Jesus Heals a Man on the Sabbath

1One Sabbath, Jesusa went to the house of a leader of the Pharisees to eat a meal. The guestsb were watching Jesusc closely. 2A man whose body was swollen with fluid suddenly appeared in front of him. 3So Jesus asked the Pharisees and experts in the Law, “Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath or not?” 4But they kept silent. So he took hold of the man,d healed him, and sent him away. 5Then he asked them, “If your sone or ox falls into a well on the Sabbath day, you would pull him out immediately, wouldn’t you?” 6And they couldn’t argue with him about this.

A Lesson about Guests

7When Jesusf noticed how the guests were choosing the places of honor, he told them a parable. 8“When you are invited by someone to a wedding banquet, don’t sit down at the place of honor in case someone more important than you was invited by the host.g 9Then the host who invited both of you would come to you and say, ‘Give this person your place.’ In disgrace, you would have to take the place of least honor. 10But when you are invited, go and sit down at the place of least honor. Then, when your host comes, he will tell you, ‘Friend, move up higher,’ and you will be honored in the presence of everyone who eats with you. 11Because everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but the person who humbles himself will be exalted.”

12Then he told the man who had invited him, “When you give a luncheon or a dinner, stop inviting onlyh your friends, brothers, relatives, or rich neighbors. Otherwise, they may invite you in return and you would be repaid. 13Instead, when you give a banquet, make it your habit to invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, and the blind. 14Then you will be blessed because they can’t repay you. And you will be repaid when the righteous are resurrected.”

The Parable about a Banquet

(Matthew 22:1-10)

15Now one of those eating with him heard this and told him, “How blessed is the person who will eati in the kingdom of God!”

16Jesusj told him, “A man gave a large banquet and invited many people. 17When it was time for the banquet, he sent his servant to tell those who were invited, ‘Come! Everything is now ready.’ 18Every single one of them began asking to be excused. The first told him, ‘I bought a field, and I need to go out and inspect it. Please excuse me.’ 19Another said, ‘I bought five pairs of oxen, and I’m on my way to try them out. Please excuse me.’ 20Still another said, ‘I recently got married, so I can’t come.’

21“So the servant went back and reported all this to his master. Then the master of the house became angry and told his servant, ‘Go quickly into the streets and alleys of the town and bring back the poor, the crippled, the blind, and the lame.’ 22The servant said, ‘Sir, what you ordered has been done, and there is still room.’ 23Then the master told the servant, ‘Go out into the streets and the lanes and make the people come in, so that my house may be full. 24Because I tell all of you, none of those men who were invited will taste anything at my banquet.’”

The Cost of Discipleship

(Matthew 10:37-39)

25Now large crowds were traveling with Jesus.k He turned and told them, 26“If anyone comes to me and does not hate his father, mother, wife, children, brothers, and sisters, as well as his own life, he can’t be my disciple. 27Whoever doesn’t carry his cross and follow me can’t be my disciple.

28“Suppose one of you wants to build a tower. He will first sit down and estimate the cost to see whether he has enough money to finish it, won’t he? 29Otherwise, if he lays a foundation and can’t finish the building,l everyone who watches will begin to ridicule him 30and say, ‘This person started a building but couldn’t finish it.’

31“Or suppose a king is going to war against another king. He will first sit down and consider whether with 10,000 men he can fight the one coming against him with 20,000 men, won’t he? 32If he can’t, he will send a delegation to ask for terms of peace while the other kingm is still far away. 33In the same way, none of you can be my disciple unless he gives up all his possessions.”

Tasteless Salt

(Matthew 5:13; Mark 9:50)

34“Now, salt is good. But if the salt should lose its taste, how can its flavor be restored? 35It’s suitable neither for the soil nor for the manure pile. Peoplen throw it away. Let the person who has ears to hear, listen!”