Gospels (37) - Luke 13:31 - 14:35

Teacher: Rusty Kennedy
​Series: Gospels

Rusty's Notes

Luke 13
JESUS AND HEROD ANTIPAS
31 At that time some Pharisees came and told him, “Go, get out of here. Herod (Antipas) wants to kill you.”

• One of my commentaries says, “Despite largely negative portrayals of the Pharisees, not all of them were hostile toward Jesus.”[1] – HA!
• Trying to scare God… and manipulate circumstances.
• Herod Antipas is the same one who beheaded John the Baptist.

32 He said to them, “Go tell that fox, ‘Look, I’m driving out demons and performing healings today and tomorrow, and on the third day I will complete my work.’

• Rhetorical… Sarcasm… A fox had a cunning plan… But Jesus was fulfilling His Father’s plan…
• Herod wanting to kill Jesus was even part of God’s plan.
• One more parable told to the Pharisees.
• Referring to crucifixion, burial and resurrection.

33 Yet it is necessary that I travel today, tomorrow, and the next day, because it is not possible for a prophet to perish outside of Jerusalem.

• Jesus knew He was going to die in Jerusalem.

 
JESUS’ LAMENTATION OVER JERUSALEM

• Is this “lament” in anger or anguish?

34 “Jerusalem, Jerusalem, who kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to her. How often I wanted to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, but you were not willing (whose will?)! 35 See, your house is abandoned to you.

• Chloe had the flu this week and Mom was mom!
• 70 AD – Jews destroyed.

I tell you, you will not see me until the time comes when you say, ‘Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord’!”[2]

• At some point, all the Jews (not just the Pharisees… but the nation as a whole) will proclaim Jesus as Messiah.
• Jewish leaders will call Jesus back… 2nd coming.
• Zechariah 12:10 - 10 “Then I will pour out a spirit of grace and prayer on the house of David and the residents of Jerusalem, and they will look at Me whom they pierced. They will mourn for Him as one mourns for an only child and weep bitterly for Him as one weeps for a firstborn.”[3]

 
Luke 14
A SABBATH CONTROVERSY
1 One Sabbath, when he went in to eat at the house of one of the leading Pharisees, they were watching him closely.

• Eating together after church is very Biblical!
• Jesus often got invited to homes after church…
• Jesus had spiritual discernment… knows the heart of man.
• Sometimes to teach… sometimes to spy, plot or gather intel.
• Keep your enemies close… goes both ways.

2 There in front of him was a man whose body was swollen with fluid.

• A man afflicted with dropsy. This is a painful disease in which, because of kidney trouble, a heart ailment, or liver disease, the tissues fill with water.[4]
• The Pharisees used this man to trap Jesus.
• They literally set the trap right in front of Jesus.
• They knew His heart was to heal. How could He not?
• Jesus has already healed at least seven other times on the Sabbath.
• On the Sabbath Day, He had cast out a demon (Luke 4:31–37), healed a fever (Luke 4:38–39), allowed His disciples to pluck grain (Luke 6:1–5), healed a lame man (John 5:1–9), healed a man with a paralyzed hand (Luke 6:6–10), delivered a crippled woman who was afflicted by a demon (Luke 13:10–17), and healed a man born blind (John 9)[5]

3 In response, Jesus asked the law experts and the Pharisees, “Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath or not?”
 - Jesus knew this… it was for the benefit of the crowd.
 - If they said “no” they would be heartless.
 - If they said “yes” they would be lawless.
 - Jesus had now reversed their trap by asking them a question.
4 But they kept silent. He took the man, healed him, and sent him away. 5 And to them, he said, “Which of you whose son or ox falls into a well, will not immediately pull him out on the Sabbath day?” 6 They could find no answer to these things.

• They “used” this man s “bait” for their wicked plan to trap Jesus and Jesus healed the man in the Sabbath? Which was worse?
• They were looking for evidence to convict Jesus as a “lawbreaker.
• Jesus gave them evidence that He was the Messiah.
• None of them could heal the man… but Jesus could.
• But that wasn’t important to them.

 
TEACHINGS ON HUMILITY
7 He told a parable to those who were invited, when he noticed how they would choose the best places for themselves:

• Experts in management tell us that most people wear an invisible sign that reads, “Please make me feel important”.
• If we heed that sign, we can succeed in human relations.
• On the other hand, if we say or do things that make others feel insignificant, we will fail.
• Then people will respond by becoming angry and resentful, because everybody wants to be noticed and made to feel important.[6]

8 “When you are invited by someone to a wedding banquet, don’t recline at the best place, because a more distinguished person than you may have been invited by your host. 9 The one who invited both of you may come and say to you, ‘Give your place to this man,’ and then in humiliation, you will proceed to take the lowest place.

• Civilization has always sat the guests based upon honor/stature/friendship.
• Weddings are a great example of this.
• You’ve just ranked your family & friends.

10 “But when you are invited, go and recline in the lowest place, so that when the one who invited you comes, he will say to you, ‘Friend, move up higher.’ You will then be honored in the presence of all the other guests. 11 For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and the one who humbles himself will be exalted.”

• Hang out in the back of the crowd and be careful not to judge those who go first.

12 He also said to the one who had invited him, “When you give a lunch or a dinner, don’t invite your friends, your brothers or sisters, your relatives, or your rich neighbors, because they might invite you back, and you would be repaid. 13 On the contrary, when you host a banquet, invite those who are poor, maimed, lame, or blind.

• In those days, the poor, maimed, lame or blind were kicked to the curb.
• Today, it is honorable and expected to protect the poor, maimed, lame or blind.

14 And you will be blessed, because they cannot repay you; for you will be repaid at the resurrection of the righteous.”

• Jesus wasn’t against fellowship.
• Jesus was against the system established on who you invited… as to feel important.
• Open your eyes to be more inclusive.
• For the Pharisees, he was even suggesting the Gentiles.

 
THE PARABLE OF THE LARGE BANQUET
15 When one of those who reclined at the table with him heard these things, he said to him, “Blessed is the one who will eat bread in the kingdom of God!”

• This guest was confident that he would be dining with Abraham, Jacob and the rest of the Jewish heritage.
• “Dilly dilly”

16 Then he told him: “A man (God the Father) was giving a large banquet and invited many. 17 At the time of the banquet, he sent his servant to tell those who were invited, ‘Come, because everything is now ready.’
18 “But without exception they all began to make excuses. The first one said to him, ‘I have bought a field, and I must go out and see it. I ask you to excuse me.’
19 “Another said, ‘I have bought five yoke of oxen, and I’m going to try them out. I ask you to excuse me.’

• Like test driving a new car.

20 “And another said, ‘I just got married, and therefore I’m unable to come.’

• Having a new wife kept the men from the battlefield… but not from having dinner!

21 “So the servant came back and reported these things to his master. Then in anger, the master of the house told his servant, ‘Go out quickly into the streets and alleys of the city, and bring in here the poor, maimed, blind, and lame.’
22 “‘Master,’ the servant said, ‘what you ordered has been done, and there’s still room.’
23 “Then the master told the servant, ‘Go out into the highways and hedges and make them come in, so that my house may be filled. 24 For I tell you, not one of those people who were invited will enjoy my banquet.’”

• The man eventually closes the door on the banquet.
• The Jewish nation refused to come to the banquet.
• So God invited the Samaritans and the Gentiles.
• And there is plenty of room for more!

 
THE COST OF FOLLOWING JESUS
25 Now great crowds were traveling with him. So he turned and said to them: 26 “If anyone comes to me and does not hate his own father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters—yes, and even his own life—he cannot be my disciple. 27 Whoever does not bear his own cross and come after me cannot be my disciple.

• Bear his cross… one time
• Galatians 2:20

28 “For which of you, wanting to build a tower, doesn’t first sit down and calculate the cost to see if he has enough to complete it? 29 Otherwise, after he has laid the foundation and cannot finish it, all the onlookers will begin to ridicule him, 30 saying, ‘This man started to build and wasn’t able to finish.’
31 “Or what king, going to war against another king, will not first sit down and decide if he is able with ten thousand to oppose the one who comes against him with twenty thousand? 32 If not, while the other is still far off, he sends a delegation and asks for terms of peace. 33 In the same way, therefore, every one of you who does not renounce all his possessions cannot be my disciple.

• What do you want for Christmas?
• “I have everything I need.”

34 “Now, salt is good, but if salt should lose its taste, how will it be made salty? 35 It isn’t fit for the soil or for the manure pile; they throw it out. Let anyone who has ears to hear listen.”[7]
Jesus has already informed his disciples many times that they/we are the salt of the earth.

[1] Barry, J. D., Mangum, D., Brown, D. R., Heiser, M. S., Custis, M., Ritzema, E., … Bomar, D. (2012, 2016). Faithlife Study Bible (Lk 13:31). Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press.
[2] Christian Standard Bible. (2017). (Lk 13:22–35). Nashville, TN: Holman Bible Publishers.
[3] The Holy Bible: Holman Christian standard version. (2009). (Zec 12:10). Nashville: Holman Bible Publishers.
[4] Wiersbe, W. W. (1996). The Bible exposition commentary (Vol. 1, p. 228). Wheaton, IL: Victor Books.
[5] Wiersbe, W. W. (1996). The Bible exposition commentary (Vol. 1, p. 228). Wheaton, IL: Victor Books.
[6] Wiersbe, W. W. (1996). The Bible exposition commentary (Vol. 1, p. 229). Wheaton, IL: Victor Books.
[7] Christian Standard Bible. (2017). (Lk 14:1–35). Nashville, TN: Holman Bible Publishers.