Luke 14–21

A Sabbath Controversy

14One Sabbath, when He went to eat ^bat the house of one of the leading Pharisees, ^cthey were watching Him closely. ^d2There in front of Him was a man whose body was swollen with fluid. ^e3In response, Jesus asked the law experts ^fand the Pharisees, “Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath or not?” ^{g 4}But they kept silent. He took the man, healed him, and sent him away. ⁵And to them, He said, “Which of you whose son or ox falls into a well, will not immediately pull him out on the Sabbath day?” ^h6To this they could find no answer.

Teachings on Humility

⁷He told a parable ⁱto those who were invited, when He noticed how they would choose the best places ^jfor themselves: ⁸“When you are invited by someone to a wedding banquet, don’t recline at the best place, because a more distinguished person ^kthan you may have been invited by your host. ^l9The one who invited both of you may come and say to you, ‘Give your place to this man,’ and then in humiliation, you will proceed to take the lowest place.

¹⁰“But when you are invited, go and recline in the lowest place, so that when the one who invited you comes, he will say to you, ‘Friend, move up higher.’ You will then be honored ^min the presence of all the other guests. ⁿ¹¹For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and the one who humbles himself will be exalted.” ^o

¹²He also said to the one who had invited Him, “When you give a lunch or a dinner, don’t invite your friends, your ^•brothers, your relatives, or your rich neighbors, because they might invite you back, and you would be repaid. ¹³On the contrary, when you host a banquet, ^pinvite those who are poor, maimed, lame, or blind. ^q14And you will be blessed, because they cannot repay you; for you will be repaid ^rat the resurrection of the righteous.” ^s

The Parable of the Large Banquet

¹⁵When ^tone of those who reclined at the table with Him heard these things, he said to Him, “The one who will eat bread in the kingdom of God ^uis blessed!”

¹⁶Then He told him: “A man was giving a large banquet and invited many. ¹⁷At the time of the banquet, he sent his ^•slave to tell those who were invited, ‘Come, because everything is now ready.’

¹⁸“But without exception ^vthey all began to make excuses. The first one said to him, ‘I have bought a field, and I must go out and see it. I ask you to excuse me.’

¹⁹“Another said, ‘I have bought five yoke of oxen, and I’m going to try them out. I ask you to excuse me.’

²⁰“And another said, ‘I just got married, ^wxand therefore I’m unable to come.’

²¹“So the slave came back and reported these things to his master. Then in anger, the master of the house told his slave, ‘Go out quickly into the streets and alleys of the city, and bring in here the poor, maimed, blind, and lame!’ ^y

²²“ ‘Master,’ the slave said, ‘what you ordered has been done, and there’s still room.’

²³“Then the master told the slave, ‘Go out into the highways and lanes and make them come in, so that my house may be filled. ²⁴For I tell you, not one of those men who were invited will enjoy my banquet!’ ”

The Cost of Following Jesus

²⁵Now ^zgreat crowds were traveling with Him. So He turned and said to them: ²⁶“If anyone comes to Me ^aand does not hate ^bhis own father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters—yes, and even his own life—he cannot be My disciple. ²⁷Whoever does not bear his own cross ^cand come after Me cannot be My disciple.

²⁸“For which of you, wanting to build a tower, doesn’t first sit down and calculate the cost ^dto see if he has enough to complete it? ²⁹Otherwise, after he has laid the foundation and cannot finish it, all the onlookers will begin to make fun of him, ³⁰saying, ‘This man started to build and wasn’t able to finish.’

³¹“Or what king, going to war against another king, will not first sit down and decide if he is able with 10,000 to oppose the one who comes against him with 20,000? ³²If not, while the other is still far off, he sends a delegation and asks for terms of peace. ³³In the same way, therefore, every one of you who does not say good-bye to ^eall his possessions ^fcannot be My disciple.

³⁴“Now, ^gsalt ^his good, but if salt should lose its taste, how will it be made salty? ³⁵It isn’t fit for the soil or for the manure pile; they throw it out. Anyone who has ears to hear should listen!” ⁱ

The Parable of the Lost Sheep

15All ^jthe tax collectors ^kand sinners were approaching to listen to Him. ²And the Pharisees and scribes were complaining, “This man welcomes sinners ^land eats with them!”

³So He told them this parable: ^m4“What man among you, who has 100 sheep and loses one of them, ⁿdoes not leave the 99 in the open field ^oand go after the lost one until he finds it? ⁵When he has found it, he joyfully puts it on his shoulders, ⁶and coming home, he calls his friends and neighbors together, saying to them, ‘Rejoice with me, because I have found my lost sheep!’ ⁷I tell you, in the same way, there will be more joy in heaven ^pover one sinner who repents than over 99 righteous people who don’t need repentance.

The Parable of the Lost Coin

⁸“Or what woman who has 10 silver coins, ^qif she loses one coin, does not light a lamp, sweep the house, and search carefully until she finds it? ⁹When she finds it, she calls her women friends and neighbors together, saying, ‘Rejoice with me, because I have found the silver coin I lost!’ ¹⁰I tell you, in the same way, there is joy in the presence of God’s angels ^rover one sinner who repents.”

The Parable of the Lost Son

¹¹He also said: “A man had two sons. ¹²The younger of them said to his father, ‘Father, give me the share of the estate I have coming to me.’ So he distributed the assets ^sto them. ¹³Not many days later, the younger son gathered together all he had and traveled to a distant country, where he squandered ^this estate in foolish living. ^u14After he had spent everything, a severe famine struck that country, and he had nothing. ^v15Then he went to work for ^wone of the citizens of that country, who sent him into his fields to feed pigs. ^x16He longed to eat his fill from ^ythe carob pods ^zthe pigs were eating, but no one would give him any. ¹⁷When he came to his senses, ^ahe said, ‘How many of my father’s hired hands have more than enough food, and here I am dying of hunger! ^b18I’ll get up, go to my father, and say to him, Father, I have sinned ^cagainst heaven ^dand in your sight. ¹⁹I’m no longer worthy ^eto be called your son. Make me like one of your hired hands.’ ²⁰So he got up and went to his father. But while the son was still a long way off, his father saw him and was filled with compassion. ^fHe ran, threw his arms around his neck, ^gand kissed ^hhim. ²¹The son said to him, ‘Father, I have sinned against heaven and in your sight. I’m no longer worthy to be called your son.’

²²“But the father told his ^•slaves, ‘Quick! Bring out the best robe ⁱand put it on him; put a ring ^jon his finger ^kand sandals ^lon his feet. ²³Then bring the fattened calf ^mand slaughter it, and let’s celebrate with a feast, ²⁴because this son of mine was dead and is alive again; ⁿhe was lost and is found!’ So they began to celebrate.

²⁵“Now his older son was in the field; as he came near the house, he heard music and dancing. ²⁶So he summoned one of the servants and asked what these things meant. ²⁷‘Your brother is here,’ he told him, ‘and your father has slaughtered the fattened calf because he has him back safe and sound.’ ^o

²⁸“Then he became angry and didn’t want to go in. So his father came out and pleaded with him. ²⁹But he replied to his father, ‘Look, I have been slaving many years for you, and I have never disobeyed your orders, yet you never gave me a young goat so I could celebrate with my friends. ³⁰But when this son of yours came, who has devoured your assets ^pwith prostitutes, ^qyou slaughtered the fattened calf for him.’

³¹“ ‘Son,’ ^rhe said to him, ‘you are always with me, ^sand everything I have is yours. ³²But we had to celebrate and rejoice, because this brother of yours was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.’ ”

The Parable of the Dishonest Manager

16He also said to the disciples: “There was a rich ^tman who received an accusation that his manager ^uwas squandering ^vhis possessions. ²So he called the manager in and asked, ‘What is this I hear about you? Give an account of your management, ^wbecause you can no longer be my manager.’

³“Then the manager said to himself, ‘What should I do, since my master is taking the management away from me? I’m not strong enough to dig; I’m ashamed to beg. ⁴I know what I’ll do so that when I’m removed from management, people will welcome me into their homes.’

⁵“So he summoned each one of his master’s debtors. ‘How much do you owe my master?’ he asked the first one.

⁶“ ‘A hundred measures of olive oil,’ he said.

“ ‘Take your invoice,’ he told him, ‘sit down quickly, and write 50.’

⁷“Next he asked another, ‘How much do you owe?’

“ ‘A hundred measures of wheat,’ he said.

“ ‘Take your invoice,’ he told him, ‘and write 80.’

⁸“The master praised the unrighteous manager ^xbecause he had acted astutely. For the sons of this age ^yare more astute than the sons of light ^zin dealing with their own people. ^a9And I tell you, make friends ^bfor yourselves by means of the unrighteous money ^cso that when it fails, ^dthey may welcome you into eternal dwellings. ¹⁰Whoever is faithful ^ein very little ^fis also faithful in much, and whoever is unrighteous in very little is also unrighteous in much. ¹¹So if you have not been faithful with the unrighteous money, who will trust you with what is genuine? ¹²And if you have not been faithful with what belongs to someone else, who will give you what is your own? ¹³No ^ghousehold slave can be the ^•slave of two masters, since either he will hate ^hone and love the other, or he will be devoted to one and despise the other. You can’t be slaves to both God and money.”

Kingdom Values

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