Lukas 14

1 And it came to pass when he went into a bais of a certain one of the Rashei HaPerushim on Shabbos for betziat halechem, and they were watching him closely,2 And there in front of Rebbe, Melech HaMoshiach was a certain ish suffering from dropsy,3 And in reply, Rebbe Melech HaMoshiach spoke to the Baalei Torah and Perushim, saying, Is it mutar (permissible) on Shabbos to give refuah or not?4 But they kept silent. And having taken hold of him, Rebbe, Melech HaMoshiach granted him refuah and sent him away.5 And to them Rebbe, Melech HaMoshiach said, Who of you having a ben or an ox fall into a well and will not ofen ort (immediately) pull him out on Shabbos?6 And they were not able to make a counter argument keneged (against) this.7 And Rebbe, Melech HaMoshiach began speaking a mashal to the seudah (banquet supper) invitees, when he noticed how they had been picking out the rashei hamoshavot (chief seats) at the tish, saying to them,8 When you are invited by someone to a Chasunoh (wedding), you should not recline at tish in the rashei hamoshavot (chief seats), lest a more distinguished person than you may have been invited by him,9 And he who invited you both shall come and say to you, Give place to this one, and then in bushah (shame) you proceed to occupy the seat of humiliation, the low seat.10 But when you are invited, go and recline at tish in the moshav hashafel (low seat), so that when the one who has invited you comes, he may say to you, Chaver, move up to a higher place; then you will have kavod in the sight of all with you at the tish.11 For everyone exalting himself shall be humbled, and the one humbling himself shall be exalted.12 And Rebbe, Melech HaMoshiach was speaking also to the one who invited him, When you prepare a seudah or a Melave Malkah, do not invite your chaverim or your achim or your krovey mishpochot (relatives) or your shchenim haashirim, lest they also should invite you in return and repayment come to you.13 But when you prepare a seudah (feast), invite the aniyim (the poor), the baalei hamum (the maimed), the pisechim (the lame), the ivrim (blind),14 And Birkat Shomayim (the Blessing of Heaven) will befall you, because they do not have the means to repay you; for you will be repaid in the Yom Tekumat HaTzadikkim (Day of the Resurrection of the Righteous, Rev 20:5).15 And when a certain one of those reclining at tish with Rebbe, Melech HaMoshiach heard these things, he said to him, Ashrey is he who will eat lechem in the Malchut Hashem! [YESHAYAH 25:6]16 But Rebbe, Melech HaMoshiach said to him, A certain man was preparing a big seudah, and he invited many;17 And at the dinner hour, he sent his eved to say to the seudah invitees, Come, because everything is ready now.18 But each began to come up with a teretz (excuse). The rishon (first) said to him, I bought a sadeh (field) and I am compelled to go out and look at it. Please be mekabel (receive, accept) my teretz.19 And another said, I have bought chamesh pair of oxen, and I am going to try them out. Please be mekabel my teretz (excuse).20 And another said, I took a wife and therefore I am not able to come.21 And the eved returned and reported this to his Adon. Then the Baal Bayit became angry and said to his eved, Go out quickly into the rekhovot (streets) and lanes of the shtetl and bring in here the aniyim (the poor) and the baalei hamum (the maimed) and the ivrim (blind) and the pisechim (the lame).22 And the eved said, Adoni, what you commanded has been done, and still there is room.23 And the Adon said to the eved, Go out to the rekhovot and along the boundaries and urge them to come in, in order that My Beis may be filled.24 For I say to you that no one of those Bnei Adam who were invited will taste my seudah.25 And large multitudes were accompanying him, and Rebbe, Melech HaMoshiach turned and said to them,26 If someone comes to me, and does not hate [hyperbolically, in comparison to Moshiach] his own Abba and Em (mother) and isha and yeladim and achim and achayot and in addition also his own life [in the Olam Hazeh], he is not able to be my [Moshiach's] talmid.27 Whoever does not carry his own etz [of self denial] and come after me [Rebbe, Melech HaMoshiach] is not able to be my [Moshiach's] talmid.28 For who among you, wanting to build a migdal (tower), will not first sit down and rechen (calculate) the cost, to see if he has enough to complete it?29 Otherwise, having laid his yesod (foundation) and not being able to finish it, everyone seeing it may begin to make leitzonus (fun, mockery) of him,30 Saying, This man began to build and was not able to finish.31 Or what melech, going out to make milchamah (war) against another melech, will not first sit down and consider if he is able with aseret alafim (ten thousand) to meet the one with esrim elef (twenty thousand) coming against him?32 Or else, while the other is noch (yet) far away, he sends an embassy delegation and seeks terms for shalom.33 So, then, none of you can become my talmid if you do not renounce all your [idolatrous] holdings.34 Therefore, melach (salt) is tov; but if even melach should become tasteless, with what will it be seasoned?35 It is useless either for the land or for the dung hill; they throw it away. The one who has ears to hear, shema!

LUKE 14

Jesus Heals a Sick Man

1 One Sabbath, Jesus was having dinner in the home of an important Pharisee, and everyone was carefully watching Jesus. 2 All of a sudden a man with swollen legs stood up in front of him. 3 Jesus turned and asked the Pharisees and the teachers of the Law of Moses, “Is it right to heal on the Sabbath?”

4 But they did not say a word.
Jesus took hold of the man. Then he healed him and sent him away. 5 t Afterwards, Jesus asked the people, “If your son or ox falls into a well, wouldn't you pull him out at once, even on the Sabbath?”

6 There was nothing they could say.

How To Be a Guest

7 Jesus saw how the guests had tried to take the best seats. So he told them:
8  t When you are invited to a wedding feast, don't sit in the best place. Someone more important may have been invited.

9 Then the one who invited you will come and say, “Give your place to this other guest!” You will be embarrassed and will have to sit in the worst place.
10 When you are invited to be a guest, go and sit in the worst place. Then the one who invited you may come and say, “My friend, take a better seat!” You will then be honored in front of all the other guests.

11 t If you put yourself above others, you will be put down. But if you humble yourself, you will be honored.

12 Then Jesus said to the man who had invited him:
When you give a dinner or a banquet, don't invite your friends and family and relatives and rich neighbors. If you do, they will invite you in return, and you will be paid back. 13 When you give a feast, invite the poor, the paralyzed, the lame, and the blind.

14 They cannot pay you back. But God will bless you and reward you when his people rise from death.

The Great Banquet

(Matthew 22.1-10)

15 After Jesus had finished speaking, one of the guests said, “The greatest blessing of all is to be at the banquet in God's kingdom!”

16 Jesus told him:
A man once gave a great banquet and invited a lot of guests.

17 When the banquet was ready, he sent a servant to tell the guests, “Everything is ready! Please come.”

18 One guest after another started making excuses. The first one said, “I bought some land, and I've got to look it over. Please excuse me.”

19 Another guest said, “I bought five teams of oxen, and I need to try them out. Please excuse me.”

20 Still another guest said, “I've just now married, and I can't be there.”

21 The servant told his master what happened, and the master became so angry he said, “Go as fast as you can to every street and alley in town! Bring in everyone who is poor or paralyzed or blind or lame.”

22 When the servant returned, he said, “Master, I've done what you told me, and there is still plenty of room for more people.”
23 His master then told him, “Go out along the back roads and make people come in, so my house will be full.

24 Not one of the guests I first invited will get even a bite of my food!”

Being a Disciple

(Matthew 10.37,38)

25 Large crowds were walking along with Jesus, when he turned and said:

26  t You cannot be my disciple, unless you love me more than you love your father and mother, your wife and children, and your brothers and sisters. You cannot follow me unless you love me more than you love your own life.

27  t You cannot be my disciple unless you carry your own cross and follow me.
28 Suppose one of you wants to build a tower. What is the first thing you will do? Won't you sit down and figure out how much it will cost and if you have enough money to pay for it? 29 Otherwise, you will start building the tower, but not be able to finish. Then everyone who sees what is happening will laugh at you.

30 They will say, “You started building, but could not finish the job.”
31 What will a king do if he has only 10,000 soldiers to defend himself against a king who is about to attack him with 20,000 soldiers? Before he goes out to battle, won't he first sit down and decide if he can win? 32 If he thinks he won't be able to defend himself, he will send messengers and ask for peace while the other king is still a long way off.

33 So then, you cannot be my disciple unless you give away everything you own.

Salt and Light

(Matthew 5.13; Mark 9.50)