When he noticed how the guests picked the places of honor at the table, he told them this parable: “When someone invites you to a wedding feast, do not take the place of honor, for a person more distinguished than you may have been invited. If so, the host who invited both of you will come and say to you, ‘Give this person your seat.’ Then, humiliated, you will have to take the least important place. But when you are invited, take the lowest place, so that when your host comes, he will say to you, ‘Friend, move up to a better place.’ Then you will be honored in the presence of all the other guests. For all those who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted.”

Luke 14:7-11

Let’s consider something. Say that you get an invitation from President Trump to a special luncheon. You are among dignitaries such as heads of state, foreign representatives and even well known religious leaders. You are the first to be ushered in and there are no designated seating arrangements other than for the President himself. Where do you sit? Would you sit to the right or left of the President’s chair? Would you sit at the other end of this huge banquet table directly opposite of his chair? Today’s etiquette would indicate that you have an assigned seat with your name in front of that spot. Hey, nobody else is around, you could just swap chairs with someone in a more prominent seating position. If the opportunity to be all alone and swap the nametags should arise, someone made out the seating arrangements and would know that you are not sitting in the proper place. Similarly, in our lesson today the host would know who was invited to the banquet and would indicate that you have taken a place far above your stature in his eyes. 

Now let’s explore a scriptural application of this scenario. Who has heard of Herod? You know, the one who beheaded John the Baptist. That would be Herod Antipas. As the saying goes, he was one mean son of a gun. Now let’s imagine that your invitation has come from him. Would you dare to try to sit at the head of the table near him? Instead of asking you to move down, his response would probably be to bring in the guillotine and let you squirm in it while the guests enjoyed the meal. The entertainment before dessert would be to drop the blade while everyone applauded.

Fortunately for us, the ground is level at the foot of the cross and everyone is invited to sit at the foot of Jesus.