Luke 14 -- Five Falsehoods To Avoid

My commentary said that in this chapter Jesus dealt with 5 different kinds of people and exposed what was false in their lives and their thinking.

The Pharisees had false piety.  They invited Jesus to eat only to try to trap Him.  They brought a man with a serious health issue, wanting to trap Jesus for healing on the Sabbath.  Jesus turned it all around on them.

“They couldn’t heal anybody on any day, and everybody knew it … if they said that nobody should be healed on the Sabbath, the people would consider them heartless; if they gave permission for healing, their associates would consider them lawless …They needed a way to escape … so they said nothing … The Lord knew that on the Sabbath day they would deliver their farm animals from danger… they were suggesting that animals were more important than people.”

The guests had false popularity.  They made it a habit of arriving early to get the best seats so people would think they were important.  Jesus wanted us to know that “humility is not thinking meanly of ourselves; it is simply not thinking of ourselves at all.”

The host had false hospitality.  He invited his guests to pay them back because they had invited him or to put them under his debt so they would have to invite him to future feasts.

“Our motive for sharing must be the praise of God and not the applause of man, the eternal reward in heaven and not the temporary recognition on earth.  You can’t get your reward twice.”

The Jews had false security, thinking that their kinship to Abraham would get them into God’s kingdom.  The host invited other people to take their places and then closed the door so they couldn’t change their minds and come in.

The multitudes had false expectancy.  “Jesus knew that most of those in the crow were not the least bit interested in spiritual things … They were expecting the wrong things.”

“Jesus doesn’t coerce us.  There is only one way of being a disciple, and that is by being devoted to Jesus.”

Father, I’m glad You know me better than I know myself, so You can be honest with me about my motivations and actions and show me where I need to change.  Keep working on me to make me more like Christ.

Your Brother In Christ,

Gary Ford