Luke

14:1-11

The teachings of Messiah, 9:51-19:44

4. Who enters the kingdom? 13:22-16:13

iii] A churchman's dinner party. 14:1-24

a) A lesson on humility

The setting for this episode looks like a dinner provided for a visiting preacher by the local minister. It is quite possibly a setup, with the sick man being placed before Jesus while the religious crew "carefully watched." Jesus heals the man who h\n uJdrwpikoV, "was suffering from dropsy", and then confronts the lawyers and Pharisees present with the question, "Is it lawful to cure people on the Sabbath, or not?" With the use of a set of sayings, Jesus restores the Sabbath to its proper meaning, and goes on to identify his hosts as religious status-seekers excused from the celebrations of the heavenly "banquet".

Be warned, religious status-seekers will have no part in the kingdom of God.

i] Context: See 13:22-30. The churchman's dinner party, 14:1-24, is the third episode in a series of six which deal with the question, who will enter the kingdom? 13:22-16:13. The answer we get is that it is not always the people we expect. These episodes describe both those who enter the kingdom and those who remain outside. In the age of the great reversal, when the first are last and the last first, many will find themselves unexpectedly outside the kingdom, v22-30, among them will be a two-bit politician, unfaithful Israel, and self-righteous status-seekers, 14:1-11.

ii] Background: Jesus and Sabbath regulations. The gospels record a disproportionate number of conflict stories on the subject of Sabbath observance. It is obvious that the religious authorities are focused on what they perceive as Jesus' lax observance of the Sabbath. Jesus may be a wonderful healer, but he can't be the messiah because he and his disciples do not keep the Sabbath. So, the authorities are forced to conclude that Jesus heals in the power of Satan rather than God. Jesus constantly tries to force the Pharisees to recognise that there is a difference between God's Sabbath law and human regulations. To refrain from the struggle of making a living on the Sabbath is a joy, not a burden; it is a good to be celebrated in doing good, rather than suppressed in a maze of religious regulations.

iii] Structure: A churchman's dinner party:

iv] Interpretation:

v] Synoptics:

vi] Exposition: A simple exposition of this passage may be found in the linked pew-level Sermon Notes.

The churchman's dinner party - A lesson on hospitality: i] The healing of the man with dropsy - the third recorded healing on the Sabbath by Luke, v1-6.

kai egeneto (ginomai) aor. "-" - and it came to pass. Used to introduce a new episode; see egeneto, 1:8.

sabbatw/ (on) dat. "one Sabbath" - in = on the sabbath. The dative is adverbial, temporal; "on the Sabbath day."

en tw/ + inf. "[Jesus] went" - when [he went into a house]. This construction, the preposition en with the dative articular infinitive, introduces a temporal clause, contemporaneous time; "after he / Jesus had gone into the house ............ to eat."

twn arcontwn (wn wntoV) gen. "a prominent [Pharisee]" - [of a certain] of the leaders [of the pharisees]. The piling up of genitives is always problematic. The first, tinoV, "of a certain", is adjectival, possessive; the house belongs to this certain Pharisee. This, the second genitive, "of the leaders", is adjectival, partitive; the certain Pharisee is one of the leading Pharisees in Palestine. The third genitive, twn Farisaiwn, "of the Pharisees", is adjectival, idiomatic / subordination; the certain Pharisee is one of the leaders who exercise authority over Pharisees in general. So, he is a "A leading churchman."

fagein (esqiw) aor. inf. "to eat" - to eat [bread]. The infinitive here is adverbial, final, expressing purpose, "in order that." This is why Jesus went to the Pharisee's home, he went "to share in a meal."

hsan parathroumenoi (parathrew) pres. part. "was being carefully watched" - [and they] were watching closely [him]. The imperfect of the verb to-be and the present participle forms a periphrastic imperfect construction, possibly expressing durative action; "watched lurkingly." "All the guests had their eyes on him, watching his every move", Peterson.

kai idou "-"- and behold. Indicating surprise; see kai idou, 1:31. Presumably Jesus is surprised at the unexpected presence of this man at the meal, either in his just arriving, or more likely, his being placed before Jesus to see if Jesus will break the Sabbath law regarding work (the work of healing).

uJdrwpikoV adj. "suffering from abnormal swelling" - [a certain man was] swelling, dropsy [before him]. Predicate adjective. This particular man has dropsy, that is, fluid in his limbs, caused, for example, by a heart complaint. Jewish teachers associated it with sin of some kind, often a sexual sin. "Right before him was a huge man swollen in his joints", Peterson.

apakriqeiV (apokrinomai) pas. part. "[Jesus] asked" - [and jesus] answering [said to the lawyers and pharisees saying]. Attendant circumstance participle expressing action accompanying the main verb eipen, "to say". This introductory clause is unusual in that three words of speech, "having answered", "said", and "saying", are used to express a single idea, "Jesus responded .....", ESV. Most likely reflecting Semitic idiom. Virtually redundant although indicating dialogue, as if Jesus is "answering" the thoughts of the experts in the law and the other Pharisees who were present. The participle "saying" is similarly attendant on the verb eipen, "to say"; for a classification of adverbial, manner, see legwn, 4:35.

exestin "is it lawful" - is it right, permissible. Impersonal verb which is read here as a question, "is it permitted ...?" The sense being, "is it permitted to serve / to do good on the Sabbath?" The churchmen can't say yes, as this would defy their traditions, but they know well that a good argument could be mounted from scripture to support a yes case. Added to this, they don't want to say no because they would prove themselves heartless, seeing they probably brought the sick person along to meet Jesus. So, they have set a trap for themselves.

qerapeusai (qerapeuw) aor. inf. "to heal" - to heal, serve. The infinitive serves as the subject of the verb "is lawful"; lit. "is to heal lawful on the Sabbath." For a complementary classification see grayai, 1:3.

tw/ sabbatw/ (on) dat. "on the Sabbath" - on the sabbath, [or not]? Dative of time.

hJsucasan (hJsucazw) "they remained silent" - [but/and] they were silent. Fitzmyer notes that silence, in a legal setting, indicates tacit approval, but as noted above, they are in a corner and this is probably the reason why they don't speak.

epilabomenoV (epilambanomai) aor. mid. part. "so taking hold of [the man]" - [and] having taken hold [of him he healed him and sent away him]. The participle is adverbial, probably consecutive, expressing result, "so as a result", as NIV, but also possibly temporal, "then Jesus took hold of the man", Moffatt. This verb is not used elsewhere of Jesus healing someone, rather it is used of grabbing hold of someone. It has a very tactile sense to it, so Jesus has initiated some form of overt physical contact. The touch is probably for the churchmen's benefit.

proV + acc. "-" - [and he said] toward [them]. The preposition is used hear, instead of a dative, to introduce an indirect object.

tivnoV gen. pro. "if one" - of whom. The genitive is adjectival, relational; "a son of whom of you". This pronoun introduces an interrogative clause which has two sub clauses, the second being the question proper. The Pharisees did understand that it was proper to relieve the immediate distress of someone on the Sabbath, even of an animal, although the Qumran community believed that such relief could only apply to a human.

uJmwn gen. pro. "of you" - of you. The genitive is adjectival, partitive.

uiJoV (oV) "son / child" - having a son [or an ox]. The textual variant onoV, "ass", certainly fits better and has strong Old Testament precedence, but a change from "son" to "ass" is more easily explained than from "ass" to "son".

tou sabbatou (on) gen. "Sabbath" - [will fall into a well] on the sabbath]. The genitive is adjectival, attributive, limiting "day"; "a Sabbath day."

kai ouk "not" - and not [immediately will lift out him]. This particular negation is used to show that Jesus expects a positive answer. Anyone with any heart would help an animal in distress, so why not a sick person?

antapokriqhnai (antapokrinomai) pas. inf. " to say" - [they were not able] to make a reply. The infinitive is complementary, completing the sense of the negated verb "able". "They could make no answer to the argument put by Jesus."

proV + acc. "-" - toward [this]. Reference; "with respect to this (ie. what Jesus had just said)", or opposition, "against these things."

ii] A Parable - true humility, v7-11. In the little "parable" about social climbing, v7-10, Jesus exposes the lost state of religious Israel by reflecting on the behaviour of the churchmen invited to the dinner. Jesus notes that they are very focused on pecking-order, status - they seek the approval of man rather than God. Yet, the "parable" reveals that they can't even get one-upmanship right. Better to take the lower seat and be called up higher, than the higher seat and be moved down the pecking-order. When it comes to working a crowd, the pretence of false humility gains more brownie-points than overt status-seeking. Of course, it should go without saying that in the "parable" Jesus is not promoting gamesmanship, but it does show that he is very aware of the games we play!!! Jesus concludes with a punch-line, v11. Eternal significance is gained, not in the approval of men, but in the approval of God. Those who make themselves insignificant in the sight of God will find themselves in possession of eternal significance, and of course, visa-versa.

epecwn (epexw) pres. part. "when he noticed" - [but/and] paying close attention to. The participle is adverbial, best treated as temporal, as NIV, but possibly causal; "because he noticed .."

pwV "how" - in what way. Here the interrogative is adverbial, expressing manner, indicating the way they were acting, and also serves to introduce a dependent statement of perception indicating what Jesus noticed them doing, "how that they chose the places of honour."

touV keklhmenouV (kalew) acc. pas. part. "the guests" - the ones having been invited / called. The participle serves as a substantive, accusative after proV.

exelegonto (eklegomai) mid. imperf. "picked" - were choosing. The middle voice here is best rendered with a prepositional phrase "they were choosing for themselves". The imperfect is most likely conative, that is, the legalists were busy trying to get themselves into a favoured position, but with varying success.

prwtoklisiaV (a) "the places of honour" - the head of the table, the first place at the meal, the seat of honour. Accusative direct object of the verb "to call / invite." The seat next to the host.

parabolhn (h) "[he told them this] parable" - [he was speaking toward them] a parable. Accusative direct object of the verb "to say." Phillips suggests that the word here means "a little word of advice", but that is unlikely. It is more likely that Luke is warning us that Jesus' words are parabolic, and should not be taken as read. Some commentators argue that the term "parable" always implies something more than advice, in which case they suggest that Jesus is speaking about how a person should approach God. This is also unlikely.

legwn (legw) pres. part. "-" - saying [to them]. Attendant circumstance participle expressing action accompanying the verb elegen, "he was speaking."

o{tan + subj. "when" - when [you are invited]. This construction introduces an indefinite temporal clause.

uJpo + gen. "-" - by [someone]. Expressing agency.

gamouV (oV) acc. "wedding feast" - [into] a wedding banquet. Probably a "wedding feast", but technically just a banqueting hall; "when you are invited by anyone to a feast", Torrey.

mh katakliqhV (kataklinw) aor. pas. subj. "take" - do not recline at the table = sit down [into the places of honour]. Subjunctive of prohibition.

mhpote + subj. "for" - lest [a more honourable man]. Expressing negated purpose, "in order that not" = "lest", but sometimes it may express apprehension, "in case / for fear that", Culy. Fitzmyer suggests result is intended here, "with the result that ...." An indefinite "perhaps" is another possibility; "perhaps / it many turn out that a more honourable man ....."

sou gen. pro. "than you" - of you. The genitive is ablative, of comparison, as NIV.

h/ keklhmenoV "may have been invited" - may have been called, invited [by him]. The subjunctive of the verb to-be with the perfect participle forms a perfect periphrastic construction, probably saying nothing more than could have been said by a simple subjunctive verb; "in case a more distinguished guest than yourself has been invited", Moffatt.

oJ .... kalesaV (kalew) aor. part. "the host who invited" - [and] the one having invited [you and him]. The participle serves as a substantive, nominative subject of the verb to-be. "And he who invited you both will come and say to you", ESV.

elqwn (ercomai) aor. part. "will come" - having come. Attendant circumstance participle expressing action accompanying the verb "will say"; "will come and say", as NIV.

soi dat. pro. "to you" - to you. Dative of indirect object.

toutw/ dat. pro. "[give] this person [your seat]" - [give] to this one [your place]. Dative of indirect object.

kai tote "then" - and then. This temporal adverb seems to express result there, so Thompson; "and then, as a result, you will begin, with shame, to occupy the lower place."

meta aiscunhV (h) "humiliated" - [you will begin] with shame. The preposition meta is adverbial, modal, expressing the manner in which the action "to begin to take a lower place" is performed; it is performed "with a sense of shame." Possibly attendant circumstance, the attendant action being "to be shamed", rather than feel shame. When seeking status-points, given that honoured guests often arrive late, it is unwise to go for the more honoured seat early, otherwise humiliation may follow. At this time, honour was determined by social status, but by 300 AD it was determined by age, before returning to social status by birth. In the last century it was determined by wealth, and now it is determined by ...................

katecein (katecw) pres. inf. "to take" - to hold. The infinitive is complementary, completing the sense of the verb "you will begin". Here the sense is "to occupy."

ton escaton adj. "the least" - the last [place]. This superlative adjective may be elative here, so a "lower" remaining seat, rather than the "last" seat.

alla "but" - but. Adversative, introducing a strong contrasting statement.

oJtan + subj. "when" - whenever [you are invited]. This construction introduces an indefinite temporal clause, although often translated with the more definite "when", as NIV. Given the nature of Jesus' sarcasm here, which is not overly evident, we may need to expand the opening clause: "when you are invited to a dinner party and you really what to make an impression on the guests (given the high opinion that you have of yourself), then take the lowest place ...."

poreuqeiV (poreuomai) aor. pas. part. "-" - having gone [recline in the last = lowest place]. Attendant circumstance participle expressing action accompanying the imperative verb "recline"; "go and sit down at the foot of the table."

iJna + subj. "so that" - that [may come]. This construction introduces a final clause expressing purpose, "in order that", although Bock suggests that it is consecutive, expressing result. "Take the lower seat with the intended purpose that / and as a result you will be called higher." As already noted, Jesus' advice shows how to gain kudos in the eyes of others. He does this to show up the blind pride of the churchmen who are working hard at it, but failing. It's all about exposing them as "blind guides" facing exclusion from the kingdom.

oJ keklhkwV (kalew) perf. part. "host" - the one having invited [you]. The participle serves as a substantive, nominative subject of the verb "to say."

soi dat. "to you" - [he will say] to you. Dative of indirect object.

anwteron adv. "to a better place" - [move up, go up] higher. Comparative adjective used as an adverb. The verb prosanabhqi, "move up", may have the sense of "come up", ie., the host is inviting the person to come up closer to him.

tote "then" - then. This temporal adverb again serves to introduce a consecutive clause expressing result; "then, as a result, you will be honoured ....."

soi dat. pro. "you [will be honoured]" - [glory will be] to you. Emphatic by position, dative of interest, advantage.

enwpion + gen. "in the presence of" - before. Spatial.

twn sunanakeimenwn (sunanakeimai) gen. pres. part. "the other guests" - [all] the ones reclining at table with. The participle serves as a substantive.

soi "-" - you. Dative of direct object after the sun prefix verb (here as a participle) "to recline at table."

This punch-line can be understood as nothing more than a piece of practical advice; "Everyone who promotes himself, will embarrass himself; but everyone who behaves modestly will be honoured", Junkins. Yet, within a parabolic framework, as here, it seems more likely that Jesus is making the point that "the person who makes himself insignificant in the sight of God (through repentance and faith) will find himself in possession of eternal importance." The context, particularly the parable of the excluded guests, 14:15-24, points us toward this option. These self-righteous status-seekers need to discover the means of gaining divine approval, rather than the approval of men, otherwise they will find the door to the kingdom locked to them

oJti "for" - because. Often treated here as if introducing a causal clause, as NIV, although we are best to follow Culy who suggests that it is epexegetic. The saying does not provide a reason for self-defacing social etiquette, but rather explains the true nature of humility, a theological self-defacing before God / repentance, in recognition of sin and the need for the divine grace of forgiveness.

oJ uJywn (uJyow) part. "[everyone] who exalts" - [all] the one lifting up, exalting [himself]. If we take the adjective "all" as a substantive, "everyone", then the participle is adjectival, attributive, limiting "everyone". Here, in the sense of lifted up to a high station, exalted.

tapeinwqhsetai (tapeinow) fut. pas. "will be humbled" - [will be levelled = humbled. The agent of the action is probably God in that we now have a proverb which has greater ramifications than just being humiliated at a dinner party, ie., a divine passive, so Nolland. The proud, or more particularly the self-righteous, are blind to reality, even to the extent of not getting pride right. Better to know thyself and so, under God's mercy, be glorified rather than humiliated in the coming day of judgment.

oJ tapeinwn (pateinw) pres. part. "he who humbles" - [and all = everyone] the one humiliating, humbling [himself will be exalted]. If we assume the presence of the substantive adjective "everyone", then the participle is adjectival, limiting "everyone."

Luke Introduction

Exposition

Exegetical Commentaries

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