Community Bible Study -- LUKE

Text of Luke 14:1-15:10 Presentation, Lesson 14

Click Here for Lesson 14 Photos -- Click Here to return to Luke Home Page

Jesus Preaches in Perea; God's Love for the Lost

In the last session, Jesus crossed the Jordan River into Perea - today part of modern Jordan. This begins what's called the "Perean Ministry," covering the next four lessons, chapters 14-18. Perea and Galilee are ruled by Herod Antipas, son of King Herod the Great. Herod Antipas killed John the Baptist in Perea, and for this reason the Pharisees urged Jesus to leave Perea, claiming Herod Antipas wants to kill him, too (13:31). But in reality, Perea is a relatively safe place for Jesus to preach: Herod Antipas rules from far away Galilee, and the Pharisees and other Jewish religious leaders have no power in Perea. This allows Jesus to proclaim his gospel in relative freedom, as he prepares to return to Jerusalem for a triumphal entry as Messiah on Palm Sunday.

Opposition to Jesus by the Pharisees has climaxed: they claim he is an agent of Satan. In the last lesson, Jesus urged Jews to "judge for (them)selves" (12:57) if he is the Messiah, based signs like his powerful, God-like miracles, showing he is the fulfillment of Jewish Messianic prophesy. He warned of terrible consequences to those who ignore these signs, and fail to have faith . . . yet he emphasized his sorrow over those who are "lost" by his tearful lament over the fate of the people of Jerusalem who do not believe. In this lesson - despite the different locale - Jesus discourses on similar themes.

First, Jesus is invited to a Sabbath dinner at the home of a "prominent Pharisee" (14:1). Why? Jesus is "being carefully watched" (14:1) - the ongoing investigation continues, even in Perea. A very sick man is there; Luke the physician describes the disease as "dropsy" (14:2): a swelling of the body due to an unnatural collection of serous fluid. (One form of dropsy is caused by consuming contaminated mustard oil - interesting, since in the last lesson, Jesus described the Kingdom of God as like a mustard seed.)

When Jesus healed a crippled woman on the Sabbath in the last lesson, he was told: "There are six days for work; come and be healed on those days, not on the Sabbath" (12:13). Hence, in the company of a "prominent Pharisee," Jesus appears to ask for a legal opinion: "Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath or not?" (14:3). But the Pharisees have learned a lesson. They were ridiculed by the people when Jesus healed the crippled woman, because he made it seem they cared more for animals than for people. So although it's well established in the oral law that healing is OK on the Sabbath only if the patient's life is in danger, the Pharisees realize how adroitly Jesus can use their words against them, and they "remained silent" (14:4).

But Jesus doesn't let their silence deter his teaching. He heals the man; it must have been quite a scene: the swelling of his bloated body going down before everyone's eyes! Then Jesus answers his own question with a parable: "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?" (14:5). Seems silly . . . but the irony is - according to the oral law - it was OK to do work to pull an animal out of a well on the Sabbath, but it's not clear the same was true for a child. But would any loving father leave his son in a cold, wet well for maybe as long as 24 hours just because it was the Sabbath? No! He would pull him out immediately. Suppose it was winter; he might catch pneumonia and die! If a son fell into a well on the Sabbath, a loving father would choose "to do good . . . on the Sabbath, (whether or not it was) lawful" (cf 6:9). The Pharisees are trapped: they don't dare try to defend the indefensible! They continue to remain silent; "they had nothing to say" (14:6).

Jesus next turns his attention to the banquet guests. At a party at the home of a "prominent Pharisee" (14:1) in 1st century Israel, "social climbers" competed for attention just as they do at an "elite" party today. Guests sit according to relative social importance - the more distinguished guests are nearer the host, and those of lesser importance further away. Jesus observes the guests jockeying for position at the table . . . each maximizing his sense of self-importance by choosing a seat as close to the host as he dares. He finds this offensive . . . and tells a parable making both a practical and a religious point as it ridicules this practice. "When you are invited (to a wedding feast)," Jesus says, "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" (14:10). And the reverse also applies. "Do not take the place of honor, for a person more distinguished than you may have been invited, (and) the host . . . will say to you, 'Give this man your seat.' Then, humiliated, you will have to take the least important place" (14:8-9).

Imagine yourself in either of these situations at a wedding reception with 300 friends . . . asked in front of everyone to take a more important position . . . or asked in front of everyone to leave the head table and find another seat - when the only seats left are people complaining about their ailments or telling intimate details about their lives you don't want to know! Jesus is advising people to be humble . . . not proud; but it's practical advice . . . not just churchy preaching! Even in the secular world "everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted" (14:11).

Jesus also gives advice to the host . . . but this advice is more churchy: "When you give a luncheon or dinner, do not invite your . . . rich neighbors; . . . if you do, they may invite you back and so you will be repaid. . . . Invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind, and you will be . . . repaid at the resurrection" (14:12-14). This goes against the secular "quid pro quo" philosophy usually followed in social affairs; no Fortune 500 CEO I know about foregos earthly rewards to receive heavenly rewards after death. But that's Jesus' point: "Provide . . . for yourselves . . . a treasure in heaven that will not be exhausted" (12:33). Today it's popular today to say: "I'm OK with God because I'm a good person." But what is "a good person"? If that means we do good things for those who can repay us . . . that means nothing. The Mafia does that; and Saddam Hussein paid off Jacques Chirac and Kofi Annan, expecting them to rein in George Bush and keep him in power! Jesus says his followers must do more than non-believers (cf Matt 5:46-48)!

Hearing this, one of the guests says: "Blessed is the man who will eat at the feast in the kingdom of God" (14:15). The Jews often portrayed heaven as like a "feast in the kingdom of God" (cf 13:28-29) . . . but where's this guy coming from? Is he supporting Jesus or opposing him? Judging from Jesus' reaction, I think he's a Pharisee, reflecting the prevalent Jewish opinion that prosperous people were blessed by God . . . that if a host invites his "rich neighbors" to "a luncheon or dinner" (14:12) he is inviting those blessed by God . . . those who will be in heaven with Abraham and the patriarchs.

Jesus responds by telling a parable about a man who "prepar(es) a great banquet and invite(s)" his rich friends (14:16). But when the time comes for the banquet, his rich friends all send regrets: they are engaging in commerce - inspecting newly acquired fields or livestock - or they are busy with social matters like a wedding (14:17-20). It's hard to imagine a worse social disaster than for no one to show up at your party! But that's what happens to this unfortunate man. So what does he do? He wants his banquet filled! So he "order(s) 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. . . . Go out to the roads and country lanes and make them come in, so that my house will be full'" (14:21-23).

This reminds us of the metaphor about the "narrow door" (13:24-30). God has prepared great things in heaven for believers, and his first invitations go to the Jews, his chosen people. But the rich and powerful among them believe they are blessed by being rich and powerful . . . they focus on wealth and power instead of God, and thereby decline God's invitation . . . even though they don't realize what they have done. Nevertheless, "those who were invited will (not) get a taste of (God's great) banquet" in heaven (cf 14:24).

This parable sends a message to the rich and powerful - and to those who follow the "legalism" of the Pharisees - they don't have what it takes to get into heaven; by spending their time on the wrong things they exclude themselves from the Kingdom of God. But it also sends a message to "the poor, the crippled, the blind and the lame . . . and it's the wrong message. If we take this parable literally, the poor and underprivileged don't need to do anything to get into the Kingdom of God . . . they qualify just being poor and underprivileged. But do the poor and underprivileged love God and love their neighbor, as Jesus requires (10:27-28)? Some poor and underprivileged aren't nice people! And perhaps that's one reason "large crowds (are) traveling with Jesus" (14:25), and why he feels it's necessary to emphasize that total commitment is required of his followers. Jesus returns to his earlier theme of himself as a divider of families:

"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. And anyone who does not carry his cross and follow me cannot be my disciple" (14:26-27)

What did Jesus' hearers think he meant when he said his followers must "carry (a) cross"? Perhaps they thought it was only hyperbole; nevertheless, Jesus follows with a parable clarifying what he means: that those who follow him must carefully consider the consequences of what they are doing:

"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? For if he lays the foundation and is not able to finish it, everyone who sees it will ridicule him, saying, `This fellow began to build and was not able to finish.' 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? 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" (14:28-32).

Christians should be careful planners and hard workers, as Jesus emphasized with the parable of servant-managers "waiting for their master to return from a wedding banquet" at an unexpected time (12:36). Jesus reinforces that point here. Imagine beginning to build a house or a tower . . . and running out of money -- or overextending your credit -- before it's finished. People will ridicule the builder . . . as his unfinished structure stands as silent witness to his poor planning. Or imagine two armies about to do battle one much more powerful than the other . . . like the US 3rd Infantry bearing down on the Iraqi armies defending Baghdad. A wise general of the weaker army negotiates the best terms he can get before combat starts . . . or he may be faced with unconditional surrender after his army is defeated. That's the way people must approach following Jesus. Are they ready to be ostracized by their families - as many Jews were, and still are today when they become believers. Are they ready to endure persecution and death, rather then renounce Jesus? If not, they might want to reconsider.

This was a real concern for the church when Constantine became Roman Emperor, and made Christianity the official religion. How should the church treat "believers" - especially clergy - who renounced Jesus under persecution.

And that's what Jesus means about salt "losing it's saltiness" (14:34): those who claim they will follow Jesus, but have not "estimated the cost" correctly, and fall away when being a Christian becomes too difficult. The metaphor is awkward for 21st century Americans. Until refrigeration, salt was a preservative; Jesus says Christians should be like salt, retarding decay in a generally pagan society. But in 1st century Israel salt often came in an impure form from deposits near the Dead Sea. After the NaCl was removed, what was left was mineral-rich, but had too much residual NaCl to be used as fertilizer. Yet it had too little NaCl to be any good as a preservative, so it was useful only as gravel for pathways. "Christians" who fall away under persecution are just as useless as the gravel residual from impure salt.

We seem to have the reverse problem today. As prospective believers "estimate the cost" of being a Christian in today's America, they see little downside risk. One wonders if some modern "believers" lack the commitment Jesus demands . . . if they will fall away under persecution. And make no mistake: there are obvious efforts today by the ACLU and others to suppress Christianity and persecute believers through "liberal" judges. If people like these and Moslem extremists have their way, we are on the brink of another era of Christian persecution.

Moving into chapter 15, the last parables in this lesson are the Lost Sheep and the Lost Coin. These were precipitated by repeated complaints from the Pharisees (cf 5:30, 7:32-50), that - whereas the oral law required "good" Jews to avoid those considered "sinners" by the Pharisees - Jesus associates with them: "Now the tax collectors and 'sinners' were all gathering around to hear him. But the Pharisees and the teachers of the law muttered, "This man welcomes sinners and eats with them" (15:1-2). Earlier Jesus had said his purpose as Messiah is to "to call . . . sinners to repentance" (5:32) . . . and now Jesus describes these sinners as "lost." The Pharisees know about being lost; they know how hard God worked to preserve the Jews, his chosen people, despite their disobedience - punishing yet not obliterating them. He delivered them from slavery in Egypt with mighty miracles, and led them to a land of "milk and honey" (Ex 3:8) . . . where he promised prosperity if they followed His laws. But they disobeyed Him so badly that He caused the Jews to be defeated and carried into foreign captivity. Yet God brought a remnant home to Jerusalem, and that remnant survived Greek and Roman conquests until this time; and 1st century Jewish leaders think the oral law is the way they can avoid Jewish disobedience in their time.

But Jesus takes the remnant idea further. He says God wants everyone to come to him - even those openly disobeying His laws. Jesus tells a parable illustrating that to God, one "sinner" who disobeys His laws is like a sheep that strays away from a herd of 100 and is lost; the shepherd will search high and low until he finds that one lost sheep, even though it represents only 1% of the herd. And he will celebrate when it is found. Jesus says

"In the same way there will be more rejoicing in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who do not need to repent" (15:7)

Take that, you Pharisees: God loves a repentant "sinner" more than all you who have been following the oral law!

And Jesus drives the point home with a second parable about a woman with 10 silver coins. Her 10 silver coins were probably her dowry . . . savings to protect her from poverty in the case of tragedy or divorce. To her, losing one coin is like is like a modern retired American losing 10% of his IRA . . . she will search most carefully until she finds it! Jesus is saying God loves each of us so much that the rejoicing in heaven over one repentant sinner is as great as that of a woman who regains 10% of her dowry.

Next week, as Jesus' ministry in Perea continues, he tells another parable to further explain God's love for the lost: the Prodigal Son (called the Lost Son in some modern bibles). And Jesus tells a parable in which he commends a shrewd servant-manager for dishonesty . . . you've got to check this one out! And as Jesus emphasizes that God's law in the bible is immutable and unchanging - it's only the oral law of the Pharisees, that Jesus is changing.