The Arrogant Guests, Part 1

Tonight, Jesus addresses the arrogance problem, and that's what's so great about the parables. He deals with practical issues of life. He gives an earthly story that has a heavenly meaning and drives home a point that all of us will learn what he wants us to learn concerning our relationship with him. Luke chapter 14 is our parable this evening. I've called it the parable of the arrogant guests, for lack of a better friend. not knowing what else to call it. We'll look, number one, at the instruction.

Number two, at the interpretation. We'll begin, first of all, with the instruction. We'll look first of all at the situation, the observation, and then the exhortation that comes from our Lord.

We must first of all look at the situation, because we said last time, or two times ago in our study of the Good Samaritan in Luke, then there's always a scenario that arises in the gospel of Luke as to why the Lord begins to teach a parable.

There is a situation. There is a scene. There is a question. There something happening that causes Christ to speak a parable concerning what is happening in front of him, so that all around will come to grips with what is actually happening and what Christ wants to teach them, specifically his disciples. But as you look at Luke chapter 14, we'll notice first of all the situation.

It says in verse number one, and it came about when he went into the house of one of the leaders of the Pharisees on the Sabbathe bread that they were watching him closely.

Now, think about this. We'll stop right there for a moment. The Pharisees, you know, we don't have to go into great detail about these guys. They were so hypocritical, but Christ had been invited to someone's home. Probably a guy from the Sanhedron, some religious ruler. He even invited there to partake of a meal. And it says they were all watching him closely. It wasn't because they admired him, thought he was great. They were watching him closely because they were looking for any kind of slip-up in his life.

Not believing that he was a sinless, perfect son of man. They thought that there would be something that would happen that they could catch him in and then accuse him of something. As we move toward the end of Christ's life, the religious leaders are looking for avenues to entrap him, to bait him into falling so they can accuse him of something that's wrong. And so they're watching him closely. They're looking at him on the slide. They're looking for him to slip up. They don't watch him because they admire him or because they like him.

They're watching him because they despise him. and they want to see him destroyed. It says in verse two, and there in front of him was a certain man suffering from Dropsy. Now, Dropsy was a condition where the body would swell up. There was some malfunction in the man's organs, his internal organs, that would cause his body to swell, that he would look so grotesque. Now, he wasn't there because some Pharisee decided to invite this guy because they felt compassion on him. The Pharisees never felt compassion on anybody except for themselves.

And so he wasn't there for any other reason than to bait the Lord Jesus Christ. He was there because they wanted to catch him in a trap. He was there because they were going to use him. Not because they wanted him to partake of the banquet they were going to have. No, because they believed that this man's condition was the way it was because of the sin in his life. He was a sinner. That's why he looked so grotesque. That's why there was this problem with him. It's because of sin in his life, although that's not the case.

We've already talked about that in weeks previous. But here was this man who was deformed, who looked grotesque in the eyes of those round about them. It says this, and Jesus answered and spoke to the lawyers and fair. Pharisees saying, is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath or not? See, the Pharisees knew that Jesus had a compassionate heart. And they knew he'd feel compassion for this man with this disease. And Christ, being the Son of God, understood their desires to entrap him. And so he bates them with a question.

Is it lawful for a man to be healed on the Sabbath? Now, if you go back to chapter 13, verse number 14, it says, is this. And the synagogue official, indignant because Jesus had healed on the Sabbath, began saying to the multitude of response, there are six days in which work should be done. Therefore, come during them and get healed and not on the Sabbath day. How rude, how arrogant the man was. Look, if you want to be healed, come these other days. Don't come on a Sabbath. Because, you know, a true Drew is not going to work on a Sabbath day.

And so Christ comes back and says, is it lawful for me to heal on Sabbath? And you'll note that nobody answers the question. What are they going to say? Well, you know, Lord, we know this man looks pretty ugly here, and we know that he loved to have his condition changed. But you know what? You probably shouldn't do that. That would make them look pretty foolish. And yet, they knew the law. They knew that they could, if they had an oxen who fell in the ditch, they could pull them out. because they had made provisions for that.

So Christ goes on and says this in verse number four, but they kept silent. And he took hold of him and healed him and sent him away. I mean, this man was healed. Now, you've got to think about how Christ healed somebody. It was always instantaneous. It was always immediate. And everybody around saw what had taken place. Unlike what you see on television today. You'll note that when people heal today, they have to heal with a TV camera in front of them. They can't heal somebody in the privacy of all.

hospital room or in the privacy of the home, they have to do it on TV. Because after all, if they're going to make money, they've got to make sure everybody sees what they're doing, right? But Jesus would heal this man. And this man was completely healed. That means the swelling went down. He was normal again. So when Christ healed someone, it was instantaneous. Everybody could see it. That man would know it. And this man was completely healed. He was made whole again. See, the Pharisees were silent.

And even in spite of this great miracle. they were unable to respond. He said to them, which one of you shall have a son, donkey, or an ox fall into a well and will not immediately pull him out on the Sabbath day? You know the law? You know what the Mishina says? That if you have an ox and the falls into the hole, pull him out. Why? You can't leave him there to Monday. You got to plow on Monday. He's got to be ready to go on Monday. You got to make sure you get your things done. Get him out of there.

They had no compassion for this man. They had no concern about this man with dropsy. They could care less about the guy. They wanted to entrap the Lord Jesus Christ. But the Lord knew that. He'd been invited to this banquet, this man's house, and they would use a diseased man to try to catch Christ in a trap. They could not do so. So think about the scene for a moment. All these religious leaders are standing around, and they know this man would drop, he's there, and they've kind of baited Christ, and he poses the questions.

They can't answer the questions. They keep silent. You know, they're kind of, you know, looking around thinking, oh, well, I wonder what he's going to ask us next, you know, and what he was going to say next long? You know, I'm not going to answer his questions. I'm not going to look like a fool. And so the leader of the home or the man who invited everybody kind of breaks the silence and says, you know, let's sit down at the table. That leads to the point number two of the observation.

Follow with me, verse 7. And he began speaking the parable to the invited guests. When he noticed how they had been picking out the places of honor at the table saying to them. Stop right there. You got to realize that when there was a banquet and these people were invited, the tables were designed in a U shape like this. And there was a seat of honor. And the seat of honor was right here at the base of the U. And the next highest honored guest would sit to the right. And the next highest honored guest would sit to the left.

And the next highest honored would sit to the right of this man, and the next highest honored would sit to the left of this man, and so forth down the row until you came to the end of the U-Shame. You follow me? And so Christ is going in and he's observing. There's this observation on the part of our Lord as all these people go in to sit down, and how all these religious leaders begin to jockey for a position. It's like a grown-up musical chair kind of thing. You know, they're walking in and thinking, well, you know, I'm better than that guy, so I, you I should sit up toward the front here because I'm an honored man.

I know that guy is a little bit more honorable than I am, but at least I'm more honorable than he is, so I know I can move further up. And they would begin to jockey for a position, thinking that the closest they sat to the front, the more honorable they would be. And everybody would see who was seated there how honorable these men were. Christ was observing this as he saw these men looking, jockeying for a place to sit. And then you will notice.

as these men begin to grab for places of honor, Christ gives this exhortation, point number three, in the form of a parable.

He says this, when you invited by someone to a wedding feast, do not take the place of honor. Let someone more distinguished than you may have been invited by him. And he who invited you both shall come and say to you, give place to this man. And then in disgrace, you proceed to occupy the last place. But when you are invited, go and recline at the last place, so that when the one who has invited you comes, he may say to you, friend, move up higher. Then you will have honor in the side of all who are at the table with you.

Now, that's not a lesson you're going to learn at an assertiveness training seminar today. You need to learn to assert yourself and you need to be, to take the bull by the horns and, you know, be the kind of person you need to be in order for you to gain a place of prominence in society. And Christ says, you know, let me tell you something.

When you go to the banquet, you need to sit at the end of the U-Shap instead of at the top. Because you see, if you're at the top and the leader of the home comes and says, you know what, you're in the wrong spot, pal. You've got to move down. You're going to be embarrassed. So, you know, move down to the end. And if that host decides to move you up, he comes to you and says, why don't you sit up here next to me? And then you'll be the honored person. And everybody will see that. And you'll miss being embarrassed.

So instead of jockeying for the best seat, why don't you jockey for the worst seat? I mean, the worst, I mean, the least that could happen is that you wouldn't be embarrassed. And that's a good thing. And the best thing that could happen is that you can move up to a place of honor. That's a good thing. And so Christ would give them a parable. What's easy is the point number two, the interpretation.

Because up to now, we just have a nice little piece of advice. But what Christ does is attach to that advice a divine principle. And that divine principle is what governed his life. And that divine principle should be that which governs our life. And this is what he says in verse number 11. For every one who exalts himself shall be humbled, and he who humbles himself shall be exalted. You see, this is more than just a little piece of advice that Christ gives. This should be the lifestyle of a person committed to Jesus Christ.

Notice two things with me in the interpretation. Number one is the paradox, and number two is the promise.

Christ gives a paradox. And if you'll notice, the ministry of Christ is filled with paradoxes. Christ says, these words, if you want to exalt yourself, you're going to be humble.

But if you humble yourself, you'll be exalted. And you've got to realize that that's hard to understand. That's like Christ saying, if you want to lose your life, you'll gain it. But if you want to gain your life, you're going to lose it. That doesn't make any sense. If you want to really live, you've got to die. You've got to be crucified with Christ. So if you're crucified, you live. If you're not crucified, you die. Doesn't make sense. But that's the way Christ explained himself. He says very simply these words.

If you seek to be exalted, you're going to be humbled. But if you seek to be humble, you will be exalted. Spoken by a man who humbled himself. Became obedient, even into death, who took upon himself the form of a servant in order that he might win the world to himself. The reason to be lowly in. mind, the reason to be humble is not because it is a clever way to set yourself up to get public recognition. No, that's arrogance in disguise, see? Quite the contrary. The reason you humble yourself is because God loves it and God blesses those who are humble.

That's why you do. You see, the person who is humble, really doesn't care whether or not they're recognized. But the person who humbles himself in order to get recognized is really disguising his arrogance and pride and hotiness. So, Christ says these words in Isaiah 66, verse number two, this one I will esteem to him who is humble and of a contrite spirit and it trembles at my word.

This man I will esteem. This man I will look to, this man I will exalt, Christ says. The one who's broken, the one who is lowly in spirit. We'll see to be to point number two, the promise.

Bible says in Proverbs 1533, these words, before honor comes humility. Before there's ever honor, there must be humility. Proverbs 22, 4 says, by humility and the fear of the Lord are riches, honor, and life. Remember what Peter said? Peter said these words. First Peter five, verse number five, you younger men, likewise, be subject to your elders, and all of you clothe yourselves with humility toward one another.

In other words, be wrapped up in humility. In other words, tie an apron around you and be humble. Peter was a man who, on the eve of the crucifixion, was arguing because he was an arrogant man about who was the greatest in the kingdom of heaven. And he thought he would be the greatest, because he was the leader. And yet he would see Christ as they would argue about who was greatest. Just slip on a slave's apron, fill up a basin full of water, and begin to wash the disciples' feet. Having that ready in his mind, Peter says, among yourselves, clothe yourself, take a slave's apron, tie it to yourself, and be humbled toward one another.

He says these words, for God is opposed to the proud, but gives grace to the heart. humble. God responds to the lonely. He graces them. He blesses them. But he resists the arrogant. He opposes the proud. God gives a promise tucked away in the paradox that helps you understand the character of our Lord. If you are arrogant and you are prideful, God will humble you. He'll bring you down. Why? The Bible says these words.

Proverbs 6, verse number 17, there are six things the Lord hates, yea seven are an abomination to him. What's the very first one?

A haughty look. Arrogance. Pride. God hates arrogance. Proverbs 16, 5. Everyone who is proud and heart is an abomination to the Lord. Parvary 16, verse number 8, says it this way. Parvice 16, verse number 8. pride goes before destruction and a haughty spirit before stumbling it is better to be of a humble spirit with the lowly than to divide the spoil with the proud Psalm 101 verse number five whoever has haughty eyes a proud heart I will not endure God hates arrogance he hates pride Psalm 12, verse number three, The Lord shall cut off all flattering lips, and the tongue that speaketh proud things.

God will cut it off because God is not wanting to deal or bless those kind of people. God promises to destroy the arrogant because they are the wicked ones. And there are many illustrations in the Bible. of people who are arrogant. I want to give a few of them to you this evening. One of them is in the Book of Obadiah. If you get your Bible, turn there with me if you would, please. You say, where's Obadiah? That's in the Old Testament. You have to find it. Book Obadiah has one chapter in it. I want you to turn there just for no other reason but to know where it is, so you can find it when somebody else to ask you next week about the book of Obadiah.

Obadiah was a great prophet. He prophesied to the people of Edom. Edom were descendants of Easter. saw. As you recall, the Edomites were the people who would not let the children of Israel pass by their territory, and thus the children of Israel would have to wander for many years because of their anger toward the Israelites. But God never forgot that. The Edomites dwelt in a very significant place. It's a place today called Petra, the rose red city in the rocks. If you were to go to Amman, Jordan, taking about a days travel to get there.

If you've ever been to Petra, it's quite a place. It's a city, literally, in the rocks. There's only one way in and one way out. You ride horses on the way in. In fact, one of the Indiana Jones movies was filmed in Petra. And in this rock city, we're hiding places and places that would protect you from the evil people. In the Ediamites, live there. Listen to what the Lord said to the prophet Obadiah. Obadiah chapter 1, verse number 3. The arrogance of your heart has deceived you. You live in the clefts of the rock, in the loftiness of your dwelling place.

Who say in your heart, who will bring me down to earth? Though you build high like the eagle, though you set your nest among the stars, from there I will bring you down. declares the Lord. These are people who are high-minded. These are people who are arrogant. Who's going to destroy us? People can't get to us. We live in an impregnable fortress. We will never be destroyed. And God says, I'm bringing you down.

I'm bringing you down because of your arrogance. Remember Nebuchadnezzar? Daniel chapter 5 started to walk out on his porch one day. And it examine his great kingdom. Daniel chapter 5 says this. The king reflected and said, Is this not Babylon the great which I and myself have built as a royal residence by the might of my power and for the glory of my majesty? While the word was in the king's mouth, a voice came from heaven saying, King Nebuchadnezzar to you, it is declared sovereignty has been removed from you, and you will be driven away from mankind in your dwelling place.

will be with the beast of the field. You will be given grass to eat like cattle, and seven periods of time will pass over you until you recognize that the most high is ruler over the realm of mankind and bestows it on whomever he wishes. Immediately the word concerning Nebuchadnezzar was fulfilled, and he was driven away from mankind and began eating grass like cattle, and his body was drenched with the dew of heaven until his hair had grown like eagle's feathers. and his nails like bird claws. Nebuchadnezzar thought, man, he couldn't be touched.

Look at this great kingdom I have built. Look what I have done. I am an amazing man. And God says, hey, Nimbuchadnezzar, I want to tell you something.

Your sovereignty today will be taken from you. You'll be cast out. You'll eat with the animals of the land. You'll become nothing. And immediately, it happened. Verse 34. But at the end of that period, I, Nebuchadnezzar raised my eyes toward heaven, and my reason to return. to me and I blessed the most high and praise and honored him who lives forever for his dominion is an everlasting dominion and his kingdom endures from generation to generation and all the inhabitants of the earth are counted as nothing but he does according to his will in the host of heaven and among the inhabitants of the earth and no one can ward off his hand or say to him what hast thou done he realized that god was in charge but you know nebuchadnezzar had a had a grandson.

His name was Bel Shazar. His same problem that his grandfather had. He too thought that he was great. And over in Daniel chapter 5 verse number 22, after Daniel talks to him about his grandfather, he says, Belchazzar, you remember your grandfather? He thought he was pretty great. And let me tell you what God did to him.

And then in verse number 22, it says this, Yet you, his son, Bel Shazhar, have not humbled your heart, even though you knew all this, but you have exalted yourself against the Lord of Heaven, and they have brought the vessels of his house before you. And you and your nobles, your wives, and your concubines have been drinking wine from them, and you have praised the gods of silver and gold of bronze, iron, wood, and stone, which do not see hear or understand, But the God in whose hand are your life breath and your ways, you have not glorified.

And Bel Shazard's kingdom was taken that very night. He was an arrogant man, a boastful man, a prideful man. You read about Herod in Acts chapter 12 when he would speak a word and the people said, oh man, this guy is like a God. He is amazing. And Herod said, yes, I am, I'm just like a God. And God struck you dead. A worm eating from the inside out. You read about an Acts chapter 12. An arrogant man. Deotrophies. Ever heard of Deotrophies? Third John, verse number nine.

He was the man who sought the preeminence. He sought the first place. He was a man who wanted to be number one in the church.

He was an arrogant man. You can read about it with the Pharisees. Oh, they love to hear the voice of the people when they say, oh, rabbi, oh, rabbi, please teach us. Oh, they love to hear that. They love to be set above everybody else. And Christ called them hypocrites. They were men full of dead man's bone because of their arrogance on the inside. Maybe you're not as arrogant as I am. Maybe you're more humble than I am. I know what I need to do. I just hope that all of us have learned what we all need to do in order that Christ would shine in and through our lives.

Let's pray again.