Luke 14

When he went into the house of one of the rulers of the Pharisees on a Sabbath to eat bread, they were watching him.

Behold, a certain man who had dropsy was in front of him.

Jesus, answering, spoke to the lawyers and Pharisees, saying, “Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath?”

But they were silent. He took him, and healed him, and let him go.

He answered them, “Which of you, if your son or an ox fell into a well, wouldn’t immediately pull him out on a Sabbath day?”

They couldn’t answer him regarding these things.

He spoke a parable to those who were invited, when he noticed how they chose the best seats, and said to them,

“When you are invited by anyone to a wedding feast, don’t sit in the best seat, since perhaps someone more honorable than you might be invited by him,

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.

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.

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

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.

But when you make a feast, ask the poor, the maimed, the lame, or the blind;

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.”

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!”

But he said to him, “A certain man made a great supper, and he invited many people.

He sent out his servant at supper time to tell those who were invited, ‘Come, for everything is ready now.’

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.’

“Another said, ‘I have bought five yoke of oxen, and I must go try them out. Please have me excused.’

“Another said, ‘I have married a wife, and therefore I can’t come.’

“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.’

“The servant said, ‘Lord, it is done as you commanded, and there is still room.’

“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.

For I tell you that none of those men who were invited will taste of my supper. For many are called, but few are chosen. ’”

Now great multitudes were going with him. He turned and said to them,

“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.

Whoever doesn’t bear his own cross and come after me, can’t be my disciple.

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?

Or perhaps, when he has laid a foundation and isn’t able to finish, everyone who sees begins to mock him,

saying, ‘This man began to build and wasn’t able to finish.’

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?

Or else, while the other is yet a great way off, he sends an envoy and asks for conditions of peace.

So therefore, whoever of you who doesn’t renounce all that he has, he can’t be my disciple.

“Salt is good, but if the salt becomes flat and tasteless, with what do you season it?

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.”

Chapter overviewAI-generated

Overview.
This chapter records Jesus’ teaching at a Pharisee’s house on the Sabbath, where he challenges religious hypocrisy through both action and parable. It moves from a confrontation over healing on the Sabbath to a series of teachings on humility, inclusive hospitality, the cost of discipleship, and the necessity of wholehearted commitment to God’s kingdom.

Flow.

Jesus heals a man on the Sabbath, challenging the silence of the religious leaders with a question about mercy versus legalism.
Observing the guests’ pride in seeking honor, he teaches a parable on humility and divine reversal: the exaltation of the humble and the humiliation of the self-exalted.
He redefines generosity by calling for feasts that include the marginalized, pointing to resurrection reward rather than social reciprocity.
Through the parable of the great supper, Jesus illustrates the rejection of God’s invitation by the self-satisfied and its extension to the outcast, culminating in a call to radical discipleship that demands renunciation of all things.

Connections.
Following chapter 13, which emphasizes the narrow gate and the urgency of entering God’s kingdom, this chapter intensifies Jesus’ challenge to religious complacency and social privilege. The healing on the Sabbath and the theme of reversal echo the pattern of conflict and kingdom redefinition seen earlier. The parable of the great supper takes up the question of who will feast in the kingdom, a hope voiced in 13:29, and clarifies that those assumed to be invited often refuse. This prepares for chapter 15’s focus on God’s seeking love for the lost, as the inclusion of the poor, lame, and outcasts here anticipates the shepherd seeking the lost sheep. The cost of discipleship in the chapter’s final section sets the tone for Jesus’ continued journey toward Jerusalem and the cross.

What it teaches.
True piety is shown not in Sabbath scruples but in acts of mercy (WCF 21.8). God resists the proud but gives grace to the humble (WCF 15.4; HC LD 32). Kingdom hospitality excludes no one, especially the marginalized, and looks not for earthly repayment but resurrection reward (HC LD 21). The parable of the great supper reveals that divine invitation often meets human refusal, and God will bring in the lowly to fill his house (LD 21). The call to count the cost of discipleship underscores that following Christ requires forsaking all, bearing the cross, and complete surrender—without which one cannot be his disciple (HC LD 1). A disciple must remain faithful, for salt that loses its savor is useless (HC LD 46).

Apply.
Act with uncalculating generosity toward those who cannot repay you, and examine your heart for hidden pride in seeking honor.

AI-generated. Not a substitute for Scripture, your pastor, or the confessions.