SCRIPTURE LUKE 14:1-6
healing of the man with dropsy on the sabbath.
On a Sabbath he went to dine at the home of one of the leading Pharisees, and the people there were observing him carefully. In front of him there was a man suffering from dropsy. Jesus spoke to the scholars of the law and Pharisees in reply, asking, “Is it lawful to cure on the Sabbath or not?”
But they kept silent; so he took the man and, after he had healed him, dismissed him. Then he said to them, “Who among you, if your son or oxen falls into a cistern, would not immediately pull him out on the Sabbath day? But they were unable to answer his question.
REFLECTION
Jesus went to dine with some Pharisees on the Sabbath who were watching Him closely. So this was not a gathering of hospitality but more like an investigation or interrogation.
The Sabbath was designed by God to give man an opportunity to reflect on God’s love, mercy and bountiful blessings in worship. Remember keep Holy the Sabbath Day. The Pharisees were continually employing the letter of man-made laws regarding the Sabbath (too many to enumerate) destroying the spirit of the law of God. The Pharisees legalistically taught that salvation was to be obtained through observance of these rules. God made laws save us not man made laws!
There was a man there suffering from “dropsy.” Dropsy is an old term for the swelling of soft tissues due to the accumulation of excess water. Today it would most likely be referred to as edemas due to congestive heart failure.
Jesus confronts the scholars of the law. “Is it lawful to cure on the Sabbath or not?” They kept silent. Jesus cures the man with dropsy anyhow. Jesus is God after all, the Lord of the Sabbath. Jesus isn’t finished with them yet, hoping to nudge their self-righteousness, Jesus asks the scholars of the law to examine themselves.
If an oxen of yours falls into a cistern on the Sabbath, who of you would not pull that oxen out? They remained silent. This reminds me of the stoning of the woman caught in adultery. Jesus said whoever is without sin cast the first stone. Jesus wins all these contests with the Pharisees because Truth is on His side. Jesus is the Truth, the Way, and the Life.
Let’s get busy out there in the world, evangelizing. We have the Truth on our side. Don’t be timid. Jesus wasn’t timid in face of opposition to the truth. Jesus risked everything to bring the Gospel to us. Won’t we do the same by our witness?
SCRIPTURE LUKE 14:7-14
conduct of invited guests and hosts.*
Jesus told a parable to those who had been invited, noticing how they were choosing the places of honor at the table. “When you are invited by someone to a wedding banquet, do not recline at table in the place of honor.
A more distinguished guest than you may have been invited by him, and the host who invited both of you may approach you and say, ‘Give your place to this man,’ and then you would proceed with embarrassment to take the lowest place.
Rather, when you are invited, go and take the lowest place so that when the host comes to you he may say, ‘My friend, move up to a higher position.’ Then you will enjoy the esteem of your companions at the table. For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but the one who humbles himself will be exalted.”
Then he said to the host who invited him, “When you hold a lunch or a dinner, do not invite your friends or your brothers or your relatives or your wealthy neighbors, in case they may invite you back and you have repayment. Rather, when you hold a banquet, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind; blessed indeed will you be because of their inability to repay you. For you will be repaid at the resurrection of the righteous.”
REFLECTION
There are several themes in Jesus’s parable about guests at a dinner party. First he addresses when you are a guest do not choose the place of honor less you are asked by the host to make way for someone else and be embarrassed. Humility is the essence here, knowing our place in life and in creation. Jesus sets us the greatest example of humility.
He emptied Himself by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death: death on a cross. For this reason also God highly exalted Him, and bestowed on Him the name which is above every name. Phillipians 2:7-9
After humbling Himself, Jesus is exalted over every other name. We bow at the name of Jesus. We pay homage to Jesus exalted to the right hand of the Father. Who are we that we choose to place ourselves above others? Humility is the virtue that checks the vice of Pride. It was the pride of our first parents that got us into this mess. They wanted to be like God. Let us live an attitude of gratitude for our life and our blessings.
Then Jesus said to the host who invited him…Reach out not just to friends who can repay your invitation but to others that can’t. Here Jesus nails charity. Hosting a party may not be a pure motive of generosity but conceal a hidden agenda, you want something in return. Charity is the virtue opposite the vice of selfishness.
Charity is unbounded. Jesus told us to love even our enemies, those that look different, act different etc. Our charity may go unnoticed in this world and that is all right. Don’t hang on to being thanked or hugs and kisses. For Jesus tells us, “For you will be repaid at the resurrection of the righteous.” Isn’t that really enough? If not, why not? Better do a gut check on what it means to be a follower of Jesus.
SCRIPTURE LUKE 14:15-24
the parable of the great feast
One of his fellow guests on hearing this said to him, “Blessed is the one who will dine in the kingdom of God.” He replied to him, “A man gave a great dinner to which he invited many. When the time for the dinner came, he dispatched his servant to say to those invited, ‘Come, everything is now ready.’
COME TO MY BANQUET
But one by one, they all began to excuse themselves. The first said to him, ‘I have purchased a field and must go to examine it; I ask you, consider me excused.’ And another said, ‘I have purchased five yoke of oxen and am on my way to evaluate them; I ask you, consider me excused.
And another said, ‘I have just married a woman, and therefore I cannot come.’ The servant went and reported this to his master. Then the master of the house in a rage commanded his servant, ‘Go out quickly into the streets and alleys of the town and bring in here the poor and the crippled, the blind and the lame.’ The servant reported, ‘Sir, your orders have been carried out and still there is room.’
The master then ordered the servant, ‘Go out to the highways and hedgerows and make people come in that my home may be filled. For, I tell you, none of those men who were invited will taste my dinner
ALL ARE INVITED
REFLECTION
The man giving a great dinner in this parable represents God. God has prepared a great wedding banquet in heaven for those who love Him. All are invited. God wills that all will be saved.
God wills everyone to be saved and to come to knowledge of the truth. For there is one God. There is also one mediator between God and the human race, Christ Jesus, himself human. I Timothy 2:4 However, this is God’s providential will. A mitigator in this will of God is the free will He gave to man to choose or reject the invitation. God also has a moral will that will not allow Him to force Himself on anyone! God sends no one to hell. We send ourselves when we reject God. There is no other place to go if we choose separation from God.
Jesus said to them, “Truly I tell you, the tax collectors and the prostitutes are entering the kingdom of God ahead of you. For John came to you to show you the way of righteousness, and you did not believe him, but the tax collectors and the prostitutes did. And even after you saw this, you did not repent and believe him. Matthew 21:28-31
REPENT AND BELIEVE IN THE GOSPEL