Luke 14

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