Catholic Commentary on Luke 14

"For all those who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted." (Luke 14:11)

The Banquet of the Kingdom

Jesus is at a Sabbath meal in the house of a prominent Pharisee. He watches the guests choosing the places of honour at the table and tells a parable: when you are invited to a wedding feast, do not take the place of honour lest someone more distinguished arrives and you are humiliated. Take the lowest place, so that the host may invite you to move up. The principle is theological, not merely social: For all those who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted. This is the consistent logic of the Kingdom, which runs contrary to every natural human instinct about how status works.

Then Jesus turns to the host with an even more challenging instruction: when you give a luncheon or a dinner, do not invite your friends, your brothers, your relatives, or your rich neighbours, who can repay you. Invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind. They cannot repay you, and you will be repaid at the resurrection of the righteous. St. John Chrysostom commented that this teaching abolishes the economy of reciprocity in Christian charity: we give not to receive but to participate in the generosity of the God who gives to those who can never repay him.

The Parable of the Great Banquet

A man prepares a great banquet and sends invitations. When the banquet is ready, all who were invited begin to make excuses: a field to see, oxen to test, a marriage to attend. The host is angry and sends his servant to bring in the poor, the crippled, the blind, the lame from the streets and alleys. There is still room. He sends him to the roads and country lanes to compel people to come in. The excuses are not wicked. They are ordinary: business, property, family. This is what keeps most people from the Kingdom: not dramatic rebellion but the quiet busyness of respectable life. The places at the table are filled by those who had nothing else on.

Counting the Cost

Jesus then gives two brief parables about counting the cost: a man building a tower must calculate whether he has enough to finish it; a king going to war must consider whether his ten thousand can defeat the opposing twenty thousand. The application: In the same way, those of you who do not give up everything you have cannot be my disciples. This is not a counsel for monks alone. It is the condition of discipleship: holding everything loosely, available to be given up if the Kingdom requires it. The Catechism calls this evangelical poverty, the disposition of the heart that finds its treasure in God alone (CCC 2544).

Living the Word

Brothers and sisters, the excuses in the parable are reasonable. No one would argue with them. But the banquet is ready now. The host has sent his servant. The table is set. Whatever reasonable thing is keeping you from more fully embracing the Kingdom of God, set it aside long enough to come to the table. You can return to your field and your oxen. But come first to the feast.

Prayer

Lord Jesus, you invite us to your banquet with a mercy that goes into the roads and lanes to find us. Free us from the excuses that keep us from your table. Teach us the humility of the lowest seat and the generosity that gives without counting the cost of return. Through Christ our Lord. Amen.

14
Jesus Heals a Man with Dropsy
1 One Sabbath, Jesus went to eat in the home of a leading Pharisee, and those in attendance were watching Him closely. 2 Right there before Him was a man with dropsy. 3 So Jesus asked the experts in the law and the Pharisees, “Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath or not?”
 
4 But they remained silent.
 
Then Jesus took hold of the man, healed him, and sent him on his way. 5 And He asked them, “Which of you whose son * 14:5 TR donkey or ox falls into a pit on the Sabbath day will not immediately pull him out?”
 
6 And they were unable to answer these questions.
The Parable of the Guests
 
7 When Jesus noticed how the guests chose the places of honor, He told them a parable: 8 “When you are invited to a wedding banquet, do not sit in the place of honor, in case someone more distinguished than you has been invited. 9 Then the host who invited both of you will come and tell you, ‘Give this man your seat.’ And in humiliation, you will have to take the last place.
 
10 But when you are invited, go and sit in the last place, so that your host will come and tell you, ‘Friend, move up to a better place.’† 14:10 See Proverbs 25:7. Then you will be honored in front of everyone at the table with you. 11 For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and the one who humbles himself will be exalted.”
 
12 Then Jesus said to the man who had invited Him, “When you host a dinner or a banquet, do not invite your friends or brothers or relatives or rich neighbors. Otherwise, they may invite you in return, and you will be repaid. 13 But when you host a banquet, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, and the blind, 14 and you will be blessed. Since they cannot repay you, you will be repaid at the resurrection of the righteous.”
The Parable of the Banquet
(Matthew 22:1–14)
 
15 When one of those reclining with Him heard this, he said to Jesus, “Blessed is everyone who will eat at the feast ‡ 14:15 Literally who will eat bread in the kingdom of God.”
 
16 But Jesus replied, “A certain man prepared a great banquet and invited many guests. 17 When it was time for the banquet, he sent his servant to tell those who had been invited, ‘Come, for everything is now ready.’
 
18 But one after another they all began to make excuses. The first one said, ‘I have bought a field, and I need to go see it. Please excuse me.’
 
19 Another said, ‘I have bought five yoke of oxen, and I am going to try them out. Please excuse me.’
 
20 Still another said, ‘I have married a wife, so I cannot come.’
 
21 The servant returned and reported all this to his master. Then the owner of the house became angry and said to his servant, ‘Go out quickly into the streets and alleys of the city, and bring in the poor, the crippled, the blind, and the lame.’
 
22 ‘Sir,’ the servant replied, ‘what you ordered has been done, and there is still room.’
 
23 So the master told his servant, ‘Go out to the highways and hedges and compel them to come in, so that my house will be full. 24 For I tell you, not one of those men who were invited will taste my banquet.’ ”
The Cost of Discipleship
(Matthew 8:18–22; Luke 9:57–62; John 6:59–66)
 
25 Large crowds were now traveling with Jesus, and He turned and said to them, 26 “If anyone comes to Me and does not hate his father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters—yes, even his own life—he cannot be My disciple. 27 And whoever does not carry his cross and follow Me cannot be My disciple.
 
28 Which of you, wishing to build a tower, does not first sit down and count the cost to see if he has the resources to complete it? 29 Otherwise, if he lays the foundation and is unable to finish the work, everyone who sees it will ridicule him, 30 saying, ‘This man could not finish what he started to build.’
 
31 Or what king on his way to war with another king will not first sit down and consider whether he can engage with ten thousand men the one coming against him with twenty thousand? 32 And if he is unable, he will send a delegation while the other king is still far off, to ask for terms of peace.
 
33 In the same way, any one of you who does not give up everything he has cannot be My disciple.
Good Salt
(Matthew 5:13–16; Mark 9:49–50)
 
34 Salt is good, but if the salt loses its savor, with what will it be seasoned? 35 It is fit neither for the soil nor for the manure pile, and it is thrown out.
 
He who has ears to hear, let him hear.”

*14:5 14:5 TR donkey

†14:10 14:10 See Proverbs 25:7.

‡14:15 14:15 Literally who will eat bread

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