“When thou art bidden of any man to a wedding, sit not down in the highest room; lest a more honourable man than thou be bidden of him; And he that bade thee and him come and say to thee, Give this man place; and thou begin with shame to take the lowest room. But when thou art bidden, go and sit down in the lowest room; that when he that bade the cometh, he may say unto thee, Friend, go up higher: then shalt thou have worship in the presence of them that sit at meat with thee. For whosoever exalteth himself shall be abased; and he that humbleth himself shall be exalted.” Luke 14:8-11
My Summary & Reflection
In this parable, which Jesus gave at the house of one of the chief Pharisees, he talked about a man who upon being invited to a wedding, sits in a high place of honor at the wedding. The host of the wedding then goes to the man and lets him know that he has taken someone else’s place and needs to sit in a less revered spot. The invitee is then embarrassed. Jesus says that the man should sit in the less revered spot from the beginning and allow the host to invite him to sit in a higher place of honor. He closes by saying that whoever humbles himself will be exalted, and whoever exalts himself will be put to shame.
In today’s language, the man in the parable came to a wedding reception and sat at the family table, even though he was not a member of the family. He assumed, maybe because of some external status that he had, possibly as employer or minister or politician, that he deserved to sit at the highest places of honor with the family. The host, however, had to let the man know that he had overstepped his welcome and needed to move to somewhere less prominent. Jesus is saying that no matter what your rank or status is in society, no one is more important than anyone else, and you should always approach interactions as such, or else someone else will bring you down.
This story reminded me of a funeral I attended as a young girl. A close family member died and we lined up to enter the church as members of the family. As we entered, the deceased’s former employer who was a very wealthy and well-respected member of the community, fell into line and sat with the immediate family on the front row of the church. I was a young child and had no idea who this man was. This man was not asked to leave, but I remember afterwards that the son of the person who had died was upset by the man’s actions. This man was not a member of the family nor was he even especially close with the family, yet he presumed that he would be welcome to sit on the front row with the immediate family. Although no one corrected him during or after the service, he revealed himself to the family to be a man who exalted himself, therefore he was lessened in the eyes of the family.
This parable is all about humility. Jesus sees humility, or the ability to see yourself as no more important than anyone else, as a virtue. “Blessed are the meek; for they shall inherit the earth.” Matthew 5:5 So, don’t allow pride to make you believe that your importance is more than any others. Instead, with humility, appreciate others and what they have to offer, and you in turn, will be appreciated.
Your Reflection
- Do you exalt yourself above others?
- How can you learn to live with humility?
- Is boastfulness a symptom of pride or of fear?