Jesus heals a sick man
1Jesus went to eat with one of the leaders of the Pharisees. It was on the Sabbath day. The Pharisees looked at Jesus to see if He would do something wrong. 2Jesus saw a man who was sick. His arms and legs were very big and full of water. 3Jesus asked the teachers_of_the_Laws and Pharisees: ‘Is it right to heal a person on the Sabbath day?’ 4But they did not say anything. Then Jesus touched the man. He healed the man and He sent him away. 5Jesus said to the teachers_of_the_Laws and Pharisees: ‘If one of your sons or your cow falls into a water hole, what will you do? You will take him out immediately, even if it is on the Sabbath day.’
6And they could not answer Jesus.
A parable about where to sit at a wedding
7Jesus saw that the people wanted to get the best place to sit at the table near the owner of the house. Then Jesus told them a parable. He said:
8‘When someone invites you to eat with him at a wedding, don't sit at a place where the important people sit at the table. Maybe the bridegroom has invited someone who is more important than you. 9Then the bridegroom will have to come and tell you: “Please get up and give your place to that person.” You will be very ashamed when you have to get up and sit at a place far away from the bridegroom.
10No, if someone invites you to come and eat with him, you must sit where the people sit who are not important. Then the owner of the house may say to you: “My friend, come and sit near me.” And then all the people will see how important you are. 11God will humiliate everyone who thinks he is important, but if you are humble, He will make you important.’
12Then Jesus said to the man who had invited Him: ‘When you invite people to come and eat with you, you must not invite your friends. Don't invite your family or your rich friends, because later they will also invite you to come and eat with them. They will pay you back. 13When you invite people to come and eat with you, you must invite poor and cripple people, those who can not walk, and blind people. 14Then the Lord will bless you because these people have nothing, and they can not pay you back. But the Lord will pay you back when all his people rise and start living again.’
The parable of the big feast
15One of the people who were with Jesus heard what He said about the people who will live again. He said to Jesus: ‘The most happy people are those who will one day sit at the table with God, where He is King.’ 16But Jesus said to him:
‘There was a man who had invited a lot of people to a feast. 17When it was time to start the feast, he sent his servant to go and call everyone that he had invited. The servant told the people: “You must come now. Everything is ready and we can start eating.”
18The people who were invited all said they were sorry, but they could not come. One man said to the servant: “I have bought a field and I must go and look at it. Will you please say that I am sorry but I can not come.”
19Another man said: “I have bought 10 oxen and I want to see how well they can work. Please say that I am sorry but I can not come.” 20Another man said: “I have got married, and that is why I can not come.”
21The servant went back to his owner and he told him what the people had said. The owner was very angry and he told his servant: “Go as fast as you can to the streets and to every place in town and bring in the poor people, all who are cripple, blind and can not walk.”
22The servant went and he called all the people as his master had told him and then he said to his master: “Sir, I did what you said. I have asked them to come but there are still some places at the tables where people can sit.”
23Then the master said to his servant: “Go to all the roads, the big roads and the small roads, and tell the people they must come to my feast so that my house can be full of people. 24I tell you: Not one of those people that I invited first will get any of my food.” ’
How a disciple of Jesus must live
(Also in Matthew 10:32-39; 16:24-28; Mark 8:34 – 9:1; Luke 9:23-27)
25There were a lot of people who walked with Jesus to Jerusalem. Jesus turned_around and He said to them:
26‘If anyone wants to follow Me, he must love Me more than his father or his mother or his wife or children or brother or sisters or himself. If he loves them more than he loves Me, then he can not be my disciple.
27If you want to follow Me, then you must live like someone who knows that he will hang on a cross and die. Then he can be my disciple.
28Before you start doing something, you must know how much it will cost. A man who wants to build a watchtower must first think how much money it will cost him. He must see if he has enough money to finish building it. 29If he does not have enough money, but he starts to build the foundation, then everyone will see that he has started but he can not finish it and they will laugh at him. 30They will say: “This man has started to build but he can not finish it.”
31If a king wants to go to war_against another king, he must first make plans and ask himself: “I have only 10 000 soldiers and the other king has 20 000 soldiers. Can I win this war?” 32And if the king decides he can not win the war, then he must send his men while the other king is still far away and he must try to make peace.
33You must do the same. If you want to keep all your money and things and you don't want to give them away, then you can not be my disciple.’
The salt and light of the world
(Also in Matthew 5:13-16; Mark 4:21-23; Luke 8:16-18)
34‘Salt is good, but if the salt no longer tastes like salt, no one can make it taste like salt again. 35You can do nothing with that salt. You can not throw it in the wheat_fields or use it as manure. You can only throw it away outside on the street.
If anyone understands what I say, then he must do what I say.’
