Luke 14:13-14 - Exposition

But when thou makest a feast, call the poor, the maimed, the lame, the blind: and thou shalt be blessed; for they cannot recompense thee. Great pagan moralists, sick at heart at these dreary, selfish society conventionalities, have condemned this system of entertaining those who would be likely to make an equivalent return for the interested hospitality. So Martial, writing of such an incident, says, 'You are asking for gifts, Sextus, not for friends." Nehemiah gives a somewhat similar charge to the Jews of his day: "Eat the fat, and drink the sweet, and send portions unto them for whom nothing is prepared" ( Nehemiah 8:10 ). Thou shalt be recompensed at the resurrection of the just . There is no doubt that Jesus here was alluding to that first resurrection which would consist of the "just" only; of that which St. John speaks of in rapt and glowing terms: "Blessed and holy is he that hath part in the first resurrection" ( Revelation 20:6 ). This was a doctrine evidently much insisted on by the early teachers of Christianity (see John 5:25 ; Acts 24:15 ; 1 Corinthians 15:23 ; 1 Thessalonians 4:16 ; Philippians 3:11 ; and compare our Lord's words again in Luke 20:35 ).