The bull of St Luke

THE GOSPEL OF LUKE

Jesus with the Pharisees: Lk 14,1-24

Jesus; Guest or Host?

Read the passage (14,1-24). Compare verses 1 and 24, what conclusions can you draw? Then look for the markers in the text by which the dinner scene unfolds in three stages. Where is the strongest marker? (It's more or less at the mid point.) What provides the central theme for the second part of this scene?

The have look at my response.

Dropsy: Lk 14,1-6

Where have we encountered this setting before? What is different this time? What is the attitude of the Pharisees (see verse 7).

What can you discover about dropsy? What happens to the man?

For verse 3, see 6,9 and then make a contrast with 13,14.

What is the response of the Pharisees and how does Jesus respond - see 6,5.

For the cistern, see 13,15. Notice who is now in the cistern.

Now have a look at my response.

The Place of Honour: Lk 14,7-11

To whom are the two teachings addressed and in which verses? Is there any dialogue?

We can find some background for the first teaching, a parable from verses 8 to 10, in Proverbs 25,6-7 as well as in 11,43.
Notice the difference between verse 8 and verse 16 - it often causes confusion for reading the latter.

For the conclusion in verse 11, honour and shame were key values for society in the first century. But that is hardly Jesus' concern: see 1,52 to see where his values lie.

The Invitation: Lk 14,12-15

How does verse 12 follow on from verse 11?

There are two groups of four categories of people in verses 12 & 13. Where lies the difference between them?

What are we told in verse 14? See Proverbs 19,17.

How does the guest in verse 15 respond or fail to respond to verse 14?

Now have a look at my response.

The Great Dinner: Lk 14,16-24

Given that traditionally this is called the parable of the great banquet, it is worth while comparing 14,16 with 5,29. Both NRSV and NAB have got the terms right when speaking of dinners and banquets.
It is also important to compare Lk 14,16 with Mt 22,2. Matthew's version has become dominant in tradition. We need to be aware that Luke is different. (Thus the NRSV is wrong to refer to Apoc 19,9 at this point.) This is a good moment to compare the two versions of the parable. You will quickly see how different they are. For our purposes, note the parts special to Luke.

In verse 17, the slave out for the first time - how many rounds does he make? This first time is only to receive rejections with three excuses in verses 18-20. For the first two excuses, see 16,13. Not five yoke of oxen! Who do those rejecting the invitation represent?

Verse 21 echoes verse 13 as we have seen. What is going on here?

We told that there is still room in verse 22 which leads to the further reaction in the next verse. What is the significance of compelling to come in, verse 23?

Does the conclusion in verse 24 still from the master of the previous verse or is it Jesus' own comment?

Now have another look at my response.

The Sunday Gospel

Part of this epsiode of a meal is read on the 22nd Sunday of Ordinary Time: Lk 14,1.7-14.
Look again through the whole passage (14,1-24): What has been omitted and why, do you think?

Then look at the Old Testament reading which is taken from the book of Ecclesiasticus or Wisdom of Ben Sirach: 3,17-20.28-29. Ecclesiasticus is a late but conventional wisdom book, a book which provides practical advice about living well.
It is as well to read the whole passage from Sirach: Sir 3,17-29. Would it have been better for the missing verses to have been included? How does this reading from Sirach affect the way we hear the Gospel?

Then have a look at my response.

With the change of audience in verse 25 we can move on to the crowd in the second half of the chapter.