Luke 14:12

And he said to him also that had bidden him, When thou makest dinner or a supper, call not thy friends, nor thy brethren, nor thy kinsmen, nor rich neighbors; lest haply they also bid thee again and a recompense be made thee.

Geldenhuys said this means "One should not invite such persons EXCLUSIVELY."[16] Adam Clark wrote:

Our Lord certainly does not mean that a man should not entertain at particular times his friends, etc.; but what he indicates here is charity to the poor.[17]

Spence thought that "Jesus did not mean to forbid our entertaining those whom we love. He means, simply, `In view of the life to come, thou canst do better still'."[18] Lamar believed that:

Jesus does not mean here to prohibit the invitation and entertainment of those who might be able to reciprocate the courtesy; but to condemn (1) the motive with which it is some times done, and (2) the exclusiveness growing out of such motive, which limits the invitation of this class.[19]

All of the above softening of the impact of this passage would appear to be valid! However, there is far too much of the same thing that Jesus condemned in the hospitality one sees today; and, in not a few churches, there are little cliques engaged almost exclusively in entertaining themselves; and that, we are certain, is wrong.

John Wesley, also, like practically all commentators on this passage, diminished the impact of it in this manner: "That is, I do not bid thee call thy friends or thy neighbors. Our Lord leaves those offices of humanity and courtesy as they were, and teaches a higher duty."[20]

We may not be too certain, however, that the commentators have fully understood what Jesus meant here. Perhaps Jesus was outlining here just what true righteousness and genuine hospitality actually are; and if that is the case, one confronts here a righteousness that is above all human achievement of it. This is what man SHOULD do, regardless of the fact that all men find themselves unable, absolutely, to live up to this ethic, thus making the passage similar to the command, "Be ye therefore perfect, even as your heavenly Father is perfect" (Matthew 5:48).

[16] Norval Geldenhuys, op. cit., p. 391.

[17] Adam Clarke, op. cit., p. 452.

[18] H. D. M. Spence, Pulpit Commentary (Grand Rapids, Michigan: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1962), Vol. 16, Luke II, p. 24.

[19] J. S. Lamar, op. cit., p. 193.

[20] John Wesley, Notes on the New Testament (Naperville, Illinois: Alec. R. Allenson, Inc., 1950), p. 257.