Luke 14

Teaching on Humility Luke 14:7–11

⁷Verse 7. He spoke a parable to those who were invited, when he noticed how they chose the best seats, and said to them, ⁸Verse 8. “When you are invited by anyone to a marriage feast, don’t sit in the best seat, since perhaps someone more honorable than you might be invited by him, ⁹Verse 9. and he who invited both of you would come and tell you, ‘Make room for this person.’ Then you would begin, with shame, to take the lowest place. ¹⁰Verse 10. But when you are invited, go and sit in the lowest place, so that when he who invited you comes, he may tell you, ‘Friend, move up higher.’ Then you will be honored in the presence of all who sit at the table with you.

¹¹Verse 11. For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and whoever humbles himself will be exalted.”

Generosity to the Marginalized Luke 14:12–14

¹²Verse 12. He also said to the one who had invited him, “When you make a dinner or a supper, don’t call your friends, nor your brothers, nor your kinsmen, nor rich neighbors, or perhaps they might also return the favor, and pay you back. ¹³Verse 13. But when you make a feast, ask the poor, the maimed, the lame, or the blind; ¹⁴Verse 14. and you will be blessed, because they don’t have the resources to repay you. For you will be repaid in the resurrection of the righteous.”

Parable of the Great Banquet Luke 14:15–24

¹⁵Verse 15. When one of those who sat at the table with him heard these things, he said to him, “Blessed is he who will feast in God’s Kingdom!” ¹⁶Verse 16. But he said to him, “A certain man made a great supper, and he invited many people. ¹⁷Verse 17. He sent out his servant at supper time to tell those who were invited, ‘Come, for everything is ready now.’ ¹⁸Verse 18. They all as one began to make excuses. “The first said to him, ‘I have bought a field, and I must go and see it. Please have me excused.’ ¹⁹Verse 19. “Another said, ‘I have bought five yoke of oxen, and I must go try them out. Please have me excused.’

²⁰Verse 20. “Another said, ‘I have married a wife, and therefore I can’t come.’ ²¹Verse 21. “That servant came, and told his lord these things. Then the master of the house, being angry, said to his servant, ‘Go out quickly into the streets and lanes of the city, and bring in the poor, maimed, blind, and lame.’ ²²Verse 22. “The servant said, ‘Lord, it is done as you commanded, and there is still room.’ ²³Verse 23. “The lord said to the servant, ‘Go out into the highways and hedges, and compel them to come in, that my house may be filled. ²⁴Verse 24. For I tell you that none of those men who were invited will taste of my supper.’”

Cost of Discipleship Luke 14:25–33

²⁵Verse 25. Now great multitudes were going with him. He turned and said to them, ²⁶Verse 26. “If anyone comes to me, and doesn’t disregard his own father, mother, wife, children, brothers, and sisters, yes, and his own life also, he can’t be my disciple. ²⁷Verse 27. Whoever doesn’t bear his own cross, and come after me, can’t be my disciple. ²⁸Verse 28. For which of you, desiring to build a tower, doesn’t first sit down and count the cost, to see if he has enough to complete it? ²⁹Verse 29. Or perhaps, when he has laid a foundation, and is not able to finish, everyone who sees begins to mock him,

³⁰Verse 30. saying, ‘This man began to build, and wasn’t able to finish.’ ³¹Verse 31. Or what king, as he goes to encounter another king in war, will not sit down first and consider whether he is able with ten thousand to meet him who comes against him with twenty thousand? ³²Verse 32. Or else, while the other is yet a great way off, he sends an envoy, and asks for conditions of peace. ³³Verse 33. So therefore whoever of you who doesn’t renounce all that he has, he can’t be my disciple.

The Nature of True Discipleship Luke 14:34–35

³⁴Verse 34. Salt is good, but if the salt becomes flat and tasteless, with what do you season it? ³⁵Verse 35. It is fit neither for the soil nor for the manure pile. It is thrown out. He who has ears to hear, let him hear.”