The Life and Teachings
of Jesus
A Restatement of the Gospels

XXIV. Before the Resurrection of Lazarus

95. Sabbath Meal with the Pharisees

        1One Sabbath when he went to dine at the house of a ruler who belonged to the Pharisees, they were watching him. 2And behold, there was a man before him who had dropsy.a 3And Jesus spoke to the lawyers and Pharisees, saying, “Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath, or not?”
        4But they were silent.
        Then he took him and healed him, and let him go. 5And he said to them, “Which of you, having an ox that has fallen into a well, will not immediately pull him out on a Sabbath day?”
        6And they could not reply to this.
        7Now he told a parableb to those who were invited, when he noticed how they chose the places of honor, saying to them, 8“When you are invited by anyone to a marriage feast, do not sit down in a place of honor, lest a more eminent man than you be invited by him, 9and he who invited you both will come and say to you, 'Give place to this man,' and then you will begin with shame to take the lowest place. 10But when you are invited, go and sit in the lowest place, so that when your host comes he may say to you, 'Friend, go up higher'; then you will be honored in the presence of all who sit at table with you. 11Every one who exalts himself shall be humbled, and he who humbles himself shall be exalted.”
        12“When you give a dinner or a banquet, do not always invite your friends or your brothers or your kinsmen or rich neighbors, lest they also invite you in return, and you be repaid. 13But when you give a feast, sometimes invite the poor, the maimed, the lame, the blind, 14and you will be blessed, because they cannot repay you.”
        (Lk. 14:1–14)



a   “dropsy”—A condition in which parts of the body such as the face, arms, and legs become swollen as the result of an abnormal accumulation of fluid.

b   “he told a parable”—The Lowest Seat at the Feast.

Lk. 14:5   having an / having a son or an (RSV)
Lk. 14:7   he noticed how (Wey) / he marked how (RSV)
Lk. 14:11  Every / For every (RSV) • himself shall be (KJV) / himself will be (RSV) • himself shall be (KJV) / himself will be (RSV)
Lk. 14:12  “When / He said also to the man who invited him, “When (RSV) • not always invite / not invite (RSV)
Lk. 14:13  feast, sometimes invite / feast, invite (RSV)   (167:1/1833–4)

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