Lucas 14
Charles Spurgeon · Citado em PreceptAustin
Lucas 14
Spurgeon - Note that our Saviour was not just then talking to his disciples, or else he would have given more spiritual reasons for his advice; but, speaking to the people who were gathered as guests at the Pharisee’s house, he appealed to them with an argument suitable to themselves. We may, however, extract the marrow from this bone. Let us not covet the highest place; let us not desire honour among men. In the Church of God the way upward is downward. He that will do the lowest work shall have the highest honour. Our Master washed his disciples’ feet, and we are never more honoured than when we are permitted to imitate his example. Jesus' states a principle directly from Proverbs, something to which these Pharisees clearly were not paying much attention! Solomon wrote: Do not claim honor in the presence of the king, and do not stand in the place of great men; for it is better that it be said to you, “Come up here,” than for you to be placed lower in the presence of the prince, whom your eyes have seen. (Pr 25:6-7) In his classic commentary on Proverbs Charles Bridges writes - "Our Lord applies this proverb more generally. (Lk 14:8-11) Who needs not this caution against ambition? Even godly Baruch seems to have “sought great things for himself,”(Jer 45:5. Comp. Ro 12:16) Not even the fellowship of the Saviour, his heavenly instruction, his Divine pattern of holiness (Mt 11:29) could restrain the “strife among the disciples—Who should be the greatest;” (Mt 18:1-4, Lk 9:46-48-note) repeated even after the most wondrous exhibition of humility (Jn 13:1-5)—nay—after they had just partaken with him of the holy feast. (Lk 22:19-27-note) “Loving to have the pre-eminence,” is the bane of godliness in the Church (3 Jn 1:9-10)." Wolsey’s fall is an instructive beacon to ambitious men, not to put forth themselves, or to set out their glory in the presence of the king. The usurpation also of the place of great men usually subjects a man to be put lower, to his own mortification. “Before honor is humility;” (Pr 18:12) shown in a backwardness to obtrude either our presence or our opinion upon those in higher stations; shrinking from external respect, rather than courting the “vain show.” Gideon (Jdg 6:15-17-note)—Saul in his early and better days—David—were thus advanced to honor. (1 Sa 18:18–20. Comp. Ps. 131:1) Let each of us lay himself to the work of casting down our high tower of conceit; cultivating a deep sense of our utter worthlessness, and carefully pondering that example, which is at once our pattern and our principle. Oh! think of him, who was “fairer than man,” being the most humble of men—nay—of him, who was infinitely more than man, making himself “a worm and no man.” (Ps. 45:2, with Ps 22:6-see study of this incredible truth) ‘What!’ cries Bernard, ‘shall the Majesty of Heaven become a worm, and man—the proud worm—exalt himself!’ Think of that day, which will set us all on our own true base; when each of us shall stand before the Great Prince (Rev 1:5-note), just that—and that only—which he counts us to be! What will it be to be put lower—to be utterly cast out in His presence, Whom our eyes shall then see to our eternal confusion (Rev 1:7-note)! (see An Exposition of the Book of Proverbs) Friend (5384) philos means loved (loved one), dear, befriended, friendly, kind. Philos can mean kindly disposed or devoted (Acts 19:31). Philos describes one having special interest in someone else. One who is on intimate terms or in close association with someone else. Philos can describe a love which is emotional and conditional. Philos refers to one who has a liking for, is fond of something or someone. Philos - 29x/27v - friend(12), friends(17). Matt. 11:19; Lk. 7:6; Lk. 7:34; Lk. 11:5; Lk. 11:6; Lk. 11:8; Lk. 12:4; Lk. 14:10; Lk. 14:12; Lk. 15:6; Lk. 15:9; Lk. 15:29; Lk. 16:9; Lk. 21:16; Lk. 23:12; Jn. 3:29; Jn. 11:11; Jn. 15:13; Jn. 15:14; Jn. 15:15; Jn. 19:12; Acts 10:24; Acts 19:31; Acts 27:3; Jas. 2:23; Jas. 4:4; 3 Jn. 1:15 Move up (aorist imperative)(4320)(prosanabaino from pros = to, toward + anabaino = to ascend, go up, from ana = up + baino = to go) means to go up further, moving from one level to another. Used only here in the NT of being (God's choice and power doing this) put into a place of honor. Prosanabaino - 7x in 7v in the Septuagint - Ex. 19:23 = "The people cannot come up to Mount Sinai" Jos. 11:17; Jos. 15:3; Jos. 15:6; Jos. 15:7; Jos. 18:12; Jos. 19:12. Interesting that in Ex 19:23 "under Law" they could not "go up," but now "under grace" God tells us to "move up." Will have honor (glory)(1391)(doxa from dokeo = to think) in simple terms means a proper opinion or estimate of something. Glory is something that is a source of honor, fame, or admiration. It describes renown, a thing that is beautiful, impressive, or worthy of praise. This is the glorious reward (pun intended) for sincere humility before God. Luke's uses of doxa - Lk. 2:9; Lk. 2:14; Lk. 2:32; Lk. 4:6; Lk. 9:26; Lk. 9:31; Lk. 9:32; Lk. 12:27; Lk. 14:10; Lk. 17:18; Lk. 19:38; Lk. 21:27; Lk. 24:26; Acts 7:2; Acts 7:55; Acts 12:23; Acts 22:11; Spurgeon - "Friend, go up higher." - Luke 14:10 When first the life of grace begins in the soul, we do indeed draw near to God, but it is with great fear and trembling. The soul conscious of guilt, and humbled thereby, is overawed with the solemnity of its position; it is cast to the earth by a sense of the grandeur of Jehovah, in whose presence it stands. With unfeigned bashfulness it takes the lowest room. But, in after life, as the Christian grows in grace, although he will never forget the solemnity of his position, and will never lose that holy awe which must encompass a gracious man when he is in the presence of the God who can create or can destroy; yet his fear has all its terror taken out of it; it becomes a holy reverence, and no more an overshadowing dread. He is called up higher, to greater access to God in Christ Jesus. Then the man of God, walking amid the splendours of Deity, and veiling his face like the glorious cherubim, with those twin wings, the blood and righteousness of Jesus Christ, will, reverent and bowed in spirit, approach the throne; and seeing there a God of love, of goodness, and of mercy, he will realize rather the covenant character of God than his absolute Deity. He will see in God rather his goodness than his greatness, and more of his love than of his majesty. Then will the soul, bowing still as humbly as aforetime, enjoy a more sacred liberty of intercession; for while prostrate before the glory of the Infinite God, it will be sustained by the refreshing consciousness of being in the presence of boundless mercy and infinite love, and by the realization of acceptance "in the Beloved. " Thus the believer is bidden to come up higher, and is enabled to exercise the privilege of rejoicing in God, and drawing near to him in holy confidence, saying, "Abba, Father. " "So may we go from strength to strength, And daily grow in grace, Till in thine image raised at length, We see thee face to face." Luke 14:11 "For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted." KJV Luke 14:11 For whosoever exalteth himself shall be abased; and he that humbleth himself shall be exalted. For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled Lk 1:51; 18:14; 1 Sa 15:17; Job 22:29; 40:10-12; Ps 18:27; 138:6; Pr 15:33; 18:12; 29:23; Isa 2:11,17; 57:15; Mt 23:12; James 4:6; 1 Pe 5:5 Luke 14 Resources - Multiple Sermons and Commentaries Luke 14:1-14 Jesus the Confronter - Steven Cole Luke 14:7-14 Humbling the Exalted--Exalting the Humble - John MacArthur Related Passages: Matthew 11:23 “And you, Capernaum, will not be exalted to heaven, will you? You will descend to Hades; for if the miracles had occurred in Sodom which occurred in you, it would have remained to this day. Matthew 18:4 “Whoever then humbles himself as this child, he is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven. Matthew 23:12 “Whoever exalts himself shall be humbled; and whoever humbles himself shall be exalted. Luke 18:14+ “I tell you, this man went to his house justified (dikaioo in perfect tense = “having been permanently justified = declared forever righteous before God) rather than the other; for everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but he who humbles himself will be exalted.” Comment: Notice how the Spirit "links" justified with humility and exaltation. James 4:10 Humble yourselves in the presence of the Lord, and He will exalt you. 1 Peter 5:6 Therefore humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you at the proper time, Ezekiel 17:24 “All the trees of the field will know that I am the LORD; I bring down the high tree, exalt the low tree, dry up the green tree and make the dry tree flourish. I am the LORD; I have spoken, and I will perform it.” Ezekiel 21:26 thus says the Lord GOD, ‘Remove the turban and take off the crown; this will no longer be the same. Exalt that which is low and abase that which is high. A SPIRITUAL AXIOM: PRIDE ABASED, HUMILITY EXALTED For everyone who exalts (hupsoo) himself will be humbled (tapeinoo) - For is a term of explanation indicating Jesus is explaining why those in Lk 14:10 will be honored. Here is one of those promises of God you probably won't find in books of "God's Promises!" (like the promise in 2Ti 3:12+) Those high in their own estimate will be brought low in God's estimate. James explains the reason for this principle - “GOD IS OPPOSED TO THE PROUD, BUT GIVES GRACE TO THE HUMBLE.” (James 4:6+) Earlier Luke wrote of this paradoxical spiritual dynamic (up is down, down is up)... “He has done mighty deeds with His arm; He has scattered those who were proud in the thoughts of their heart. “He has brought down rulers from their thrones, And has exalted those who were humble. “HE HAS FILLED THE HUNGRY WITH GOOD THINGS; And sent away the rich empty-handed. (Luke 1:51-3+) One might argue, "I know a host of men who have exalted themselves and yet as far as I can discern they have never been humbled." That may seen to be the case in this short life, but if the prideful person does "escape" humbling during life, he (or she) is in for a "rude awakening!" One who has a rude awakening, is suddenly made aware of an unpleasant fact. One thinks of the Lk 16 in one moment "joyously living in splendor every day" (not seemingly humbled) (Lk 16:19+) and in an instant "In Hades...in torment." (Lk 16:23+), a condition tantamount to being humbled, and in that state forever! Mattoon - Humbling yourself does not mean you view yourself as a piece of trash. Truly humble people compare themselves only with Christ, realize their sinfulness, and understand their limitations. They also recognize their gifts and strengths, and are willing to use them as Christ directs. Humility is a realistic assessment and commitment to serve the Lord Jesus Christ and others. Humility is also a fundamental grace in the Christian life, and yet it is elusive. If you know you have it, you have lost it! It has well been said that humility is not thinking meanly of ourselves. It is simply not thinking of ourselves at all. Jesus is the greatest example of humility, and we would do well to ask the Holy Spirit to enable us to imitate His example. (Treasures from the Scriptures) The NT emphasis on the importance of humbling oneself that one might be exalted is a complete antithesis of what the fallen world believes. Human pride scoffs at and resists this basic Biblical principle. In secular Greek, a tapeinos person was one who was base, ignoble or of low birth, servile, held in low esteem, the anti-thesis of the meaning of tapeinos in God's sight. And obviously the supreme example of this God pleasing humility is the Lord Jesus Christ, Who "Being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself (himself = heautou = a reflexive pronoun which refers the action of the verb [humbling] back to the subject [Jesus]) by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross." (Php 2:8-note) Will be humbled...will be exalted (hupsoo) (both verbs are in the passive voice) - Two results based on two choices. Both of these results (verbs) are "divine passives" indicating it is God Who will mete out either ruin or reward! "These divine passives mean God will humble (or exalt) you at the final judgment." (Stein) Short Excursus on "Divine Passive" - One of the most interesting uses of the passive voice in the New Testament is the Divine passive, where the unexpressed agent of the passive verb is God. The Divine passive is common throughout the New Testament. Stated another way the Divine passive is when a verb is used in the passive voice for the express purpose of not naming God as the subject. For example, in the Beatitudes Jesus says "Blessed are those who mourn, for they will BE COMFORTED (parakaleo in the passive voice)" (Mt 5:4-note) which means that it is God Who will comfort the mourners. And so it is clearly implied that it is God Who carries out the comforting, even though His Name is not mentioned. These two very different results remind us of the two diametrically different roads and foundations in Matthew 7: “Enter through the narrow gate; for the gate is wide and the way is broad that leads to destruction, and there are many who enter through it. 14 “For the gate is small and the way is narrow that leads to life, and there are few who find it. (Mt 7:13-14+) “Therefore everyone who hears these words of Mine and acts on them, may be compared to a wise man who built his house on the rock. 25 “And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and slammed against that house; and yet it did not fall, for it had been founded on the rock. 26 “Everyone who hears these words of Mine and does not act on them, will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand. 27 “The rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and slammed against that house; and it fell–and great was its fall.” (Mt 7:24-27+) Brian Bell - Humility – Or, Rising Downward! It not only draws others to us, but draws God to us. “Imagine a world where everyone competed to outserve the other.” Bock - The theme of eschatological reversal is common in Luke (Lk 1:52–53; 6:21, 25; 10:15; 18:14; also Matt. 18:4; 23:12; Rom. 12:16; Phil. 2:5–11; 1 Tim. 6:17; James 4:6, 10; 1 Pet. 5:5 Norman Crawford - From this simple example the Lord now teaches lessons which He exemplified as no man on earth has ever done. It has been said, "Go as low as e'er you will, the Highest has been lower still". The lofty One became the lowly One, and to believers He is the altogether lovely One. How perfectly He "knew what was in man" (John 2:25)! The desire for prominence, greatness, eminence, renown, prestige, honour, place, or whatever we may call it, is one of the most pronounced features of fallen humanity. It is a chief cause of assembly (church) problems. This desire to put forward self can assume many disguises and take many forms, but human pride is hateful to God in whatever form it takes (Pr 16:5). None is immune from this fearful disease of selfish pride, but let us ever judge it as sin, and never adopt the spirit of this age that glorifies it. A lack of self-esteem may be crippling to some people, but it is possible to be over-occupied with self even if that occupation is pity for our own inadequacy. The person who is always saying that he is of little worth may be taken up with self, for he is talking about self. There is a perfect balance in Scripture, "For I say ... to every man ... not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think; but to think soberly, according as God has dealt to every man the measure of faith" (Ro12:3). We should never think of ourselves as worthless. The ultimate pattern is the lowly mind of the Lord Jesus: "Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus" (Phil 2:5). (What the Bible Teaches - Luke) He who humbles (tapeinoo) himself will be exalted (hupsoo) - Humbles (tapeinoo) is in the present tense signifying that pursuit of a humble attitude to be our continual practice (as alluded to in Paul's example above). The active voice signifies that humbling ourselves is a choice of our will. We willingly accept humility. The paradox that seems foolish to the unregenerate mind is that the way "up" in God's Kingdom is first "down!" It is only the humble man or woman who will acknowledge their inability to earn God's favor, and seeing that they fall short, they reach out by grace through faith to lay hold of Christ's perfect righteousness. Himself is the reflexive pronoun heautou which refers the action of the verb [humbles] back to the subject (the one who humbles himself). Will be exalted when? Jesus does not specify, the promise is a certainty in the future. It clearly has spiritual and eschatological overtones. I like the way Phillip Brooks puts it declaring that "The true way to be humble, is not to stoop until you are smaller than yourself, but to stand at your real height against some higher nature." And to follow up on that thought, what better way to "humble ourselves" than to stand in comparison to the Lord Jesus Christ, the supreme example of humility (See the illustration below). Indeed, John the Baptist describes this same spiritual dynamic declaring that "He (Jesus) must (dei in present tense) increase (present tense), but I must (dei in present tense) decrease (present tense)." (John 3:30+) Notice three things about this short but packed passage: (1) Jesus is mentioned first for when we see Him we are driven to our faces on the ground. In other words, we don't decrease to make Jesus increase. The more He is glorified in our heart and mind by the Spirit, the greater will be our decrease. (2) Secondly, both uses of "must" (dei) are present tense which signifies that this is a continuous obligation. (3) And lastly, the present tense for decreasing indicates that this will be a lifelong pursuit. We see this spiritual dynamic in Paul's life with him progressively decreasing over time. As Jesus continually increased, Paul continually decreased! And that is our pattern to imitate (1 Cor 11:1-note) (see the chronological progression above)
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Spurgeon says "Let us be (be willing to be) humble that we may not need to be humbled, but may be exalted by the grace of God." Dwight L. Moody declared that "Unless you humble yourself before (God) in the dust (Note: tapeinos = not rising far from the ground), and confess before Him your iniquities and sins, the gate of heaven, which is open only for sinners saved by grace, must be shut against you forever." Ralph Martin writes that "humility before God is the only way to true joy. Humility—that state of total dependence on God—is foreign to “the world.” To seek to be exalted by the world is dangerous, as well as futile (Jas 1:9, 10, 11-note). But to humble oneself before God is to await his eschatological reversal and to look to Him for His intervention (Luke 14:11)." Puritan William Secker wrote that "Pride is a sinner's torment, but humility is a saint's ornament." Pastor Steven
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Spurgeon - There is a conspiracy of heaven and earth and hell to put down proud men, neither good nor bad, the highest nor the lowest, can endure those who are self-exalted; but if you are willing to take your right place, which is probably the lowest, you shall soon find honour in the midst of your brethren.
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Spurgeon - “Excuses are curses, and when you have no excuses left there will be hope for you.”
Lucas 14
Spurgeon - Our Saviour, you see, keeps to one line of instruction. It was a feast, so he used the feast to teach another lesson. It is always well, when men’s minds are running in a certain direction, to make use of that particular current. When a feast is uppermost in the minds of men, it is no use starting another subject. So the Saviour rides upon the back of the banquet, making it to be his steed. Note his advice to his host: “Try to avoid doing that for which you will be recompensed. If you are rewarded for it the transaction is over; but if not, then it stands recorded in the book of God, and it will be recompensed to you in the great day of account.” Craig Keener - Not to invite people of one’s own social status would offend them; but Jesus says that the other’s need, not one’s own social standing, must determine the giving of gifts. The Old Testament forbade charging interest on a loan and so profiting by one’s neighbor; but Jesus’ principle here excludes looking for any repayment at all; cf. "“If you lend to those from whom you expect to receive, what credit is that to you? Even sinners lend to sinners in order to receive back the same amount. 35“But love your enemies, and do good, and lend, expecting nothing in return; and your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High; for He Himself is kind to ungrateful and evil men." Lk 6:34–35+. (See The IVP Bible Background Commentary: New Testament) They may also invite (kaleo) you in return and that will be your repayment (antapodoma) - The "benefit" of the reciprocity in this case is an invitation. As
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Spurgeon - It should be your ambition to have something set down to your credit “at the resurrection of the just.” If you do someone a kindness with a view to gaining gratitude, you will probably be disappointed; and even if you should succeed, what is the gratitude worth? You have burned your firework, you have seen the brief blaze, and there is an end of it. But if you get no present return for your holy charity, so much the better for you. Daniel alludes to God's repayment at the resurrection of the righteous - “Many of those who sleep in the dust of the ground will awake (RESURRECTION), these to everlasting life (cf "REPAYMENT" "of the righteous"), but the others to disgrace (cf temporal "disgrace" in Lk 14:9) and everlasting contempt. “Those who have insight will shine brightly like the brightness of the expanse of heaven, and those who lead the many to righteousness, like the stars forever and ever. (Da 12:2,3+) Luke mentions the resurrection of the righteous again in Acts Acts 24:14-15+ “But this I admit to you, that according to the Way which they call a sect I do serve the God of our fathers, believing everything that is in accordance with the Law and that is written in the Prophets;having a hope in God, which these men cherish themselves, that there shall certainly be a resurrection of both the righteous and the wicked. Jesus describes this resurrection in the Gospel of John John 5:28-29+ Do not marvel at this; for an hour is coming, in which all who are in the tombs will hear His voice, 29 and will come forth; those who did the good deeds to a resurrection of life (= "resurrection of the righteous"), those who committed the evil deeds to a resurrection of judgment. Keener - Resurrection was a holistic Jewish hope that the dead (or at least the righteous dead) would be raised to a new bodily existence of some sort at a future time....Jewish people expected the resurrection at the end of the age, usually associating it with the time of the Messiah’s coming and his kingdom. (NIV Cultural Backgrounds Study Bible) Stein on of the righteous - From Acts 24:15 it is evident that this is short for “of the righteous and the unrighteous.” Compare John 5:28–29; 2 Tim 4:1; cf. also Luke 10:12; 11:31–32; Rom 2:5–11. (See Luke: An Exegetical and Theological Exposition) John
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Spurgeon - Our Savior was speaking of the influence of his disciples upon the fellows, and he first of all mentioned that secret but powerful influence which he describes under the figure of salt: “Ye are the salt of the earth.” No sooner is a man born unto God than he begins to fellow-men with an influence which is rather felt than seen. The very existence of a believer operates upon unbelievers. He is like a handful of salt cast upon flesh; he has a savor in himself, and this penetrate those who are in contact with him. The unobserved almost unconscious influence of a holy life is most effectual to serving of society and the prevention of moral putrefaction. May there be salt in every one of us, for “salt is good.” Have salt in yourselves, and then you will become a blessing to all around you. J