CHRIST DINING WITH A RULER ON THE SABBATH, THE PARABLE OF THE GREAT
SUPPER, QUALIFICATIONS FOR DISCIPLESHIP.
1 [14:1]AND he came into the house of one of the rulers of the
Pharisees to eat bread on the sabbath; and they watched him closely.
[14:2]And behold, there was a man before him having the dropsy.
[14:3]And Jesus answered and said to the lawyers and Pharisees, Is it
lawful to cure on the sabbath, or not? [14:4]And they were silent. And
he took and cured him, and dismissed him. [14:5]And he answered and
said to them, If a son or an ox of any of you shall fall into a pit,
will he not immediately take him out on the sabbath day? [14:6]And they
could not answer to these things.
2 [14:7]And he spoke a parable to the invited, when he observed how
they selected the first places at the table; saying to them, [14:8]When
you are invited by any one to a wedding, do not sit down in the first
place, lest at some time a more honorable man than you should have been
invited by him, [14:9] and he that invited you and him come and say to
you, Give this man a place; and then with shame you take the last
place. [14:10]But when you are invited, go and sit down in the last
place, that when he who invited you comes, he may say to you, Friend,
go up higher; then you shall have honor in the presence of those that
recline with you; [14:11]for every one that exalts himself shall be
humbled, and he that humbles himself shall be exalted.
3 [14:12]And he said also to him that had invited him, When you make a
breakfast, or a supper, call not your friends, nor your brothers, nor
your relatives, nor your rich neighbors, lest they also at some time
invite you in return, and a compensation be made to you. [14:13]But
when you make a feast, invite the poor, crippled, lame, blind,
[14:14]and you shall be blessed; for they cannot compensate you; for
you shall be compensated at the resurrection of the just.
4 [14:15]And one of those reclining with him, hearing these things,
said to him, Blessed is he that eats bread in the kingdom of God.
[14:16]And he said to him, A certain man made a great supper, and
invited many. [14:17]And he sent his servant at the time of the supper
to say to the invited, Come, for all things are now ready. [14:18]And
they all with one consent excused themselves. The first said to him, I
have bought a field and I must go to see it; I pray you have me
excused. [14:19]And another said, I have bought five yokes of oxen and
I go to try them; I pray you have me excused. [14:20]And another said,
I have married a wife, and on this account I cannot come. [14:21]And
the servant came and reported to his lord these things. 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 in hither the poor, and
maimed, and blind, and lame. [14:22]And the servant said, Lord, it is
done as you commanded, and yet there is room. [14:23]And the Lord said
to the servant, Go out into the ways and along the hedges, and compel
them to come in, that my house may be filled; [14:24]for I tell you
that none of those men that were invited shall taste of my supper.
5 [14:25]And great multitudes were travelling with him; and turning
around he said to them, [14:26]If any one comes to me, and hates not
his father, and mother, and wife, and children, and brothers, and
sisters, and still more his own life also, he cannot be my disciple.
[14:27]And whoever does not bear his cross, and come after me, cannot
be my disciple. [14:28]For what man of you wishing to build a tower,
does not first sit down and estimate the expense, whether he has the
means to finish? [14:29]lest having laid its foundation, and not being
able to finish, all who see ridicule him, [14:30]saying, This man began
to build and was not able to finish. [14:31]Or what king going to
engage in war with another king, does not first sit down and consult
whether he is able with ten thousand to meet him that comes against him
with twenty thousand? [14:32]And if not, while he is yet a great way
off, sending an embassy he desires conditions of peace. [14:33]So,
therefore, no one of you can be my disciple who does not forsake all
that he has. [14:34]Salt, therefore, is good; but if the salt has lost
its strength, with what shall it be seasoned? [14:35] It is not fit for
land, nor for manure; they cast it away. He that has ears to hear, let
him hear.