bidden
to a wedding to "sitdown in the lowestplace." Secondly, He backs up His
advice by declaring a greatprinciple, which frequently fell from His lips,
"Whoeverexalts himself — shall be abased;and he who humbles himself —
shall be exalted."
Humility may well be called the queen of the Christian graces.To know our
own sinfulness and weakness, andto feel our need of Christ — is the start of
saving religion.
Humility is a grace which has always beena distinguishing feature in the
characterof the holiest saints in every age. Abraham and Moses andJob and
David and Daniel and Paul — were all eminently humble men.
Above all, humility is a grace within the reachof every true Christian. All do
not have money to give away. All do not have time and opportunities for

working directly for Christ. All do not have gifts of speech, and knowledge, in
order to do goodin the world. But all convertedmen should labor to adorn
the doctrine they profess by humility. If they can do nothing else — they can
strive to be humble.
Do you want to know the root and spring of humility? One word describes it.
The root of humility is right knowledge.
The person. . .
who really knows himself and his own heart,
who knows Godand his infinite majesty and holiness,
who knows Christ and the price at which he was redeemed
— that person will never be a proud person.
He will count himself, like Jacob, unworthy of the leastof all God's mercies.
He will say of himself, like Job, "I am vile!" He will cry, like Paul, "I am the
chief of sinners!" He will considerothers better than himself (Philippians 2:3).
Ignorance — nothing but sheerignorance, ignorance ofself, of God, and of
Christ — is the realsecretof pride. From that miserable self-ignorance, may
we daily pray to be delivered.
The wise personknows himself — and will find nothing within to make him
proud.
Let us learn, secondly, from these verses — the duty of caring for the poor.
Our Lord teaches this lessonin a particular manner. He tells the Pharisee who
invited Him to his feast, that, when he made "a dinner or a supper" — he
ought not to "invite his friends," or relatives, or rich neighbors. On the
contrary, He says, "When you make a feast — invite the poor, the maimed,
the lame, the blind."
The precept containedin these words, must evidently be interpreted with
considerable limitation. It is certainthat our Lord did not intend to forbid

men showing any hospitality to their relatives and friends. It is certain that He
did not mean to encourage a uselessand profuse expenditure of money in
giving to the poor. To interpret the passagein this manner, would make it
contradict other plain Scriptures. Such interpretations cannot possibly be
correct.
But when we have said this, we must not forgetthat the passagedoes containa
deep and important lesson. We must be carefulthat we do not limit and
qualify that lesson, until we have pared it down and refined it into nothing at
all. The lessonofthe passageis plain and distinct. The Lord Jesus would have
us care for our poorer brethren, and help them according to our power. He
would have us know that it is a solemn duty never to neglectthe poor, but to
aid them and relieve them in their time of need.
Let the lessonof this passage sink down deeply into our hearts. "There will
never cease to be poor in the land. Therefore I command you: You shall open
wide your hand to your brother, to the needy and to the poor, in your land."
(Deuteronomy 15:11.)A little help conferredupon the poor judiciously and in
season— will often add immensely to their happiness, and take away
immensely from their cares, andpromote goodfeeling betweenclass and class
in society.
It is the will of Christ that all His people who have the means, should be
willing and ready to help the poor. That stingy, calculating spirit, which leads
some people to talk of "the work-house,"and condemn all charity to the poor
— is exceedinglyopposed to the mind of Christ. There is a reasonwhy our
Lord declares that He will say to the wickedin the day of judgment, "I was
hungry — and you gave me no food; I was thirsty — and you gave me nothing
to drink." There is a reasonwhy Paul writes to the Galatians, "All they asked,
was that we should continue to remember the poor — the very thing I was
eagerto do." (Matthew 25:42. Galatians 2:10.)
Let us learn, lastly, from these verses — the greatimportance of looking
forward to the resurrectionof the dead. This lessonstands out in a striking
manner in the language usedby our Lord on the subject of showing charity to

the poor. He says to the Pharisee who entertained Him, "The poor cannot
repay you — you shall be repaid at the resurrectionof the just."
There is a resurrectionafter death. Let this never be forgotten. The life that
we live here in the flesh, is not all. The visible world around us, is not the only
world with which we have to do. All is not over when the last breath is drawn,
and men and women are carried to their long home in the grave.
The trumpet shall one day sound — and the dead shall be raised
incorruptible. All who are in the graves shall hear Christ's voice and come
forth — those who have done goodto the resurrection of life, and those who
have done evil to the resurrectionof damnation. This is one of the great
foundation truths of the Christian religion. Let us cling to it firmly, and never
let it go.
Let us strive to live like men who believe in a resurrectionand a life to come
— and desire to be always ready for the eternal world. So living, we shall look
forward to death with calmness. We shall feel that there remains some better
portion for us beyond the grave. So living, we shall take patiently all that we
have to bear in this world. Trial, losses,disappointments, ingratitude — will
affectus little. We shall not look for our rewardhere in this poor world. We
shall feel that all will be rectified one day, and that the Judge of all the earth
will do right. (Genesis 18:25.)
But how canwe bear the thought of a resurrection, without dread? What shall
enable us to look forward to a world to come, without alarm? Nothing can do
it, but faith in Christ. Believing in Him — we have nothing to fear. Our sins
will not appear againstus. The demands of God's law will be found
completely satisfied. We shall stand firm in the greatday, and none shall lay
anything to our charge. (Romans 8:33.)Worldly men like Felix, may well
tremble when they think of a resurrection. But believers, like Paul, may
rejoice.

CHARLES SIMEON
LIBERALITY TO THE POOR RECOMMENDED
Luke 14:12-14. Thensaid he also to him that bade him, When thou makesta
dinner or a supper, call not thy friends, nor thy brethren, neither kinsmen,
nor thy rich neighbours; lest they also bid thee again, and a recompence be
made thee. But when thou makesta feast, call the poor, the maimed, the lame,
the blind: and thou shalt be blessed;for they cannotrecompense thee:for
thou shalt be recompensedat the resurrectionof the just.
IT is a thing yet to be learned in the religious world, that there is no part of
Christian duty beneath the attention of those who hear the Gospel, or those
who preach it. The Church is a building, which must be carriedforward till
its final completion. Its foundation must be laid; but in laying it, we must not
imagine that it is of any use of itself; it is laid, in order to have a
superstructure raisedupon it; and the builder must advance in his work till he
has “brought forth the top-stone.” St. Paul would “not be always laying the
foundation of repentance toward God, and faith in our Lord Jesus Christ, but
would go on unto perfection.” Thus we would do: and whatever our blessed
Lord inculcated on his Disciples, thatwould we also inculcate on all who
profess to belong to him.
Our Lord, dining at the house of a Pharisee ona Sabbath-day, set himself to
correctsome evils which he saw peculiarly predominant there. Amongst the
company he perceiveda spirit of ambition and self-preference;which he
endeavouredto correctby a parable suited to the occasion. It should seem,
too, that the feastwas sumptuous, or, at least, that none but rich people were
invited to it: he therefore, to counteractthe pride which such a banquet
fosteredand displayed, told them what kind of feasts he approved; and that,
instead of laying out their money in sumptuous entertainments, he would have
them rather to spend their money in making provision for the poor. In
conformity with this precept, we shall endeavour to set before you some rules
and reasons fora proper expenditure of our money.
I. Some rules—

Two are mentioned in our text;
1. Do not waste your money in giving entertainments to the rich—
[We must not construe this so strictly as, to decline all friendly intercourse
with our richer relatives or neighbours, or to refuse them the rights of
hospitality; for kindness is due to them as well as to the poor, and doubtless
may occasionallybe exercisedtowards them in the wayapparently forbidden
in our text. But we must not affecthigh company, or spend money
unnecessarilyin entertaining them. Hospitality indeed is good; and we should
“love if [Note: 1 Timothy 3:2. Titus 1:8. 1 Peter 4:9.],” and not “be forgetful to
entertain strangers;because some have thereby entertained angels unawares
[Note:Hebrews 13:2.]:” but still this is essentiallydifferent from a fondness
for parade and feasting;which, howevervindicated as necessaryto form
connexions for one’s children, and to promote socialintercourse, and to keep
up one’s stationin the world, is little else than sensualityand pride. To feast
the rich, will involve us in greatexpense, which of course must lessenour
means of doing goodto the poor: therefore, though occasions mayoccur
wherein we may not improperly exercise hospitality towards them, we must
not find our pleasure in such feasts, nor should we devote to them any
considerable portion of our income. The generality of persons accountthe
keeping of high company, and the being able to entertain them in a splendid
way, as the chief use of wealth; and they launch out into these kinds of
expenses the very instant they have receivedsuch an accessionoffortune as
will enable them so to do. But we must shew ourselves of a different spirit, and
not sanctionby our example any such evil practices.]
2. Devote your property rather to the relieving and comforting of the poor—
[God has ordained that there shall always be poor amongsthis people, in
order that graces ofevery kind may be called forth into exercise among them
[Note:Deuteronomy 15:11.]. These therefore are to be the specialobjects of
our care;but especiallythose among them whom God in his providence has
visited with afflictions which incapacitate them for labour; “the poor, the
maimed, the lame, the blind.” The talents which God has committed to our
care, are to be laid out with a particular reference to them. Under the law, it

was appointed that every person should lay up the tithe of his increase every
third year, for the express purpose of feasting “the stranger, the fatherless,
and the widow, in the courts of the Lord,” that all of them togethermight “eat
and be satisfied[Note: Deuteronomy14:28-29.].” In a similar manner, we also
are enjoined at statedperiods to “lay by us in store as Godhas prospered us
[Note:1 Corinthians 16:2.]:” and even those who are forced to work with
their hands for their own maintenance, are yet required to labour the more, in
order “that they may have to give to him that needeth [Note: Ephesians
4:28.].” It is true, that there is no need of throwing down all distinctions in
society, and feasting with the poor on terms of strict equality; but to make
them happy, should be an objectnear our hearts. Indeed it is, if I may so
express myself, a godlike employment: for God himself has shewn a marked
respectfor the poor, in that “he has chosenthe poor of this world rich in faith,
and heirs of his kingdom [Note:James 2:5.].” He has set us an example of this
very thing in the dispensationof his Gospel. In the verses following the text, he
represents himself as having made a greatfeast, and invited many: and,
because his invitations are slighted by the rich, the gay, the worldly, he says to
his servants, “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: yea, Go out into
the highways and hedges, and compel them to come in, that my house may be
filled [Note: ver. 16–23.].”Thus, as by his Gospelhe makes them preeminently
partakers of his spiritual blessings, so we also, as far as our circumstances will
admit of it, should make them partakers of our temporal blessings.]
This, though felt and acknowledgedby us as a duty, needs yet to be enforced
upon us, in order that it may be reduced to practice:we will therefore proceed
to enforce it by,
II. Some reasons—
The two things which men aim at in the disposalof their money, are pleasure
and advantage:and it is from an idea that these are more to be obtained by
feasting with the rich, that people almost universally prefer that method of
expending their property. But we do not hesitate to say, that the mode of
expending it which has been recommended to you has greatly the superiority
in point,

I. Of gratification—
[We do not deny but that there is considerable pleasure in entertaining one’s
friends: we must however assert, thatthat pleasure is carnal in its nature, and
transient in its duration. But the delight which arises from providing for the
poor, and making them happy, is solid, refined, permanent. If it were nothing
more than the thought of contributing to lessenthe miseries to which human
nature is exposed, it would be very delightful; the very sensationof sympathy
is exquisite: but the thought of being God’s messengerto them for good, and
the hope that “by our means thanksgivings will abound to God [Note:2
Corinthians 9:12.],” and that our heavenly Parent will be adored and
magnified through us; this is a sensationwhich even an angelmight envy. We
can easilyconceive the comfort which an indigent fellow-creature feels in
being relieved from his distress;yet is that not to be compared with the
happiness excitedin the bosom of him who administers the relief: for One who
cannot err has told us, that “it is more blessedto give than to receive.” The
comfort of the relieved continues only whilst the pressure of his calamity is
removed: but the donor may look back at the distance of many years, and feel
againthe same delights which he experiencedat the first communication of
his alms.
Amongst the many considerations whichtend to perpetuate his comfort, one
in particular is, that, in administering to the poor, he has ministered to the
Lord Jesus Christ himself. Christ has condescendedto identify himself with
his poor members, and to regardevery thing which is done for them, not only
as done for him, but as done personally to him [Note:Matthew 25:35-40.]. O
what a thought is this to one who feels his obligations to Christ! I suppose
there is scarcelyan enlightened Christian in the universe, who has not envied
the womenwho had the privilege of “ministering to him of their substance
[Note:Luke 8:3.]:” but the man who delights in comforting the poor, occupies
their province; and is privileged to view, as it were, the very person of Christ
in all such guests. Verily, he can have but little love for his Saviour who does
not feelmore delight in this thought, than in all the gratifications which high
company and a well-spreadtable ever afforded.]
2. Of benefit—

[All the benefit that the feasting of the rich brings with it, is, the getting a good
name among them, and the being invited to their feasts in return. The latter of
these is what our Lord rather teaches us to dread, inasmuch as it cancels the
obligation we have conferred, and makes our expenditure in vain [Note: ver.
12.]. It is to be lamented, however, that amongsthis reputed followers, the
being invited to feasts is no greatobjectof dread. But the man who feasts the
poor, canlook for no recompence from them; (exceptindeed in their blessings
and their prayers;) but from God, he shall be recompenseda hundred-fold.
The communications of grace and peace shall abound towards him whose
delight is in doing good: “having wateredothers he shall be wateredhimself.”
This is declaredby an inspired writer in the most express and most eloquent
terms: “If thou deal thy bread to the hungry, and bring the poor that are cast
out to thy house; if when thou seestthe naked, thou coverhim, and hide not
thyself from thine own flesh; if thou draw out thy soul to the hungry, and
satisfy the afflicted soul; then shall thy light rise in obscurity, and thy
darkness be as the noon-day: and the Lord shall guide thee continually, and
satisfy thy soul in drought, and make fat thy bones: and thou shalt be like a
wateredgarden, and like a spring of water, whose waters failnot [Note:Isaiah
58:7-11.].” Whata glorious recompence is this!
But there is a time coming when his recompence shall be complete. “At the
resurrectionof the just,” God will acknowledgeallthat has been done for the
poor as “a loan lent to him; and he will repay it” all with interest [Note:
Proverbs 19:17. 1 Timothy 6:17-19.]. We take for granted indeed that the
person is a believer in Christ, and that, in relieving the poor, he does it for
Christ’s sake, andnot from an idea of establishing a righteousness ofhis own.
This must certainly be supposed;else the liberality, however great, will only
turn to the confusionof him who exercises it, and prove a foundation of sand
to him who builds upon it: but, supposing the person’s state to be right before
God in other respects, and his motives to be pure in the distribution of his
alms, we do not hesitate to say, that he treasures up a rich reward for himself
in the day that Christ shall judge the world; insomuch that a cup of coldwater
only that has been given by him from right principles, “shall in no wise lose its
reward.” Jehovahhimself in that day shall make a feast, a marriage-feastfor
his Son: and to it will he invite those who for his sake provided for the poor.

There shall they sit down with Abraham and Isaac and Jacob;and be regaled
with all the delights of Paradise. Wellis it said in reference to that day,
“Blessedare they which are calledto the marriage-supperof the Lamb [Note:
Revelation19:7-9.].” Yes;in the words of our text it is said, “Thoushalt be
blessed;” but how blessedthe liberal man shall be, none but God himself can
fully declare.]
We sum up the whole in two words of advice—
1. AcceptGod’s invitations to you—
[You have already heard that in his Gospelhe has spreada feast, even “a feast
of fat things full of marrow, and of wines on the lees wellrefined [Note: Isaiah
25:6.].” The persons whom he invites are, not “the rich who think themselves
in need of nothing, but the wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and
naked[Note: Revelation3:17-18.].” As his servants, we invite you all; and
declare to you, that the pooreryou are, and the more unworthy in your own
apprehensions, the more acceptable you will be at his table. NeedI say how
much God will be delighted to see his table furnished with guests? Hearhis
own invitation: hear how he pleads with you, and entreats you to acceptit;
hear how he expatiates on the delicacieshe has provided for your repast
[Note:Isaiah 55:1-2.]. He sets before you nothing less than the body and blood
of his dear Son; which Christ himself says, is “meatindeed, and drink indeed
[Note:John 6:55.].” Think of this, and let nothing for a moment delay your
coming.]
2. Conform your invitations to his—
[We are enjoined to “be followers (imitators) of God as dear children:” “to be
merciful as he is merciful, and perfect as he is perfect.” Beholdthen at what
expense he has made provision for our needy souls!“he has not spared even
his ownSon, but has delivered him up for us all.” Let not us then grudge any
sacrifice for the comfort and support of our afflicted brethren. Economy
should be practised, in order to liberality; and self-denial, in order to an
enlarging of our ability to supply the wants of others. You well “know the
grace ofour Lord Jesus Christ, that, though he was rich, yet for our sakes he
became poor, that we through his poverty might be rich [Note:2 Corinthians

8:9.]: Let the same mind be in you that was in him.” Let the happiness of
others be your happiness, and the luxury of doing goodbe your daily food.
Thus will every thing you have be sanctified to you [Note:Luke 11:41.]: and
the blessing of God will rest upon you in life [Note:Hebrews 6:10.], in death
[Note:Psalms 41:1.], and to all eternity [Note: Luke 16:9.].]
SPURGEON
Luke 14:12. Then said he also to him that bade him, When thou makesta
dinner or a supper, call not thy friends nor thy brethren, neither thy kinsmen,
nor thy rich neighbor; lestthey also bid thee again, and a recompence be
made thee.
Our Saviour, you see, keeps to one line of instruction. It was a feast, so he used
the feastto teachanother lesson. It is always well, when men’s minds are
running in a certain direction, to make use of that particular current. When a
feastis uppermost in the minds of men, it is no use starting another subject.
So the Saviour rides upon the back of the banquet, making it to be his steed.
Note his advice to his host: “Try to avoid doing that for which you will be
recompensed. If you are rewardedfor it the transactionis over; but if not,
then it stands recordedin the book of God, and it will be recompensedto you
in the greatday of account.”
Luke 14:13-14. But when thou makesta feast, callthe poor, the maimed, the
lame, the blind: and thou shalt be blessed;for they cannot recompense thee:
for thou shalt be recompensedat the resurrectionof the just.
It should be your ambition to have something set down to your credit “atthe
resurrectionof the just.” If you do someone a kindness with a view to gaining
gratitude, you will probably be disappointed; and even if you should succeed,
what is the gratitude worth? You have burned your firework, you have seen

the brief blaze, and there is an end of it. But if you get no present return for
your holy charity, so much the better for you.
Luke 14:15-16. And when one of them that satat meat with him heard these
things, he said unto him, Blessedis he that shall eat bread in the kingdom of
God.

Jesus was for the poor and handicapped

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