He
spoke a parable to those who were invited, when he noticed how they chose the best seats, and said to them, “When you are invited by anyone to a marriage feast, don’t sit in the best seat, since perhaps someone more honorable than you might be invited by him, and he who invited both of you would come and tell you, ‘Make room for this person.’ Then you would begin, with shame, to take the lowest place. But when you are invited, go and sit in the lowest place, so that when he who invited you comes, he may tell you, ‘Friend, move up higher.’ Then you will be honored in the presence of all who sit at the table with you. For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and whoever humbles himself will be exalted.” He also said to the one who had invited him, “When you make a dinner or a supper, don’t call your friends, nor your brothers, nor your kinsmen, nor rich neighbors, or perhaps they might also return the favor, and pay you back. But when you make a feast, ask the poor, the maimed, the lame, or the blind; and you will be blessed, because they don’t have the resources to repay you. For you will be repaid in the resurrection of the righteous.”
Luke 14:7-14
Luke 14 [6.] They couldn’t answer him regarding these things.
Luke 14 [7.] He spoke a parable to those who were invited, when he noticed how they chose the best seats, and said to them, “When you are invited by anyone to a marriage feast, don’t sit in the best seat, since perhaps someone more honorable than you might be invited by him, and he who invited both of you would come and tell you, ‘Make room for this person.’ Then you would begin, with shame, to take the lowest place. But when you are invited, go and sit in the lowest place, so that when he who invited you comes, he may tell you, ‘Friend, move up higher.’ Then you will be honored in the presence of all who sit at the table with you. For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and whoever humbles himself will be exalted.”
Luke 14 [12.] He also said to the one who had invited him, “When you make a dinner or a supper, don’t call your friends, nor your brothers, nor your kinsmen, nor rich neighbors, or perhaps they might also return the favor, and pay you back. But when you make a feast, ask the poor, the maimed, the lame, or the blind; and you will be blessed, because they don’t have the resources to repay you. For you will be repaid in the resurrection of the righteous.”
Luke 14 [15.] When one of those who sat at the table with him heard these things, he said to him, “Blessed is he who will feast in God’s Kingdom!”
Meaning:
Jesus was still at the Sabbath meal in the house of a leading Pharisee, where he had just healed a man with dropsy (Luke 14:1-6). Now he turned from the critics to the dinner itself. He watched the guests competing for the best places, and he spoke first to the guests (verses 7-11) and then to the host (verses 12-14). Both sayings take ordinary table manners and turn them into lessons about the Kingdom of God, where honor is given by God and not seized by people.
- “when he noticed how they chose the best seats”
At a formal meal in Jesus’ day guests reclined on couches around low tables, and the places nearest the host were the places of honor. Seating showed everyone a person’s rank. Jesus had already warned the Pharisees, “For you love the best seats in the synagogues, and the greetings in the marketplaces” (Luke 11:43). Luke calls this advice a “parable” because it is more than etiquette: it pictures how people should stand before God.
- “go and sit in the lowest place”
Jesus drew on the wisdom of Proverbs: “Don’t exalt yourself in the presence of the king, or claim a place among great men; for it is better that it be said to you, ‘Come up here,’ than that you should be put lower in the presence of the prince” (Proverbs 25:6-7). The guest who grabs the top seat risks public shame when the host says, “Make room for this person.” The guest who takes the lowest place leaves the decision to the host, and may hear, “Friend, move up higher.”
- “everyone who exalts himself will be humbled”
This is the heart of the parable and one of Jesus’ most repeated sayings. He used the same words at the end of the parable of the Pharisee and the tax collector (Luke 18:14) and in his warning against the scribes and Pharisees (Matthew 23:12). Mary had sung of the same reversal: “He has put down princes from their thrones. And has exalted the lowly” (Luke 1:52). The one who decides who is exalted is God himself.
- “ask the poor, the maimed, the lame, or the blind”
To the host Jesus gave a second lesson. In that society meals were part of a system of favors: you invited people who could invite you back. Jesus told the host to invite those who could never repay him. The poor, the disabled and the blind were often excluded from honor and even from parts of religious life. By inviting them, the host would act like God, who welcomes the needy. The same four groups appear in the very next parable, where the master of the house says, “bring in the poor, maimed, blind, and lame” (Luke 14:21).
- “you will be repaid in the resurrection of the righteous”
Jesus did not say there is no reward; he moved the reward from this life to the next. Paul shared this hope, “that there will be a resurrection of the dead, both of the just and unjust” (Acts 24:15).
The Significance of Luke 14:7-14
- Humility before God and people
Choosing the lowest place is a way of trusting God with our honor. Instead of promoting ourselves, we let God lift us up in his time: “Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and he will exalt you” (James 4:10).
- Generosity without expecting return
Hospitality to people who cannot repay reflects the grace of God, who invites sinners to his table though they have nothing to give. This kind of giving is free from calculation and is noticed by God.
Cross-References:
Proverbs 25:7: “for it is better that it be said to you, ‘Come up here,’” The wisdom behind the parable.
Luke 18:14: “for everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but he who humbles himself will be exalted.” The same principle in another parable.
Philippians 2:3: “doing nothing through rivalry or through conceit, but in humility, each counting others better than himself;” Humility in the church.
Proverbs 19:17: “He who has pity on the poor lends to Yahweh; he will reward him.” God repays kindness to the poor.
Conclusion: Watching guests scramble for the best seats, Jesus taught that it is better to take the lowest place and be invited higher than to grab honor and be put down. He then told his host to invite the poor and disabled who could not repay him, trusting God to reward him at the resurrection of the righteous. In God’s Kingdom the humble are exalted, and true generosity looks for no return.
PIB Scriptures are derived from the World English Bible