JESUS TEACHES HUMILITY

Luke 14:7-11 And He put forth a parable to those which were bidden, when He marked how they chose out the chief rooms; saying unto them, when thou art bidden of any man to a wedding, sit not down in the highest room; lest a more honorable man than thou be bidden of him; and he that bade thee and him come and say to thee, Give this man place; and thou begin with shame to take the lowest room. But when thou art bidden, go and sit down in the lowest room; that when he that bade thee cometh, he may say unto thee, Friend, go up higher: then shalt thou have worship in the presence of them that sit at meat with thee. For whosoever exalteth himself shall be abased; and he that humbleth himself shall be exalted.

Although Jesus used many parables to teach New Testament doctrine, the word "parable," as He used it in the lesson text, translates into different meaning. Here the word means a maxim or rule of human moral conduct. This moral concept found in this lesson is not only a good rule to follow in the social life of all men and women, but, because it is taught by Jesus, it becomes a commandment of God that is required of all His obedient children, which are the followers of His Son, Christ Jesus. The setting for this teaching is in the home of one of the chief Pharisees, where Jesus was invited to take a meal on the Sabbath Day. It had no bearing on this lesson, but a man having the dropsy also attended this meal and was healed by Jesus of that debilitating disease.

While attending this Sabbath Day meal, Jesus observed a practice, common to the Jewish elite, that seemed to take place on occasions such as this. Evidently the host had invited a number of guests, and as those that were bidden entered, Jesus observed they selected the places in which to sit, socialize with others, and partake of the meal. As they entered the home, each guest chose out the chief rooms, which, when rightly interpreted, means the highest place, or best seat, of honor that remained unoccupied. It is not given whether these choice seats were more honorable because of the nearness to the host, offering the best view, or having the best access to the food that had been prepared. To take a seat in the most prominent place available was a common egotistical trait of the religious sects of the Jewish leaders, especially the scribes and Pharisees (See Matt. 23:1-7).

Here begins Jesus' law of humility, a law that should have been, but wasn't practiced by the Jewish religious leaders during the Mosaic dispensation, and certainly, by this teaching by our Lord, is required in the Christian era as well. As Jesus begins His speech regarding the righteous doctrine of humility, He does not refer to, or condemn the host or the dinner guests at this particular meal He was invited to attend. Instead, He uses an example of the guests that were invited to a wedding - a wedding feast is implied in this example. When bidden to such an event, Jesus says that when entering, one is not to choose to seat themselves in the highest room, that is, the most prestigious seat. Why? Because there may be someone that enters later that is considered being more honorable, or more deserving of the better seats. Jesus adds that to avoid the embarrassment and shame of being asked by the host to move to a less honorable seat, one must choose the lowest room, or the less favorable seats. In doing so, it is possible that the host will demonstrate to those gathered that you are considered more deserving by being asked to sit in a higher, more prestigious seat. In closing God's spiritual doctrine on humility, Jesus taught those gathered around Him on that occasion, as well as you and I today, that whosoever exalteth himself shall be abased; and he that humbleth himself shall be exalted.

Humility is taught in numerous biblical scriptures, therefore it must be considered as an extremely important tenet of God's will. When pride cometh, then cometh shame: but with the lowly is wisdom (Prov. 11:2). Also see Prov. 16:18-19; Prov. 25:6-7; Matt. 23:1-7; 23:11-12; Mark 12:38-40; Luke 11:42-44; 18:9-14; 20:46-47; 1 Pet. 5:5-7; 3 John 9-10. No doubt, God desires all people to understand and obey His righteous principal of humility. In order to find honor in the sight of God and of our fellow men and women, we must remove the disgraceful characteristics of pride and selfish ambition from our lives and replace them with self-denial and a humble spirit, always treating others with more honor and respect than ourselves. The writer of Proverbs says it best: before honor is humility (Prov. 15:33b).