14 And it came to pass, when he went into the house of one of the rulers of the Pharisees on a sabbath to eat bread, that they were watching him. 2 And behold, there was before him a certain man that had the dropsy. 3 And Jesus answering spake unto the lawyers and Pharisees, saying, Is it lawful to heal on the sabbath, or not? 4 But they held their peace. And he took him, and healed him, and let him go.
(Dropsy refers to congestive heart failure). Beware the leaven of the Pharisees. In the last chapter we saw the response of the ruler of the synagogue, in this chapter we see the response of the “silent majority”. In the last chapter we learned that the Lord’s goal includes exposing the hypocrisy of a corrupt counterfeit bill to the kingdom of the heavens. In this chapter we learn that “salt is good” at dealing with this deep state.
5 And he said unto them, Which of you shall have an ass or an ox fallen into a well, and will not straightway draw him up on a sabbath day? 6 And they could not answer again unto these things.
According to the rabbinical law you were not supposed to pull an ox out of a well on the Sabbath. You were allowed to lower food and water down to the ox, but you had to wait till the next day to pull the ox out. They knew this, but then they also knew that this was a stupid rule. The ox doesn’t know it is the Sabbath. In the wild an ox falls into a well and can’t get out, that ox is going to die. So this ox is going to panic and may break a leg trying to get out. Imagine you were the ox, your owner sees you in the well, but just leaves you there! How cruel is that? You do all that work for him and he is just going to leave you to die? One person can’t pull an ox out, so they would need help. This is why they are all keeping quiet, they don’t want to admit that they do this in public, but they can’t deny it because everyone knows they do it. It is a stupid, cruel rule, no one obeys it, but they are afraid to say that. That is hypocrisy, that is the leaven of the Pharisees. They keep people in line with fear but no one believes them, they don’t obey them, they just don’t want to make waves.
7 And he spake a parable unto those that were bidden, when he marked how they chose out the chief seats; saying unto them, 8 When thou art bidden of any man to a marriage feast, sit not down in the chief seat; lest haply a more honorable man than thou be bidden of him, 9 and he that bade thee and him shall come and say to thee, Give this man place; and then thou shalt begin with shame to take the lowest place. 10 But when thou art bidden, go and sit down in the lowest place; that when he that hath bidden thee cometh, he may say to thee, Friend, go up higher: then shalt thou have glory in the presence of all that sit at meat with thee. 11 For every one that exalteth himself shall be humbled; and he that humbleth himself shall be exalted.
This is what people are really afraid of, public humiliation. What did the Lord say, don’t fear those that can just humiliate you and after that there is nothing more they can do, rather fear Him who after you have died has the power to humiliate you for eternity. Why is it that people deny the Lord before men? They are afraid to be shunned and humiliated. The Lord is not teaching us how to be social climbers. You need to connect this account with the earlier point Jesus made(Luke 12:8-9). If you confess Jesus before men you will be shunned, you will be given the worst seats at their feasts. But if you confess Jesus before men then He will confess you before the angels, at the feast that He is going to give at the end of the age He will say “friend go up higher”. If you choose to start the feast in the most despised seat, the “Jesus freak” seat, then there is nothing they can do to you, but you give the Lord an opportunity to honor you.
12 And he said to him also that had bidden him, When thou makest a dinner or a supper, call not thy friends, nor thy brethren, nor thy kinsmen, nor rich neighbors; lest haply they also bid thee again, and a recompense be made thee. 13 But when thou makest a feast, bid the poor, the maimed, the lame, the blind: 14 and thou shalt be blessed; because they have not wherewith to recompense thee: for thou shalt be recompensed in the resurrection of the just.
This is how you lay up treasure for yourself (Luke 12:16-21). Man’s life consisteth not in the abundance of the things he possesses. If the US dollar is about to become worthless then you are in the exact same position of that rich man who died. Once he died the grain in the barn was worthless to him. He could have used it to give a feast to the poor and then when the Lord took him he would have had treasure stored up in heaven. During the tribulation our money will become worthless. But right now there are people who can’t pay their rent, can’t buy food. One minute you could have used that money to store up treasure in heaven, the next minute it will be gone. Give to those who cannot recompense you and then you will be recompensed in the resurrection. This is a tremendous investment opportunity for you, where thieves don’t break in, moths don’t destroy, a purse in heaven that faileth not.
15 And when one of them that sat at meat with him heard these things, he said unto him, Blessed is he that shall eat bread in the kingdom of God. 16 But he said unto him, A certain man made a great supper; and he bade many: 17 and he sent forth his servant at supper time to say to them that were bidden, Come; for all things are now ready.
Look, all things have been made ready. Have you been praying for the Lord’s will to be done, for His kingdom to come? Well everything is ready, stand up against the corruption, stand up to stop the steal, bring these giants down, they will be your food. Can we use a little common sense here? I don’t need Twitter, but Twitter needs me. I don’t need Facebook but Facebook needs me. I don’t need Google, I don’t need Apple, I don’t need Amazon.com. What we do need is the internet, Google doesn’t own that, we do need search engines, don’t have to be Google. We do want to be able to buy online, but doesn’t have to be with Amazon.com, we do want to receive our news but doesn’t have to be Twitter and we do want social media for our friends, but doesn’t have to be Facebook.
18 And they all with one consent began to make excuses. The first said unto him, I have bought a field, and I must needs go out and see it; I pray thee have me excused. 19 And another said, I have bought five yoke of oxen, and I go to prove them; I pray thee have me excused. 20 And another said, I have married a wife, and therefore I cannot come. 21 And the 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 hither the poor and maimed and blind and lame.
I would be angry to. If they simply obeyed the Lord we would roll through this corruption like it is the paper tiger the football teams run through when they run on the field. So now, these rich, complacent, apathetic believers will be fully shamed by the deplorables.
(Dropsy refers to congestive heart failure). Beware the leaven of the Pharisees. In the last chapter we saw the response of the ruler of the synagogue, in this chapter we see the response of the “silent majority”. In the last chapter we learned that the Lord’s goal includes exposing the hypocrisy of a corrupt counterfeit bill to the kingdom of the heavens. In this chapter we learn that “salt is good” at dealing with this deep state.
5 And he said unto them, Which of you shall have an ass or an ox fallen into a well, and will not straightway draw him up on a sabbath day? 6 And they could not answer again unto these things.
According to the rabbinical law you were not supposed to pull an ox out of a well on the Sabbath. You were allowed to lower food and water down to the ox, but you had to wait till the next day to pull the ox out. They knew this, but then they also knew that this was a stupid rule. The ox doesn’t know it is the Sabbath. In the wild an ox falls into a well and can’t get out, that ox is going to die. So this ox is going to panic and may break a leg trying to get out. Imagine you were the ox, your owner sees you in the well, but just leaves you there! How cruel is that? You do all that work for him and he is just going to leave you to die? One person can’t pull an ox out, so they would need help. This is why they are all keeping quiet, they don’t want to admit that they do this in public, but they can’t deny it because everyone knows they do it. It is a stupid, cruel rule, no one obeys it, but they are afraid to say that. That is hypocrisy, that is the leaven of the Pharisees. They keep people in line with fear but no one believes them, they don’t obey them, they just don’t want to make waves.
7 And he spake a parable unto those that were bidden, when he marked how they chose out the chief seats; saying unto them, 8 When thou art bidden of any man to a marriage feast, sit not down in the chief seat; lest haply a more honorable man than thou be bidden of him, 9 and he that bade thee and him shall come and say to thee, Give this man place; and then thou shalt begin with shame to take the lowest place. 10 But when thou art bidden, go and sit down in the lowest place; that when he that hath bidden thee cometh, he may say to thee, Friend, go up higher: then shalt thou have glory in the presence of all that sit at meat with thee. 11 For every one that exalteth himself shall be humbled; and he that humbleth himself shall be exalted.
This is what people are really afraid of, public humiliation. What did the Lord say, don’t fear those that can just humiliate you and after that there is nothing more they can do, rather fear Him who after you have died has the power to humiliate you for eternity. Why is it that people deny the Lord before men? They are afraid to be shunned and humiliated. The Lord is not teaching us how to be social climbers. You need to connect this account with the earlier point Jesus made(Luke 12:8-9). If you confess Jesus before men you will be shunned, you will be given the worst seats at their feasts. But if you confess Jesus before men then He will confess you before the angels, at the feast that He is going to give at the end of the age He will say “friend go up higher”. If you choose to start the feast in the most despised seat, the “Jesus freak” seat, then there is nothing they can do to you, but you give the Lord an opportunity to honor you.
12 And he said to him also that had bidden him, When thou makest a dinner or a supper, call not thy friends, nor thy brethren, nor thy kinsmen, nor rich neighbors; lest haply they also bid thee again, and a recompense be made thee. 13 But when thou makest a feast, bid the poor, the maimed, the lame, the blind: 14 and thou shalt be blessed; because they have not wherewith to recompense thee: for thou shalt be recompensed in the resurrection of the just.
This is how you lay up treasure for yourself (Luke 12:16-21). Man’s life consisteth not in the abundance of the things he possesses. If the US dollar is about to become worthless then you are in the exact same position of that rich man who died. Once he died the grain in the barn was worthless to him. He could have used it to give a feast to the poor and then when the Lord took him he would have had treasure stored up in heaven. During the tribulation our money will become worthless. But right now there are people who can’t pay their rent, can’t buy food. One minute you could have used that money to store up treasure in heaven, the next minute it will be gone. Give to those who cannot recompense you and then you will be recompensed in the resurrection. This is a tremendous investment opportunity for you, where thieves don’t break in, moths don’t destroy, a purse in heaven that faileth not.
15 And when one of them that sat at meat with him heard these things, he said unto him, Blessed is he that shall eat bread in the kingdom of God. 16 But he said unto him, A certain man made a great supper; and he bade many: 17 and he sent forth his servant at supper time to say to them that were bidden, Come; for all things are now ready.
Look, all things have been made ready. Have you been praying for the Lord’s will to be done, for His kingdom to come? Well everything is ready, stand up against the corruption, stand up to stop the steal, bring these giants down, they will be your food. Can we use a little common sense here? I don’t need Twitter, but Twitter needs me. I don’t need Facebook but Facebook needs me. I don’t need Google, I don’t need Apple, I don’t need Amazon.com. What we do need is the internet, Google doesn’t own that, we do need search engines, don’t have to be Google. We do want to be able to buy online, but doesn’t have to be with Amazon.com, we do want to receive our news but doesn’t have to be Twitter and we do want social media for our friends, but doesn’t have to be Facebook.
18 And they all with one consent began to make excuses. The first said unto him, I have bought a field, and I must needs go out and see it; I pray thee have me excused. 19 And another said, I have bought five yoke of oxen, and I go to prove them; I pray thee have me excused. 20 And another said, I have married a wife, and therefore I cannot come. 21 And the 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 hither the poor and maimed and blind and lame.
I would be angry to. If they simply obeyed the Lord we would roll through this corruption like it is the paper tiger the football teams run through when they run on the field. So now, these rich, complacent, apathetic believers will be fully shamed by the deplorables.