Jesus Christ at a Pharisee's House & The Parable of the Great Banquet. Bible Study. Luke Ch 14

Here is a teaching on chapter 14 of the book of Luke. If you want to check out previous Bible studies and chapters going forward, join our group here. Once you get added into that Facebook group, you can go to the "units" tab and you'll see all of the chapters and their study guides as they are being taught.

I did want to say a quick prayer... Lord, I pray that you lift up every single person reading this right now. Please give us knowledge and understanding to know exactly what it is that we're reading and the wisdom to implement it in our daily lives. Please open up our eyes, our ears, our hearts, and our minds to you Lord. I pray that whatever it is that each person is supposed to receive from this Bible study, they receive it and implement it in their daily lives. I love you with every ounce of my being. In Jesus' name, Amen.

Luke Chapter 14:

1 One Sabbath, when Jesus went to eat in the house of a prominent Pharisee, he was being carefully watched. 2 There in front of him was a man suffering from dropsy. 3 Jesus asked the Pharisees and experts in the law, “Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath or not?” 4 But they remained silent. So taking hold of the man, he healed him and sent him away.

5 Then he asked them, “If one of you has a child or an ox that falls into a well on the Sabbath day, will you not immediately pull him out?” 6 And they had nothing to say.

7 When he noticed how the guests picked the places of honor at the table, he told them this parable: 8 “When someone invites you to a wedding feast, do not take the place of honor, for a person more distinguished than you may have been invited. 9 If so, the host who invited both of you will come and say to you, ‘Give this man your seat.’ Then, humiliated, you will have to take the least important place. 10 But when you are invited, take the lowest place, so that when your host comes, he will say to you, ‘Friend, move up to a better place.’ Then you will be honored in the presence of all your fellow guests. 11 For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted.”

12 Then Jesus said to his host, “When you give a luncheon or dinner, do not invite your friends, your brothers or relatives, or your rich neighbors; if you do, they may invite you back and so you will be repaid. 13 But when you give a banquet, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind, 14 and you will be blessed. Although they cannot repay you, you will be repaid at the resurrection of the righteous.”

Alright, so I'm going to stop right there and discuss these verses with you guys here. In verses 1-4, there was a man in front of Jesus that was suffering from dropsy, and he was in a Pharisee's house, so Jesus asked the Pharisees and the experts in the law if it was lawful to heal on the Sabbath. We've seen in previous Bible studies where the Pharisees and religious leaders told Jesus not to heal on the Sabbath. Whenever Jesus asked them this they remained silent, so he healed this man and sent him away. In verses 5-6, Jesus was showing that whenever you see someone in need on the Sabbath you're still supposed to help them regardless of what day it is.

In verses 7-11, Jesus was showing them to humble themselves and not automatically think that they deserve honor or the place of honor in a wedding because they will be humiliated whenever the person that invited them tells them that someone else is going to take their seat. We have to take the place of the least, we have to be the least and not try to be the greatest, as we saw in our Bible study from chapter 9 of the book of Luke whenever the disciples were arguing about who would be the greatest. Then whenever the person that invited them to the wedding tells them to move to a better place they will be honored. Jesus is saying this as a representation of whenever we humble ourselves under God's mighty hand, then we will be exalted whenever the time comes. Those that think highly of themselves, think that they can save themselves, and want the praise and honor of men will be humbled whenever the time comes.

In verses 12-15, we shouldn't just serve people or invite people to things who are our brothers, sisters, relatives, or friends, but the poor, crippled, lame, blind, and people that really need to be served, need to be helped, need the food that we will be giving, or whatever the case may be. Even though those types of people wouldn't be able to repay us we will be blessed and whenever Jesus comes back for his people that's when we will be repaid. We can't only associate with people that we like or our friends and family, we have to love and serve others, help people in need, and associate with everyone, just like Jesus ate with sinners and tax collectors in our Bible study from chapter 5 of the book of Luke.

15 When one of those at the table with him heard this, he said to Jesus, “Blessed is the one who will eat at the feast in the kingdom of God.”

16 Jesus replied: “A certain man was preparing a great banquet and invited many guests. 17 At the time of the banquet he sent his servant to tell those who had been invited, ‘Come, for everything is now ready.’

18 “But they all alike began to make excuses. The first said, ‘I have just bought a field, and I must go and see it. Please excuse me.’

19 “Another said, ‘I have just bought five yoke of oxen, and I’m on my way to try them out. Please excuse me.’

20 “Still another said, ‘I just got married, so I can’t come.’

21 “The servant came back and reported this to his master. Then the owner of the house became angry and ordered his servant, ‘Go out quickly into the streets and alleys of the town and bring in the poor, the crippled, the blind and the lame.’

22 “‘Sir,’ the servant said, ‘what you ordered has been done, but there is still room.’

23 “Then the master told his servant, ‘Go out to the roads and country lanes and make them come in, so that my house will be full. 24 I tell you, not one of those who were invited will get a taste of my banquet.’”

So in verses 16-20, Jesus tells this parable about a man preparing a great banquet and inviting many guests. Usually, people would be very excited to attend this kind of thing. Whenever the time came for the banquet and everything was ready, this man sent his servant to tell those he invited and all the people began to make all these excuses up of why they couldn't come. This parable shows that whenever Jeusus' work is completed then God has made all things ready for us to come and receive him but we have to come. We can't make excuses, try to do things on our own, or just come whenever we want. The most important thing should be Jesus Christ, being saved by him, having a relationship with him, and seeking the kingdom of God. in verses 21-24, these people should be delighted that they were invited to this banquet and we should be delighted that we are invited to receive Jesus Christ. Whenever people make up excuses and don't accept Jesus there are plenty of other people that will come in their place but Jesus wants all of us to joyfully come to him, follow him, repent, and have a relationship with him.

Oh hey friend, sorry to interrupt this blog post, but I just wanted to remind you guys that "Christ Transforms Me," my 90-day journal is available for purchase on Amazon. Until further notice, all of the money that I receive from the purchases of that journal will be donated for the disaster relief of the people that were affected by the tornadoes that hit my hometown in Kentucky. To learn more about the journal or to purchase one, go to www.faithfuelsmyfire.com/journal

25 Large crowds were traveling with Jesus, and turning to them he said: 26 “If anyone comes to me and does not hate his father and mother, his wife and children, his brothers and sisters—yes, even his own life—he cannot be my disciple. 27 And anyone who does not carry his cross and follow me cannot be my disciple.

28 “Suppose one of you wants to build a tower. Will he not first sit down and estimate the cost to see if he has enough money to complete it? 29 For if he lays the foundation and is not able to finish it, everyone who sees it will ridicule him, 30 saying, ‘This fellow began to build and was not able to finish.’

31 “Or suppose a king is about to go to war against another king. Will he not first sit down and consider whether he is able with ten thousand men to oppose the one coming against him with twenty thousand? 32 If he is not able, he will send a delegation while the other is still a long way off and will ask for terms of peace. 33 In the same way, any of you who does not give up everything he has cannot be my disciple.

34 “Salt is good, but if it loses its saltiness, how can it be made salty again? 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.”

Alright, so those are all of the verses of chapter 14 of the book of Luke, but I'm going to discuss these verses with you guys here. In verse 26, we have to love Jesus more than anything and not be conformed to this world. We can't love the world or be too attached to the people in this world. This world is our temporary home and our true home is in heaven with Jesus Christ and God the Father. So we can't hold on too dearly to the things or the people of this world because this world is not our true home. In verse 27, we have to carry the burdens of our sins and follow Jesus. We are dead in our sins and alive in Jesus.

In verses 29-33, we have to leave everything and follow Jesus. We've seen this in our previous Bible studies in the book of Luke where the disciples have left everything and followed Jesus and Jesus has said in previous Bible studies that we've gone over that we have to leave everything and follow him. God will provide everything that we need but we just have to follow Jesus, stay faithful, and trust in him completely.

What Jesus says in verse 34, we've gone over being the salt and light of the world in episode 121, if you haven't checked it out already you can go and check it out. But we have to continue to be salty, spread the gospel of Jesus Christ, follow him, obey his commands, and have a relationship with Jesus. In verse 35, we have to listen and implement the words of Jesus Christ We can't only hear what he is saying but we have to implement his words in our daily life.

Here are 3 takeaways to write down:

1. We all have to humble ourselves

2. We can't love this world

3. We have to drop everything and follow Jesus

Luke Ch 14 Study Guide

Are we supposed to help someone in need on the Sabbath? Why or why not?
What happens when we humble ourselves?
Who should we associate with? Why?
What should we do when Jesus calls us to come and follow him? Why?
Who should we love more than anything? Why?
Why should we not get too attached to the things or people of this world?
What is your biggest takeaway from this Bible study?

So that concludes this Bible study on chapter 14 of the Book of Luke. Tomorrow we're going to go into chapter 15, so make sure you stay tuned for that.

I love you guys so much.

Never forget to choose faith over fear.

-Lorena Camille (Faith Fuels My Fire)

p.s. If you'd rather listen to Faith-based, spiritual growth, mindset, and mental health tips, then check out my podcast. There I will share my personal experiences, stories I've never told before, and bring you along with this hot mess life of mine. New episodes daily.

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