Now he told a parable to those who were invited, when he noticed how they chose the places of honour, saying to them, “When you are invited by someone to a wedding feast, do not sit down in a place of honour, 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 honoured 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.”
Comment: You may remember that in yesterday’s passage Jesus had been invited to a meal in a Pharisee’s place and healed a man with dropsy. Today we discover that there were other invited guests and then Jesus told three ‘wedding’ parables. The first was a lesson about humility; the second was about invitations rejected and the third about others invited instead of those who couldn’t come. We will look at the other two tomorrow This on reading is a simple pretty clear lesson on humility. In another place in the gospel records we are told that the Pharisees expected to be recognized and to get the best of treatments wherever they went. In the first sentence we see it is an obvious swipe at the those present. He told it because he noticed how those attending this meal were seeking the positions of honour. It certainly would have got the listeners attention and I suspect that as Jesus continues to speak further some may be bristling against Him.
Prayer: Help me to learn the lessons which they were given.
As I read it! 