Luke 14, Jesus visiting lawyers

 Luke 14 Jesus visiting lawyers

[Note: I apply Genesis-1-NIV perspective to Bible interpretation. I think Genesis 1:26-28 NIV, in the-civic-Jesus-messages (CJM), given each 1) mysterious-God, offering appreciation to human being (verb) and 2) Jesus’s “my peace”, suggests that:  Human male unites-to female human-being (noun) and their spouse-hood can& may pursue comprehensive-safety& security to the living species and to the earth (SECURITY). Every person can& may accept personal duty to SECURITY. Some persons neglect, partially or wholly, God-appreciation, Jesus-peace& SECURITY-duty.

I call Genesis-1-NIV’s message, “responsible-human-independence” or RHI. Some human-beings throughout history practice, facilitate& encourage RHI, for example, Jesus. From the past, RHI-individuals guide us and non-RHI-persons warn of error. I think the-civic-Jesus practiced, facilitated& encouraged RHI. “Civic” means reliable in human connections and transactions.

But I don’t know the-ineluctable-truth. “Ineluctable” means: not to be avoided, changed, escaped, neglected, or resisted: I can& may choose either RHI or dependency, such as religious arrogance.

Persons appreciating contemporary human being (verb), during each generation, develop the CJM I advocate. In other words, I attribute to CJM the civic-appreciation that human being (verb) applied “before Abraham was born” and since then. Given the question, “Was Jesus a man?”, my response -- “I don’t know, yet value CJM”, seems sufficient& complete to my person. I advocate the-civic-Jesus.

Perhaps CJM always was the-good human being (verb). That potential was present at the Big Bang, 13.7 billion years ago. There’s joy in accepting that I don’t know, seeking ineluctable-evidence, and reserving humility to RHI.

It seems the-laws-of-physics& progeny (PHYSICS) constrains the consequences of each person’s choices. That is, the laws of forces, mathematics, chemistries, biology, psychology, imagination, and their subsets. I choose to accept mysterious-God appreciation and pursue Jesus’ “my-peace”, in-order-to commit-to and trust-in PHYSICS. For example, I work for food& shelter rather than accept what a bureaucrat might provide. I work to aid SECURITY rather than pray for an entity to usurp RHI.

I accept that Genesis 1:26-28 NIV urges me to constrain chaos in my way of living.]

14 One Sabbath, when Jesus went to eat in the house of a prominent Pharisee, he was being carefully watched. ² There in front of him was a man suffering from abnormal swelling of his body. ³ Jesus asked the Pharisees and experts in the law, “Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath or not?” ⁴ But they remained silent. So taking hold of the man, he healed him and sent him on his way.

⁵ Then he asked them, “If one of you has a child or an ox that falls into a well on the Sabbath day, will you not immediately pull it out?” ⁶ And they had nothing to say. [This is invitation to squabble over Moses’ law.]

⁷ When he noticed how the guests picked the places of honor at the table, he told them this parable: ⁸ “When someone invites you to a wedding feast, do not take the place of honor, for a person more distinguished than you may have been invited. ⁹ If so, the host who invited both of you will come and say to you, ‘Give this person your seat.’ Then, humiliated, you will have to take the least important place. ¹⁰ But when you are invited, take the lowest place, so that when your host comes, he will say to you, ‘Friend, move up to a better place.’ Then you will be honored in the presence of all the other guests. ¹¹ For all those who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted.” [This seems political cunning unbecoming to civic-morality. I’m immediately suspicious of the writer, Luke.]

¹² Then Jesus said to his host, “When you give a luncheon or dinner, do not invite your friends, your brothers or sisters, your relatives, or your rich neighbors; if you do, they may invite you back and so you will be repaid. ¹³ But when you give a banquet, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind, ¹⁴ and you will be blessed. Although they cannot repay you, you will be repaid at the resurrection of the righteous.” [Civically, you’ll enjoy some gratitude and some jealousy but no friends. Life on earth can be exclusive according to such rules if that’s your choice.]

The Parable of the Great Banquet

¹⁵ When one of those at the table with him heard this, he said to Jesus, “Blessed is the one who will eat at the feast in the kingdom of God.”

¹⁶ Jesus replied: “A certain man was preparing a great banquet and invited many guests. ¹⁷ At the time of the banquet he sent his servant to tell those who had been invited, ‘Come, for everything is now ready.’

¹⁸ “But they all alike began to make excuses. The first said, ‘I have just bought a field, and I must go and see it. Please excuse me.’

¹⁹ “Another said, ‘I have just bought five yoke of oxen, and I’m on my way to try them out. Please excuse me.’

²⁰ “Still another said, ‘I just got married, so I can’t come.’

²¹ “The servant came back and reported this to his master. Then the owner of the house became angry and ordered his servant, ‘Go out quickly into the streets and alleys of the town and bring in the poor, the crippled, the blind and the lame.’

²² “‘Sir,’ the servant said, ‘what you ordered has been done, but there is still room.’

²³ “Then the master told his servant, ‘Go out to the roads and country lanes and compel them to come in, so that my house will be full. ²⁴ I tell you, not one of those who were invited will get a taste of my banquet.’” [Vengeance is unbecoming. I do not trust Luke.]

The Cost of Being a Disciple

²⁵ Large crowds were traveling with Jesus, and turning to them he said: ²⁶ “If anyone comes to me and does not hate father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters—yes, even their own life—such a person cannot be my disciple. ²⁷ And whoever does not carry their cross and follow me cannot be my disciple. [This is not the Jesus whose influence I seek. According to Genesis 1:26-28 NIV, I can make choices like this, and I do. I find fault with Luke for not choosing a better word than “hate”. Consider, for example, “positively influence” instead of “hate”.]

²⁸ “Suppose one of you wants to build a tower. Won’t you first sit down and estimate the cost to see if you have enough money to complete it? ²⁹ For if you lay the foundation and are not able to finish it, everyone who sees it will ridicule you, ³⁰ saying, ‘This person began to build and wasn’t able to finish.’ [Financial planning is common sense. Acting to avoid ridicule is a foolish practice.]

³¹ “Or suppose a king is about to go to war against another king. Won’t he first sit down and consider whether he is able with ten thousand men to oppose the one coming against him with twenty thousand? ³² If he is not able, he will send a delegation while the other is still a long way off and will ask for terms of peace. ³³ In the same way, those of you who do not give up everything you have cannot be my disciples. [The Jesus who influences Phil Beaver offers “my peace” and does not promote war.]

³⁴ “Salt is good, but if it loses its saltiness, how can it be made salty again? ³⁵ It is fit neither for the soil nor for the manure pile; it is thrown out. [To let appreciation to Jesus fall prey to Luke’s errors is an unfortunate choice. People who choose human being (verb) prefer Jesus’ advice and example.]

“Whoever has ears to hear, let them hear.” [And accept Genesis 1:26-28 NIV responsibility, in the-God’s likeness.]