Luke 14 - Shawn Zybach

Welcome to the official podcast of the Church

of Christ Wheeler area. We're so glad that you've

tuned in for today's message. Whether you're

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every Sunday morning at 1030 a .m. and in the

afternoon at 230 p .m. We meet again on Wednesdays

at 7 p .m. Right now, let's open our Bibles together

and dive in to today's sermon. We're going to

be primarily in the book of Luke. Luke chapter

Luke 14 · chapter mention

14 will have another couple of passages mostly

going to be in Luke today. So if you want to

turn there and it's one of the great parables

that Jesus taught and most of the things we're

going to talk about today are going to revolve

around things that Jesus said and so in this

parable well in in the parable that's in the

chapter he talks about obviously a man who has

a great supper and if we've all had invitations

to supper from time to time I got one last week

and I went to the supper and I didn't eat nothing

But that is unusual for me, but I'd already eat

supper once that day so I didn't need two suppers

But when we think about the words and teachings

of Jesus They have of great importance to us

and in the studies that we do in book of Luke

14 It said now it happened as he went to the

house of one of the rulers of the Pharisees to

eat bread on the Sabbath day, they watched him

closely. This was pretty common for Jesus. The

Pharisees didn't like him. They always had their

eye on him. And if you'll notice specifically

the context of the chapter, it is the Sabbath

day. And so... in their law or their belief in

their law. They couldn't be doing any kind of

work. And so if Jesus was to heal someone, they

would have considered that work and they would

have condemned him for that. But I want you to

notice he went. to eat bread on the Sabbath and

they're watching him closely. That's the context

of what's going on in this passage of Scripture.

So he receives this invitation. It happens to

be on the Sabbath day. Now it says, behold, there's

a certain man before him who had dropsy. What

is dropsy? I've read this passage all my life.

hundreds and hundreds of times, and I thought

Dropsy meant to be paralyzed. I've learned that's

not the case. Dropsy, in ancient times, was the

abnormal accumulation of fluid in the body. Today

it's known as edema. Well, I'm not a medical

person, but there's some medical people here,

so I'm sure they will know what edema is. Basically,

it's swelling in the limbs. especially the hands

and the feet and indeed all over and it's a bad

condition and I don't know how well you can see

this guy here but his feet are all swollen up.

He's got dropsy. It's his problem. Dropsy was

a sign of heart failure. or liver disease or

kidney failure. That is what Dropsy was. Dropsy

wasn't just some insignificant kind of problem

that you had accidentally. It was a sign that

you had a real serious problem and the fact is

that this man with Dropsy has a terminal disease.

This man's dying. That's what's happening. And

I've known several people over the years that

their health really grew bad and towards the

end of their lives or in their final days of

their lives, they would, you know, put them on

a machine and remove fluid from their body. And

a good friend of mine, they took eight liters

of fluid off of him just a few days before he

died. Well, that was because his heart had grown

so weak, it just couldn't move. the fluid through

his body and through his kidneys and that's what

drops he is and so here's Jesus he's been invited

to this supper he's at this supper it's on the

sabbath day by the way they look at that he shouldn't

heal anyone and they put him in front of him

a man who's dying what do you think Jesus is

going to do he's going to use the instance to

teach he answering spoke to the lawyers and Pharisees

saying is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath. He

knew the answer. He knew what they were gonna

answer, but they kept silent. And he took him

and he healed him and he let him go. So Jesus,

he's gonna heal this man. That's what Jesus does.

He helps people. He heals people. It's the nature

of our Lord. It'd be like telling a kid, don't

run out there in the foyer of the church. All

right, time out. I'm glad James is not here because

I dropped the remote the last time I was preaching

too. So y 'all don't tell him, okay? Where was

I? Oh yeah, kids running in the four -year. Okay,

so this is a very natural thing for Jesus to

do and you know what? It was the right thing

to do, wasn't it? If you have the ability to

heal someone who's dying, isn't it the right

thing to do? If you have the ability to do CPR

on someone who's dying, isn't it right? Isn't

it right for you to save someone who's drowning

if you can save them? Isn't it right to go into

a burning house and pull them out of the house

if you can? Isn't that right? Wouldn't it be

wrong to go, well, it's Saturday. Jesus said,

God made the Sabbath for man, not man for the

Sabbath. And so where there were limits to how

far that was to be taken. Verse five, he answered

them saying, which of you, having a donkey or

an ox that has fallen into a pit, will not immediately

pull him out on the Sabbath day? So he asked

a question. If your ox is in a pit on Saturday,

won't you go pull him out? Of course you would.

And you know what? They knew that was true because

they couldn't answer. They didn't say anything.

And so Jesus, he knows what's going on in their

minds and he's convicting them. They put him

in this situation on the Sabbath day at this

meal in front of a guy who's dying. He heals

them and they want to condemn him for it. But

you know what? He's a lot sharper than they were.

So he opposes the hypocrisy. I want you to remember

this as we go through. Jesus knows hypocrisy.

He knows it before it happened. He can see through

those kind of things. They knew the answer to

his question. They would all take that same action.

the Sabbath day they had no compassion for the

man with dropsy and the truth is they couldn't

probably help him this man with dropsy but they

used him they used a dying man to try to make

a point about Jesus verse 7 so he told a parable

to those who were invited when he noticed how

they chose the best places saying to them okay

he's gonna address their pride now When you are

invited by anyone to a wedding feast do not set

down in the best place Lest one more honorable

than you be invited by him and he who invited

you and him come and say to you give place to

this man and Then you begin to wish shame to

take the lowest place This parable He looks at

all the wealthy and the The lawyers, the Pharisees,

the doctors, they're sitting in the best spots,

the best seats maybe, the most comfortable, closest

to the food, the closest to the service, I don't

know exactly. He says, when you're invited, go

sit in the lowest place so that when he who invited

you comes, he may say to you, friend, go up higher.

Then you will have glory in the presence of those

who sit at the table with you. He's teaching

us a lesson about basically humility, isn't he?

You should be humble. Shouldn't expect the best

seat or the... closest to the good service or

all those kind of things. He's showing something

that's the exact opposite of their hypocrisy

and their pride. They brought Jesus to this meal

to try to entrap him and ensnare him. They felt

like they could do that. They couldn't do that.

So he begins to use the situation which Jesus

was a master at to teach them about their own

pride and their own hearts and a problem within

their own hearts. He says whoever exalts himself

will be humbled and he who humbles himself will

be exalted. That's a very true that is truth

all throughout scripture taught many different

times in many different ways and you know what

it's true today listen carefully if you exalt

yourself you will be humbled it happens every

time and it's a very dangerous attitude pride

is a very dangerous thing and pride cause these

people who came to this supper And I want you

to understand this with me just for a minute

these people who were dying in their sins Do

not think about the problem they had They couldn't

look at their own problem they couldn't look

at the fact that they were dying That they were

drowning in their own sins and their own pride

is so great that the only thing they can think

of is we got to trap this guy Who's wanting to

work on the Sabbath day? We've got to ensnare

this man. That's what they're thinking And so

he teaches about those dangers of pride and how

it's going to end in your own humiliation now

verse 12 Then he also said to him who invited

him whoever this was that invited him when you

give a dinner or a supper Do not ask your friends

Your brothers your relatives nor your rich neighbors

lest they also invite you back and you be repaid

don't ask those people he says But when you give

a feast invite the poor the maimed the lame and

the blind Well, we do just the opposite don't

we? We invite our friends We invite our family

we we invite people who maybe are popular all

those kind of things and he says don't do that

invite invite the downcast invite the low notice

what he says you will be blessed because they

cannot repay you for you shall be repaid at the

resurrection of the just and so in his teaching

he teaches about the righteousness and blessings

that come from helping the helpless isn't that

what God's all about Helping people who can't

help themselves Isn't that the mission of Jesus?

To help you with your sin problem who you cannot

pay Help you with the challenges in your life

that you cannot overcome To help the person with

dropsy who cannot help himself. That's who Jesus

helped And he says if you're gonna have a dinner

we'll invite people who can't repay you that's

right, that's good Help those who can't help

themselves. That's the teaching that he's saying

here the just he says will help the helpless

the poor the maim the blind and the reward will

be in eternity The reward will be in heaven now

verse 15 when one of those who said at the table

with him heard these things He said to him blessed

is he who shall eat bread in the kingdom of God

Blessed is he who shall eat bread in the kingdom

of God's interesting statement in it Evidently,

this man was the first person to speak other

than Jesus in this whole sequence of events.

They had sat down at this meal. He had addressed

the man with dropsy. He spoke to them about their

feelings about him. When they hadn't said a word,

he asked them questions they didn't even answer.

And now down here towards the middle of the account,

this man says, Blessed is he that each bread

in the kingdom of God's the first person to speak

in this situation and he states a commonly held

Jewish maxim a Jewish saying of wisdom Which

is blessed as he shall eat bread in the kingdom

of God They said it was frequently said among

the people and you know what he's saying Happy

is the person who gets to experience all of heaven's

joys the person who's truly blessed is the person

who ultimately makes it to heaven and enjoys

all of heaven's joys. To be truly blessed, folks,

is to not be invited to a great supper, but to

experience the eternal supper in heaven, to hear

God say, well done. That's what true blessings

are. And then he's gonna give another one of

the greats along the way. Luke 14 verse 16. A

Luke 14:16

certain man gave a great supper and invited many.

We got invited to a wedding the other day, 700

people. Big wedding. A certain man made a great

supper, invited many. And he says to him, who'd

he say it to? I think it was the man who said,

blessed is he that shall eat bread in the kingdom

of God. So this certain, parable he tells, he's

gonna, it's a great one. Alright, he continues

with this supper theme and he teaches this parable

of the great supper. Suppers were by invitation

in the Jewish culture. Typically an initial invitation

was sent and then later a servant would be sent

to inform the guest. that the time for the supper

had come. So maybe typically this invitation

wouldn't say it's on Saturday the 13th at seven

o 'clock. It would just say you're invited to

a supper by this individual. And then later on,

a servant's gonna come to you and he's gonna

say, hey, it's supper time. It's time for it

to happen. And that's the concept of suppers

in the Jewish culture. And so I want to talk

to you about a parable for just a minute, because

Jesus teaches this parable. A parable was a comparison

of a common physical thing to a spiritual teaching.

He used common physical things to teach spiritual

concepts. And so this happened in a lot of places,

but I want you to notice this one in particular.

Matthew 13 verse 24, another parable he put forth

Matthew 13:24

to them. The kingdom of heaven is like a man

who sowed good seed in his field. But while men

slept, his enemy came and sowed tares among the

wheat and went his way." And so Jesus tells a

very common story about sowing. And he describes

it as the kingdom of heaven is like. And then

an enemy comes and sows bad seed or weeds in

the field. And then verse 36, his disciples came

to him and said, explain to us the parable of

the tares of the field. They didn't really understand

it. Help us to understand. What are you talking

about? And so sometimes parables are that way.

And then he says this, he who sows the good seed.

is the son of man. The field is the world. The

good seeds are the son of the kingdom. The tares

are the sons of the wicked one. The enemy who

sowed them is the devil. The harvest is the end

of the age. The reapers are the angels. A very

spiritual teaching, isn't he? He's teaching about

the end. He's teaching about judgment. And he's

using sowing seed in a field to teach about the

judgment. And so, every one of these things that

are so common have a spiritual connection in

this And so he says, a certain man gave a great

supper, invited many. He sent his servants at

supper time to say to those who were invited,

come, for all things are now ready. A certain

man is God. A great supper is eternity in heaven.

Invited many is you and I. the invitation is

the gospel of Jesus Christ. He's using an invitation

to supper to describe the kingdom of heaven is

the gospel. He's describing the blessings of

heaven. Blessed is the man who shall eat bread

in the kingdom of heaven. It's exactly what he's

using. Okay, so you get the setting. Here's all

these Pharisees. these rulers, they're watching

him, they're very proud, they're hypocrites,

they're trying to entangle Jesus, and so he teaches

them about humility, he teaches them about it's

just to help those who can't help themselves,

he goes to teaching them those things, and he

set all this up as the master he is, and he's

teaching this great teaching now. He finally

says, his servants are those who preach the gospel.

I missed that one last click. Okay, verse 18,

but they all with one accord begin to make excuse.

The first said, I have bought a piece of ground

and I must go and see it. I ask you to have me

excused. And another said, I have bought five

yoke of ox and I'm going to test them. I ask

you to have me excused. And still another said,

I've married a wife and therefore I cannot come.

So a certain man had a supper he invites people

they made excuses I bought some land I've got

some oxen. I have a wife. I cannot come this

was the reply This was the answer to the invitation

the invited guests made excuses. We are not coming

You understand we're not coming But when you

put it in the context, it is a refusal. You know

what they're saying? I want to invite you to

supper. No. No, thank you. We're not coming to

your supper. We don't want to come to your supper.

That's what they're saying. So that servant Came

and reported these things to his master 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 here the poor and the maimed

and the lame and the blind And this master of

the house who no doubt is God is angry by the

refusal of the invited The servants are commanded,

go invite other people. Who should be invited?

The humble. The sick. The hurting. You know who

should be invited? Those who cannot help themselves.

Those who cannot feed themselves. That's who

should be invited. The servant said, Master,

it's done as you have commanded and still there's

room. Then the master said to the servant, go

out into the highways and hedges and compel them

to come in that my house may be filled. I tell

you what, you don't invite any of these other

people again. You go out and invite the poor

maimed and hot blind. We did it. He said, you

go way out there then, way away. Down the highways,

out into the bushes and fields and then you invite

people because my house is going to be full.

I've invited people to a supper blessed as he

that shall eat bread in the kingdom of heaven

And you don't want to eat bread in the kingdom

of heaven. That's fine I'll find somebody who

wants to eat bread in the kingdom of heaven.

That's the idea and so his servants go out to

the ends of the earth and This is what he says

I say to you That none of those men who were

invited shall taste my supper Here's the thing.

We take for granted the love of God. We take

for granted the grace of God. And we want to

wait to obey Him. We want to make excuses. And

we're going to tell ourselves, I'll go to another

supper. I'll go to some other supper. I'll do

it some other time. I will submit to God when

I get ready Well, I'll tell you that ain't how

God looks at it I invited you to my supper and

you're gonna say no. I tell you what you'll never

taste of my supper Never There is great danger

in making excuses to God. If you remember one

thing, remember this one. There is great danger

in making excuses for not obeying and submitting

to God. He may just say, you're never gonna make

it. What's Jesus teaching? The excuse makers

will never make it. That's what he's teaching.

A few lessons. Jesus is the great healer. There

can be no question about that. The proud will

be humbled. That's very true. The humble will

be exalted. I believe that's true. Blessed is

he who shall eat bread in the kingdom of God.

I believe that's true. You have been invited.

That's certainly true. Accept the invitation

while you can. You know, you have an opportunity

today. You've been invited to enjoy the blessings

of heaven. And you know where that starts? Right

here. Right here. That starts with accepting

Christ and whatever He asks you to do. You can

make excuses. You can do whatever you want, but

the invitation has been given rejecting the invitation

is very dangerous Because the excuse makers will

never make it into heaven never never And and

you have an opportunity you today Have been given

an invitation by the king of heaven He says I

want you to come and be with me and you can you

can answer two things Yes, I want to do that

or you can say no. Thank you No. And that's one

of the great lessons from this parable. The excuse

-makers won't make it. So I want you to think

carefully about that. Today, if you're here and

you're not a Christian, today, if you've not

obeyed the gospel, you need to think about that.

So I'm gonna show you another attitude that we

find from a slightly different group of people.

And this is the other passage we're gonna look

at, Matthew 20, and it's not very long. This

is Jesus again. This is a little different set

of circumstances. As they went out of Jericho,

a great multitude followed Him. Behold, two blind

men sitting by the road, when they heard that

Jesus was passing by, cried out, saying, Have

mercy on us, O Lord Son of David. So here's the

setting Jesus is traveling along from Jericho

and all these people are with him and as he's

walking down this old dusty road There's a couple

of blind guys sitting there and they can't see

Jesus They can't tell who's coming but they hear

that it's Jesus and as soon as they hear it's

Jesus They said have mercy Have mercy and The

multitude says be quiet what is wrong with you

be quiet They didn't be quiet. They cried out

in the morgue. Have mercy, oh Lord, son of David.

Now I'll tell you a different attitude we have

from the blind. The blind. There's the attitude

of the rich Pharisee, of the doctor and the lawyer.

Make excuse. I've got a wife. I've got oxen.

I've got land. I can't come. Here's the blind

going, please, please take me. Please. Father,

help me. And when people say be quiet, oh no,

no, no. Just doing that's going to make me a

little louder. And Jesus stood still and he called

to them and said, what do you want me to do for

you? What do you need? And they said, Lord, that

our eyes may be opened. We can't help ourselves.

We can't see. We want to taste the supper. That's

what they're saying, isn't it? Isn't that the

question? We want to go to heaven. We want to

go taste the supper. That's what they're saying.

Jesus had compassion and touched their eyes and

immediately their eyes received sight and they

followed Him. That's what happened. So I want

to talk to you about these two attitudes. One

man going, nah, sorry. Another man going, please,

please, please help me. And you know what? I

can look at all you people and I can see all

your faces, and I cannot tell which one you are.

I have no idea. I'll tell you what, God, Jesus,

looking down from above, knows which one of you

is going, no thanks. And he knows which one is

going, please help me. Please. He knows the difference.

And that's a lesson that we need to take home.

And we need to remember, the humble will be exalted

and set at the table with Jesus in heaven. The

proud, no. He won't accept. You have an opportunity

today. It's a wonderful, wonderful, wonderful

opportunity. You can have the blood of Jesus

applied to your heart. You can be cleansed in

that blood. You can name the name of Jesus. You

can confess His name and be washed of your sins

in baptism. You have such a wonderful, I want

to tell you, the price of that ticket right there

is worth millions, trillions. It's worth everything

you have or can have. Because I tell you what,

The day you stand before God and He says, you'll

never taste my supper. You would give it all

up then, just like that. So why not lay it down

today? Thank you for listening to today's sermon

from the Church of Christ Wheeler area. We hope

this message encouraged you and strengthened

you in your faith this week. Don't forget the

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