Luke 14:7–11

Read the passage.

Since Jesus could see that the Pharisees and lawyers were so proud that they wouldn’t even answer His questions, it makes perfect sense for Him to tell a parable against pride. They even gave Him another object lesson to teach from. There was surely some very polite jockeying for position as they were lying down to eat. Everyone was going through some internal calculus to figure out who was more important than themselves so that they could get the best place possible.

Instead of doing that, Jesus tells them to take the lowest place when they attend a feast. That way, they can’t be moved down from a higher place if someone more important comes in late, or they may be moved up because the host wants them to sit in a place of honor.

Today it occurs to me that Jesus would have placed Himself in the least important place at this dinner, and the Pharisees would have been happy to let Him. This does not invalidate what Jesus said with “For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted.” (v. 11) Even if no one notices your humility in the moment (and remember, being noticed is never the point of true humility), God will see it and reward you at the proper time.

Help us to see ourselves as we truly are, and to see You as You truly are, so that our attitudes will be as they need to be.