“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 the table with you.” Luke 14:10 ESV¹

Read Luke 14:7-14

When talking about the theater or some other venue, the best seats in the house are the ones that afford the optimal view of the performance or activity. Sometimes, these favorable seats are reserved for special people like celebrities and heads of State. These preferred seats are usually the most expensive. The amount a person is willing to spend on a particular seat is directly related to how much he/she either desires to observe the event or how much he/she wishes to be seen as important in that context.

Jesus had a little something to say about desiring the best seats in the house.

Jesus was on His way to Jerusalem to complete the task for which He had been sent. (See Luke 13:22 & 33). As He journeyed, He happened to be invited, “one Sabbath, … to dine at the house of a ruler of the Pharisees” (Luke 14:1). There,

“He told a parable to those who were invited when He noticed how they chose the places of honor, saying to them, ‘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, 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. 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 the table with you. For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted’” (Luke 14:7-11).

This passage could have very easily begun, “Jesus told a parable when He noticed how incredibly prideful the religious people in His presence were.” These self-righteous people chose places of honor because they, in some way or another, thought they were justified in occupying those seats. They behaved as if it never entered their heads that someone else more deserving might also be invited who should be seated in the places of honor they chose for themselves.

The Bad Thing About Wanting the Best Spot

Jesus pointed out a practical application of assuming a preferred place unwarranted.

“‘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, 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’” (Luke 14:8-9).

But presumptuously settling into a prime position may be far more detrimental than having to switch seats in shame. Being prideful is the best way to get on God’s bad side. Pride tops the list of things God hates:

“There are six things that the LORD hates, seven that are an abomination to Him: haughty eyes, a lying tongue, and hands that shed innocent blood, a heart that devises wicked plans, feet that make haste to run to evil, a false witness who breathes out lies, and one who sows discord among brothers” (Proverbs 6:16-19).

“Pride and arrogance and the way of evil and perverted speech I [the LORD] hate” (Proverbs 8:13b).

And pride is sure to bring a person to ruin. Listen to these words spoken by the world’s wisest man, King Solomon.

“Pride goes before destruction, and a haughty spirit before a fall” (Proverbs 16:18).

“When pride comes, then comes disgrace” (Proverbs 11:2a).

“Before destruction, a man’s heart is haughty” (Proverbs 18:12a).

Pride, after all, was Satan’s sin. He was created as an incredibly beautiful creature. And he was given a high position among the other angels. But it went to his head; he thought more of himself than he ought. His attempts to take the seat of honor caused him to lose everything. The LORD, speaking to Satan, said:

“‘You were the signet of perfection, full of wisdom and perfect in beauty. You were in Eden, the garden of God; every precious stone was your covering, sardius, topaz, and diamond, beryl, onyx, and jasper, sapphire, emerald, and carbuncle; and crafted in gold were your settings and your engravings. On the day that you were created, they were prepared. You were an anointed guardian cherub. I placed you; you on the holy mountain of God; in the midst of the stones of fire, you walked. You were blameless in your ways from the day you were created, till unrighteousness was found in you. In the abundance of your trade, you were filled with violence in your midst, and you sinned; so, I cast you as a profane thing from the mountain of God, and I destroyed you, O guardian cherub, from the midst of the stones of fire. Your heart was proud because of your beauty; you corrupted your wisdom for the sake of your splendor’” (Ezekiel 28:12b-17a).

“‘How you are fallen from Heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning! How you are cut down to the ground, you who weakened the nations! For you have said in your heart: ‘I will ascend into Heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God; I will also sit on the mount of the congregation on the farthest sides of the north; I will ascend above the heights of the clouds, I will be like the Most High.’ Yet you shall be brought down to Sheol, to the lowest depths of the Pit’” (Isaiah 14:12-15 NKJV²).

Truly, Satan’s pride has cast him out of Heaven. His arrogance damned him to eternal punishment. But it is in our predisposition toward pride that the devil finds an open door to lead us down the path to our destruction as well. In igniting our hearts to blaze with the sin of pride, he hopes to keep us far from God and all He intends for us. It is the devil who smiles when we are vying for the best seats.

C.S. Lewis said,

“The essential vice, the utmost evil, is Pride. Unchastity, greed, drunkenness, and all that, are mere flea-bites in comparison: it was through Pride that the devil became the devil: Pride leads to every other vice: it is the complete anti-God state of mind.”

St. Augustine wrote,

“Pride is the commencement of all sin because it was this which overthrew the devil, from whom arose the origin of sin; and afterward, when his malice and envy pursued man, who was yet standing in his uprightness, it subverted him in the same way in which he himself fell. For the serpent, in fact, only sought for the door of pride whereby to enter when he said, ‘Ye shall be as gods.”

Assuming the Box Seats

All humans lean toward pride because it is inherent in our sin nature. Pride comes in two extremes—either thinking too highly of oneself or thinking too lowly of oneself—either way, the focus is on self and self is the biggest proponent of pride. Religious people, in particular, seem to be immersed in pride at a greater level than others. There is something about presuming that one is right with God that puffs up a person.

Over the centuries, many atrocities have been done in the name of religion. In pride, one group, in the assurance that it was right and justified because of its supposed position with God, persecuted, enslaved, harmed, or attempted to annihilate another group. By its nature, religion can make people think more highly of themselves than they ought. In its most basic sense, religion encourages humans toward pride and treating other humans poorly.

The Pharisees were experts at this kind of behavior. Because of this, Jesus continually chastised them. Here is a sampling of some of the things Jesus said to and about those who were the religious leaders during His time on Earth.

“‘The scribes and the Pharisees sit on Moses’ seat so, do and observe whatever they tell you but not the works they do. For they preach but do not practice. They tie up heavy burdens, hard to bear, and lay them on people’s shoulders but they themselves are not willing to move them with their fingers. They do all their deeds to be seen by others. For they make their phylacteries broad and their fringes long, and they love the place of honor at feasts and the best seats in the synagogues and greetings in the marketplaces and being called rabbi by others’” (Matthew 23:2-7).

“‘Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you tithe mint and dill and cumin, and have neglected the weightier matters of the law: justice and mercy and faithfulness. These you ought to have done, without neglecting the others. You blind guides, straining out a gnat and swallowing a camel! Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you clean the outside of the cup and the plate, but inside they are full of greed and self-indulgence. You blind Pharisee! First clean the inside of the cup and the plate, so that the outside also may be clean. Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you are like whitewashed tombs, which outwardly appear beautiful, but within are full of dead people’s bones and all uncleanness. So, you also outwardly appear righteous to others but within you are full of hypocrisy and lawlessness’” (Matthew 23:23-28).

Because this sin of pride was so prevalent among the religious leaders and so dangerous for those who observed them, Jesus didn’t mince words in His exhortations to them. Jesus’ boldness with those in prominent religious positions caused much friction between Him and them.

Considering the context of the parable above, at first glance, it may seem that the leader of the Pharisees, by extending an invitation to Jesus to join him for a meal, was being kind, perhaps even attempting to mend some of the negativity that had been between Jesus and his fellow Pharisees.

But, if you glance at the verses immediately before this parable, you will realize that this was not a meal of goodwill. This dinner was a set-up. On purpose, the leader of the Pharisees asked Jesus to come over on the Sabbath. Also invited was a man with a serious disease called dropsy (likely, edema due to congestive heart failure). The prideful religious people who sat around that table were watching Jesus to see if He would heal this man and, in so doing, break the fourth of the Ten Commandments (see Deuteronomy 5:12-14a). Jesus, knowing what these prideful people intended, healed the man anyway, turned the Pharisees’ trick back upon them, and then began to chastise them with this parable.

Willingly Giving Up a Great Seat

Christianity is supposed to be marked with something very different from pride. That is because Christianity is not a religion; it is a relationship—a relationship with Jesus Christ that transforms a person into the image of Christ Himself (see 2 Corinthians 3:18). Though Jesus is the only One who has the right to be prideful, He chose to humble Himself.

Just days after Jesus attended the meal at the home of the leader of the Pharisees, He had dinner with His twelve closest disciples.

“Now before the Feast of the Passover, when Jesus knew that His hour had come to depart out of this world to the Father, having loved His own who were in the world, He loved them to the end. During supper, when the devil had already put it into the heart of Judas Iscariot, Simon’s son, to betray Him, Jesus, knowing that the Father had given all things into his hands and that He had come from God and was going back to God, rose from supper. He laid aside his outer garments, and taking a towel, tied it around his waist. Then He poured water into a basin and began to wash the disciples’ feet and wipe them with the towel that was wrapped around Him …  When He had washed their feet and put on His outer garments and resumed His place, He said to them, ‘Do you understand what I have done to you? You call Me Teacher and Lord, and you are right, for so I am. If I then, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another’s feet. For I have given you an example, that you also should do just as I have done to you. Truly, truly, I say to you, a servant is not greater than his master, nor is a messenger greater than the one who sent him. If you know these things, blessed are you if you do them’” (John 13:1-5, 12-16).

Though He rightfully held the highest place in the Universe, Jesus humbly chose, out of love, to minister to His disciples by washing their dusty, dirty feet—a job usually performed by a child or a lowly servant. And He didn’t just attend to those whom He knew would love Him in return; He gave Judas the same attention He gave the other disciples even though He was aware that Judas was going to betray Him (see John 13:11). Jesus could serve in this extravagant way because He was confident in His identity; He knew He had come from God to humbly sacrifice Himself for humanity and He knew He was going back to God when He was finished.

Jesus expects us to follow His example (see John 13:15). But we can only serve like He did if we, too, know our identity. If we are Christians, our identity is in Christ. When we are truly in Christ, He works through us to accomplish His will.

Using Jesus as the standard of humility, the Apostle Paul explained what we have been given in Christ that enables us to give as Jesus gave of Himself.

“Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves. Let each of you look not only to his own interests but also to the interests of others. Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, who, though He was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied Himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. And being found in human form, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross” (Philippians 2:3-8).

As Believers, we have been given the mind of Christ (see also 1 Corinthians 2:16). We have the Spirit of Christ living in us (see Romans 8:11). In Christ, we have the ability to count others more significant than ourselves because, having the mind of Christ, we no longer need to be consumed with ourselves. In Christ, we can pour out ourselves for the benefit of others because we are not the source of our own filling, Christ is and His filling is abundant and never-ending. In Christ, we can obey God no matter how difficult the call is because we are not performing the task in our own strength but in Christ’s power.

The Apostle Paul testified that he was able to follow God’s calling for his life because Christ was completing it through him.

“Christ … lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me” (Galatians 2:20b).

“I have learned in whatever situation I am to be content. I know how to be brought low, and I know how to abound. In any and every circumstance, I have learned the secret of facing plenty and hunger, abundance, and need. I can do all things through Him who strengthens me” (Philippians 4:11b-13).

And Paul shared similar encouragements with the Believers to whom he ministered.

“He who calls you is faithful; He will surely do it” (1 Thessalonians 5:24).

“It is God who works in you, both to will and to work for His good pleasure” (Philippians 2:13).

“And I am sure of this, that He who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ” (Philippians 1:6).

Seated With Christ

For a Christian, the best seats in the house should be the ones closest to Jesus. But these seats aren’t automatically available to anyone who thinks he/she might deserve them. To get near Jesus, one must climb the same set of stairs Jesus ascended.

“[When] James and John, the sons of Zebedee, came up to Him and said to Him, ‘Teacher, we want You to do for us whatever we ask of You.’ And He said to them, ‘What do you want Me to do for you?’ And they said to Him, ‘Grant us to sit, one at Your right hand and one at Your left, in Your Glory.’ Jesus said to them, ‘You do not know what you are asking. Are you able to drink the cup that I drink, or to be baptized with the baptism with which I am baptized’” (Mark 10:35-38)?

“Calling the crowd to Him with His disciples, He said to them, ‘If anyone would come after Me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow Me. For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake and the Gospel’s will save it. For what does it profit a man to gain the whole world and forfeit his soul? For what can a man give in return for his soul’” (Mark 8:34-37)?

To acquire a seat in the same Heavenly section Jesus is seated, one must be willing, like Jesus, to humbly set aside his/her rights. In Biblical language, that is equated to losing one’s life. The only tender which is accepted in Heaven by which one can access the seats next to Jesus is humility.

“The disciples came to Jesus, saying, ‘Who is the greatest in the Kingdom of Heaven?’ And calling to Him a child, He put him in the midst of them and said, ‘Truly, I say to you, unless you turn and become like children, you will never enter the Kingdom of Heaven. Whoever humbles himself like this child is the greatest in the Kingdom of Heaven” (Matthew 18:4).

“The greatest among you shall be your servant. Whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and whoever humbles himself will be exalted” (Matthew 23:11-12).

From an earthly, self-centered perspective, the seats next to Christ look like they are in the undesirable nosebleed section. But from a heavenly perspective, these seats are places of honor. Remember that Jesus got the seat He did because He willingly humbled Himself.

“Being found in human form, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. Therefore, God has highly exalted Him and bestowed on Him the name that is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in Heaven and on Earth and under the Earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father” (Philippians 2:8-11).

And it is among the humble that God chooses to seat Himself.

“For thus says the One who is high and lifted up, who inhabits Eternity, whose name is Holy: ‘I dwell in the high and holy place, and also with him who is of a contrite and lowly spirit, to revive the spirit of the lowly, and to revive the heart of the contrite’” (Isaiah 57:15).

 The real show is going on in Heaven. Those who submit to Christ and, in His Power, follow His example of humility get to watch it. The best seats in Heaven’s auditorium are given to such as these.

“God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved—and raised us up with Him and seated us with Him in the Heavenly places in Christ Jesus” (Ephesians 2:4-6).

The Cost of Reserved Seating

We may have been raised up with Christ and have been seated with Him where He is but let us not forget the price Jesus paid, by His great act of humility, to open up seats in Heavenly places for humans.

Jesus is holy, holy, holy God. He is so far above humans in every way, shape, and form. He created the entire universe by just speaking it into existence. Most of the cosmos we know nothing about. The Earth is merely like a speck of dust in the vastness of all that exists. Everything we know is minuscule compared to all Jesus created. He deserves all of our worship and adoration.

When humans rebelled against the Almighty, He could have flicked us into oblivion and no one would have blamed Him. There is no reason God should have ever looked twice in our direction. Yet, Jesus chose to come as a human to save humans from eternal damnation—something we rightly deserved.

Jesus left all the power and authority, all the glory and praise He had in Heaven to help us. He stuffed all of God into a fetus in the womb of a young woman. He was born in a barn. He grew up in poverty. He worked a blue-collar job. He was rejected, misunderstood, and died a cruel death to pay our debt of sin.

We have no business having a relationship with Jesus except that He loved us and initiated that relationship when He bought us with His blood. Jesus continued that relationship by sending His Spirit to live in Believers so that we might have everything we need for life and godliness. We are called Christ’s Body. And Jesus has promised to come and get us and take us to be with Him forever as His Bride. We, who are closer to insects than we are to Him, have been adopted into His family and are joint heirs with Christ Himself.

In consideration of the great gift we have been given, may we take to heart the admonitions of those who were invited to occupy the reserved seats in Heavenly places before we realized they had been opened up to us as well.

“Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God so that at the proper time He may exalt you, casting all your anxieties on Him, because He cares for you. Be sober-minded; be watchful. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour. Resist him, firm in your faith, knowing that the same kinds of suffering are being experienced by your brotherhood throughout the world” (1 Peter 5:2-9).

“Or do you suppose it is to no purpose that the Scripture says, ‘He yearns jealously over the Spirit that He has made to dwell in us’? But He gives more grace. Therefore, it says, ‘God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.’ Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. Draw near to God, and He will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded. Be wretched and mourn and weep. Let your laughter be turned to mourning and your joy to gloom. Humble yourselves before the Lord, and He will exalt you” (James 4:5-10).

Notice the warning both Peter and James gave us concerning our enemy. Remember that pride is the sin by which Satan fell and it is that sin that he desires to revive in us in hopes that we too will fall. Humbling oneself is not a one-and-done process. Humility like Christ’s must be sustained by daily abiding in Christ submitting to God and resisting the devil.

“If then you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are Above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things that are Above, not on things that are on Earth. For you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. When Christ who is your life appears, then you also will appear with Him in glory” (Colossians 3:1-4).

“Let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God” (Hebrews 12:1b-2).

We all know better than to storm into a wedding reception and sit down at the head table in the places reserved for the bride and the groom. At any show or event, we know full well that if we attempt to claim a seat we have not purchased, we will likely get removed from it. At a wedding, we are accustomed to sitting where we are assigned. And at any venue, we know we get to sit in the seat we paid for. The same is true in Heaven. Where will your assigned seat be in Eternity? If you want it to be with Jesus, have you considered and committed to the cost?

“’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 the table with you. For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted’” (Luke 14:10-11, adapted).

 

 

¹ Scripture quotations marked with ESV are from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version (ESV), copyright 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. All Scriptures are taken from the ESV unless otherwise noted. To aid in understanding, I have capitalized references to God.

² Scripture quotations marked NKJV are from the Holy Bible, New King James Version. Copyright 1979, 1980, 1982, Thomas Nelson, Inc., Publishers.