#luke 14

Jesus at a Pharisee’s House

1 And it came to pass, when he went into the house of one of the rulers of the Pharisees on a sabbath to eat bread, that they were watching him. 2 And behold, there was before him a certain man that had the dropsy. 3 And Jesus answering spake unto the lawyers and Pharisees, saying, Is it lawful to heal on the sabbath, or not? 4 But they held their peace. And he took him, and healed him, and let him go. 5 And he said unto them, Which of you shall have an ass or an ox fallen into a well, and will not straightway draw him up on a sabbath day? 6 And they could not answer again unto these things.

7 And he spake a parable unto those that were bidden, when he marked how they chose out the chief seats; saying unto them, 8 When thou art bidden of any man to a marriage feast, sit not down in the chief seat; lest haply a more honorable man than thou be bidden of him, 9 and he that bade thee and him shall come and say to thee, Give this man place; and then thou shalt begin with shame to take the lowest place. 10 But when thou art bidden, go and sit down in the lowest place; that when he that hath bidden thee cometh, he may say to thee, Friend, go up higher: then shalt thou have glory in the presence of all that sit at meat with thee. 11 For every one that exalteth himself shall be humbled; and he that humbleth himself shall be exalted.

12 And he said to him also that had bidden him, When thou makest a dinner or a supper, call not thy friends, nor thy brethren, nor thy kinsmen, nor rich neighbors; lest haply they also bid thee again, and a recompense be made thee. 13 But when thou makest a feast, bid the poor, the maimed, the lame, the blind: 14 and thou shalt be blessed; because they have not wherewith to recompense thee: for thou shalt be recompensed in the resurrection of the just.

The Parable of the Great Banquet

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. 16 But he said unto him, A certain man made a great supper; and he bade many: 17 and he sent forth his servant at supper time to say to them that were bidden, Come; for all things are now ready. 18 And they all with one consent began to make excuse. The first said unto him, I have bought a field, and I must needs go out and see it; I pray thee have me excused. 19 And another said, I have bought five yoke of oxen, and I go to prove them; I pray thee have me excused. 20 And another said, I have married a wife, and therefore I cannot come. 21 And the 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 hither the poor and maimed and blind and lame. 22 And the servant said, Lord, what thou didst command is done, and yet there is room. 23 And the lord said unto the servant, Go out into the highways and hedges, and constrain them to come in, that my house may be filled. 24 For I say unto you, that none of those men that were bidden shall taste of my supper.

The Cost of Being a Disciple

25 Now there went with him great multitudes: and he turned, and said unto them, 26 If any man cometh unto me, and hateth not his own father, and mother, and wife, and children, and brethren, and sisters, yea, and his own life also, he cannot be my disciple. 27 Whosoever doth not bear his own cross, and come after me, cannot be my disciple. 28 For which of you, desiring to build a tower, doth not first sit down and count the cost, whether he have wherewith to complete it? 29 Lest haply, when he hath laid a foundation, and is not able to finish, all that behold begin to mock him, 30 saying, This man began to build, and was not able to finish. 31 Or what king, as he goeth to encounter another king in war, will not sit down first and take counsel whether he is able with ten thousand to meet him that cometh against him with twenty thousand? 32 Or else, while the other is yet a great way off, he sendeth an ambassage, and asketh conditions of peace. 33 So therefore whosoever he be of you that renounceth not all that he hath, he cannot be my disciple. 34 Salt therefore is good: but if even the salt have lost its savor, wherewith shall it be seasoned? 35 It is fit neither for the land nor for the dunghill: men cast it out. He that hath ears to hear, let him hear. — Luke 14 | American Standard Version (ASV) The American Standard Version Bible is in the public domain. Cross References: Deuteronomy 24:5; Proverbs 9:2; Proverbs 20:18; Proverbs 22:9; Proverbs 25:6-7; Matthew 5:41-42; Matthew 12:2; Matthew 12:11-12; Mark 4:23; Mark 8:34; Mark 9:50; Luke 13:17; Luke 1:52; Luke 1:58; Luke 20:40; Philippians 3:4; Philippians 3:7; Revelation 12:11; Revelation 19:9; Revelation 20:4-5

09/02/2022

Let go your earthly tether...

For everyone reading this who may not know the group we're talking about, there's this group of believers I've become aware of recently that believe that Christians are required to forsake all possessions, cease any secular jobs, and move into a sort of commune style living situation.  They believe that Jesus commanded this in Luke 14.  In fact, not long ago I answered an anonymous ask on the topic of Luke 14, whether Jesus' statements there lead to the above conclusion.   

To begin, I don't think this group is necessarily a cult; they could be, but I just don't know enough about them to make that determination.   Also, I want to make it clear that I am not at all against communal living.  If a group of Christians want to give up all possessions and move into a commune together to better seek the Lord, that's perfectly ok.  There are no commands in Scripture against this.  They have liberty here.  I've even toyed with the idea of communal living myself several years back.  

The problem I have with this group is two fold:  1) they hold to an inconsistent interpretation of Scripture that ignores much of what the Bible says, and (this is the big one) 2) they teach that Jesus commands this communal living as a salvation issue; if all Christians don't do as they do, they aren't saved.  Both of these things are severely wrong and will inevitably lead to heresy.  

To the first point:  A basic principle of Bible interpretation holds that one shouldn't interpret any passage in isolation.  First we consider the passage in its immediate context, then against the context of the rest of the book, then against the wider context of the whole rest of the Bible.  

In Luke 14, we read: 

"25 Now great crowds accompanied him, and he turned and said to them, 26 “If anyone comes to me and does not hate his own father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters, yes, and even his own life, he cannot be my disciple. 27 Whoever does not bear his own cross and come after me cannot be my disciple. 28 For which of you, desiring to build a tower, does not first sit down and count the cost, whether he has enough to complete it? 29 Otherwise, when he has laid a foundation and is not able to finish, all who see it begin to mock him, 30 saying, ‘This man began to build and was not able to finish.’ 31 Or what king, going out to encounter another king in war, will not sit down first and deliberate whether he is able with ten thousand to meet him who comes against him with twenty thousand? 32 And if not, while the other is yet a great way off, he sends a delegation and asks for terms of peace. 33 So therefore, any one of you who does not renounce all that he has cannot be my disciple."

In other places, Jesus taught things that appear to contradict what He says here; for example, Jesus teaches us that we must love our neighbors as ourselves (Matthew 22:36-40, Mark 12:31), and love our enemies (Matthew 5:44).  Many other New Testament passages teach us to love others (1 Corinthians 13; 1 Timothy 5; 1 Peter 4; 1 John 2, 4; 2 John 1:4-6). How can we do that if we have to hate everyone other than Jesus (Luke 14:26)?  Jesus says in Luke 14:33 that anyone who wants to be His disciple has to renounce all that he has, but in Luke 22:36, Jesus tells his disciples maintain certain possessions, and also to acquire a sword.  The logical law of noncontradiction holds that a statement cannot be both true and false at the same time and in the same sense; it would be absurd to try to take both sets of statements in the same rigidly literal sense.  

Other passages in the New Testament affirm rights of possession.  In Acts 5, Peter explicitly states that both the property and the money gained from the sale of property belonged to Ananias and Sapphira, and implies that they were under no obligation to sell it or to give the money away.   In 2 Corinthians 9, Paul encourages Christians to give, but explicitly states that each Christian has to decide for themselves how much to give; he doesn't command them to give it all away.   We are encouraged to use the resources we have to bless and take care of other Christians in need, as well as the poor in a general sense (Romans 12:8, 1 John 3:17, etc), and we're commanded to provide for our own families (in direct contrast to the Church providing for them, I will add) in 1 Timothy 5, which would be impossible if we immediately renounced all possessions.  

So what does Jesus mean?  Jesus is teaching us that we must love Him first and best of all, and be willing to leave behind any human relationship in favor of our relationship with Him. And, all the stuff we have (money, tech, houses, vehicles, etc), we must be ready and willing to give it away at a moment's notice. We can't love our stuff more than Jesus. If the stuff gets in the way of our relationship with Him, it has to go. If we have stuff and someone we know is in need, we should be willing to give our stuff away to help them, or to lend to them without any concern for payback. We must hold all our possessions with a loose grip; we can have stuff, but the stuff can't have us.

This understanding of Luke 14 fits in with the other stuff Jesus said, as well as the other pertinent from the New Testament.  This group that insists on a rigidly literal reading of Luke 14:33 can't adequately account for the passages that refute them, while also inconsistently interprets Luke 14:26 in a nonliteral way.  

For the second point:  it should be clear to every Christian who reads the Bible that salvation is not based on works of righteousness, but upon the finished work of Christ on the cross (Romans, Galatians, Ephesians, et al.).  Works of righteousness result from salvation as a fruit of it; they don't cause it.  Salvation cannot hinge on our outward obedience to a command, otherwise salvation is no longer a free gift (Romans 11:6).  It's also worth noting that this sort of thing is no where commanded of all believers throughout the rest of the New Testament.  And further, if it is true that salvation is hinged on forsaking all secular work and all possessions, then many Christians mentioned in the New Testament weren't actually saved, including the Apostle Paul.  Paul (along with Priscilla and Aquilla), was a tent maker by trade (Acts 18).  Paul worked to provide for himself and commands us as Christians to work (2 Thessalonians 3:6-15; 1 Timothy 5); Paul had possessions (2 Timothy 4:13); Paul taught that it was up to the individual Christian to determine how much of their resources to give (2 Corinthians 9:6-7); and Paul failed to rebuke other Christians for having possessions (Philemon 1:2).  If we accept that all Christians must stop secular work and renounce all possessions in order to be saved, then on pain of inconsistency, we must conclude that Paul and other Christians mentioned in the New Testament were not saved.   

Soooo i like Greek! a lot! and had a lotta fun translating Luke’s Parable of the Banquet and looking into some of the words used! So here’s a post compiling all that. It’s intended as a sorta appendix to my long ass youtube video “Luke 14: Disabled persons are vital guests at God’s banquet.”

Translation of Luke 14:12-24

(words that i’ve done a word study on are in bold)

Also he [Jesus] spoke to the one who invited him: “Whenever you host a lunch or dinner, do not call upon your friends, nor your siblings, nor your kinsfolk, nor your rich neighbors, in case they in return invite you, and a repayment comes to you. But whenever you host a banquet, invite poor ones, disabled ones, impaired ones, blind ones -- and blessed will you be, since they don’t have the means to repay you; for it will be repaid to you upon the resurrection of the just ones.”

And upon hearing these things, someone among the ones reclining together said to him, “Blessed [is] whichever one will eat bread in the Kingdom of God!”

Then he [Jesus] said to him,

A certain man was making a huge supper, and he invited many. He sent out his slave at the hour of the supper to say to the ones invited, “Come! For now everything is ready!”

But they all planned as one to make excuses. The first one said to him, “A field have I bought, and I have need to go out to see it. I entreat you, have me excused.” Another one said, “Five yoke of oxen have I bought, and I am going out to test them -- I entreat you, have me excused.” The third said, “A woman have I wed, and therefore...I am not able to come.”

So upon returning, the slave reported these things to his master. Then the infuriated head of the household said to his slave, “Go out, quickly! Into the roads and alleys of the city, and lead back here the poor ones and disabled ones and blind ones and impaired ones.”

And the slave said, “Master, it has happened as you commanded, and still there is room!” So the master said to the slave, “Go out! [Further,] into the highways and hedges, and make them come in, so that my household may be filled to the brim. For I say to you that no one of those men who were invited will taste of my supper.”

Word Studies

πτωχούς (ptochous) in 14:13 and 21 - “the poor ones”

there's another Greek word for poor, penes, but that's only used in the NT twice; it's more about relative poverty, one who is not rich (plousios) enough to not have to work.

Then there’s this word ptochos, which occurs 34 times in the NT and which is for one who is utterly impoverished

ptochos comes from the root pte, "crouched together," from which also come the words for "be afraid" and "timid"

Friberg: “Literally, of one dependent on others for support;” “figuratively, of those in special need of God’s help” or “of little value, worthless, powerless”

"It signifies utter dependence on society. As an adj. it means begging, dependent on the help of strangers, poor as a beggar." As a noun it can be translated simply as "beggar"

the fact that persons with disabilities are associated here and elsewhere in the NT directly with “the poor” may suggest that persons who are disabled, blind, deaf, etc. are most likely to be poor, most likely to be beggars -- there’s not much room for disabled persons of higher status in this society

ἀναπείρους (anapeirous) in 14:13 and 21 - “disabled ones” versus χωλούς (cholous) - “impaired ones”

So these words are much more typically translated as “the crippled” and “the lame” respectively. I avoided these words as many disabled persons consider them to be dehumanizing slurs

The first word, anapeiros, is very rare in the NT -- only occurs here in Luke 14:13 & 21

It seems to refer to those who are made disabled (via an accident or punishment or illness, versus being born with a disability)

Other translation options include “maimed” and “mutilated”

Anyone have more thoughts on this word? I didn’t find it in any of the 4 word study dictionaries I looked at

cholos -- usually translated “lame,” can also mean “maimed”

I would have preferred a translation longer than “impaired ones” but it would have become a mouthful -- this word seems to specifically mean those who have a mobility impairment.

occurs 14 times in the NT

"the particular area affected is thought of in terms of the legs. Hence one who is lame moves about with some difficulty, perhaps walking with a limp, and may well experience pain in the process"

There is another word used for disability in the NT that doesn’t occur in Luke 14: κυλλός (kyllos)

means “maimed,” “crooked”

a person "deprived of the use of a limb or a member of the body, or one who is partially disabled and thus lacks the natural functions of a limb" (p. 414)

Occurs only 4 times in the NT

two passages "do not indicate the type of disability, suggesting that the persons involved may have included the congenitally afflicted as well as those who had sustained crippling accidents"

the other two (Matt 18:8 and Mk 9:43) are more specific, "describing the voluntary amputation of a hand as a means of forestalling sin"

τυφλούς (typhlous) in Luke 14:13 and 21 - “blind ones”

not much interesting to report here, it pretty much just means “blind”

it is often used figuratively, unfortunately, to mean ignorance or self-deception :/

And yeah, being blind is associated in many biblical passages with being poor or helpless

this word is used a lot in the NT, partially because blindness was really quite common in biblical times and regions: “Blindness is the most frequently mentioned physical [disability] in ancient Greek texts. One reason for this may be that blindness and sight impairment were widespread in the ancient world. Many causes of blindness can, in the modern world, be addressed by medical or surgical intervention or prevented altogether. This was not so in Western antiquity. People were traumatically blinded in battle and in situations where accidental or purposeful damage was done to the eyes. ...Herodotus (1.174) for instance, states that the Cnidians received eye injuries while breaking stones as they dug a trench, and Julius Caesar’s account of the Civil War mentions that four centurions in a single cohort were blinded in one battle. “More commonly, people lost their vision as the result of contagious disease, heredity, vitamin-A deficiency, and old age. For example, Hippocratic authors and Galen recorded observations about cataracts, and Aristotle noted that blind parents sometimes gave birth to blind babies. Galen lists well over one hundred eye pathologies, which should not be surprising in an age without vision-correction devices, vaccinations, or antibiotics” (Nicole Kelley, “Deformity and Disability in Greece and Rome” published in This Abled Body, p. 42).

παραιτεῖσθαι (paraiteisthai) in Luke 14:18 - “to make excuses”

I didn’t find anything too exciting about this verb, but it was hard to pick a translation because it has a variety of meanings!

comes from para + aiteo -- “to ask/demand alongside/beyond”

Used 12 times in NT, often to mean “refuse,” sometimes to mean request, reject, or beg

Mark 15:16 - “he released to them one prisoner, whomever they requested”

Acts 25:11 - “I do not refuse to die”

1 Tim 4:7 - “refuse / have nothing to do with wives’ tales”

Hebrews 12:19 - “made hearers beg that there’d be...”

Hebrews 12:25 - “be sure not to refuse him...”

Titus 3:10 - “Reject a factious man”

So yeah, lots of meanings...why does it mean “make excuses” in this passage? Normally there’s a sort of nuance of “aversion or repudiation” but I guess here there’s more of the “begging” quality Strong mentions

ἀνάγκασον (anagkason) in Luke 14:23 - “make [them come]”

this word has a wide spectrum of meaning; verb used in the sense of "compelling someone to do something"

The substantive form had a special sense of fateful, divinely ordered necessity in the Greek-speaking world -- in the NT, this is combined with "a conviction of the providence and purposeful action of God for salvation"; this "became a special, technical concept wherever primitive Christian eschatology was dominant"

can mean "must," or with the prep. "ex" it means "under compulsion" or "necessarily"

adjectival form means "that which is essential or indispensable"

Only in Mark 6:45 and its parallel Matt 14:22 does Jesus ever "force" his disciples -- to get in a boat and leave the crowds.

Only in Luke 14:23 is there the idea that people are to be compelled into fellowship with the Lord. "The command 'compel them' is a response to the 'must' in the excuse of those who are invited (v. 18) and in the Lukan outline sharpens the focus on the missionary task of the disciples."

To me, all this put together means that the host isn’t saying the servant should like, literally force people at knifepoint to come or something, but that these disabled and poor persons are necessary for the banquet to happen -- with that “providence and purposeful action of God” connotation fused into that. If these persons also turn down the invitation, there simply can be no banquet at all. They are vital!

For which of you, intending to build a tower, does not first sit down and estimate the cost, to see whether he has enough to complete it? Otherwise, when he has laid a foundation and is not able to finish, all who see it will begin to ridicule him, saying, ‘This fellow began to build and was not able to finish.’ Or what king, going out to wage war against another king, will not sit down and first consider whether he is able with ten thousand people to oppose the one who comes against him with twenty thousand? If he cannot, then, while the other is still far away, he sends a delegation and asks for terms of peace. So therefore, none of you can become my disciple if you do not give up all of your possessions. 

Jesus at a Pharisee’s House

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 abnormal swelling of his body. 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 on his way.

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 it 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 person 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 the other guests. 11 For all those who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves 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 sisters, your 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.”

The Parable of the Great Banquet

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 compel them to 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.’”

The Cost of Being a Disciple

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

28 “Suppose one of you wants to build a tower. Won’t you first sit down and estimate the cost to see if you have enough money to complete it? 29 For if you lay the foundation and are not able to finish it, everyone who sees it will ridicule you, 30 saying, ‘This person began to build and wasn’t able to finish.’

31 “Or suppose a king is about to go to war against another king. Won’t he 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, those of you who do not give up everything you have cannot be my disciples.

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.