Healed at the Pharisee's Table
At a Pharisee's table he heals a swollen man while everyone stays silent, then tells guests to take the lowest seat and hosts to invite people who cannot repay. In his Father's banquet the invited make excuses and the streets are brought in. Following him costs everything.
14 1One Sabbath, when he went to eat in the house of one of the leaders of the Pharisees, they were watching him closely. 2And there in front of him was a man whose body was swollen with fluid.
3Jesus said to the experts in the law and the Pharisees, "Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath, or not?"
4But they stayed silent. So he took hold of the man, healed him, and sent him on his way.
5Then he said to them, "If one of you has a son or an ox that falls into a well on the Sabbath day, will you not immediately pull him out?"
6And they had no answer to give to this.
7When he noticed how the guests chose the places of honor, he told them a parable:
8"When someone invites you to a wedding feast, do not take the place of honor, because a more distinguished guest than you may have been invited. 9Then the one who invited you both will come and say to you, 'Give this person your place,' and in disgrace you will have to take the lowest place. 10But when you are invited, go and take the lowest place, so that when your host comes he will say to you, 'Friend, move up higher.' Then you will be honored in front of all who are at the table with you. 11For all who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted."
12Then he said to the man who had invited him, "When you give a lunch or a dinner, do not invite your friends or your brothers or your relatives or your rich neighbors. If you do, they may invite you back, and you would be repaid. 13But when you give a banquet, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind, 14and you will be blessed. Since they have no way to repay you, you will be repaid at the resurrection of the righteous."
The Father's Banquet
15When one of those at the table with him heard this, he said to him, "Blessed is the one who will eat at the feast in the kingdom of our Father!"
16Jesus replied, "A certain man was giving a great banquet, and he invited many guests.
17"When the time came for the banquet, he sent his servant to tell those who had been invited, 'Come, for everything is now ready.' 18But one after another they all began to make excuses. The first said to him, 'I have bought a field, and I must go and see it. Please excuse me.'
19Another said, 'I have bought five pairs of oxen, and I am on my way to try them out. Please excuse me.'
20And another said, 'I have just married a wife, and so I cannot come.'"
21So the servant came back and reported this to his master. Then the master of the house became angry and said to 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"'Master,' the servant said, 'what you ordered has been done, and still there is room.'
23Then the master told the servant, 'Go out to the roads and country lanes and compel them to come in, so that my house will be full. 24For I tell you, not one of those who were invited will taste my banquet.'"
The Cost of Following Jesus
25Large crowds were traveling with him, and turning to them he said,
26"If anyone comes to me and does not hate his own father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters—yes, even his own life—he cannot be my disciple. a a v26 "Hate" here is a Hebrew way of speaking that means to love far less by comparison—Jesus is not commanding hostility toward family, but a love for him that surpasses every other loyalty. 27Whoever does not carry his own cross and follow me cannot be my disciple. 28Suppose one of you wants to build a tower. Will he not first sit down and count the cost, to see whether he has enough to finish it? 29Otherwise, if he lays the foundation and is not able to finish, everyone who sees it will begin to ridicule him, 30saying, 'This person began to build and was not able to finish.' 31Or 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 10,000 men to face the one coming against him with 20,000? 32And if he cannot, he will send a delegation while the other is still far off and ask for terms of peace. 33In the same way, any one 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? 35Fit for neither soil nor manure pile, it's thrown out. Whoever has ears to hear, let them hear."
