Fathers

Luke 14

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When he went into the house of one of the rulers of the Pharisees on a Sabbath to eat bread, they were watching him. Behold, a certain man who had dropsy was in front of him. Jesus, answering, spoke to the lawyers and Pharisees, saying, “Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath?” But they were silent. He took him, and healed him, and let him go. He answered them, “Which of you, if your son or an ox fell into a well, wouldn’t immediately pull him out on a Sabbath day?” They couldn’t answer him regarding these things. He spoke a parable to those who were invited, when he noticed how they chose the best seats, and said to them, “When you are invited by anyone to a wedding feast, don’t sit in the best seat, since perhaps someone more honorable than you might be invited by him, and he who invited both of you would come and tell you, ‘Make room for this person.’ Then you would begin, with shame, to take the lowest place. But when you are invited, go and sit in the lowest place, so that when he who invited you comes, he may tell you, ‘Friend, move up higher.’ Then you will be honored in the presence of all who sit at the table with you. For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and whoever humbles himself will be exalted.” He also said to the one who had invited him, “When you make a dinner or a supper, don’t call your friends, nor your brothers, nor your kinsmen, nor rich neighbors, or perhaps they might also return the favor, and pay you back. But when you make a feast, ask the poor, the maimed, the lame, or the blind; and you will be blessed, because they don’t have the resources to repay you. For you will be repaid in the resurrection of the righteous.” When one of those who sat at the table with him heard these things, he said to him, “Blessed is he who will feast in God’s Kingdom!” But he said to him, “A certain man made a great supper, and he invited many people. He sent out his servant at supper time to tell those who were invited, ‘Come, for everything is ready now.’ They all as one began to make excuses. “The first said to him, ‘I have bought a field, and I must go and see it. Please have me excused.’ “Another said, ‘I have bought five yoke of oxen, and I must go try them out. Please have me excused.’ “Another said, ‘I have married a wife, and therefore I can’t come.’ “That servant came, and told his lord these things. Then the master of the house, being angry, said to his servant, ‘Go out quickly into the streets and lanes of the city, and bring in the poor, maimed, blind, and lame.’ “The servant said, ‘Lord, it is done as you commanded, and there is still room.’ “The lord said to the servant, ‘Go out into the highways and hedges, and compel them to come in, that my house may be filled. For I tell you that none of those men who were invited will taste of my supper.’ ” Now great multitudes were going with him. He turned and said to them, “If anyone comes to me, and doesn’t disregard his own father, mother, wife, children, brothers, and sisters, yes, and his own life also, he can’t be my disciple. Whoever doesn’t bear his own cross, and come after me, can’t be my disciple. For which of you, desiring to build a tower, doesn’t first sit down and count the cost, to see if he has enough to complete it? Or perhaps, when he has laid a foundation, and is not able to finish, everyone who sees begins to mock him, saying, ‘This man began to build, and wasn’t able to finish.’ Or what king, as he goes to encounter another king in war, will not sit down first and consider whether he is able with ten thousand to meet him who comes against him with twenty thousand? Or else, while the other is yet a great way off, he sends an envoy, and asks for conditions of peace. So therefore whoever of you who doesn’t renounce all that he has, he can’t be my disciple. Salt is good, but if the salt becomes flat and tasteless, with what do you season it? It is fit neither for the soil nor for the manure pile. It is thrown out. He who has ears to hear, let him hear.”

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What the Fathers say

Luke 14:7

Eastern Fathers

Theophylact of Ohrid

Do you see what the suppers of Christ are like, how they are turned to the profit of souls and not to the stuffing of the belly? For look, He healed the man suffering from dropsy, He taught the Pharisees that doing good on the Sabbath is a good deed. Then, when He saw that they were making a commotion over sitting in the front seats, He heals this passion too, one arising not from a small cause but from a great and hard-to-avoid one, namely vainglory. …

Commentary on Luke ↗

Western Saints

Ambrose of Milan

First the dropsical man is cured, in whom the abundant discharges of the flesh crushed down the powers of the soul, quenched the ardour of the Spirit. Next, humility is taught, when at the nuptial feast the desire of the highest place is forbidden. As it is said, And he spake, Sit not down in the highest room.

Catena Aurea by Aquinas ↗

Bede

He also spoke a parable to those who were invited, noting how they chose the best places, saying to them, "When you are invited to a wedding, do not sit in the first place." Indeed, this admonition of the Savior is plain on the surface, teaching humility, which is praiseworthy not only before God but also among men, but since the evangelist does not call this a parable in vain, we must briefly consider what it also signifies mystically. In many passages, it appears that Christ and the Church's union are called a wedding. …

On the Gospel of Luke ↗

Bonaventure

He spoke also to those who were invited, etc. After he confuted the observers, here secondly he instructs the guests. This part is divided into three according to a threefold instruction. For first he instructs those invited to the nuptial banquet. Second he instructs those inviting to the familiar banquet, there: He said also to him who had invited him. Third he instructs those to be imitated regarding the eternal banquet, there: A certain man made a great supper, etc. …

Commentary on Luke, Chapter 14 ↗