14On a Sabbath day, when Jesus went to eat at the home of a leading Pharisee, the people were watching Jesus very closely. ²And in front of him was a man with dropsy. ⁿ ³Jesus said to the Pharisees and experts on the law, “Is it right or wrong to heal on the Sabbath day?” ⁴But they would not answer his question. So Jesus took the man, healed him, and sent him away. ⁵Jesus said to the Pharisees and teachers of the law, “If your child ⁿ or ox falls into a well on the Sabbath day, will you not pull him out quickly?” ⁶And they could not answer him.

Don’t Make Yourself Important

⁷When Jesus noticed that some of the guests were choosing the best places to sit, he told this story: ⁸“When someone invites you to a wedding feast, don’t take the most important seat, because someone more important than you may have been invited. ⁹The host, who invited both of you, will come to you and say, ‘Give this person your seat.’ Then you will be embarrassed and will have to move to the last place. ¹⁰So when you are invited, go sit in a seat that is not important. When the host comes to you, he may say, ‘Friend, move up here to a more important place.’ Then all the other guests will respect you. ¹¹All who make themselves great will be made humble, but those who make themselves humble will be made great.”

You Will Be Rewarded

¹²Then Jesus said to the man who had invited him, “When you give a lunch or a dinner, don’t invite only your friends, your family, your other relatives, and your rich neighbors. At another time they will invite you to eat with them, and you will be repaid. ¹³Instead, when you give a feast, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, and the blind. ¹⁴Then you will be blessed, because they have nothing and cannot pay you back. But you will be repaid when the good people rise from the dead.”

A Story About a Big Banquet

¹⁵One of those at the table with Jesus heard these things and said to him, “Blessed are the people who will share in the meal in God’s kingdom.”

¹⁶Jesus said to him, “A man gave a big banquet and invited many people. ¹⁷When it was time to eat, the man sent his servant to tell the guests, ‘Come. Everything is ready.’

¹⁸“But all the guests made excuses. The first one said, ‘I have just bought a field, and I must go look at it. Please excuse me.’ ¹⁹Another said, ‘I have just bought five pairs of oxen; I must go and try them. Please excuse me.’ ²⁰A third person said, ‘I just got married; I can’t come.’ ²¹So the servant returned and told his master what had happened. Then the master became angry and said, ‘Go at once into the streets and alleys of the town, and bring in the poor, the crippled, the blind, and the lame.’ ²²Later the servant said to him, ‘Master, I did what you commanded, but we still have room.’ ²³The master said to the servant, ‘Go out to the roads and country lanes, and urge the people there to come so my house will be full. ²⁴I tell you, none of those whom I invited first will eat with me.’ ”

Read in Logos

Luke 14:10: But when you are invited, go and sit in the lowest place, so that when your host comes he may say to you, ‘Friend, move up higher.’ Then you will be honored in the presence of all who sit at table with you.

Footnotes

ndropsy A sickness that causes the body to swell larger and larger.
nchild Some Greek copies read “donkey.”