4th December – Luke 14: “Humble Yourself … and Come!”
Hey friends, welcome to December 14th. Luke 14 is Jesus at a dinner party, turning every conversation upside down, teaching humility, exposing excuses, and laying out the raw cost of following Him.
Part 1 – Humble Yourself (vv. 1-11)
Jesus is invited to a Pharisee’s house on the Sabbath, with eyes watching Him like hawks. He heals a man with dropsy, then watches the guests scramble for the best seats.
He says, “When thou art bidden of any man to a wedding, sit not down in the highest room… But when thou art bidden, go and sit down in the lowest room… For whosoever exalteth himself shall be abased; and he that humbleth himself shall be exalted” (vv. 8-11).
There’s a famous story about Edinburgh Castle, atop the towering, seemingly impregnable cliffs in Scotland. Yet it was once captured, not at its guarded point, but at a steep slope everyone thought too difficult to climb. No guards were posted there. The enemy, William the Bruce’s nephew, with only 30 men, scaled it at night and took the fortress by surprise. Where the castle seemed strongest, there it was weakest.
That’s pride. We guard our obvious flaws, but pride slips in where we feel secure—and brings the whole thing down.
John Bunyan put it perfectly:
“He that is down needs fear no fall,
He that is low, no pride;
He that is humble ever shall
Have God to be his guide.”
Part 2 – No More Excuses (vv. 12-24)
Jesus turns to the host: Don’t just invite friends who can pay you back: invite the poor, the maimed, the lame, the blind. “And thou shalt be blessed; for they cannot recompense thee” (v. 14).
Then comes the Parable of the Great Supper. A man prepares a huge feast and sends out invitations. When the time comes, the excuses roll in:
“I have bought a piece of ground… I have bought five yoke of oxen… I have married a wife…”
The master is angry: “None of those men which were bidden shall taste of my supper.”
So the servant goes into the streets and highways: “Compel them to come in, that my house may be filled” (v. 23).
God has prepared the banquet; everything is ready in Christ. But the excuses still echo today: too busy with property, work, family, pleasure. None of them said, “I hate you.” They just… had other priorities.
Yet the invitation still goes out, to the highways and hedges, to everyone who will come. The house will be filled.
Part 3 – Count the Cost (vv. 25-35)
Great multitudes are following Jesus, and He turns to them with the hardest words in the chapter:
“If any man come to me, and hate not his father, and mother, and wife, and children, and brethren, and sisters, yea, and his own life also, he cannot be my disciple. And whosoever doth not bear his cross, and come after me, cannot be my disciple” (vv. 26-27).
He gives two pictures:
• A man building a tower who doesn’t count the cost ends up mocked.
• A king going to war who doesn’t weigh the odds ends up defeated.
Then the warning: “Salt is good: but if the salt have lost his savour… it is neither fit for the land, nor yet for the dunghill; but men cast it out” (v. 34-35).
Discipleship isn’t a casual RSVP. Jesus must be first—above every love, every comfort, every plan. We count the cost, carry the cross daily, and finish the race, or we lose our saltiness.
Three scenes at one dinner table, one clear message:
Humble yourself—God will lift you up.
Drop the excuses—the banquet is ready.
Count the cost—and follow Him all the way.
Friends, this Christmas, the invitation is still open. The table is spread. The Master says, “Come.”
Will we take the lowest seat?
Will we lay down every excuse?
Will we love Him more than anyone or anything else?
He that hath ears to hear, let him hear.
See you tomorrow for Luke 15. Grace and peace! 🙏
