1 And it came to passe that when he was entred into the house of one of the chiefe Pharises on the Sabbath day, to eate bread, they watched him. 2 And beholde, there was a certaine man before him, which had the dropsie. 3 Then Iesus answering, spake vnto the Lawyers and Pharises, saying, Is it lawfull to heale on the Sabbath day? 4 And they held their peace. Then he tooke him, and healed him, and let him goe, 5 And answered them, saying, Which of you shall haue an asse, or an oxe fallen into a pit, and wil not straightway pull him out on the Sabbath day? 6 And they could not answere him againe to those things. 7 He spake also a parable to the ghestes, when he marked howe they chose out the chiefe roomes, and said vnto them, 8 When thou shalt be bidden of any man to a wedding, set not thy selfe downe in the chiefest place, lest a more honourable man then thou, be bidden of him, 9 And he that bade both him and thee, come, and say to thee, Giue this man roome, and thou then begin with shame to take the lowest roome. 10 But when thou art bidden, goe and sit downe in the lowest roome, that when he that bade thee, cometh, he may say vnto thee, Friende, sit vp hier: then shalt thou haue worship in the presence of them that sit at table with thee. 11 For whosoeuer exalteth himselfe, shall be brought lowe, and he that humbleth himselfe, shall be exalted. 12 Then said he also to him that had bidden him, When thou makest a dinner or a supper, call not thy friendes, nor thy brethren, neither thy kinsemen, nor ye riche neighbours, lest they also bid thee againe, and a recompence be made thee. 13 But when thou makest a feast, call ye poore, the maimed, the lame, and the blind, 14 And thou shalt be blessed, because they cannot recompense thee: for thou shalt be recompensed at the resurrection of the iust. 15 Nowe when one of them that sate at table, heard these things, he said vnto him, Blessed is he that eateth bread in the kingdome of God. 16 Then saide he to him, A certaine man made a great supper, and bade many, 17 And sent his seruant at supper time to say to them that were bidden, Come: for all things are nowe readie. 18 But they all with one mind beganne to make excuse: The first saide vnto him, I haue bought a farme, and I must needes goe out and see it: I pray thee, haue me excused. 19 And another said, I haue bought fiue yoke of oxen, and I goe to proue them: I pray thee, haue me excused. 20 And another said, I haue maried a wife, and therefore I can not come. 21 So that seruaunt returned, and shewed his master these thinges. Then was the good man of the house angrie, and said to his seruant, Goe out quickely into the streetes and lanes of the citie, and bring in hither the poore, and the maimed, and the halt, and the blinde. 22 And the seruaunt saide, Lord, it is done as thou hast commanded, and yet there is roome. 23 Then the master sayd to the seruaunt, Goe out into the hie wayes, and hedges, and compell them to come in, that mine house may bee filled. 24 For I say vnto you, that none of those men which were bidden, shall taste of my supper. 25 Nowe there went great multitudes with him, and he turned and sayd vnto them, 26 If any man come to mee, and hate not his father, and mother, and wife, and children, and brethren, and sisters: yea, and his owne life also, he can not be my disciple. 27 And whosoeuer beareth not his crosse, and commeth after mee, can not bee my disciple. 28 For which of you minding to builde a towre, sitteth not downe before, and counteth the cost, whether hee haue sufficient to performe it, 29 Lest that after he hath laide the foundation, and is not able to performe it, all that behold it, begin to mocke him, 30 Saying, This man began to builde, and was not able to make an end? 31 Or what King going to make warre against another King, sitteth not downe first, and taketh counsell, whether he be able with ten thousande, to meete him that commeth against him with twentie thousand? 32 Or els while hee is yet a great way off, hee sendeth an ambassage, and desireth peace. 33 So likewise, whosoeuer hee be of you, that forsaketh not all that he hath, he cannot be my disciple. 34 Salt is good: but if salt haue lost his sauour, wherewith shall it be salted? 35 It is neither meete for the land, nor yet for the dunghill, but men cast it out. He that hath eares to heare, let him heare.
Jesus Heals a Sick Man
1 One Sabbath Jesus went to eat a meal at the home of one of the leading Pharisees; and people were watching Jesus closely. 2 A man whose legs and arms were swollen came to Jesus, 3 and Jesus spoke up and asked the teachers of the Law and the Pharisees, “Does our Law allow healing on the Sabbath or not?”
4 But they would not say a thing. Jesus took the man, healed him, and sent him away. 5 Then he said to them, “If any one of you had a child or an ox that happened to fall in a well on a Sabbath, would you not pull it out at once on the Sabbath itself?”
6 But they were not able to answer him about this.
Humility and Hospitality
7 Jesus noticed how some of the guests were choosing the best places, so he told this parable to all of them: 8 “When someone invites you to a wedding feast, do not sit down in the best place. It could happen that someone more important than you has been invited, 9 and your host, who invited both of you, would have to come and say to you, ‘Let him have this place.’ Then you would be embarrassed and have to sit in the lowest place. 10 Instead, when you are invited, go and sit in the lowest place, so that your host will come to you and say, ‘Come on up, my friend, to a better place.’ This will bring you honor in the presence of all the other guests. 11 For those who make themselves great will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be made great.”
12 Then Jesus said to his host, “When you give a lunch or a dinner, do not invite your friends or your brothers or your relatives or your rich neighbors—for they will invite you back, and in this way you will be paid for what you did. 13 When you give a feast, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, and the blind; 14 and you will be blessed, because they are not able to pay you back. God will repay you on the day the good people rise from death.”
The Parable of the Great Feast
(Matthew 22.1-10)15 When one of the guests sitting at the table heard this, he said to Jesus, “How happy are those who will sit down at the feast in the Kingdom of God!”
16 Jesus said to him, “There was once a man who was giving a great feast to which he invited many people. 17 When it was time for the feast, he sent his servant to tell his guests, ‘Come, everything is ready!’ 18 But they all began, one after another, to make excuses. The first one told the servant, ‘I have bought a field and must go and look at it; please accept my apologies.’ 19 Another one said, ‘I have bought five pairs of oxen and am on my way to try them out; please accept my apologies.’ 20 Another one said, ‘I have just gotten married, and for that reason I cannot come.’ 21 The servant went back and told all this to his master. The master was furious and said to his servant, ‘Hurry out to the streets and alleys of the town, and bring back the poor, the crippled, the blind, and the lame.’ 22 Soon the servant said, ‘Your order has been carried out, sir, but there is room for more.’ 23 So the master said to the servant, ‘Go out to the country roads and lanes and make people come in, so that my house will be full. 24 I tell you all that none of those who were invited will taste my dinner!’”
The Cost of Being a Disciple
(Matthew 10.37Matthew 38)25 Once when large crowds of people were going along with Jesus, he turned and said to them, 26 “Those who come to me cannot be my disciples unless they love me more than they love father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters, and themselves as well. 27 Those who do not carry their own cross and come after me cannot be my disciples. 28 If one of you is planning to build a tower, you sit down first and figure out what it will cost, to see if you have enough money to finish the job. 29 If you don't, you will not be able to finish the tower after laying the foundation; and all who see what happened will make fun of you. 30 ‘You began to build but can't finish the job!’ they will say. 31 If a king goes out with ten thousand men to fight another king who comes against him with twenty thousand men, he will sit down first and decide if he is strong enough to face that other king. 32 If he isn't, he will send messengers to meet the other king to ask for terms of peace while he is still a long way off. 33 In the same way,” concluded Jesus, “none of you can be my disciple unless you give up everything you have.
Worthless Salt
(Matthew 5.13Mark 9.50)34 “Salt is good, but if it loses its saltiness, there is no way to make it salty again. 35 It is no good for the soil or for the manure pile; it is thrown away. Listen, then, if you have ears!”