Luke 14:1-14

July 20, 2025

Luke 14:1–14 ESV

One Sabbath, when he went to dine at the house of a ruler of the Pharisees, they were watching him carefully. And behold, there was a man before him who had dropsy. And Jesus responded to the lawyers and Pharisees, saying, “Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath, or not?” But they remained silent. Then he took him and healed him and sent him away. And he said to them, “Which of you, having a son or an ox that has fallen into a well on a Sabbath day, will not immediately pull him out?” And they could not reply to these things. Now he told a parable to those who were invited, when he noticed how they chose the places of honor, saying to them, “When you are invited by someone to a wedding feast, do not sit down in a place of honor, lest someone more distinguished than you be invited by him, and he who invited you both will come and say to you, ‘Give your place to this person,’ and then you will begin with shame to take the lowest place.  But when you are invited, go and sit in the lowest place, so that when your host comes he may say to you, ‘Friend, move up higher.’ Then you will be honored in the presence of all who sit at table with you. For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted.”  He said also to the man who had invited him, “When you give a dinner or a banquet, do not invite your friends or your brothers or your relatives or rich neighbors, lest they also invite you in return and you be repaid.  But when you give a feast, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind, and you will be blessed, because they cannot repay you. For you will be repaid at the resurrection of the just.”

Discussion Questions:

This next section has many layers of understanding.  As we discussed last week, Jesus has just made a judgment pronouncement against Jerusalem.  Now, he is reaching out to those who thought they would have first place at the table in the kingdom.

1)  So continuing in this first advent context, what is the relationship between the healing of the man with dropsy and the teachings of verses 7 to 14?

2)  How do we apply the lessons of verses 7 to 14 to ourselves?

Discussion Summary:

Question 1:  The religious leaders ignored the loving miracle and instead focused on what they considered the weightier matter, the academic question of when is it proper to heal.  This revealed their heart condition which was motivated by pride (Matthew 23:4-7).

Jesus is still reaching out to these leaders and exhorting them to change course.  He gives them an example of an action that would reveal the beginning steps of repentance.  If they could  humble themselves at a feast they would begin the process of letting go of their pride which was clinging to power.

Question 2:  This lesson is applicable in many ways to Christians:

• As general advice on humility (Proverbs 25:6,7; James 4:6)
• As advice against looking on the outward appearance instead of the inward heart (James 2:1-7)
• As advice as to how within Christian congregations, those who are weaker and hindered by their problems are the very ones to be cared for and supported the most (1 Corinthians 12:23)