Luke 14 · WEB
Humility, the Great Banquet, and the Cost of Discipleship
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When he went into the house of one of the rulers of the Pharisees on a Sabbath to eat bread, they were watching him.
2Behold, a certain man who had dropsy was in front of him.
3Jesus, answering, spoke to the lawyers and Pharisees, saying, "Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath?"
4But they were silent. He took him, and healed him, and let him go.
5He answered them, "Which of you, if your son or an ox fell into a well, wouldn't immediately pull him out on a Sabbath day?"
6They couldn't answer him regarding these things.
7He spoke a parable to those who were invited, when he noticed how they chose the best seats, and said to them,
8"When you are invited by anyone to a wedding feast, don't sit in the best seat, since perhaps someone more honorable than you might be invited by him,
9and he who invited both of you would come and tell you, 'Make room for this person.' Then you would begin, with shame, to take the lowest place.
10But when you are invited, go and sit in the lowest place, so that when he who invited you comes, he may tell you, 'Friend, move up higher.' Then you will be honored in the presence of all who sit at the table with you.
11For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and whoever humbles himself will be exalted."
12He also said to the one who had invited him, "When you make a dinner or a supper, don't call your friends, nor your brothers, nor your kinsmen, nor rich neighbors, or perhaps they might also return the favor, and pay you back.
13But when you make a feast, ask the poor, the maimed, the lame, or the blind;
14and you will be blessed, because they don't have the resources to repay you. For you will be repaid in the resurrection of the righteous."
15When one of those who sat at the table with him heard these things, he said to him, "Blessed is he who will feast in God's Kingdom!"
16But he said to him, "A certain man made a great supper, and he invited many people.
17He sent out his servant at supper time to tell those who were invited, 'Come, for everything is ready now.'
18They all as one began to make excuses. The first said to him, 'I have bought a field, and I must go and see it. Please have me excused.'
19Another said, 'I have bought five yoke of oxen, and I must go try them out. Please have me excused.'
20Another said, 'I have married a wife, and therefore I can't come.'
21That 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 the poor, maimed, blind, and lame.'
22The servant said, 'Lord, it is done as you commanded, and there is still room.'
23The lord said to the servant, 'Go out into the highways and hedges, and compel them to come in, that my house may be filled.
24For I tell you that none of those men who were invited will taste of my supper.'"
25Now great multitudes were going with him. He turned and said to them,
26"If anyone comes to me, and doesn't disregard his own father, mother, wife, children, brothers, and sisters, yes, and his own life also, he can't be my disciple.
27Whoever doesn't bear his own cross, and come after me, can't be my disciple.
28For which of you, desiring to build a tower, doesn't first sit down and count the cost, to see if he has enough to complete it?
29Or perhaps, when he has laid a foundation, and is not able to finish, everyone who sees begins to mock him,
30saying, 'This man began to build, and wasn't able to finish.'
31Or what king, as he goes to encounter another king in war, will not sit down first and consider whether he is able with ten thousand to meet him who comes against him with twenty thousand?
32Or else, while the other is yet a great way off, he sends an envoy, and asks for conditions of peace.
33So therefore whoever of you who doesn't renounce all that he has, he can't be my disciple.
34Salt is good, but if the salt becomes flat and tasteless, with what do you season it?
35It is fit neither for the soil nor for the manure pile. It is thrown out. He who has ears to hear, let him hear."
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Summary
At a Pharisee's Sabbath dinner, Jesus heals a man with dropsy and silences his critics, then teaches the guests about humility and inviting those who cannot repay. He tells the parable of the great banquet, where invited guests make excuses and outsiders are brought in, and warns the crowds that following him requires renouncing competing loyalties and counting the cost of discipleship.
Themes
- Humility and exaltation
- Generosity to those who cannot repay
- The widening invitation of the Kingdom
- Wholehearted discipleship
- Counting the cost
Key verses
- Luke 14:11 — “For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and whoever humbles himself will be exalted.”
- Luke 14:13-14 — “But when you make a feast, ask the poor, the maimed, the lame, or the blind; and you will be blessed, because they don't have the resources to repay you.”
- Luke 14:27 — “Whoever doesn't bear his own cross, and come after me, can't be my disciple.”
- Luke 14:33 — “Whoever of you who doesn't renounce all that he has, he can't be my disciple.”
Context & background
The chapter continues Luke's travel narrative, with Jesus dining at a leading Pharisee's home somewhere in the Judean or Perean region as he heads toward Jerusalem (modern Israel). First-century Mediterranean meals were strictly seated by honor, so seating choices were a public claim about status. Crucifixion under Roman rule was a familiar form of execution along major roads, so "bear his own cross" carried a vivid, costly image. Salt for first-century Palestine was often gathered impure from the Dead Sea (between modern Israel and Jordan) and could literally lose its useful saltiness over time.