Luke 14:12 Commentary and Bible Study

The Lord Jesus Christ on this extraordinary occasion, then reproves the host as well as the guests. ‘I know you,’ the Lord in effect said to that chief ruler and Pharisee, ‘and you shouldn't operate like this. You have invited me because you want to trap me. You invited that poor man suffering from the dropsy because you wanted to have some basis for charging me for healing on the sabbath day. But normally you only invite your friends and rich people and people who can return the invitation.’ That was the Lord's way of saying to the Pharisees, ‘You are only interested in religion for what you can get out of it.’ As he looks around him, he notices that they are all well-to-do people. They are all wealthy people who, when they receive an invitation can offer a further invitation to their host in return. They regularly invite one another to these feasts, showing no compassion, no mercy, no interest in the poorer members of the community. He notices how carefully they cut out people of a lower social station. Then he says to this man – and the lesson is intended for all, ‘But when thou makest a feast, Call the poor, the maimed, the lame, the blind, And thou shalt be blessed. That i's the rule of the Lord. And isn't it wonderful? The Lord has perfectly kept his own rule. What has he done? He's provided a feast. What do we mean by that? He has provided an abundance of good things, blessings of salvation, pardon and forgiveness, communion with himself, a place in heaven. And who does he give these blessings to? He gives them to the poor. He gives them to people who have nothing and deserve nothing. The poor, the maimed, the lame, the blind. But how different is the attitude of these Pharisees. He is appalled by the self-serving attitude of these men. This is not what Christ calls hospitality, which should be a free and unconditional gift to the needy. What they are doing instead is to make some payment, given in expectation of receiving a payment back to themselves in return. If they want God to recognise their hospitality, let them take steps to prevent a reward being given back to them in exchange. Let them invite those who are incapable of paying them back in return, because they are too poor to do so. Invite those who are the very lowest in society and the most needy, and those who never throw such a feast. You will then be giving a true gift, because your aim will be to genuinely help another, and not on what you will get out of it. True giving is giving which does not expect to receive anything in exchange.