Everyone who exalts himself will be humbled
Tue, 28 February, 2006: Today’s Bible readings.
7 Now he told a parable to those who were invited, when he noticed how they chose the places of honor, saying to them, 8 “When you are invited by someone to a wedding feast, do not sit down in a place of honor, lest someone more distinguished than you be invited by him, 9 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. 10 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 honored in the presence of all who sit at table with you. 11 For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted.”
A ruler of the Pharisees invited Jesus and a number of other guests to dine with him on the Sabbath. At the party, Jesus healed a man, realizing the Pharisees would think it was a violation of the Sabbath (the whole thing probably was a setup to see if Jesus would violate their idea of Sabbath observance or not). After this confrontation, He notes how those who were invited are jockeying for the places of most prominence at the table.
Jesus tells them this parable, to illustrate how we should be humble in our dealings with others rather than always to exalt ourselves.
What do we learn from this?
We tend to think that we must make the most of every opportunity given us. We must do everything we can to promote ourselves, since no one else will do it. If the most prominent seat is available, grab it for yourself. Take it even if you have to push and shove a few people out of the way. Show the world how significant your are. After all, you ARE the most important person.
Jesus tells us we are not to be like this. If we promote ourselves, we will rightly be cut down to size by others. But if we are humble about ourselves, others will realize our true worth and will acknowledge it.
This does have applicability in our lives here in time. We have all known people who are constantly promoting themselves and cutting down others. In most cases everyone sees through their act and despises them. We’ve seen the coworker who claims the credit and denigrates the contributions of others. They might seem to succeed for a while, but soon people realize who really is doing the work, and the credit grabber is unmasked for what they are: an unscrupulous charlatan. We’ve seen the selfish sports star who thinks too highly of themselves to the detriment of the team, and ends up being reviled by the players and fans.
But here in time, things don’t always work out that way. Sometimes the credit grabber is universally admired for something they didn’t do, and the true genius behind their success is never recognized and rewarded.
So this does teach us something about how things work generally (though not always) here on earth. But in eternity, the principle Jesus is teaching is universally true. There are many people who are doing tremendous work for the kingdom of God, and no one knows it, while others who are in fact doing much less are taking all the credit for themselves.
I’ve always thought that it will be interesting when we get to heaven to see who is there and who isn’t. I have a feeling we might be surprised. (That’s the point of the parable of the Pharisee and the publican, isn’t it.) And it will be interesting to see who is honored more than the others. I have a feeling those most honored will not always be the ones we expect. I think we might find that the woman no one noticed but who faithfully raised her children and prayed for the salvation of the lost for her 80 years on earth might be seated higher than the mega-church pastor who had a radio and television ministry. The child who gave his entire allowance to further the kingdom of God might be seated higher than the elder who gave the invocation in the most flowery and beautifully worded prayers.
This is not to say that the pastor of the mega-church or the elder with the great public prayers are not serving God. Perhaps they are serving to a greater level. But the great temptation for the person who is performing a spiritual function before an crowd is to perform for the acclaim of the people rather than to be serving God. It is very easy to seek to please people rather than to seek to please God. And in doing so, the person of public ministry is taking for themselves the position of highest honor, when in fact, God has reserved that place for those who have truly served Him, although they have done so in complete obscurity.
Where is Christ in this passage?
Jesus’ human existence is an illustration of this principle. He humbled Himself in obedience to the Father and as a result is now exalted to the highest position.
3 Do nothing from rivalry or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves. 4 Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others. 5 Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, 6 who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, 7 but made himself nothing, taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. 8 And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. 9 Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, 10 so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, 11 and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.
