Luke 14:1
And it came to pass, as he went into the house of one of the chief Pharisees to eat bread on the sabbath day, that they watched him. And it came to pass, as he went into the house of one of the chief Pharisees to eat bread on the sabbath day, that they watched him.
The house Jesus entered on the Sabbath to eat bread belonged to a chief Pharisee who was a ruler in Israel, a member of the Sanhedrin, and a man of reputation and influence. Those present watched Him, not to learn eternal truth, but from jealousy and envy, with laid plans to bring Him into disfavor. A man with dropsy had been deliberately chosen and placed directly before Him as a trap to see if He would violate their traditions by healing on the Sabbath, so they could charge Him with Sabbath-breaking and find occasion to condemn Him to death, knowing He always showed sympathy for human suffering and used His power to relieve it.
He accepted the Sabbath invitation not to gratify appetite or for amusement, but according to His custom of sowing seeds of truth through table conversation. At the meal He met those present on familiar terms, opened truth to their minds, revealed God's character, bore witness to the truth, and left the imprint of His divine image through the purity and elevated nobility of His character. His words at the table would later be brought to remembrance by the Holy Spirit as the teaching of One sent from God, the Light of the world and the revelation of God. There He spoke as One having authority to instruct His disciples in the duties and rules of true social life, which are the same as the laws of the kingdom of God, speaking with great clarity and simplicity and with certainty. He used meals with Pharisees and tax collectors as occasions to teach lessons suited to those present, thereby showing His disciples how to conduct themselves among both religious and nonreligious people.
At this feast He marked how the invited guests chose the chief places and gave the parable about taking the lowest place, calling for humility before God and warning against seeking honor for oneself by choosing the highest place. The sacred feast at which He taught represented the blessings of eternal life, and the great feast pictured the future gathering with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Against the Jewish belief that those blessings belonged to them alone, His lesson showed they were rejecting God's invitation to His kingdom, which would be extended to the Gentiles and to people they despised.
Through this means many became acquainted with Christ, and the occasions were not forgotten even after His humiliation, trial, rejection, condemnation, crucifixion, resurrection, and triumphant emergence from the tomb. Christians may safely accept invitations to dinners where a mixed company gathers if they follow His example and motives, speaking words that impress divine truth and sow seed for eternal life so that their influence is on the right side.