7 When he noticed how the guests picked the places of honor at the table, he told them this parable: 8 "When someone invites you to a wedding feast, do not take the place of honor, for a person more distinguished than you may have been invited. 9 If so, the host who invited both of you will come and say to you, 'Give this man your seat.' Then, humiliated, you will have to take the least important place.
In our verses for today Jesus teaches us how not to have a death grip on last place! The key to unlocking this treasure is humility. This is a recurrent theme from the lips of our Savior. A few verses later in this same chapter Jesus states:
11 For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted." Luke 14:11 (NIV)
Jesus states the exact same thing again later in Luke:
For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted." Luke 18:14 (NIV)
The word “everyone” used in these two verses sound pretty all inclusive to me! Jesus also applies this same theme to our relationship with God – it is necessary for us to humble ourselves before Him to gain forgiveness from our sins. Those who arrogantly exalt themselves in God’s presence will be brought low yet for those who humble themselves, God will exalt. James tells us:
6 But he gives us more grace. That is why Scripture says: "God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble." 7 Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. 8 Come near to God and he will come near to you. Wash your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded. 9 Grieve, mourn and wail. Change your laughter to mourning and your joy to gloom. 10 Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will lift you up . James 4:6-10 (NIV)
The Bible Knowledge Commentary state the following regarding the above verses:
“The way up is down. The lowly one becomes the lifted one. There is a marked advantage to humility—eventually it brings honor.”
This was true of our Savior too. Paul tells us in Philippians:
3 Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider others better than yourselves. 4 Each of you should look not only to your own interests, but also to the interests of others. 5 Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus: 6 Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, 7 but made himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. 8 And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself and became obedient to death-- even death on a cross! 9 Therefore God exalted him to the highest place and gave him the name that is above every name, 10 that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, 11 and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. Phil 2:3-11 (NIV)
This is how it works – we empty ourselves of all of our vain “importance” and God exalts us in His timing. How much better to be exalted by God than by our own mouth? Sounds like a no-brainer to me! All throughout Scripture we find examples of this principle at work– God exalted David, Joshua, Moses, Gideon and many others who Scripture tells us:
32 And what more shall I say? I do not have time to tell about Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthah, David, Samuel and the prophets, 33 who through faith conquered kingdoms, administered justice, and gained what was promised; who shut the mouths of lions, 34 quenched the fury of the flames, and escaped the edge of the sword; whose weakness was turned to strength; and who became powerful in battle and routed foreign armies. 35 Women received back their dead, raised to life again. Others were tortured and refused to be released, so that they might gain a better resurrection. 36 Some faced jeers and flogging, while still others were chained and put in prison. 37 They were stoned ; they were sawed in two; they were put to death by the sword. They went about in sheepskins and goatskins, destitute, persecuted and mistreated-- 38 the world was not worthy of them. Heb 11:32-38 (NIV)
“Jesus is the One who shows us the paradoxical route to meaning in a chaotic and hostile world. It’s the paradox of the gospel: Strength is found in weakness. Control is found in dependency. Power is found in surrender...God uses the frustrations of this life and the hurt of relationships to compel us to look beyond what we can control to the God who controls all things in order to woo us to himself. As we move from control to surrender, we move from chasing the wind under the sun to embracing God above it.” Dan Allender, Breaking the Idols of You