Chapter Fourteen
Lk. 14:1. It happened that He went on the Sabbath into the house of one of the rulers of the Pharisees to eat bread, and they were watching Him.
The Lord, although He knew the corruption of the Pharisees, nevertheless entered into their house; He entered because He was concerned for the benefit of their souls. For they, if they had wished, could have received benefit both from His words and teaching, and from the manifestation of signs.
Lk. 14:2. And behold, there stood before Him a man who was suffering from dropsy.
Therefore, when the man "suffering from dropsy" came forward into the midst, the Lord looked not to avoiding giving them offense, but to bestowing a kindness on the one in need of healing. For where very great benefit is at hand, we ought not to concern ourselves with those who are foolishly scandalized.
Lk. 14:3. On this occasion Jesus asked the lawyers and Pharisees: is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath?
The Lord exposes the foolishness of those who intended to reproach Him; therefore He asks whether it is lawful to heal on the Sabbath or not. Does He not clearly put them to shame as fools? For while God Himself blessed the Sabbath, they forbid doing good on it, and thus make it accursed. For that day is not blessed in which no good deed is performed.
Lk. 14:4. They were silent. And He touched him, healed him, and let him go.
But they, understanding where the question was leading, kept silent. Then Jesus does His work and through a touch heals the sick man.
Lk. 14:5. And He said to them: If one of you has a donkey or an ox that has fallen into a well, will he not immediately pull it out even on the Sabbath?
Lk. 14:6. And they could not answer Him to this.
Then by this act He also shames the Pharisees, saying to them as if thus: if the Law forbade showing mercy on the Sabbath, would you not care for your son who fell into misfortune on the Sabbath? And why do I speak of a son? Would you leave an ox without help if you saw it in distress? How is it not madness, then, to lie in wait to accuse someone for healing on the Sabbath a man suffering from dropsy?
Every person who has become gravely ill in soul from a dissolute and careless life and is in need of Christ also suffers from dropsy. Such a person will be healed if he presents himself before Christ. For whoever constantly keeps in mind that he is before God and that God sees him will sin as little as possible.
Lk. 14:7. And He told a parable to those who were invited, when He noticed how they chose the places of honor:
Do you see what the suppers of Christ are like, how they are turned to the profit of souls and not to the stuffing of the belly? For look, He healed the man suffering from dropsy, He taught the Pharisees that doing good on the Sabbath is a good deed. Then, when He saw that they were making a commotion over sitting in the front seats, He heals this passion too, one arising not from a small cause but from a great and hard-to-avoid one, namely vainglory. And let no one consider the teaching about this to be trivial and unworthy of the majesty of God. For you could by no means call that physician benevolent who promises to cure gout and whatever serious disease there may be, but refuses to treat a bruised finger or a toothache. Moreover, how can one consider the passion of vainglory trivial when it troubles in every way those who love to sit in the front seats? Therefore it was necessary for the Teacher, the Author and Perfecter of humility — Christ — it was necessary to cut off every branch of this evil root: vainglory. Please also take this into consideration: if it had not been the time of the meal and the Lord had begun speaking about this, setting aside discussion of other matters, they could have reproached Him. But as it was, when it was the time of the supper and when the passion for preeminence was tormenting the wretches before the Savior's eyes, His admonition was most timely.
Lk. 14:8. When you are invited by someone to a wedding, do not sit down in the first place, lest someone more honorable than you be among those invited by him,
Lk. 14:9. and he who invited both you and him, coming up, would say to you: Give this man your place; and then with shame you would have to take the last place.
Look from the other side also at this: from what mockery He delivers man and how He teaches him propriety. For how much shame there is in the case where you take a place unbefitting to you, and then someone more honored than you arrives, and the one who invited you says: "Give him your place!" And this can happen often. And you yourself will have to yield, while they will sit higher.
Lk. 14:10. But when you are invited, go and sit down in the last place, so that when he who invited you comes, he may say to you: Friend! Move up higher; then you will have honor before those who sit at table with you.
On the contrary, how praiseworthy it is when one who is worthy of the first place initially sits below others, and then turns out to be the one presiding, so that everyone yields precedence to him. Does it really seem to you a small thing, this teaching of the Lord, which prescribes the highest of virtues — humility, plants it in the souls of the listeners, and leads the one who is obedient to it toward propriety? The same thing was later taught by the disciple of Christ, Paul: "all things," he says, "should be done decently and in order" (1 Cor. 14:40). And how shall this be? "Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others" (Phil. 2:4). Do you see that the disciple preaches the same thing as the Teacher?
Lk. 14:11. For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted.
How should we understand the words: "everyone who exalts himself will be humbled"? For many who exalt themselves in this life enjoy honor. "Will be humbled" means that whoever enjoys great honor in this world is wretched and lowly before God. Moreover, such a person is not honored to the end nor by all, but as much as some respect him, so much do others revile him, perhaps even among those very ones who respect him. Thus, this saying of truth is just. And everyone unworthy of a high position, yet claiming it for himself, will be humbled both before God at the time of the last judgment, even if in this life he were above all.
No one is worthy of exaltation by nature. Therefore let no one exalt himself, lest he be humbled to the utmost.
Lk. 14:12. And He said also to the one who had invited Him: When you make a dinner or a supper, do not call your friends, nor your brothers, nor your relatives, nor rich neighbors, lest they also invite you in return, and you receive recompense.
Lk. 14:13. But when you make a feast, invite the poor, the maimed, the lame, the blind,