Luke 14:7-11: Taking the lowest place (please click here for todays Bible passage)

It’s got to be apocryphal hasn’t it, but I read a story about a bishop who was asked by a vicar if he knew of any good books on the subject of humility. ‘I’m only aware of two,’ the red-vested cleric replied, ‘And I wrote them both!’ Sometimes a funny story can make a serious point.

You can speak with even more authority on a subject when you embody what you teach. What Jesus says here makes eminent sense, and He lived it (11; see Philippians 2:1-11). He took the lowest seat and the Master of the feast raised Him up in the sight of all. (Don’t forget that in Jesus’ case the place of supreme honour was His by right, and He voluntarily stepped down from it).

These words have such resonance and relevance for us (7). The natural, basic instinct of fallen people is to rush for the best seats; the most prominent positions. We even see it in the church. I wish I could say that church life is totally free of politics, but it isn’t. Selfish ambition shows its ugly head time after time. Yet this is incongruous when we follow the self-humbling Jesus.

Someone said that in God’s orchard it’s the branches which hang the lowest that bear the most fruit.

Prayer: Lord I know it is one of your great requirements that I should walk humbly with my God. You did it, and you live in me. I recognise that I am without excuse – but not without power, to live the life you call me to.