The Gospel of LUKE
One Sabbath, when Jesus went to eat in the house of a prominent Pharisee, he was being carefully watched.
There in front of him was a man suffering from abnormal swelling of his body.
Jesus asked the Pharisees and experts in the law, “Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath or not?”
But they remained silent. So taking hold of the man, he healed him and sent him on his way.
Then he asked them, “If one of you has a child or an ox that falls into a well on the Sabbath day, will you not immediately pull it out?”
And they had nothing to say.
When he noticed how the guests picked the places of honor at the table, he told them this parable:
“When someone invites you to a wedding feast, do not take the place of honor, for a person more distinguished than you may have been invited.
If so, the host who invited both of you will come and say to you, ‘Give this person your seat.’ Then, humiliated, you will have to take the least important place.
But when you are invited, take the lowest place, so that when your host comes, he will say to you, ‘Friend, move up to a better place.’ Then you will be honored in the presence of all the other guests.
For all those who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted.”
Then Jesus said to his host, “When you give a luncheon or dinner, do not invite your friends, your brothers or sisters, your relatives, or your rich neighbors; if you do, they may invite you back and so you will be repaid.
But when you give a banquet, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind,
and you will be blessed. Although they cannot repay you, you will be repaid at the resurrection of the righteous.”
When one of those at the table with him heard this, he said to Jesus, “Blessed is the one who will eat at the feast in the kingdom of God.”
Jesus replied: “A certain man was preparing a great banquet and invited many guests.
At the time of the banquet he sent his servant to tell those who had been invited, ‘Come, for everything is now ready.’
“But they all alike began to make excuses. The first said, ‘I have just bought a field, and I must go and see it. Please excuse me.’
“Another said, ‘I have just bought five yoke of oxen, and I’m on my way to try them out. Please excuse me.’
“Still another said, ‘I just got married, so I can’t come.’
“The servant came back and reported this to his master. Then the owner of the house became angry and ordered his servant, ‘Go out quickly into the streets and alleys of the town and bring in the poor, the crippled, the blind and the lame.’
“‘Sir,’ the servant said, ‘what you ordered has been done, but there is still room.’
“Then the master told his servant, ‘Go out to the roads and country lanes and compel them to come in, so that my house will be full.
I tell you, not one of those who were invited will get a taste of my banquet.’”
Large crowds were traveling with Jesus, and turning to them he said:
“If anyone comes to me and does not hate father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters—yes, even their own life—such a person cannot be my disciple.
And whoever does not carry their cross and follow me cannot be my disciple.
“Suppose one of you wants to build a tower. Won’t you first sit down and estimate the cost to see if you have enough money to complete it?
For if you lay the foundation and are not able to finish it, everyone who sees it will ridicule you,
saying, ‘This person began to build and wasn’t able to finish.’
“Or suppose a king is about to go to war against another king. Won’t he first sit down and consider whether he is able with ten thousand men to oppose the one coming against him with twenty thousand?
If he is not able, he will send a delegation while the other is still a long way off and will ask for terms of peace.
In the same way, those of you who do not give up everything you have cannot be my disciples.
“Salt is good, but if it loses its saltiness, how can it be made salty again? 35 It is fit neither for the soil nor for the manure pile; it is thrown out. “Whoever has ears to hear, let them hear.”
THANK YOU FOR JOINING US!!
Content source: New International Version (NIV) of the Holy Bible
Image source: Our media Team
One very core means to check true followers of Jesus is SELF DENIAL
vs 26 and 27 says
It is even quite appalling that some tend to follow Jesus for what they can get. Some say they follow Jesus but their finance, family, work etc is put first before anything that concerns Jesus.
It is imperative to know that
A GOD FIRST ATTITUDE will upgrade you to a FIRST CLASS ALTITUDE
God is in need of selfless lovers, people who would put God first, it is also important to know that God also blesses such a one. So be ready to put God above every other thing.
God bless you.
The power of God is not restricted to any day, His will must always be done at all times. However, it's not all who are invited into the kingdom of God will have access to the kingdom but those accept the invitation and act on it.
everything is ready and we are all invited to dinner, we do not reject who invited us and remember that we should be humble, maybe the Lord invites us to be closer to him at the table.
God is the one who rewards our good works. Never forget to help others, the needy, sick, preach to them to find them the way of truth and they enjoy the benefits of the kingdom of God.
Chapter 14
Verse 11, Proud goes before destruction. When you are proud and thinks you have the power whatsoever,suddenly you will be brought down and disgraced. We need to humble ourselves in the presence of our Lord Jesus Christ and also to human beings.
Anyone Christ has called and wouldn't answer will regret later on. The parable in verse 16 talks about Jesus calling everyone to His supper but they all give excuse and went their way. The Bible also said it, "Many are called but few are chosen". May we not be among those that are called and did not answer in Jesus name.
Thanks @reliquary
We need to forsake all for Christ, one who leaves all because of Jesus Christ shall in no way be a cast away.
Jesus teaching is so loving that He wants all to have eternal life that is why He is always teaching the word to many. If you have ears,hear what the Lord is saying
Many things to learn from the teachings and the parables of Jesus Christ
Luke 14: 26 -34 reminds me of my morning devotion earlier today which emphasized the need for us to count the cost and be ready to sacrifice the necessary as we seek to be co-builders with God. If God would not spare giving Christ as a ransom for our sins; nothing is too much to give-up for the sake of following Christ.
Thank you @reliquary for sharing