Luke 14:1, 7-14
1 One Sabbath Jesus went to eat a meal at the home of one of the leading Pharisees; and people were watching Jesus closely.
7 Jesus noticed how some of the guests were choosing the best places, so he told this parable to all of them:
8 “When someone invites you to a wedding feast, do not sit down in the best place. It could happen that someone more important than you has been invited,
9 and your host, who invited both of you, world have to come and say to you, ‘Let him have this place.’ Then you would be embarrassed and have to sit in the lowest place.
10 Instead, when you are invited, go and sit in the lowest place, so that your host will come to you and say, ‘Come on up, my friend, to a better place.’ This will bring you honour in the presence of all the other guests.
11 For all those who make themselves great will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be made great.”
12 Then Jesus said to his host, “When you give a lunch or a dinner, do not invite your friends or your brothers or your relatives or your rich neighbours – for they will invite you back, and in this way you will be paid for what you did.
13 When you give a feast, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, and the blind;
14 and you will be blessed, because they are not able to pay you back. God will repay you on the day the good people rise from death.”
Other readings: Ecclus 3:17-20, 28-29; Ps 68:3-6, 9-10; Heb 12:18-19, 22-24
LECTIO
Today we join Jesus as he dines with a leading Pharisee. All the guests at the dinner are watching to see how Jesus will behave. What they don’t notice is Jesus observing their proud ways.
In Jesus’s day the most important seats were close to the host and each of the Pharisees’ guests wanted one of these seats for themselves.
Jesus uses the opportunity to teach the dinner guests a better way to behave. His comments are a reminder of Jewish teaching summed up in verses such as Proverbs 25:6-7, “When you stand before the king, don’t try to impress him and pretend to be important. It is better to be asked to take a higher position than to be told to give your place to someone more important.”
Of course the irony is that had the host realised who Jesus was then he would have immediately given Jesus the place of honour.
Jesus then emphasises hospitality and generosity towards people who cannot reciprocate – the poor and physically disadvantaged. Again it is a question of our attitudes. Do we exclude others because of selfishness or pride?
Jesus’s concern is always to be inclusive. He spent time with people who were not considered ‘respectable’. The Kingdom of God should be, and is, open to all irrespective of man-made social status because before God we are all sinners in need of salvation.
MEDITATIO
The apostle Peter took Jesus’s words to heart as he also taught, ‘‘And all of you must put on the apron of humility, to serve one another; for the scripture says, ‘God resists the proud but shows favour to the humble.’ Humble yourselves, then, under God’s mighty hand, so that he will lift you up in his own good time” (1 Peter 5:5-6).
Jesus regularly reminded his listeners about humility. Why do you think it is so important for us to keep a humble attitude towards others? Why is pride so dangerous?
Think about who you invite to your home. Does Jesus’s teaching challenge your choice of guests?
ORATIO
Ask God to speak to you from today’s reading about humility and hospitality.
Read Psalm 68:1-10. Notice the contrast between God’s majesty and his concern for the poor, the lonely, for widows, orphans and prisoners. Pray for people in these situations. The Holy Spirit may bring specific people to mind. God may also show you something practical you can do to help.
CONTEMPLATIO
Read Philippians 2:3-11 and think about the example Jesus gives us of humility and service. Let God bring to mind small steps you can take in this direction during the coming weeks.
