Luke 14

Sabbath day

Luke 14:1 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 watched him.
Luke 14:2 And, behold, there was a certain man before him which had the dropsy.

dropsy, edema, an accumulation of water or fluid in the bodies connective tissue.

Luke 14:3 And Jesus answering spake unto the lawyers and Pharisees, saying, Is it lawful to heal on the sabbath day?
Luke 14:4 And they held their peace. And he took him, and healed him, and let him go;

Yes, it is lawful to do good on the sabbath day.

Luke 14:5 And answered them, saying, Which of you shall have an ass or an ox fallen into a pit, and will not straightway pull him out on the sabbath day?
Luke 14:6 And they could not answer him again to these things.

The problem was that the Jews had interpreted keeping the sabbath with many added laws and customs. Jesus never broke God's law, but often was accused of breaking their man made laws interpreting incorrectly the laws of God. Jesus is Lord of the sabbath and Lord of truth. Let no man put you in bondage to their ideas of God's truth. The truth of God will set you free to do good.

Rom 8:31 What shall we then say to these things? If God be for us, who can be against us?
Rom 8:32 He that spared not his own Son, but delivered him up for us all, how shall he not with him also freely give us all things?

Honour

Luke 14:7 And he put forth a parable to those which were bidden, when he marked how they chose out the chief rooms; saying unto them,
Luke 14:8 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;
Luke 14:9 And he that bade thee and him come and say to thee, Give this man place; and thou begin with shame to take the lowest room.

The world's way is to seek honor by aggression. By force people exalt themselves and put down others.

Luke 14:10 But when thou art bidden, go and sit down in the lowest room; that when he that bade thee cometh, he may say unto thee, Friend, go up higher: then shalt thou have worship in the presence of them that sit at meat with thee.

This is the Lord's way. Seek not to place yourself higher than you should. Honor others above yourself.

Phil 2:4 Look not every man on his own things, but every man also on the things of others.

Luke 14:11 For whosoever exalteth himself shall be abased; and he that humbleth himself shall be exalted.

So true, this is an important scriptural truth. Satan sought to place himself in the place of God and was cast down. Those who seek self glory shall be cast down. Those who humble themselves before the Lord, shall be lifted up. We reap what we sow.

Gal 6:8 For he that soweth to his flesh shall of the flesh reap corruption; but he that soweth to the Spirit shall of the Spirit reap life everlasting.

Guests for dinner

Luke 14:12 Then said 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.
Luke 14:13 But when thou makest a feast, call the poor, the maimed, the lame, the blind:
Luke 14:14 And thou shalt be blessed; for they cannot recompense thee: for thou shalt be recompensed at the resurrection of the just.

How many of us do this? I have seen Christians buddy up to "more important" Christians and ask them to dine with them, but how many, other than the local rescue mission invite the poor, the maimed, the lame and the blind?

Excuses

Luke 14:15 And when one of them that sat at meat with him heard these things, he said unto him, Blessed is he that shall eat bread in the kingdom of God.
Luke 14:16 Then said he unto him, A certain man made a great supper, and bade many:
Luke 14:17 And sent his servant at supper time to say to them that were bidden, Come; for all things are now ready.

Jesus speaks a parable of the kingdom. Jesus has invited Israel to receive him, to come to the kingdom, but they made excuses and did not come.

Luke 14:18 And they all with one consent began to make excuse. The first said unto him, I have bought a piece of ground, and I must needs go and see it: I pray thee have me excused.

All made excuses.

Luke 14:19 And another said, I have bought five yoke of oxen, and I go to prove them: I pray thee have me excused.
Luke 14:20 And another said, I have married a wife, and therefore I cannot come.

What is your excuse? Sin? A bad habit? Love of this world?

Luke 14:21 So that servant came, and showed 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 hither the poor, and the maimed, and the halt, and the blind.

As Jesus spoke of in verse 14:13.

Luke 14:22 And the servant said, Lord, it is done as thou hast commanded, and yet there is room.
Luke 14:23 And the lord said unto the servant, Go out into the highways and hedges, and compel them to come in, that my house may be filled.
Luke 14:24 For I say unto you, That none of those men which were bidden shall taste of my supper.

The house shall be filled with the worlds castaways, because Israel refused to come. There is more to the story, in Matthew it was a wedding feast, requiring that a supplied wedding garment be worn. The righteousness of Christ.

Mat 22:9 Go ye therefore into the highways, and as many as ye shall find, bid to the marriage.
Mat 22:10 So those servants went out into the highways, and gathered together all as many as they found, both bad and good: and the wedding was furnished with guests.
Mat 22:11 And when the king came in to see the guests, he saw there a man which had not on a wedding garment:
Mat 22:12 And he saith unto him, Friend, how camest thou in hither not having a wedding garment? And he was speechless.
Mat 22:13 Then said the king to the servants, Bind him hand and foot, and take him away, and cast him into outer darkness; there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth.
Mat 22:14 For many are called, but few are chosen.

No man can enter the kingdom of God apart from the blood of the Lamb and his righteous covering.

Bear your cross

Luke 14:25 And there went great multitudes with him: and he turned, and said unto them,
Luke 14:26 If any man come to me, and hate not his father, and mother, and wife, and children, and brethren, and sisters, yea, and his own life also, he cannot be my disciple.

We are told to love God first. How is it we are to hate those closest to us?

Mat 22:37 Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind.
Mat 22:38 This is the first and great commandment.
Mat 22:39 And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.

What about our self? Do we not love our self?

Eph 5:28 So ought men to love their wives as their own bodies. He that loveth his wife loveth himself.
Eph 5:29 For no man ever yet hated his own flesh; but nourisheth and cherisheth it, even as the Lord the church:
Eph 5:30 For we are members of his body, of his flesh, and of his bones.

This is speaking of our flesh life. Jesus requires more of a disciple than a flesh life. We are to die to our flesh and our old nature. We cannot put people of flesh ahead of our Lord. IF, we will be his disciple, we must hate the life in the flesh in comparison to our Love for Jesus. We are to die to our flesh will.

Rom 14:7 For none of us liveth to himself, and no man dieth to himself.
Rom 14:8 For whether we live, we live unto the Lord; and whether we die, we die unto the Lord: whether we live therefore, or die, we are the Lord's.

More thoughts on hate

I have heard people of other beliefs, in chat rooms point to this verse to show that God is a God of hate, who tells us to hate. They also point to this verse:

Rom 9:13 As it is written, Jacob have I loved, but Esau have I hated.
Rom 9:14 What shall we say then? Is there unrighteousness with God? God forbid.
Rom 9:15 For he saith to Moses, I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion.

Again, this is a comparison. Compared to His love for Jacob, he hated Esau. These are comparisons. God wants to be loved above all. Jacob chose God and his inheritance. Esau despised his inheritance in God and sold it for a bowl of stew. In Luke 14:26, Jesus is saying that all other things and people are to be hated, in comparison to our love for Jesus.

Let's look at this earlier parable in Luke 14:16-20

Luke 14:16 Then said he unto him, A certain man made a great supper, and bade many:
Luke 14:17 And sent his servant at supper time to say to them that were bidden, Come; for all things are now ready.
Luke 14:18 And they all with one consent began to make excuse. The first said unto him, I have bought a piece of ground, and I must needs go and see it: I pray thee have me excused.
Luke 14:19 And another said, I have bought five yoke of oxen, and I go to prove them: I pray thee have me excused.
Luke 14:20 And another said, I have married a wife, and therefore I cannot come.

This is as Jesus calling us to be disciples and everyone has other things on their mind. They value other things more than Jesus. God must be first in our lives. To make this point to us even stronger, Jesus said you must hate the people you love most IN COMPARISON to your love for him. To tell us to hate people, is not the spirit of this scripture. Other scriptures insist that we love one another. Let's look at other verses that shows us how important our love for one another is.

1 John 4:19 We love him, because he first loved us.
1 John 4:20 If a man say, I love God, and hateth his brother, he is a liar: for he that loveth not his brother whom he hath seen, how can he love God whom he hath not seen?

Are these verses speaking opposite things? No, not if seen in their context. This verse speak of loving as God has loved us. We are to love our brothers, if not? There is no love connection with God.

Luke 14 is a comparison of how strong our love should be for God above all others. Never are we to hate. God is a God of love. The amount of love we show for others should be the same as we love ourselves. This is a love as people love. The love we have for God should be as worship and exaltation. We do not worship people. God is worthy of all of our hearts love and affection. What can we compare to God? Should he not receive more our hearts? Who or what is more worthy?

Luke 14:27 And whosoever doth not bear his cross, and come after me, cannot be my disciple.

To be a disciple requires discipline. Are we willing to give our life for him? Are we fit to be his disciple? Let us not say we are not to love one another, but rather, that he is most important to us. Jesus never wants us to hate people. This was as a comparison for our love and devotion to him.

Giving all to Jesus and being his disciple will result in our life changing to reflect his character and image to others. We are to love one another.

John 13:35 By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another.

Consider the requirements

Luke 14:28 For which of you, intending to build a tower, sitteth not down first, and counteth the cost, whether he have sufficient to finish it?

We are comparing again. It requires planning and commitment before we build a tower, We do not start what we cannot finish. So it is with being a disciple of the Lord. It may not be easy and it requires dedication and discipline, to be a disciple. Are you willing to count the cost?

Luke 14:29 Lest haply, after he hath laid the foundation, and is not able to finish it, all that behold it begin to mock him,
Luke 14:30 Saying, This man began to build, and was not able to finish.

Likewise if we fail to serve the Lord with a whole heart, people will mock us and more importantly we may bring dishonor to our Lord for being unfaithful servants.

Luke 14:31 Or what king, going to make war against another king, sitteth not down first, and consulteth whether he be able with ten thousand to meet him that cometh against him with twenty thousand?
Luke 14:32 Or else, while the other is yet a great way off, he sendeth an ambassage, and desireth conditions of peace.

Are we able to face the enemy in war? First we must make peace with God. Our King who is greater than the King of this world.

Luke 14:33 So likewise, whosoever he be of you that forsaketh not all that he hath, he cannot be my disciple.

We must trust completely in our Lord and our king and learn of him with all of our heart and lean not on our own ways and things.

Prov 3:5 Trust in the LORD with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding.
Prov 3:6 In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths.
Prov 3:7 Be not wise in thine own eyes: fear the LORD, and depart from evil.
Prov 3:8 It shall be health to thy navel, and marrow to thy bones.

Salt

Luke 14:34 Salt is good: but if the salt have lost his savour, wherewith shall it be seasoned?

Let salt be salt, if not? It is unusable. Salt preserves meat from decaying. We are to keep away the rottenness of the world by our presence. If we become as the world? Where is the salt? Where is the difference? We do not preserve from sins decay.

Luke 14:35 It is neither fit for the land, nor yet for the dunghill; but men cast it out. He that hath ears to hear, let him hear.

Salt that is not salt, is salt by name only. We as Christians, by name only without the character of Jesus Christ, are as salt without savor. Jesus wants us to be committed to be as he is; to be his disciples.

Rev 3:15 I know thy works, that thou art neither cold nor hot: I would thou wert cold or hot.
Rev 3:16 So then because thou art lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will spue thee out of my mouth.
Rev 3:17 Because thou sayest, I am rich, and increased with goods, and have need of nothing; and knowest not that thou art wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked:
Rev 3:18 I counsel thee to buy of me gold tried in the fire, that thou mayest be rich; and white raiment, that thou mayest be clothed, and that the shame of thy nakedness do not appear; and anoint thine eyes with eyesalve, that thou mayest see.

Be the salt, a sweet savor unto the Lord, submitting all to God.

The Lamb speaks

Mark 14:59 But neither so did their witness agree together.
Mark 14:60 And the high priest stood up in the midst, and asked Jesus, saying, Answerest thou nothing? what is it which these witness against thee?

Isa 53:7 He was oppressed, and he was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth: he is brought as a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers is dumb, so he openeth not his mouth.

Mark 14:61 But he held his peace, and answered nothing. Again the high priest asked him, and said unto him, Art thou the Christ, the Son of the Blessed?

A good question, if he had ears to hear. Why ask a question if your mind is already made up? This is how the devil works in his people, asking questions and not hearing the truth given. More and more asking, quoting scriptures out of context and not seeing in the spirit of God. As the lying thief of truth:

John 10:10 The thief cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy:..

Mark 14:62 And Jesus said, I am: and ye shall see the Son of man sitting on the right hand of power, and coming in the clouds of heaven.

I AM, this is the name of the most high God. Jesus is the I AM, the son of God. You shall see me in my position of authority and power, next to God the Father, and coming in the glory clouds of heaven. You wanted an answer? Jesus gave him the truth, but he did not want the truth. The chief priest heard only what he had already decided in his heart.

Mark 14:63 Then the high priest rent his clothes, and saith, What need we any further witnesses?

What? Are you crazy? Yes, blinded by satan and doing the work of the devil while holding the high office of God's chief priest. In truth, God's spiritual chief priest is Jesus, our great high priest.

Heb 4:14 Seeing then that we have a great high priest, that is passed into the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our profession.
Heb 4:15 For we have not an high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities; but was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin.
Heb 4:16 Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need.

Mark 14:64 Ye have heard the blasphemy: what think ye? And they all condemned him to be guilty of death.

Lies spoken, truth twisted, injustice posing as justice, a mockery of law and truth.

Psa 38:19 But mine enemies are lively, and they are strong: and they that hate me wrongfully are multiplied.
Psa 38:20 They also that render evil for good are mine adversaries; because I follow the thing that good is.
Psa 38:21 Forsake me not, O LORD: O my God, be not far from me.
Psa 38:22 Make haste to help me, O Lord my salvation.

Mark 14:65 And some began to spit on him, and to cover his face, and to buffet him, and to say unto him, Prophesy: and the servants did strike him with the palms of their hands.

Isa 53:4 Surely he hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows: yet we did esteem him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted.

All was as written, the Lord took our punishment for sins, being without sin. Praise our Lord Jesus Christ, so good and perfect and yet treated shamefully. We are not so good as he, so we should never complain when treated badly. We are to be as our Lord, who humbly received evil, and overcame the devil. In Jesus we are victorious through his Spirit. Walk in His Spirit and fear not the adversary, we are already seated in heavenly places with our Lord, places forbidden to the devil and his followers. He cannot touch us there. Our soul belongs to God.

Superragman@aol.com

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