14:1 Jesus ate with His adversaries because Jesus is fair and His message is for anyone who will hear it. While there, the Pharisees watched Jesus closely, not so that they could learn from Him, but so that they might find an opportunity to discredit Him.
Jesus is wise and perceptive and therefore unfazed by the Pharisees deception -- He would eat with them in order to teach a message, whether they would accept it or not, He made it available to them.
14:2-3 A man needed Jesus' capabilities of healing. We read earlier that the Pharisees forbid healing on certain days but Jesus taught them that it's always the right time to help and heal a person. He taught us not to follow or enforce ridiculous, senseless, unkind rules.
14:4 The Pharisees are unable to argue against logic. Always remember that your own wisdom and intelligence will serve as your best armor in battle and argument. Jesus healed the man and freed him both from the ailment but also from the Pharisees corrupt grasp. To join God is to be set free.
14:5 Jesus exposes them as hypocrites and simultaneously teaches the method and importance of common sense. These men would help themselves if they or their property was in trouble, why shouldn't everybody else? It's always the right time and opportunity help when we are able.
14:6 The pharisees really have no defense for themselves. They know their rules are ridiculous and hypocritical but they had never been challenged before. They never had to defend themselves because they had so much corrupt power that they oppressed anyone who disagreed with them. Jesus came as a voice, a strength, a wisdom for humanity.
14:7 Jesus has a message for the religious institutions and any institution really) which celebrates itself, is arrogant and showy. These places exist today so this is really an important lesson for us to learn from.
14:8 Remain humble at all times. Humans get wrapped up in arrogance and desire to be the best, have the best, look the best, sit in the best places and it corrupts their thought -- it leads them away from compassion for others and from the simplicity that is compassion and humility.
14:9 Do not be prideful. You will find that people like and value you more when you express your compassion for them rather than love for yourself at all times. Do not constantly compete to be the most celebrated person -- just stay focused on being a good person. An arrogant person is always going to lose their place to someone who is kind (and then will suffer the shame of being denied).
14:10 It's a metaphor. If you are a kind person, people are always going to want to be near you. Wherever you are, they will seek to be with you. If you are an arrogant person, you're going to be alone because people just do not want to be surrounded by that kind of selfishness.
14:11 If you constantly praise yourself, people are going to want to knock you back down to base level. It's truly annoying to be around someone who only cares about themselves (we have all had this experience). An arrogant person will be humbled by people's rejection of them. A kind person will be celebrated for their quiet kindness.
14:12-13 Another metaphor: when you have excess and surplus, don't give it to the people who do not need it just because you are closest to them. Always give your effort, time, and means to people who need it, even if they do not appear particularly glamorous to you. Be selfless in giving... there are so many "strangers" in the world who can be made a friend if we show them the same kindness we show our friends and family.
Moreover, giving to another person of means, you will be repaid...re-gifted. God wants you to be generous even when you won't get "anything" from it. God does not want us to give to people who we know will give back to us (we lose and gain nothing through that kind of exchange). God wants us to give generously to people who have no means to give back to us... that's a selfless gift.
14:14 God will repay your for the compassion you gave in your lifetime. Do not give with your reward in mind but remember that God loves you and He returns to you anything you gave to others.
14:15 Blessed is the person who will "eat bread" in the kingdom of God. Blessed is the person who will be with God and will be nourished by His love and light...Jesus is going to explain this further in metaphor.
14:16 This "Certain man" is God. God invited souls to join His house.
14:17 He invited people to join Him and when it was time, He opened the doors.
14:18-20 These people were not interested in joining. They were more focused on their lives than on listening to God.
14:21 God, having been rejected by the supposed "kind and faithful" people of the Earth, opened His doors to the people who, though unfamiliar with Him, would be willing to love and follow Him once presented with His way of life -- the humble, the rejected...
14:22 God invited all of humanity to His house and still He keeps enough from for anyone else who wants to join.
14:23 God spreads His wing wide across humanity and welcomes anyone who is kind, without discrimination. The lesson in the beginning of this story is that sometimes the people who you think would be invited first, those who claim to be holy and faithful, are the people who reject God with the actions during their lives. This is why you should always accept and respect kind people of different religions and spirituality -- a kind heart is a kind heart and all kind hearts are loved by God.
14:24 The people who reject God will never enter His house because their values are corrupt and evil.
14:25 Jesus began teaching to the multitude: we will analyze the next first because it's so often misunderstood.
14:26 The word "Hate" in this verse is a mis-translation, the word is actually Greek and means "love less." This is what this verse really means: If a person's family member, even a close one, teaches a way of life different from God's, that person is meant to follow God instead. Why? Because God has presented the most compassionate, wise plan and anyone who is contrary to Him, rejects compassion and wisdom. God's message is to be kind and humble... there is nothing to fairly reject. God should be our light and leader in all situations -- you cannot be a disciple of God is you listen to another person instead.
14:27 Joining God comes with a "cross" --- a great responsibility. You have to work and stay determined on God's mission if you join it. You must follow Him at all times otherwise you defect.
14:28 Be wise when you plan to do something --- prepare with wisdom. When you plan to be with God, prepare yourself to do it well and completely (just as you would commit to any other project).
14:29-30 You do not want your end result to be incomplete or blemished -- that would be a shame and embarrassment to you. Don't do anything "halfway" commit to things and carry them out with passion and wisdom.
14:31-32 Think ahead. Many people in the world plan in detail a way to procure a position of authority or item they desire... but when it comes to their faith, they put no effort in. They have no determination to carry it out fully.
14:33 When you walk with God, you rid yourself of all of the selfishness or distraction you might have had before doing so. You cannot half commit to two ways of life. Either you're with God or you're not. Jesus is not teaching us to forsake the good things in our life, He's teaching us to forsake all of the bad in order to protect the good.
14:34-35 What good is a person without compassion? That person is useless the world because they cause harm and suffering to humanity. If you able to understand this, Jesus implores you remain committed to it with passion and perception.
