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Luke 14:1. It happened that on the Sabbath He came to the house of one of the leaders of the Pharisees to eat bread, and they watched Him. Although the Lord knew the corruption of the Pharisees, he nevertheless entered their house; entered because he cared about the benefit of their souls. For if they wished, they could benefit themselves, either from His words and teachings, or from the manifestation of signs. Luke 14:2. And behold, a man appeared before Him, suffering from water sickness. Therefore, when “one suffering from water sickness” appeared in the middle, the Lord looked not so as not to tempt them, but to show benefit to those in need of healing. For where there is a lot of benefit ahead, we should not worry about those who are madly tempted. Luke 14:3. On this occasion, Jesus asked the lawyers and Pharisees: Is it permissible to heal on the Sabbath? The Lord denounces the foolishness of those who intended to reproach Him; That’s why he asks whether it is permissible to treat on Saturday or not. Does He not clearly disgrace them as fools? For then, just as God Himself blessed the Sabbath, they forbid doing good on it and thus make it cursed. For that day is not blessed on which no good deed is done. Luke 14:4. They were silent. And touching him, he healed him and released him. But they, realizing where the question was heading, remained silent. Then Jesus does His work and heals the sick person through touch. Luke 14:5. At this he said to them: If one of you has a donkey or an ox that falls into a well, will he not immediately pull it out on the Sabbath? Luke 14:6. And they could not answer Him to this. Then with this act he shames the Pharisees, telling them something like this: if the Law forbade showing mercy on the Sabbath, then will you really not take care of your son who was exposed to disaster on the Sabbath? And what am I saying about my son? Would you really leave an ox without help if you see him in trouble? How could it not be crazy to lie in wait for healing on Saturday for a person suffering from dropsy? Anyone who has become terribly ill in soul from a dissolute and careless life and is in need of Christ also suffers from dropsy. Such a one will be healed if he appears before Christ. For whoever constantly keeps in mind that he is before God and God sees him will sin as little as possible. Luke 14:7. Noticing how those invited chose the first places, he told them a parable: Do you see what the suppers (dinners) of Christ are like, how they are used for the benefit of souls, and not for the satiety of the belly? For, look, He healed a man suffering from dropsy, and taught the Pharisees that doing good on the Sabbath is a good deed. Then, when he saw that they were making noise because they were sitting in the front seats, he also healed this passion, which stems not from a small reason, but from a great and inconvenient one, that is, from vanity. And no one should consider the teaching of this to be of little importance and unworthy of the greatness of God. For you cannot at all call a humane doctor the one who promises to treat gout and any important disease, but does not undertake to treat a bruised finger or toothache. Then, how can the passion of vanity be considered unimportant when it in all respects bothers those who like to sit in the front seats? So, it was necessary for the Teacher, the Leader and the Perfecter of humility, - Christ, to cross every branch of this evil root - vanity. Please take this into account as well. If now was not table time and the Lord had spoken about this, leaving the conversation about other things, then they could have reproached Him: but now, when it was dinner time and when the passion for primacy tormented the unfortunate in the eyes of the Savior, His admonition was very well timed. Luke 14:8. when you are invited by someone to a marriage, do not sit in the first place, so that one of those invited by him does not happen to be more honorable than you, Luke 14:9. and the one who called you and him, coming up, would not have said to you: give him your place; and then with shame you will have to take the last place. Look on the other hand at what ridicule He frees man from and how He teaches him decency. For how much shame there is if you take a place that is indecent for you, and then someone more honorable than you comes, and the one who called you says: “Give him your place!” And this (can happen) often. And you yourself will have to give in, and they will sit higher. Luke 14:10. But when you are called, when you arrive, sit down in the last place, so that the one who called you will come up and say: friend! sit higher; then you will have honor before those who sit with you, On the contrary, how commendable is it when the one worthy of the first place at the beginning sits lower than others, and then turns out to be presiding, so that everyone yields primacy to him. Does this conviction of the Lord really seem unimportant to you, which prescribes the highest of virtues - humility, instills it in the souls of listeners and leads those who submit to him to decency? Christ’s disciple Paul later taught the same thing: “everything,” he says, “should be decent and orderly” (1 Cor. 14:40). How will this happen? “Let each one not only take care of himself, but each one also of others” (Phil. 2:4). Do you see the disciple preaching the same thing as the Teacher? Luke 14:11. for everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted. How to understand the words: “everyone who exalts himself will be humbled”? For many who elevate themselves in this life enjoy honor. “He will be... humiliated” means that whoever enjoys great honor in this world is pitiful and low before God. Moreover, such a person is not completely honored and not by everyone, but as much as some respect him, just as many others revile him, perhaps from the very same people who respect him. So this statement of truth is true. And everyone unworthy of a high place, but who appropriates it for himself, will be humiliated before God during the final judgment, even if in this life he was above everyone else. By nature, every person is unworthy of exaltation. Therefore, let no one exalt himself, lest he be humiliated to the extreme. Luke 14:12. He also said to the one who called Him: when you make lunch or dinner, do not invite your friends, nor your brothers, nor your relatives, nor rich neighbors, lest they call you and you receive reward. Luke 14:13. But when you make a feast, call the poor, the maimed, the lame, the blind, Luke 14:14. and you will be blessed that they cannot repay you, for you will be rewarded at the resurrection of the righteous. There were two categories of guests at dinner - those who invited and those who were invited. The Lord first addressed an admonition to those invited, taught them saving humility and offered them unsophisticated food, and then gives honor to the one who called Him and repays for the treat with an admonition so that he does not give treats because of some human favor and expects immediate reward. For the faint-hearted, when inviting friends or relatives, do so in the form of immediate gratitude, and if they do not receive it, they become annoyed. But the generous, enduring until the next life, receive a reward from the One who is truly rich (Eph. 2:4,7). Luke 14:15. Hearing this, one of those reclining with Him said to Him: Blessed is he who eats bread in the Kingdom of God! The Lord, saying this, refuses us to trade in friendliness. And someone, hearing this and thinking that God would honor and treat the righteous with sensual dishes, said: “Blessed is he who tastes bread in the Kingdom of God.” He was probably not spiritual enough to understand, that is, he was driven by human thoughts. For a spiritual person is such that he does not believe in anything supernatural, for he judges everything according to the laws of nature. There are three states in a person: carnal, mental and spiritual. “Carnal” - when someone wants to enjoy pleasures and rejoice, even if it involves causing harm to others. Such are all covetous people. A “mental” state is when someone does not want to harm or receive harm. This is life according to the law of nature. For nature itself instills this in us. And the “spiritual” state is when someone, for the sake of good, even agrees to suffer harm and insult. The first state is close to nature, the middle one is in accordance with nature, and the third is above nature. Anyone who thinks about human things and cannot understand anything supernatural is called natural (1 Cor. 2:14), since he is guided by soul and spirit. But when someone is led by the spirit and no longer lives himself, but Christ lives in him (Gal. 2:20), he is spiritual, he has risen above nature. So, he who thought that the reward of the saints would be sensual, was spiritual, since he could not understand anything supernatural. Luke 14:16. He said to him, “One man made a big supper and invited many, Since the one who reclined with the Lord said: “Blessed is he who eats bread in the Kingdom of God,” the Lord teaches him at some length how we should understand God’s treat, and pronounces a real parable, calling His humane Father a man. For in Scripture, when an allusion is made to the punishing power of God, God is called a lion and a bear (in Church Slavonic - a panther, a leopard) (Hos. 13: 7-8); and when it is meant to designate any action of His love for mankind, then God appears in the person of a man (Luke 15:11-24), just as in the present place. Since the parable speaks of the most loving economy that God accomplished in us, making us partakers of the Flesh of His Son, He is called man. This economy is called “the great supper.” “The supper” is called because the Lord came in recent times and, as it were, at the “supper” of the century, and “the great supper” because the mystery of our salvation is unquestionably great (1 Tim. 3:16). Luke 14:17. and when supper time came, he sent his servant Who is this slave? The Son of God, who took on the form of a servant, becoming Man (Phil. 2:7), and of Whom, as Man, it is said that He was sent. Pay attention to the fact that it is not just said “slave,” but “that” slave who, in the proper sense, pleased God in humanity and served well. For not only as about the Son and God, pleasing to the Father, but also as about Man, who alone Himself sinlessly submitted to all the definitions and commandments of the Father and “fulfilled all righteousness” (Matthew 3:15), it is said about Him that He served God and the Father. Why can He alone be called a servant of God in the proper sense? He was sent “when it was time for dinner,” that is, at a certain and decent time. For no other time was more propitious for our salvation than the reign of Augustus Caesar, when evil rose to the very top and had to fall. Just as doctors leave a purulent and bad disease until it drains away all the bad moisture, and then apply medicine, so it was necessary for sin to reveal all its characteristic types, and then for the great Physician to apply medicine. That is why the Lord allowed the devil to fulfill the measure of his evil and then, having become incarnate, healed every type of evil with His completely holy life. He sent “in a year,” that is, at the present and decent time, just as David says: “Gird Your sword and Your beauty on your thigh” (Ps. 44:4). The sword, without a doubt, is the Word of God. The hip signifies birth in the flesh, which took place at the ripeness of the fetus, that is, at the proper time. He was sent to “tell those invited.” Who are these called? Perhaps all people, since God called everyone to the knowledge of Himself, either through the improvement of visible things, or through the natural law, and perhaps especially the Israelites, who were called through the Law and the Prophets. To them, to the sheep of the house of Israel, the Lord was especially sent (Matthew 15:24). go, for everything is ready. He says: “Go, for everything is ready.” For the Lord preached the good news to everyone: the Kingdom of Heaven is near (Matthew 4:17), and it is within you (Luke 17:21). Luke 14:18. And everyone, as if by agreement, began to apologize. The first one said to him: I bought land and I need to go and look at it; please forgive me. Luke 14:19. Another said: I bought five pairs of oxen and am going to test them; please forgive me. Luke 14:20. The third said: I got married and therefore cannot come. And they “all began... to apologize,” that is, as if they had agreed on one thing. For all the rulers of the Jews refused to have Jesus as King, and therefore were not worthy to eat the supper, some for the love of wealth, some for the love of pleasures. For by those of whom one bought land, and the other five pairs of oxen, one can understand those addicted to wealth, and by those who got married, a sensualist. If you want, perhaps understand by the one who bought the land one who, in worldly wisdom, does not accept the sacrament (salvation). For the field is this world and nature in general, and whoever looks only at nature does not accept the supernatural. So, the Pharisee, perhaps, looking at the earth, that is, observing only the laws of nature, did not accept the fact that the Virgin gave birth to God, since this is above nature. And all those who boast of external wisdom because of this earth, that is, out of attachment to nature, did not recognize Jesus, who renewed nature. By the one who bought five pairs of oxen and tested them one can also understand a person attached to matter, who combined the five feelings of the soul with the body and made the soul flesh. Therefore, being busy with earthly things, he does not want to participate in the spiritual supper. For the wise one also says: “How can one become wise who drives the plow” (Sir. 38:25). And by one who falls away because of his wife one can understand one who is addicted to pleasure, who, having attached himself to the flesh, the ally of the soul, and being one with it, as having copulated with her, cannot please God. You can take all this literally; for we fall away from God both because of a pair of oxen and because of marriage, when we become attached to them, we spend our whole lives on them, because of them we work even until we bleed, but we cannot think or explore anything Divine, neither a thought nor a saying. Luke 14:21. And, returning, that servant reported this to his master. Then, angry, the owner of the house said to his servant: go quickly through the streets and alleys of the city and bring here the poor, the crippled, the lame and the blind. The Jewish leaders were rejected, and none of them believed in Christ, just as they themselves boasted of their wickedness. When, they said, “did any of the rulers believe in Him” (John 7:48)? So, these lawyers and scribes, as the prophet said, having become fools from the fall of grace, ***** and the simple-minded of the Jews, who are likened to the lame and the blind and the maimed, “the base of the world and the despised” (1 Cor. 1:27-28), were called. For the people “marveled at the words of grace that proceeded from the mouth” of Jesus (Luke 4:22), and rejoiced at His teaching. But after the Israelites entered, that is, the chosen ones from among them, whom God destined for His glory (Rom. 8:29-30), such as Peter, the sons of Zebedee, and the rest of the multitude who believed, after that the grace of God was poured out on the pagans. For those on the “roads” and “alleys” can be understood as pagans. The Israelites were inside the city because they accepted the law and inherited the city lifestyle. And the pagans, being strangers to the covenants and alienated from the laws of Christ, and not being fellow citizens of the saints (Col. 1:21, 12; Eph. 2:12, 3.) spent their lives not on one road, but on many “roads” of lawlessness and ignorance, and in “hedges,” that is, in sins; for sin is a great hedge and mediastinum separating us from God (Isa. 59:2). The word “on the roads” hints at the bestial life of the pagans, divided into many opinions, and the word “in the alleys” indicates their life in sins. He does not simply command to call these (those who are along the roads and fences), but to compel them, although faith is a matter of everyone’s will. For this reason he said: compel us to understand that the faith of the pagans, who were in deep ignorance, is a sign of the great power of God. For if the Preached One had little power and little truth in the teaching, then how could people serving idols and committing shameful deeds be convinced, suddenly know the true God and practice spiritual life? Wanting to point out the wonder of this treatment, he called it compulsion. As if someone said: the pagans did not want to leave idols and sensual pleasures, however, by the truth of the sermon they were forced to leave them. Or in other words: the power of signs constituted a great incentive to turn to faith in Christ. Luke 14:22. And the servant said: Master! done as you ordered, and there is still room. Luke 14:23. The master said to the servant: go along the roads and hedges and persuade them to come, so that my house may be filled. Luke 14:24. For I tell you that none of those who are called will taste my supper, for many are called, but few are chosen. This supper is prepared daily, and we are all called into the Kingdom, which God prepared for people even before the creation of the world (Matthew 25:34). But we are not worthy of it, some out of curiosity for wisdom, others out of love for material things, others out of love for the flesh. And God’s love for mankind grants this Kingdom to other sinners who are blind with rational eyes, who do not understand what the will of God is, or who understand, but are lame and motionless to fulfill it, and poor, as if they have lost heavenly glory, and crippled, as if they do not reveal an immaculate life in themselves. To these sinners, wandering along the wide and spacious paths of sin, the Heavenly Father sends with an invitation to supper His Son, who became a slave according to the flesh, came to call not the righteous, but sinners (Matthew 9:13), and generously treats them instead of those wise and rich and pleasing to the flesh. He sends illnesses and disasters to many, and through this he involuntarily forces them to abandon such a life, according to destinies, according to which He Himself knows, and brings them to His supper, turning them into an incentive to bring disasters on them. There are many examples of this. In a simpler sense, the parable teaches us to give better to the poor and crippled than to the rich. To what the Lord urged a little higher, it seems that he also said this parable, assuring with it even more that one should treat the poor. We learn (by this parable) something else, namely: that we must be so zealous and generous in accepting our (lesser) brothers that we must convince them to participate in our benefits even when they do not want to. This is a strong suggestion for teachers, so that they instruct their students in what is proper even when they do not want to. Luke 14:25. Many people went with Him; and He turned and said to them: Luke 14:26. If anyone comes to Me and does not hate his father and mother, and wife and children, and brothers and sisters, and, moreover, his own life, he cannot be My disciple; Luke 14:27. and whoever does not bear his cross and follow Me cannot be My disciple. Since many of those who followed Jesus did not follow with all zeal and self-sacrifice, but had a very cold disposition, then He, teaching what His disciple should be, expresses His thoughts about this, as if depicting and painting it, claiming that he should hate not only those close to him from the outside, but also “his own soul.” Be careful, in your simplicity and inexperience, do not be tempted by this saying. For the Lover of Mankind does not teach inhumanity, does not instill suicide, but wants His sincere disciple to hate his relatives when they hinder him in the matter of worshiping God and when, in dealing with them, he finds it difficult to do good. On the contrary, when they do not interfere with this, He even teaches us to honor them until our last breath. And how does he teach? The best teaching, that is, one’s own deeds. For He obeyed Joseph (Luke 2:51), despite the fact that this was not His father in the proper sense, but imaginary. And He always had great concern for His Mother, so that even while hanging on the cross, He did not forget Her, but entrusted Her to His beloved disciple (John 19:26-27). How can He, having taught one in practice, teach another in words? No, as I said. He commands us to hate our parents when they threaten our reverence for God. For then they are no longer parents, not relatives, when they oppose us in such a useful matter. What we affirm is also evident from the fact that it is commanded to hate “your own soul.” For this commandment, without a doubt, commands not to kill oneself, but to abandon spiritual desires that separate us from God, and not to worry about the soul (life), if there is torment ahead, as long as eternal gain is presented. And that the Lord teaches this, and not suicide, He Himself shows, firstly, by the fact that when the devil, tempting Him, invited Him to throw himself down from the roof of the church, He rejected the temptation (Matthew 4:5-7), and, secondly, by the fact that He did not betray Himself to the Jews (each time), but withdrew and, passing among them, hid from the murderers (Luke 4:30 ). So, someone who is harmed by his relatives in the matter of reverence for God, and he, however, with pleasure continues his affection towards them, puts it above pleasing God, and sometimes, out of love for life, in the event of the threat of torture, he is inclined to renounce the faith - he cannot be a disciple of Christ. Luke 14:28. For which of you, desiring to build a tower, does not first sit down and calculate the cost, whether he has what it takes to complete it? Luke 14:29. lest when he lays the foundation and is not able to complete it, all who see it begin to laugh at him, Luke 14:30. saying: this man began to build and could not finish? With the parable of the tower, the Lord teaches us that once we have decided to follow Him, we should retain this very intention and not lay down only the “foundation,” that is, we would begin to follow, but not follow until the end, as those who lack sufficient preparation and zeal. These were those about whom the Evangelist John says: “Many of His disciples departed from Him” (John 6:66). And every person who decides to create virtue, but has not reached Divine knowledge, because he began virtue imperfectly and unreasonably, builds imperfectly, since he cannot reach the tower of high knowledge. That is why he is a laughing stock for people and demons who look at him. And in another way: by foundation you can understand the word teacher. For the word of a teacher, speaking, for example, about abstinence, thrown upon the soul of a student, is like a foundation. On this word, as a foundation, we need to “build”, that is, carry out deeds, so that the “tower,” that is, the virtue that we intend to create, is completed for us, and, moreover, is strong in the face of the enemy. And that the word is the foundation, and the deed is the building, the Apostle teaches us this enough when he says: “I... laid the foundation,” Jesus Christ, “and another is building” (1 Cor. 3:10), and then lists various buildings (1 Cor. 3:12-15), that is, doing deeds either good or evil. So, let us be afraid that the demons will laugh at us, about which the prophet says: “children (Slavic - “expletive”) will rule over them” (Is. 3:4), that is, rejected from God. Luke 14:31. Or what king, going to war against another king, does not sit down and consult first whether he is able with ten thousand to resist the one coming against him with twenty thousand? Luke 14:32. Otherwise, while he is still far away, he will send an embassy to him to ask for peace. And this parable teaches us not to be divided in soul, not to be nailed to the flesh and to cleave to God, but, if we intend to wage war against evil forces, to attack them as enemies and actually resist them. Sin, which reigns in our mortal body (Rom. 6:12), is also king when we allow it. Our mind was also created by the king. Therefore, if he intends to rebel against sin, he must fight against it with all his soul, for his warriors are strong and terrible, and seem larger and more numerous than us; for the warriors of sin are demons, who apparently direct twenty thousand against our ten thousand. They, being incorporeal and competing with us who live in the body, apparently have great strength. However, we can fight against them, although they seem stronger than us. For it is said: “With God we will show strength” (Ps. 59:14) and “The Lord is my light and my salvation: whom shall I fear?... If an army takes up arms against me, my heart will not fear” (Ps. 26:1, 3). Moreover, God, who became incarnate for our sake, gave us “the power to attack... all the power of the enemy” (Luke 10:19). Therefore, although we are in the flesh, we nevertheless have weapons that are not carnal (2 Cor. 10:3-4). Although, due to physicality, we appear to be ten thousand against their twenty thousand, due to their incorporeal nature, we must nevertheless say: “The Lord God is my strength” (Hab. 3:19)! Luke 14:33. So, anyone of you who does not renounce everything that he has cannot be My disciple. And they must never be reconciled to sin, that is, enslave to passions, but with special strength resist them and must have irreconcilable hatred for them, not wanting anything passionate in the world, but abandoning everything. For he cannot be a disciple of Christ who does not abandon everything, but has a disposition towards something in the world that is harmful to the soul. Luke 14:34. Salt is a good thing; but if the salt loses its strength, how can it be corrected? Luke 14:35. not suitable for soil or manure; they throw it away. He who has ears to hear, let him hear! A disciple of Christ must be “salt,” that is, he must not only be good in himself and free from malice, but also communicate kindness to others. For such is salt. She, herself remaining undamaged and free from rotting, protects from rotting other things to which this property transfers. But if salt loses its natural strength, it is not useful for anything, “it is not suitable... either for soil or for manure.” These words have the following meaning: I want every Christian to be useful and strong to edify, not only those who have been entrusted with the gift of teaching, such as the apostles, teachers and shepherds were, but I demand that the laity themselves be fruitful and useful to their neighbors. If the one who has to serve for the benefit of others is himself unfit and leaves the state appropriate for a Christian, then he will be unable to either bring benefit or receive benefit. “Neither in the ground,” it is said, “not suitable for manure.” The word “earth” hints at receiving benefits, and the word “manure” (“pus”) hints at delivering benefits. Therefore, as one who does not serve the benefit, who does not receive benefit, he must be rejected and thrown out. Since the speech was dark and trivial, the Lord, rousing the listeners so that they would not simply accept what He said about salt, said: “Whoever has ears to hear, let him hear,” that is, let him who has a mind understand. For by “ears” here we must mean the sensual power of the soul and the ability to understand. So, each of us believers is salt, having received this property from Divine words and from grace from above. And that grace is salt, listen to (Apostle) Paul: “Let your word always be with grace, seasoned with salt” (Col. 4:6), so that a word, when it is without grace, can be called saltless. So, if we neglect this property of Divine words and do not accept it into ourselves, and do not get used to it, then we will be stupid and unreasonable, and our salt has truly lost its power, as lacking the properties of heavenly grace.