He Taught Them Many Parables… (The Aggressive Guest) # 21

It is not hard for any of us to imagine how this took place in Luke 14:1. The Bible says He went into the house of one of the chief Pharisees.

WHY DID HE GO THERE?

Remember the Son of God became flesh as we are, and the Bible says He went into the Chief Pharisees house “…To eat bread on the sabbath day…”

The Lord knows exactly how we feel in these human bodies. Look at Hebrews 4:15, we read, “For we have not an high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities; but was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin.”

For almost thirty-three years, He lived in one of the same kind of bodies we live in each day. He knows:

• The pain we suffer

• The temptations we suffer

• The hunger we suffer

And the Bible says he went into the Pharisee’s house to eat bread.

But while He was receiving this nourishment, the Bible says, “…they watched him.”

WHAT DID HE DO?

Look at verses 2-6, we read, “And, behold, there was a certain man before him which had the dropsy. And Jesus answering spake unto the lawyers and Pharisees, saying, Is it lawful to heal on the sabbath day? And they held their peace. And he took him, and healed him, and let him go; And answered them, saying, Which of you shall have an ass or an ox fallen into a pit, and will not straightway pull him out on the sabbath day? And they could not answer him again to these things.”

This man had the DROPSY. Some might be saying WHAT IS THE DROPSY? It is an abnormal accumulation of serous fluid in the body.

This man most likely was very swollen, and it was obvious that this was his condition when the Lord saw him.

But before the Lord healed him, He asked the lawyers and Pharisees a question in verse 3, “IS IT LAWFUL TO HEAL ON THE SABBATH DAY?”

The Bible says, “AND THEY HELD THEIR PEACE.” These were the intellects of this day and time. They did not answer because they were dumb.

So the Lord asked them another sensible question in verse 5, “Which of you shall have an ass or an ox fallen into a pit, and will not straightway pull him out on the sabbath day?”

But they could not answer that simple question.

WHAT IS THE MATTER WITH THESE PEOPLE?

The same thing that is wrong with many people. These lawyers and Pharisees had a lot to say behind his back, as they planned how they could wipe Him from the face of the earth.

They listened to him, not because they were seeking the truth, but to try and gather ammunition to later destroy Him!

At this time they did not have anything to say, but later on, when they felt they had their ammunition, you could not shut them up.

Some people seem to have the biggest mouth in town, and they stay in trouble because of their big mouth.

But it is always interesting, when these find themselves in trouble, how some of them get themselves out of these jams.

Illus: Did you hear about the boy that was known to have a big mouth who worked in the produce section of the market? A man came in and said he wanted to buy half a head of lettuce. The boy told him that they only sold whole heads of lettuce, but the man replied that he did not need a whole head, but only a half head.

The boy said he would go ask his manager about the matter. The boy walked into the back room and said, "There's some stupid guy out there who wants to buy only a half a head of lettuce."

As he finished saying this, he turned around to find the man standing right behind him, so he added, "And this gentleman wants to buy the other half."

But you can mark it down, those who have big mouths generally stay in big trouble.

They would not say a word when the Lord asked them two questions, but you can mark it down, when it was convenient, they most likely had a lot to say when it came to conniving and stabbing him behind His back!

They watched the Lord when He entered and performed this healing, and both times He asked them questions they would not answer Him.

But their silence caused Him to tell a parable. Look at -

I. THE SITUATION

Evidently this supper was filled with a bunch of “snobs” from what the Lord says in this parable.

Look at verse 7, we read, “And he put forth a parable to those which were bidden,”