He told a parable to those who had been invited, noticing how they were choosing the places of honor at the table. 8 “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, 9 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. 10 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.’ Then you will enjoy the esteem of your companions at the table. 11 For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but the one who humbles himself will be exalted.” 12 Then he said to the host who invited him, “When you hold a lunch or a dinner, do not invite your friends or your brothers or your relatives or your wealthy neighbors, in case they may invite you back and you have repayment. 13 Rather, when you hold a banquet, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind; 14 blessed indeed will you be because of their inability to repay you. For you will be repaid at the resurrection of the righteous.”
Jesus is dining at a Pharisee’s house and notices guests angling for the best seats; he answers with a parable about how honor works before God. He begins with a familiar scene: a wedding banquet, a public feast hosted by the groom’s family and often lasting several days. Seating signaled honor; the host placed guests by status. To take a higher seat and be told to move down was public shame, but to hear, “Friend, move up higher,” brought esteem. Israel already pictured God’s saving age as a wedding feast with the Lord as host—“a feast of rich food” for all peoples (Is. 25:6-9)—and often spoke of the covenant as a marriage, with the Lord as bridegroom and his people as bride (cf. Is. 54:5; Hos. 2:16-20).
Within that world, Jesus describes guests choosing the best places until a more distinguished person arrives and the host says, “Give your place to this man,” and the self-promoter must move down in embarrassment (vv. 7-9). He is not teaching social tactics but God’s truth: when we set ourselves above others, we invite a fall when real worth is revealed.
He then counsels taking the lowest place so that the host may say, “My friend, move up higher” (v. 10). The point is not staged modesty but honest humility. To take the lowest place is to accept the truth about ourselves before God and neighbor. This prepares the heart to receive honor as a gift rather than to seize it as a right.
Jesus states the principle that governs God’s judgment: “For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but the one who humbles himself will be exalted” (v. 11). These are divine passives—God is the One who humbles and exalts. Both the Old and the New Testaments teach this same pattern: “Before disaster the heart is haughty, but before honor is humility” (Prov. 18:12); “Humble yourself the more, the greater you are, and you will find favor with God” (Sir. 3:18). Hannah sang that the Lord “brings low and also exalts” (1 Sam. 2:7-8). Mary echoes the same: God “has thrown down the rulers from their thrones but lifted up the lowly” (Lk. 1:52). The cross and resurrection are its fullest display: Christ “emptied himself,” and the Father “greatly exalted him” (Phil. 2:6-11).
In Phil. 2:6-11 “emptied himself” does not mean the Son ceased to be God. It means he humbled himself by addition, not subtraction—taking “the form of a slave,” assuming a true human nature, accepting lowliness, suffering, and death in obedient love. The “exaltation” is the Father’s vindication of that obedience in the Resurrection, Ascension, and the bestowal of “the name above every name,” manifesting openly who he is. So the Divine Son remains fully God; his “emptying” is the humble assumption of our condition for our salvation, and his “exaltation” is his royal enthronement made visible to all.
Turning to the host, Jesus shifts from seats to the guest list. Do not invite those who can repay—friends, brothers, relatives, wealthy neighbors—lest the exchange remain a closed circle of social reward (v. 12). Instead, invite “the poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind” (v. 13). This is not a ban on ordinary hospitality; it is a call to imitate God’s generosity, who gives without seeking return. Blessing comes because the poor cannot repay now; God will repay “at the resurrection of the righteous” (v. 14). Jesus moves honor out of the present credit system and places it in God’s hands.
The Old Testament already prepared this vision. Israel’s law and wisdom urged care for the poor and excluded (Prov. 19:17; Is. 58:6-10). Jesus makes the core point explicit: honoring those who cannot repay is a way of placing our honor in God’s hands. The banquet image also hints at the kingdom feast where the overlooked receive places of joy (Is. 25:6; Lk. 14:15-24).
Jesus teaches that honor before God cannot be grasped but only received. Taking the lowest place isn’t natural, and it must never be a tactic. It is standing in the truth before God—and we need His grace to live it. We welcome those who cannot repay because that is how God has welcomed us in Christ. In due time, God himself will say, “Friend, come up higher.”
Lord Jesus, meek and humble of heart, teach us to take the lowest place and to welcome those who cannot repay, that we may seek our honor from your Father alone. Amen.
____________________
Sources and References:
- The Holy Bible, New American Bible, Revised Edition (2011): Lk. 14:7-14; Is. 25:6-9; Is. 54:5; Hos. 2:16-20; Prov. 18:12; Sir. 3:18; 1 Sam. 2:7-8; Lk. 1:52; Phil. 2:6-11; Prov. 19:17; Is. 58:6-10; Lk. 14:15-24.
- Faculty of the University of Navarre. The Navarre Bible: Luke. Four Courts/Scepter, 2008.
- Chiu, José Enrique Aguilar, et al., eds. The Paulist Biblical Commentary. Paulist Press, 2018 (“Luke”).
- Brown, Raymond E., Joseph A. Fitzmyer, and Roland E. Murphy, eds. The New Jerome Biblical Commentary. Prentice Hall, 1990 (“Luke”).
Comments