One Sabbath, when he went to dine at the house of a ruler of the Pharisees, they were watching him carefully.
And behold, there was a man before him who had dropsy.
And Jesus responded to the lawyers and Pharisees, saying, “Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath, or not?”
But they remained silent. Then he took him and healed him and sent him away.
And he said to them, “Which of you, having a son or an ox that has fallen into a well on a Sabbath day, will not immediately pull him out?”
And they could not reply to these things.
Now he told a parable to those who were invited, when he noticed how they chose the places of honor, saying to them,
“When you are invited by someone to a wedding feast, do not sit down in a place of honor, lest someone more distinguished than you be invited by him,
and he who invited you both will come and say to you, ‘Give your place to this person,’ and then you will begin with shame to take the lowest place.
But when you are invited, go and sit in the lowest place, so that when your host comes he may say to you, ‘Friend, move up higher.’ Then you will be honored in the presence of all who sit at table with you.
For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted.”

Luke 14:1-11

We commonly think of a parable as “an earthly story with a heavenly meaning,” even though the term parable itself literally has to do with comparisons and parallels.  The parable we will look at in this post is an example of a comparison which is not given in any sort of “story” format.  Rather, Christ made this comparison in order to teach a lesson about humility.

Jesus was dining at the house of one of the rulers of the Pharisees.  While the Pharisees watched him very carefully, he healed a man with dropsy and by doing so showed them that their teaching about the Sabbath — that using the power of God to miraculously heal someone was considered “work” and therefore a sin (thus having God basically violate his own commandment!) — was mistaken.

Yet they weren’t the only ones doing the watching.  Jesus was watching them too, noticing how everyone who had been invited to the meal were seeking out the best places to sit.  In all likelihood everyone was seated at a triclinia, basically three low tables positioned in the shape of a flat-bottomed “U.”  The space enclosed within the three tables was where servants would come and serve the guests, who reclined on the outer edges of the tables.  If you were able to snag a seat at the center of any of these tables, you would be sitting in one of the best spots because you would have easier access to all of the food in front of you.

Observing how everyone was trying to get to those prime spots, Jesus told them a parable, or made a comparison, by asking them to picture themselves invited to a wedding feast.  He directed them to not sit down in a place of honor, because they would be embarrassed if someone more important than them came in and their host forced them to give up their seat and they wound up having to sit in the worst seat in the room.  Rather, he told them to go immediately to that worst seat and sit there.  That way, their host would more likely tell them to come and move to a better seat, and thus they “will be honored in the presence of all who sit at table with you.”  Jesus’ point was basically this:  “For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted.”

Jesus exemplified this in person by washing his disciples’ filthy feet, something not expected of the Lord of the universe…but he did it anyway to teach them the importance of humbly serving others (John 13:13-15).  Paul likewise directed Christians to “in humility count others more significant than yourselves.  Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others” (Phil. 2:3-4).

That’s what Christianity is about (Mk. 9:34-35; Matt. 20:25-28).  Serving, not being served.  Being last, not first.  Being a slave, not a master.

Wanting what God wants, not what you want (Mk. 14:36; Matt. 6:33).  Being interested solely in giving God glory rather than exalting yourself (Matt. 6:1; Gal. 1:10).

By changing to become humble in these ways, we please God and become more like his Son (Is. 66:2; 1 Pet. 5:5-6; Rom. 8:29; Phil. 2:3-5).

Do people see the humility of Christ when they see us?