City Life Starter

Written by Efe Abbe

The Word

The Parable of the Wedding Feast

⁷ Now he told a parable to those who were invited, when he noticed how they chose the places of honor, saying to them, ⁸ “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, ⁹ 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.¹⁰ 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 table with you.¹¹ For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted.”

Luke 14:7-11 ESV

At that time [lit. hour] the disciples came to Jesus and said, “Who then is greatest in the kingdom of heaven?”² And He called a child to Himself and set him among them, ³ and said, “Truly I say to you, unless you change [lit. turn] and become like children, you will not enter the kingdom of heaven. ⁴ So whoever will humble himself like this child, he is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven.

Matthew 18:1-4 NASB

Reflection

Even though the Pharisees at this meal were seeking to undermine Jesus (Luke 11:1-6), the Lord still cared that each of them would repent and enter God’s kingdom. We know this because He stayed and taught them. In this moment during the meal, Jesus addressed an obstacle to entering the Kingdom: their pride.

Outward arrogance is the maturation of the seed of pride firmly rooted in our hearts. By jockeying for the best seats that evening, these Pharisees revealed that their so-called “righteousness” was just self-importance. They didn’t remember the wisdom of God’s word: “Toward the scorners he [God] is scornful, but to the humble he gives favor” (Proverbs 3:34), so Jesus corrected them.

Jesus was much more interested than outward good behavior from the Pharisees. He knew that people with hearts blinded by pride could never enter God’s Kingdom (Matthew 18:3-4), so He shone His light on their pride, asking them to practice humility, in hopes that they would repent.

Application

We may be tempted to scoff at the Pharisees and think we never act that way (maybe not in public) but if we are to truthfully worship God (John 4:23), we need to be honest with Him about any pride in our hearts.

God owns everything and we get to live in His world. Just like the invited wedding guests, we are not the focus; the host, i.e. the bridegroom – Jesus is. Do our hearts align with this reality as we live? The world will always scream that we deserve and should strive for status but Jesus gently beckons us to humble ourselves, to turn and be like children to receive undeserved entry into the kingdom of the Great King – the greatest honor of all.

Prayer

Dear Lord Jesus, thank You for being merciful to me in my pride. Thank You for humbly taking the punishment from God that I deserve for it, and offering me forgiveness. I humbly repent, and receive Your grace, trusting You to enable me to live humbly, amen.