Rejection and Acceptance
Luke 13 ends with Jesus lamenting Israel’s rejection of him in verses 31-35, concluding that Israel’s “house is forsaken” (v. 35).
In chapter 14, Luke stays on this theme of Israel’s rejection of Jesus and the Gentiles acceptance of him. He first shows us why Israel is rejecting Jesus and then shows us what God is doing about that. So in our text, Luke 14:1-24, we’ll see the why of rejection (vv. 1-11) and the response to rejection (vv. 12-24). The main point of this text is that some reject God’s kingdom while others receive its.
Why Israel Is Rejected
First, in verses 1-11, we see why Israel is rejected. These verses say that many in Israel are rejected because they use the law as a pretext for righteousness and because they exalt rather than humble themselves. Let’s look at each section individually.
In verses 1-6, Jesus goes to a dinner party at the house of a leader of the Pharisees on the Sabbath. Not the group we’d normally see Jesus hanging out with! But he extended his mercy to all – the unrighteous and the self-righteous.
Because it’s the Sabbath, there’s a heightened sense of boundary-keeping and observing the purity laws. This is why the Pharisees were “watching him carefully” (v. 1). As I’ve said, those who don’t know the Lord are far more concerned with other people’s behavior than their own.
Then Luke says there’s an unexpected guest at the party, “Behold, there was a man before him who had dropsy” (v. 2). Maybe he was an invited guest, intruder, or a trap planted by Jesus’ enemies. Either way, he’s not who we’d expect to see at an event like this.
“Dropsy” refers to the swelling of the body due to water retention. It’s usually symptomatic of other health conditions like heart failure or kidney disease. A person with dropsy is often thirsty, which makes matters worse as they drink lots of water. You can’t conceal this condition, and given how people at that time (and still today) connected physical illness with divine punishment, he was likely branded a sinner in the community.
Jesus asks them about the legality of healing this man on the sabbath (v. 3). They remain silent, waiting for Jesus to incriminate himself (v. 4a). So Jesus brings him near, heals him, and sends him on his way (v. 4b). Jesus then tries to reason with the Pharisees. He asks them if they would help their son or ox if they were in dire need on the Sabbath (v. 5).
Jesus’ question is actually an argument from the lesser to the greater. If they would help a child or a farm animal on the Sabbath, how much more should they help a grown man and member of God’s covenant people?
They have no reply (v. 6). Jesus answered his question by healing the man. It is lawful to heal on the Sabbath because restoring people to physical, social, and spiritual wholeness is what the Sabbath was designed to do. There’s actually no better day to heal than the Sabbath!
This was a big deal for Jesus. Luke recounts four instances of Jesus healing on the Sabbath. He casts out an unclean spirit from a man in chapter 4, healed a man with a withered hand in chapter 6, healed a woman with a bent back in chapter 13, and then healed this man with dropsy in chapter 14. Each healing is an object lesson about the true meaning of the Sabbath. The Sabbath was a command and a gift to Israel, that they might be restored and made whole.
God commanded Sabbath rest because he knows how much we need it! And this command is still applicable to us today, though the New Testament doesn’t tell us that we must make Sunday the new Sabbath. New Testament scholar Diane Chen offers wise counsel for us:
“God’s command to honor the Sabbath continues to be a challenge for Jesus’ followers today, though not necessarily because of some comprehensive list of prescribed prohibitions. Even before worrying about what is or is not considered to be work, Christians already struggle with taking one day a week for Sabbath observance. Given the tempo of modern living, the blurring of the boundary between work and leisure, the connectivity afforded by technology that allows us to work around the clock and on vacations, and the many professional and social obligations that bleed from weekdays to weekends, we buy into the notion that the more we work, the more we can accomplish, and (perhaps) the more money we can make. We are not unaware of the slew of physical, relational, and psychological pitfalls when we insist on staying on the incessant treadmill of work, yet we seem to have difficulty trusting God for Spirit-empowered productivity when we commit ourselves to keeping the Sabbath. The benefits of obedience can only be appreciated from experience, so what are your plans for this weekend?”[1]
Exalting the Humble
The cold and calculating posture of the Pharisees at this dinner party reveal why their house is forsaken. They used the law as a pretext for righteousness and elevated rule-keeping over mercy. Jesus wants them to choose a better way, but first they must deal with their pride. So to this he turns in verses 7-11.
Upon noticing how people at this dinner party were acting, Jesus decides to tell a story to make a point. At that time, meals were a big deal. They were about more than food and fun. They were exercises in social ranking. They were about establishing or promoting your status and reputation. And they were driven by reciprocity, or trading favors. If you invited me to your house for dinner, then I needed to do the same. And you only shared your table with relatives, friends, and people of like status. You wanted to be invited to someone’s house with a higher social standing, and you only invited people over who’d make you look good. All of this maneuvering required lots of time, resources, and strategizing. It was an exhausting cycle of give and take.
At a formal banquet like the one Jesus is at, the most honored seat was next to the host, with the remaining seats filled by those in decreasing social ranking. Your status was obvious to all simply by where you sat! It was common to jockey for the places of honor. Humility was seen as suspect and self-promotion was commended. You did whatever it took to increase your honor.
Into this situation, Jesus tells a story about being invited to a wedding feast that flips the assumed values and procedures on their head. He says you shouldn’t try to sit next to the host, or the place of honor, because the honored guests may arrive late and you’ll be asked to move to another place. The public shame and embarrassment of that moment would be excruciating!
But Jesus isn’t just trying to save people from public embarrassment, he’s trying to teach them about humility. He says that our approach, at dinner parties and in life, should be to take the lowest spot (v. 10).
Think about it. At your workplace, or around your family dinner table, or even in the church, which kind of person do you want to be around, the one who’s always promoting themselves and throwing their weight around and not thinking about others? Or the one who’s humbly, quietly, faithfully doing their work, sharing, serving, and joyfully deferring to others?
Jesus’ point is simple: in his kingdom, the way up is down, and the way down is up (v. 11). Humility marks those who belong around God’s table. Pride marks those who don’t. Which one marks you?
The Response to Rejection
Verses 1-11 illustrate why many in Israel are rejected. They use the law as a pretext for righteousness, and they exalt rather than humble themselves. Rather, the ones accepted in God’s kingdom are the merciful and the humble.
So we’ve seen the why of rejection, now let’s look at the response to rejection in verses 12-24. We’ll see here that God’s kingdom is inhabited by those we wouldn’t expect.
Two Guest Lists
In verses 12-14, Jesus boldly tells the host that the idea that hospitality is give and take, tit for tat, you invite me, I invite you, is not the way of his kingdom.
Jesus envisions two very different guest lists. One has the usual suspects, your friends and relatives and rich neighbors (v. 12). The other has people loathed by society, “the poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind” (v. 13).
Both then and now, the first guest list makes sense. Many social events are strictly utilitarian. Having rich and pretty people over made you look better, and create the potential of receiving equal or better treatment when the invitation was reciprocated. But this approach was driven by manipulation, not love. It was focused on short-term gain, not God’s eternal kingdom.
So Jesus proposes another guest list (v. 13). He says to stop only inviting people who can provide a payback and to rather invite those who have no ability to enter “the arena of balanced reciprocity.”[2] He says to invite the unclean and unattractive, those who can’t return the favor.
Jesus says his people play the long game (v. 14). Those who belong to him have eternity in mind when thinking about hospitality. The Pharisees invited those in their in-group, so their reward would come from their in-group. But Jesus says true blessing comes by engaging those who can’t pay you back. This reflects the values of God’s kingdom and the heart of the King who loves to give grace to those who can’t repay.
True blessing, Jesus says, goes beyond social status and material returns. Rather, it looks to an eternal reward given by God “at the resurrection of the just” (v. 14). One writer says it this way, “The eyes of faith will see beyond the dealings of this world to alignment with God’s program and its ethos. In doing so, the endless cycle of obligation, patronage, and balanced reciprocity will be disrupted, releasing God’s people to do good out of mercy and wholehearted generosity, rather than a calculating expectation of repayment.”[3]
Jesus isn’t saying that we should never eat with family and friends and only eat with the poor and crippled. He’s simply saying that the latter group is just as worthy of an invitation as the former. Those who broaden their guest list to include social outcasts reveal the values of God’s kingdom. Those who don’t reveal why they’re rejected from God’s table.
When you look over the last year and the people you’ve had in your home, are they primarily those who’re more like you, or less like you? I heard Connie Dever say that a healthy church is a beautiful church. And one of the things that makes a church beautiful is when it’s full of members practicing hospitality with all kinds of people, not just those who can benefit them.
Excuses and Election
In verses 15-24, Jesus gives another parable, further illustrating why God is rejecting Israel, namely because they’re making excuses and confused about election.
During this dinner party, someone exclaims, “Blessed is everyone who will eat bread in the kingdom of God!” (v. 15) This is such an odd thing to say after what Jesus has just said. It smacks of self-congratulation and nervous boasting. It’s like he’s saying, “That’s right Jesus, all of us who’ll be around God’s table in the end are truly blessed!”
This man assumes that he and all his Pharisee friends are among the blessed, confident that their law-keeping means they’ll be around God’s table. Perhaps he didn’t hear what Jesus taught back in 13:23-30, where he said that many who think they’re in are actually out.
Jesus responds with a parable about who’ll actually be present at the end-time banquet in God’s kingdom (vv. 16ff). A wealthy man gives a great banquet with a long and dignified guest list. At that time, the invitation to a banquet would come in two stages. The first went out early, like a “save the date.” Then the second went out when the dinner was ready and those who agreed to come were expected to show up. This second invitation is what’s happening in verse 17.
But the story takes an unexpected turn beginning in verse 18. Everyone invited starts to make excuses about why they can’t come. These three excuses in verses 18-20 are a sampling of everyone’s excuses, and they’re all about some economic or domestic issue that requires attention. One needs to see some land he’s purchased (v. 18). Another needs to examine five oxen he purchased (v. 19). And the third one says he’s married now and can’t come (v. 20).
These excuses seem legitimate on the surface, but they aren’t as urgent as they appear. People don’t usually make large purchases or get married without lots of forethought. These folks were given advanced notice about the banquet, agreed to come, but now refuse to go. This is deeply insulting to the host, which is why he’s so angry in verse 21.
So the host shifts gears and tells his servant to go out and invite “the poor and crippled and blind and lame” (v. 21), the same list of folks Jesus challenged the Pharisees to invite. When this was done and there was still room, he tells him to widen his search and go beyond the boundaries of time, “to the highways and hedges and compel people to come in” (v. 23).
The host is determined to show off his greatness. Those who made excuses and refused to come have forfeited their seats and others will enjoy the generosity of the host in their place.
Who Are the Elect?
What is this parable about? It’s about God’s invitation being spurned by one group and accepted by another unexpectedly. The parable is about how people make excuses and reject God’s invitation to his table. But it’s also about the nature of election, or who’ll be at God’s table.
The question about who’ll be at the banquet is a question about who are the elect, and this parable provides a surprising answer. Like the prophets and John the Baptist before him, Jesus says that election isn’t by birth. Having Jewish or Christian parents doesn’t automatically bring you to God’s table. The point of the parable is that many who presume that they’ll be at the table actually won’t be. Why? Because God’s table is only for those who accept God’s invitation. Being invited isn’t enough (cf. Mt. 22:1-14, esp. v. 14, “many are called but few are chosen”). You have to respond to the invitation!
Any who refuse the invitation, who like the Pharisees are convinced that keeping the rules is enough to get you in, or who assume they belong to God because their parents or grandparents are Christians, or who’re more concerned about possessions and family than the kingdom of God, will not be allowed at God’s banqueting table.
We could summarize this section and these parables like this: “God is giving a party. Are you going to come.”[4]
[1]Diane G. Chen, Luke: A New Covenant Commentary, New Covenant Commentary Series (Eugene, OR: Cascade Books, 2017), 204.
[2]Ibid., 206.
[3]Ibid.
[4]Klyne R. Snodgrass, Stories with Intent: A Comprehensive Guide to the Parables of Jesus, 2nd ed. (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2018), 314.