“When you are invited by someone to a wedding banquet,
do not recline at table in the place of honor.
A more distinguished guest than you may have been invited by him,
and the host who invited both of you may approach you and say,
‘Give your place to this man,’
and then you would proceed with embarrassment
to take the lowest place.
In general it is a good practice to not overestimate our own importance, taking the highest places because we think we deserve them more than others. It is even more important to not try to posture for positions which we know we do not deserve. But there is more to this parable than a general recipe for social gatherings. It is about a wedding banquet, that is, the coming together of God and man in the person of the bridegroom, Jesus Christ, and his bride, the Church.
Rather, when you are invited,
go and take the lowest place
so that when the host comes to you he may say,
‘My friend, move up to a higher position.’
Thus, what we must avoid is to attempt to fill the highest places in our hearts and in our worlds with anything other than Jesus Christ. The highest position at the banquet table is meant for him and him alone. If we try to fill it with anything else the best we can hope for is to be asked to relinquish our place. Then, whether do so or not will come down to whether we will humble ourselves before him or whether we take offense at him.
do not recline at table in the place of honor.
A more distinguished guest than you may have been invited by him,
and the host who invited both of you may approach you and say,
‘Give your place to this man,’
and then you would proceed with embarrassment
to take the lowest place.
In general it is a good practice to not overestimate our own importance, taking the highest places because we think we deserve them more than others. It is even more important to not try to posture for positions which we know we do not deserve. But there is more to this parable than a general recipe for social gatherings. It is about a wedding banquet, that is, the coming together of God and man in the person of the bridegroom, Jesus Christ, and his bride, the Church.
Rather, when you are invited,
go and take the lowest place
so that when the host comes to you he may say,
‘My friend, move up to a higher position.’
Thus, what we must avoid is to attempt to fill the highest places in our hearts and in our worlds with anything other than Jesus Christ. The highest position at the banquet table is meant for him and him alone. If we try to fill it with anything else the best we can hope for is to be asked to relinquish our place. Then, whether do so or not will come down to whether we will humble ourselves before him or whether we take offense at him.
Jesus did not immediate come to jockey for the positions which the world, in its pride, had already occupied. He himself came and took the lowest place. It was our host, his Father, who invited him, through the resurrection and ascension, to the highest possible place. He did not come to fight for his place since he knew that was unlikely to do anything but antagonize the prideful and the powerful. Rather, by taking the lowest place he chose a way in which a genuine invitation might be made me to those who needed to change seats. Indeed, it showed them that it was not such a bad thing to have the lowest spot if even the highest man might choose it. But so too, when the Father called him higher, did it demonstrate the validity of his claim to be the one for whom the whole wedding banquet was being held, and therefore vindicated his claim to the highest position. This was how God cast down the mighty from there thrones and lifted up the lowly. Those who clung to their perceived mightiness would not willingly arise to join in the feast. But those who humbled themselves enough to be lifted up by God would enjoy the eternal banquet.
Christ will be magnified in my body,
whether by life or by death.
For to me life is Christ, and death is gain.
If I go on living in the flesh, that means fruitful labor for me.
And I do not know which I shall choose.
Paul was an example of one who had previously chosen an exulted seat but responded with humility when God revealed his Son to him. After that Paul let go of his own claims to greatness and no longer felt the need to be have the final say about his own destiny. He was content with whatever path God would give him, even up to an including dying for Christ. But he was not so eager to depart with Christ that he was reluctant to continue his work in the world. He was able to continue that work with the full strength of his heart. But even this complete level of commitment did not imply that he could not at a moment's notice leave it all behind to be with the Lord. Most of us sit on one side or the other. We are either so involved in the world that we can't bare to part with it, or else so ready for heaven that we have become useless to the world. As Jesus recommends and as Paul demonstrates we must let the host, rather than our self-will, determine our direction. We know that, whatever form it takes, end result will be deliverance.
Christ will be magnified in my body,
whether by life or by death.
For to me life is Christ, and death is gain.
If I go on living in the flesh, that means fruitful labor for me.
And I do not know which I shall choose.
Paul was an example of one who had previously chosen an exulted seat but responded with humility when God revealed his Son to him. After that Paul let go of his own claims to greatness and no longer felt the need to be have the final say about his own destiny. He was content with whatever path God would give him, even up to an including dying for Christ. But he was not so eager to depart with Christ that he was reluctant to continue his work in the world. He was able to continue that work with the full strength of his heart. But even this complete level of commitment did not imply that he could not at a moment's notice leave it all behind to be with the Lord. Most of us sit on one side or the other. We are either so involved in the world that we can't bare to part with it, or else so ready for heaven that we have become useless to the world. As Jesus recommends and as Paul demonstrates we must let the host, rather than our self-will, determine our direction. We know that, whatever form it takes, end result will be deliverance.
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