A Study of the Book of Luke
Sermon # 38
“When Jesus Comes To Dinner”
Luke 14:1-14
Have you ever been in a home of a fellow Christian and seen the plaque hanging on the wall saying, “Jesus is the head of this home, the silent listener to every conversation, the unseen guest at every meal?” I wonder if we have ever stopped to consider that having Jesus as the honored guest at our meal just might be more than we expected? In the story that we are going to examine this morning Jesus is the invited guest to a formal dinner party in the home of an unnamed Pharisee.
It was the Sabbath day and perhaps Jesus had been the special guest preacher in the local synagogue. One of the prominent members a Pharisee invited Jesus home to Sabbath dinner.
Jesus attended the meal but instead of polite conversation that might have been expected, the attendants may have wished they had brought more Tums. Jesus through his actions, the story he tells and the application that he makes exposes the character flaws of those in attendance.
The guests present, most of whom seem to be Pharisees, we would today classify as “good, church going folks,” they undoubtedly thought of themselves as “spiritual and moral folks” but Jesus is just about to expose to everyone the three major flaws that characterize their lives.
[Basic outline drawn from Larry Sarver sermon. “Guess Who Is Coming To Dinner.” Luke 14:1-14 www.sermoncentral.]
1. They Lived Lives Characterized by Judgmentalism (vv. 1-6)
When I use the word “Judgmentalism” I mean the act of judging another wrongly or self-righteously. Condemning another without due cause, in an unloving manner or when similar circumstances or situations exist in one’s own life.
We read in verse one, “Now it happened, as He went into the house of one of the rulers of the Pharisees to eat bread on the Sabbath, that they watched Him closely. (2) And behold, there was a certain man before Him who had dropsy.
Jesus was not offered hospitality because his company was desired; but so that He might be watched by critical, cynical eyes for verse one says, “… they watched him closely.” It seems very convenient if not a little suspicious that the stage was so careful set; Jesus is invited to a meal on the Sabbath, in the home of a prominent religious leader, were Jesus could be careful watched. At this same meal there just happened to be a man suffering from a painful ailment and seated right in front of Jesus. A careful trap had been set for Jesus, baited with misery that Jesus would find irresistible to relieve. They thought that they had Jesus trapped.
The condition here called “dropsy” (also called edema) was a painful disease in which because of kidney trouble, a heart ailment, or liver disease, the tissues fill with water.
It should be noted that Jesus had already violated their manmade Sabbath traditions on seven other occasions (casting out a demon, Luke 4:32-37; healing a fever, 4:38-39;allowing his disciples to pluck grain, 6:1-5; healing a lame man, John 5:1-9; healing a man’s paralyzed hand, 6:6-10; delivered a crippled woman afflicted by a demon, 13:10-17 and healing a man born blind, John 9)
In meeting their challenge head on, Jesus exposes their judgmental attitudes through the use of two questions. Two questions that we need to ask ourselves before we pass judgment on others.
• The first question is found in verse
three where Jesus asked the Pharisees what their convictions were concerning the Sabbath day; "... Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath?"
The question “Is it lawful for you to heal on the Sabbath Day?” is mute because they couldn’t heal anybody on anyday. Technically the Jesus is really asking, “Do you have a genuine biblical basis for your judgment?” Today the application would be, when you make a judgment concerning what music that others listen to, how they spend their money, what Bible translation do they use etc.; Do we really have a biblical basic for our judgment?
The Pharisee did not know how to respond in verse four, “But they kept silent. And He took him and healed him, and let him go.” When they refused to answer, Jesus touched the sick man, healed him and sent him away.
• The second question Jesus asks is in
verse five where he asks, "Which of you, having a donkey or an ox that has fallen into a pit, will not immediately pull him out on the Sabbath day?"
No matter what they taught and demanded of others they made exceptions for themselves. Jesus explained that they did work on the Sabbath when it served their purposes.
Even their own Sabbath regulations permitted them to rescue their animals so to forbid the deliverance of humans would mean that they treated animals better than people.
Let me give you an illustration. “A man was driving to work one morning when he noticed that the car in front of him was weaving back and forth. As he pulled up even with it, he could see that the driver’s face was almost touching the windshield as she was attempting to apply mascara. This of course, made the man furious. He thought how wrong it was for her to try and operate a motor vehicle while being so distracted with her make up. He became even angrier when her car suddenly veered in his direction. It scared him so badly he dropped his cell-phone right into the cup of coffee he was drinking.” [Larry Sarver. “Guess Who Is Coming To Dinner.” Luke 14:1-14 www.sermoncentral.]
Sometimes like the man in the illustration we are guilty of being judgmental about others, because we are also guilty of similar faults. Jesus is telling them that they are guilty of the same things they are condemning him for. I have seen people judge the younger generation on the basis of listening to contemporary Christian music yet they themselves listen to Country music with songs about drinking and cheating on their mates. Jesus is telling them they are guilty of the same things they are condemning him for.
Again the Pharisees could not answer, verse six, “And they could not answer Him regarding these things.”
There are two questions Jesus asks and we need to ask ourselves as well before we pass judgment on others; “Is there a genuine biblical basis for your judgment?” And secondly, “Do you condemn others for what you yourself practice in principle?”
2. They Lived Lives Characterized by Pride (vv. 7-11)
They had invited Jesus so that they could “watch” him, but he had “marked or noted” them.
The gospels reveal that Jesus was a careful student of everyday life. Jesus noted that as the guests arrived at the Pharisee’s home how they had scrambled for the places of honor next to the host.
It is not unlike scenes we see played out today. How many times have seen traffic being merged into a single lane because of construction but there are always a few who race to the front of the string of traffic before muscling their way into the line of traffic. Or a scene anyone who has traveled on a plane has seen repeated over and over. The plane touches down and the stewardess says, “Please remain in your seat until the seat belt is turned off.” However, some passengers leap to their feet as soon as the plane has landed and begin to get their belongings from the overhead compartments. It is as if these people believe that no one could possibly be as important as they are.
Jesus spoke to this kind of self-seeking in a parable about a wedding feast. In verse seven we read, “So He told a parable to those who were invited, when He noted how they chose the best places, saying to them (8) "When you are invited by anyone to a wedding feast, do not sit down in the best place, lest one more honorable than you be invited by him; (9) "and he who invited you and him come and say to you, ‘Give place to this man,’ and then you begin with shame to take the lowest place. (10) "But when you are invited, go and sit down in the lowest place, so that when he who invited you comes he may say to you, ‘Friend, go up higher.’ Then you will have glory in the presence of those who sit at the table with you.”
When Jesus advises the guest to take the lowest places, He was not giving them a “gimmick” that guaranteed promotion. The false humility that takes the lowest place in the expectation of being moved higher, is just as hateful to God as the pride that takes the highest place. Some point to the old saying, ”Cream always rises to the top,” but remember “so does scum.”
Jesus states the principle in verse eleven, "For whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted." Jesus draws from the ancient wisdom of the author of Proverbs (25:6-7) who stated, “Do not exalt yourself in the presence of the king, And do not stand in the place of the great (7) For it is better that he say to you, ‘Come up here.’ Than that you should be put lower in the presence of the prince, whom your eyes have seen.”
True honor is not the honor one claims for oneself, but rather it is the honor that is conferred on one by others.
This is no more an accepted idea today than it was in the days of Jesus earthly ministry. Today’s wisdom says that getting ahead depends on “self promotion.” What Jesus taught here tosses that idea on its ear. “His advice is, Be content with the back seat. Be happy with who you are and where you are. If God wants you in the front row, He’ll move you there. And the honor will taste twice as sweet because you won’t be expecting it.” [Charles Swindoll. Bible Study Teaching Guide. “The Declaration of Something Mysterious.” A Study of Luke 10:38-16:18. Anaheim, California: Insight for Living, 1995) p. 107]
3. They Lived Lives Characterized by Selfishness (vv. 12-14)
For the final character trait look in verse twelve, “Then He also said to him who invited Him, "When you give a dinner or a supper, do not ask your friends, your brothers, your relatives, nor rich neighbors, lest they also invite you back, and you be repaid. (13) "But when you give a feast, invite the poor, the maimed, the lame, the blind. (14) "And you will be blessed, because they cannot repay you; for you shall be repaid at the resurrection of the just."
The reasons that motivated who the host of this dinner invited were two-fold; (1) to pay back those who had already invited him to their feast, and (2) to put everyone in his debt, so that they would in turn invite him to their feasts.
The tense of the Greek verb in verse twelve helps us to understand his statement, a literal translation would be: “When you give a dinner do not always keep inviting your friends.” Jesus is not prohibiting us from entertaining family and friends, but he is warning us against only entertaining family and friends, habitually and exclusively. In other words do not get into a habit of entertaining only those who can return the favor or repay us in some fashion.
This of course speaks to our tendency even today to turn church into an evangelical mutual admiration society. There is nothing wrong with enjoying the fellowship of good friends, unless we do this exclusively. It is difficult for visitors and even new church members to break into the exclusive circles that form in almost every local church. Yet extending hospitality is a part of the calling of every Christian for Romans 12:13 reminds us that we are to “be given to hospitality.”
Conclusion
Beware of Living Lives Characterized by
1. Judgmentalism
We can avoid this error by being surethat we
have a biblical basic for our judgment.
And That we do not condemn others for
things that we are also guilty of.
2. Pride
3. Selfishness
We need to widen the circle of our lives to include new people.
