Luke 14
Luke 14:1
It happened, when he went into the house of one of the rulers of the Pharisees on a Sabbath to eat bread, that they were watching him.
Luke 14:2
Behold, a certain man who had dropsy was in front of him.
Luke 14:3
Yeshua, answering, spoke to the Torah scholars and Pharisees, saying, ‘Is it lawful to heal on the Shabbat?’
For a detailed analysis of Yeshua’s healing on Shabbat, see our article Lord of the Sabbath.
Luke 14:4
But they were silent. He took him, and healed him, and let him go.
Luke 14:5
He answered them, Which of you, if your son or an ox fell into a well, wouldn’t immediately pull him out on a Sabbath day?
“They remove debris for one whose life is in doubt on the Sabbath. And the one who is prompt n the matter, lo, this one is to be praised. And it is not necessary to get permission from a court. How so? If one fell into the ocean and cannot climb up, or if his ship is sinking into the sea, and he cannot climb up, they go down and pull him out of there. And it is not necessary to get permission from a court. If he fell into a pit and cannot get out, they let down a chain to him and climb down and pull him out of there. And it is not necessary to get permission from a court.”
Tosefta, Shabbat 15:11-12, Translated by Jacob Neusner, Hendrickson Publishers, Volume I, pg. 417
Luke 14:6
They couldn’t answer him regarding these things.
Luke 14:7
He spoke a parable to those who were invited, when he noticed how they chose the best seats, and said to them,
Luke 14:8
When you are invited by anyone to a marriage feast, don’t sit in the best seat, since perhaps someone more honorable than you might be invited by him,
Luke 14:9
and he who invited both of you would come and tell you, Make room for this person. Then you would begin, with shame, to take the lowest place.
Luke 14:10
But when you are invited, go and sit in the lowest place, so that when he who invited you comes, he may tell you, Friend, move up higher. Then you will be honored in the presence of all who sit at the table with you.
Luke 14:11
For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and whoever humbles himself will be exalted.
The Talmud says,
“This is to teach you that anyone who humbles himself, the Holy One, Blessed be He, exalts him, and anyone who exalts himself, the Holy One, Blessed be He, humbles him. Anyone who seeks greatness, greatness flees from him, and, conversely, anyone who flees from greatness, greatness seeks him. And anyone who attempts to force the moment and expends great effort to achieve an objective precisely when he desires to do so, the moment forces him too, and he is unsuccessful. And conversely, anyone who is patient and yields to the moment, the moment stands by his side, and he will ultimately be successful.”
Eiruvin 13b, William Davidson Edition, Sefaria.org
Baba Metzia says,
“ . . . he who humbles himself for the sake of the Torah in this world is magnified in the next; and he who makes himself a servant to the [study of the] Torah in this world becomes free in the next.”
Baba Metzia 85b, Soncino Press Edition, cf. Nedarim 55a
The Midrash Rabbah says,
“Hillel to say: ‘ My self-abasement is my exaltation, my self-exaltation is my abasement. What is the proof?-He that raises himself is to [be made to] sit down, he that abases himself is to be [raised so that he is] seen (Ps. CXIII, 5 f.).2 You find that when the Holy One, blessed be He, revealed Himself to Moses from the midst of the thorn-bush, the latter hid his face from Him, as it is said, “And Moses hid his face, etc. (Ex. 3:6). Because of this, the Holy One, blessed be He, said to him, Come now therefore, and I will send thee unto Pharaoh (ib. III, 10).”
Vayikra Rabbah 1:5, Soncino Press Edition
