Luke 14

This chapter starts off with another Sabbath healing (by touch again). I think that Jesus is also giving His interpretation of ordering the commandments here: "Pekuah Nefesh (quality of life--think 'Love your neighbor as yourself')" is more important than Sabbath laws. When a situation arises when one or the other must be broken so the other can be kept, we're to care more for the quality of life. I think that it may even be likely that some in Jesus' audience would not have pulled an ox out of a well on the Sabbath because they arranged the commandments opposite to this (I think most if not all of them would pull a son out of a well without any hesitation). But rather than argue from lesser to greater here, I think Jesus is making a point about the high importance of pekuah nefesh.
(14:12) This chapter makes me think of a book I read called The Shadow of God. It's historical fiction, but the author (Leo Sangren) captures the essence of so many time periods so accurately that it's a very compelling read. There's a chapter in there (entitled "I see") which is a fictional account of a Sadducee's interaction with a blind beggar after they have been visited by Y'shua, the itinerant rabbi. When you have time, this is a very compelling read.
(14:15) Again, verses like this as well as verse 1 of this chapter tell me that Jesus is actively engaging the Pharisees in dialogue, and they are engaging Him. Sure Jesus rips them from time to time, but they were already doing that to each other in the first century.
(14:25-35) Very challenging words. I think that the sense of the greek word here rendered "hate" is closer to "love less than" than our current understanding of the word "hate." There is a similar passage in the Mishnah that explains that if a person's rabbi and father are both being held for ransom, that person must first ransom his rabbi and then his father (unless his father is also a great teacher). The reasoning is explained this way: while the man's father gave him life in this world, a man's rabbi teaches him about how to gain eternal life (living God's way right now) and the life to come. Verses 31-33 (and possibly also verses 28-30) refer to very specific events in the reign of Herod Antipas, who was a political bungler. This clever usage by Jesus of linking His teaching to historical events no doubt made His point more prominent in the heads of His hearers.