Two virtues that characterized the ministry of Jesus Christ were humility and unconditional love. The Lord also taught His followers to display these virtues in their own lives through the parables of taking the lower seat and inviting the least, lost, and lowly of the world in Luke 14. These parables not only reflect timeless wisdom but they point to Jesus Christ as the one carrying out God’s unfolding plan of redemption, resonating deeply with the core of Christian faith.
Jesus attended a feast hosted by a ruler among the Pharisees on one Sabbath. On that same occasion, the Lord healed a man with palsy on that day, showing that acts of mercy and compassion can be done on the day God sanctified (Lk. 14:1-6).[1] When it came time to eat, the guest started heading to the dining area. Seating according to social rank was observed in ancient Palestinian Jewish society.[2] Seeing other guests scuffling and maneuvering to seize the places of honor, Jesus seized the moment to offer a parable[3] to the other guests on humility:
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 table with you. For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted.” (Lk. 14:8-11). [4]
This parable illustrates the virtue of humility. By taking the lowest seat, one demonstrates a heart not inflated by pride or self-importance but rather marked by modesty and deference. Conversely, the lowest seat route navigated away from a most embarrassing situation of being asked by the host to get up and move the place for someone lower on the pecking order. “Do not put yourself forward in the king’s presence | or stand in the place of the great, | for it is better to be told, ‘Come up here,’ | than to be put lower in the presence of a noble,” said King Solomon (Prov. 25:6-7). Taking the lowest place leaves one in the position to be exalted into a seat of honor.
The moral of the story is for one to be exalted one must first be humble. Cyril of Alexandria (AD 375-444) exhorts Christians: “If anyone among you wants to be set above others, let him win it by the decree of heaven and be crowned by those honors that God bestows. Let him surpass the many by having the testimony of glorious virtues. The rule of virtue is a lowly mind that does not love boasting. It is humility” (Commentary on Luke, Homily 101).[5]
Just as the guests who humble themselves are lifted by the host, so too, those who humble themselves before God will be exalted at the proper time (1 Pet. 5:6; Jas. 4:2).
Jesus calls the host to extend generosity rooted in unconditional love:
When you give a dinner or a banquet, do not invite your friends or your brothers or your relatives or rich neighbors, lest they also invite you in return and you be repaid. But when you give a feast, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind, and you will be blessed, because they cannot repay you. For you will be repaid at the resurrection of the just (Lk. 14:12-14).
The kindness Jesus advances goes beyond reciprocation but exhibits a truly selfless action. Keep in mind that this is not about leaving friends off the invitation list; rather, the problem being tackled is “the expectation of recompense—that is, the calculating spirit that does good so that more benefits will accrue to oneself: and “the vivid (and serious) example of inviting the handicapped…shows that one is not controlled by a spirit of repayment.”[6]
Hosting a dinner and inviting those who cannot repay the favor — the poor, the crippled, the lame, and the blind — embodies the virtue of unconditional love or agape. This kind of love extends kindness yet expects nothing in return and wholly seeks the good of others. Agape is the highest of virtue above faith and hope (1 Cor. 13:13).
Jesus emphasizes that those who display agape will be blessed, for they will be repaid at the resurrection of the righteous. Elsewhere Jesus taught: “Do not marvel at this, for an hour is coming when all who are in the tombs will hear his voice and come out, those who have done good to the resurrection of life, and those who have done evil to the resurrection of judgment” (Jn. 5:28-29). The Lord is thus affirming the day of resurrection foretold by the prophet Daniel (Dan. 12:2). This future resurrection was likewise affirmed and anticipated by Paul (Acts 24:14-15) and John (Rev. 20:4-5).
The host being a leader among the Pharisees would have affirmed belief in the resurrection from the dead (Acts 23:6-8).[7] Jesus words on showing agape to the least, lost, and lowly of the world being tied into the participation in the resurrection of the righteous would have been reason to pause and consider the predicament. But this is more than just one trying harder to do better; rather, a transformation into people can truly agape is necessary. The way of being transformed into people can truly agape is set forth by Jesus. Without Him none of this would be possible.
Taking the lowest seat and inviting the least, lost, and lowly of the world to dine is of course first carried out by Jesus’ own mission of self-humiliation and exaltation. Jesus journey to death, resurrection, ascension. He reached out to the marginalized, the outcasts, and the sinners—those who could offer him nothing in return. Yet, it was precisely in loving them unconditionally that he demonstrated the depth of God’s love for all humanity.
Years later the Apostle Paul would instruct the Christians at Philippi:
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. 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. (Phil. 2:5-11).
The Son of God came from Heaven to Earth but not as a superhero who could fly and cast down lightning bolts upon His enemies. Instead, He became the servant of all. The Lord’s ultimate act of humility was his sacrificial death upon the cross. He committed no crime, but He was put to death as a criminal. Yet, through his obedience and humility, he was exalted by God through his resurrection and ascension. Jesus came not to be served but to serve and to give his life as a ransom for many (Mark 10:45). Ultimately, it is God who “caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading” (1 Pet. 1:3-4).
The parables about taking the lowest seat and inviting the least, lost, and lowly of the world to dine encapsulates profound truths about humility and unconditional love. They not only offer practical wisdom for daily living but also point to the heart of Jesus’ mission—self-humiliation leading to exaltation and unconditional love as the ultimate expression of God’s redemptive plan for humanity. As we seek to emulate these virtues in our own lives, may we be reminded of the transformative power of humility and love in bringing about God’s kingdom on earth as it is in heaven.
— WGN
[1] See previous blog post: Is the Sabbath for Rest or Rescuing? Jesus’ Healing of the Man with Dropsy in Luke 14:1-6
[2] Craig Keener points out, “Social status was important in antiquity and was made obvious by the seating of dinner guests at banquets. This status was especially a problem in well-to-do Greco-Roman circles…but seating by rank is well attested in Palestinian Jewish society, including in the Dead Sea Scrolls” (Craig S. Keener, The IVP Bible Background Commentary: New Testament [Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 1993], Lk 14:7).
[3] In this verse, “parable” is used in the sense of “wisdom sayings” (Thomas Schreiner, The Baker Illustrated Bible Commentary, ed. Gary M. Burge and Andrew E. Hill [Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Books, 2012], 1090).
[4] All Scripture cited from The Holy Bible: English Standard Version (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles, 2016), unless noted.
[5] Cited from Arthur A. Just, ed., Ancient Christian Commentary on Scripture: Luke (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 2005).
[6] Thomas Schreiner, eds., The Baker Illustrated Bible Commentary, ed. Gary M. Burge and Andrew E. Hill (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Books, 2012), 1090.
[7] The opposing Sadducee party denied the future resurrection (Matt. 22L23; Mak. 12:18; Lk. 20:27).
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