Luke 14:8

Verse of the Day Devotion Luke 14:8 

“When you are invited by someone to a wedding feast, do not take the place of honor, lest someone more distinguished than you may have been invited by him.” – Luke 14:8

Today we will look at the Parable of the Invited Guest.  Here is this parable as found in Luke’s gospel.

And He began speaking a parable to the invited guests when He noticed how they had been picking out the places of honor at the table, saying to them, when you are invited by someone to a wedding feast, do not take the place of honor, lest someone more distinguished than you may have been invited by him, and he who invited you both shall come and say to you, give place to this man, and then in disgrace you proceed to occupy the last place. But when you are invited, go and recline at the last place, so that when the one who has invited you comes, he may say to you, ‘Friend, move up higher’; then you will have honor in the sight of all who are at the table with you. For everyone who exalts himself shall be humbled, and he who humbles himself shall be exalted.” Luke 14:7-11.

Jesus was in the house of one of the leaders of the Pharisees on the Sabbath and eating with them.  “And it came about when He went into the house of one of the leaders of the Pharisees on the Sabbath to eat bread, that they were watching Him closely.” Luke 14:1. While there He healed a man suffering from dropsy.  This was a disease produced by the accumulation of water in various parts of the body; very distressing, and commonly incurable. Jesus turns to the Pharisees and asks them if it was lawful to heal on the Sabbath.  But when they did not answer, He healed him and sent him on his way. He then asked them, “Which one of you shall have a son or an ox fall into a well, and will not immediately pull him out on a Sabbath day?” Luke 14:5.  Again they did not answer. Then He noticed how people strategically placed themselves so as to be in the best places; that is, the places of most honor.

In Jesus’ day, the seating arrangement at a dinner showed a definite order of prestige or honor. The most honored person sat in a particular seat, the next most honored person in another place, and so on down the line.  This parable presupposes a culture of honor and shame in ancient Jewish and Hellenistic societies and illustrates these cultures by means of seating order at banquets.  Guests here are literally those invited and refers to the Pharisees and experts of the law mentioned above.  He then tells them, “When you are invited by someone to a wedding feast, do not take the place of honor, lest someone more distinguished than you may have been invited by him, and he who invited you both shall come and say to you, ‘Give place to this man,’ and then in disgrace you proceed to occupy the last place.” Luke 14:8-9.  To ‘take the place’ literally means ‘do not recline’. To be told to move in this manner would be humiliating, for one, you would be told to move that someone they viewed as more important could sit there, and two, you would need to find a place to recline in the least honorable places. 

Then He adds, “But when you are invited, go and recline at the last place, so that when the one who has invited you comes, he may say to you, Friend, move up higher; then you will have honor in the sight of all who are at the table with you.” Luke 14:10. In other words, do not put yourself in the pace of honor, but allow the one who invited you move you up to a better place, for then you will be looked at positively as one who is honored, instead of being humiliated.  This is the basic idea as stated in verse 11. “For everyone who exalts himself shall be humbled, and he who humbles himself shall be exalted.” Luke 14:11.

The general idea is we have to learn not to be high minded or arrogant, but to be content with more lowly things, because pride and ambition are disgraceful before men: forwhosoever exalts himself shall be abased;but humility and self-denial are really honorable: he that humbles himself shall be exalted, We see in other instances that a man’s pride will bring him low, but honor shall uphold the humble in spirit, and before honor is humility. The Pharisees seek to exalt themselves, and in so doing they cease being models and rulers of God’s people. God’s way is not their way.  We must be careful that we do not place ourselves on a pedestal.  Paul put it this way. “For through the grace given to me I say to every man among you not to think more highly of himself than he ought to think; but to think so as to have sound judgment, as God has allotted to each a measure of faith.” Romans 12:3. 

William Funkhouser MDiv, ThD, Founder and President of True Devotion Ministries. 

Matthew 22:2

Verse of the Day Devotion Matthew 22:2 

“The kingdom of heaven may be compared to a king, who gave a wedding feast for his son.” – Matthew 22:2  

Today we will look at the Parable of the Wedding Feast, the last of three parables, in sequence, that depict God’s indictment and sentence of the present Jewish Leadership, unless they realize their errors and turn to the truth. Jesus does not reject Israel as a whole, only the current leadership, which has rejected him. The contrast is not between Jews and Gentiles but rather between those who reject and those who accept Jesus.  Here is this parable as found in Matthew’s gospel.

The kingdom of heaven may be compared to a king, who gave a wedding feast for his son. And he sent out his slaves to call those who had been invited to the wedding feast, and they were unwilling to come. Again he sent out other slaves saying, Tell those who have been invited, Behold, I have prepared my dinner; my oxen and my fattened livestock are all butchered and everything is ready; come to the wedding feast.  But they paid no attention and went their way, one to his own farm, another to his business, and the rest seized his slaves and mistreated them and killed them. But the king was enraged and sent his armies, and destroyed those murderers, and set their city on fire.  Then he said to his slaves, ‘The wedding is ready, but those who were invited were not worthy. Go therefore to the main highways, and as many as you find there, invite to the wedding feast.  And those slaves went out into the streets, and gathered together all they found, both evil and good; and the wedding hall was filled with dinner guests. But when the king came in to look over the dinner guests, he saw there a man not dressed in wedding clothes, and he *said to him, Friend, how did you come in here without wedding clothes? And he was speechless. Then the king said to the servants, Bind him hand and foot, and cast him into the outer darkness; in that place there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth. For many are called, but few are chosen.” Matthew 22:2-14.

This parable regarding the Wedding Feast was given to a smaller audience than the others, but not because this was Jesus’ choice.  In Mark, just after the Parable of the Tenants, we read “And they were seeking to seize Him; and yet they feared the multitude; for they understood that He spoke the parable against them. And so, they left Him, and went away.” Mark 12:12.  Now, just because the audience shrunk does not mean Jesus changed the overall topic. 

As in most rabbinical parables, the king is an illustration of God.  It starts off by stating that a king was preparing to give a wedding feast for His son.  He sends out some slaves to tell those invited to come to the wedding feast.  When they get back, they tell him they were not going to come.  Then a second time, he sends out another set of slaves to tell the invited to come, for there would be a great feast, including his oxen and fattened livestock and that everything is ready. However, they refused to come and went about their business, with some of them mistreating the slaves and ultimately killing them.  Now this ticked off the King, so he sent his armies out to kill those who had done this and then destroyed their cities with fire.

Then he said to his slaves, The wedding is ready, but those who were invited were not worthy. Go therefore to the main highways, and as many as you find there, invite to the wedding feast.” Matthew 22:8-9. The King cannot have a wedding feast with no guests; therefore, he tells his slaves to go out and invite all who would come to the feast. They were to go to places where the main highways go out from the city to the country, which was normally where the poorer people tended to get together.  These people could never have thought they would be invited to a banquet of this type.  But the wedding feast must go forward, so all from these regions were invited. 

But what of the man who came in his own clothes?  This requires God’s righteousness imparted on us and not our own.  This is the meaning of the man who was not dressed in wedding clothes.  He came in whatever clothes he chose to wear.  “But when the king came in to look over the dinner guests, he saw there a man not dressed in wedding clothes,  and he said to him, Friend, how did you come in here without wedding clothes? And he was speechless.  Then the king said to the servants, Bind him hand and foot, and cast him into the outer darkness; in that place there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth.” Matthew 22:11-13. The imagery here reflects the custom of a king providing festive dress for those he invites to a banquet. So, the king is understandably amazed and he rebukes this man, asking him why he has behaved as he has. The man offers no excuse. Only imprisonment and punishment—eternal judgment—remain in store for such people who rely on their own righteousness rather than the righteousness provided by Christ.

Again, as in the prior two parables, this is a picture of Jews, especially the leadership, rejecting Christ and His gift of righteousness.  To summarize the point of the Parable of the Wedding Feast, God sent His Son into the world, and the very people who should have celebrated His coming, the Jews, for they understood that the Messiah was coming, refused to accept it was Jesus.  Therefore, they rejected Him, bringing judgment upon themselves. As a result, the kingdom of heaven was opened up to anyone who will set aside his own righteousness and by faith accept the righteousness God provides in Christ. Those who spurn the gift of salvation and cling instead to their own good works will spend eternity separated from Christ.  Jesus desires His people, the Jews to come, but unfortunately they cling to the law and refuse to see He is the way, the truth, and the life.

William Funkhouser MDiv, ThD, Founder and President of True Devotion Ministries.