Whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted

Now it happened, as He went into the house of one of the rulers of the Pharisees to eat bread on the Sabbath, that they watched Him closely. And behold, there was a certain man before Him who had dropsy. And Jesus, answering, spoke to the lawyers and Pharisees, saying: "Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath?" But they kept silent. And He took him and healed him, and let him go. Then He answered them, saying, "Which of you, having a donkey or an ox that has fallen into a pit, will not immediately pull him out on the Sabbath day?" And they could not answer Him regarding these things.

So He told a parable to those who were invited, when He noted how they chose the best places, saying to them: "When you are invited by anyone to a wedding feast, do not sit down in the best place, lest one more honorable than you be invited by him, and he who invited you and him come and say to you, 'Give place to this man,' and then you begin with shame to take the lowest place. But when you are invited, go and sit down in the lowest place, so that when he who invited you comes he may say to you, 'Friend, go up higher.' Then you will have glory in the presence of those who sit at the table with you. For whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted."

- Luke 14:1-11

In yesterday's reading, we were told that some Pharisees came to Jesus and warned Him that Herod seeks to kill Him. Herod is the ruler of Galilee. Jesus says that He must go to Jerusalem - even though He fears nothing from Herod, whom He calls "that fox" - because "it cannot be that a prophet should perish outside Jerusalem." He then mourns the City, which has refused repeatedly its messengers (the prophets) and now will not take refuge and be gathered together under His wings, as a hen gathers her brood. See O Jerusalem, Jerusalem.

Now it happened, as He went into the house of one of the rulers of the Pharisees to eat bread on the Sabbath, that they watched Him closely. My study bible says here: "The Pharisees again exemplify a paradoxical, cunning combination of interest and suspicion. They receive Jesus for a meal and yet watch to catch Him as a lawbreaker." The Pharisees play an interesting role: they are repeatedly called "hypocrites" (originally meaning "actors" in the Greek) by Jesus. They are not straightforward, not humble, not honest.

And behold, there was a certain man before Him who had dropsy. And Jesus, answering, spoke to the lawyers and Pharisees, saying: "Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath?" But they kept silent. And He took him and healed him, and let him go. Then He answered them, saying, "Which of you, having a donkey or an ox that has fallen into a pit, will not immediately pull him out on the Sabbath day?" And they could not answer Him regarding these things. This is an interesting "doubling" in Luke, similar to something that we see repeatedly in the Gospel of Matthew. This is a repeated lesson, which we've just read in the previous chapter (see Woman, you are loosed from your infirmity.) In that case, it was a woman stooped over from an 18-year affliction. In this case it is a man with dropsy, or an accumulation of water or liquids, which would swell parts of his body. This man may be a "plant" with which to tempt Jesus in order to trap Him. As with the stooped-over woman, the man with dropsy is "burdened" - this time with an accumulation of fluid which his body cannot process and eject. It is another metaphor for the nature of evil, from which Jesus "looses" the man as from a bond. (Jesus likens today's "bondage" to a pit, from which the man is set free). In doing so, He once again exposes the hypocrisy of the Pharisees - which we note again covers an aspect of greed. They would do the same for a valuable animal on the Sabbath. As in the previous incident, they cannot answer Him.

So He told a parable to those who were invited, when He noted how they chose the best places, saying to them: "When you are invited by anyone to a wedding feast, do not sit down in the best place, lest one more honorable than you be invited by him, and he who invited you and him come and say to you, 'Give place to this man,' and then you begin with shame to take the lowest place. But when you are invited, go and sit down in the lowest place, so that when he who invited you comes he may say to you, 'Friend, go up higher.' Then you will have glory in the presence of those who sit at the table with you. For whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted." My study bible notes here: "This parable of good manners, found only in Luke, contrasts the virtue of humility with the vice of self-exaltation. Compare James 4:6: 'God resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble.'" Obviously, this parable refers the Pharisees to themselves - questioning the Teacher. Jesus has just lamented (in yesterday's reading) that the religious leadership will not listen to Him, just as they have not listened to the prophets before Him. So, here, this parable of good manners, as my study bible refers to it, teaches them about learning. Humility is something we must have before God, and by extension, before those who would teach us something of God, who are here to do so. Like the prophets before Him, Jesus has a mission, something to teach - and like the prophets before Him, it is arrogance, pride, lack of humility, that gets in the way of listening. I find it touching and lovely that our notions of good manners, of what we now call "gracious" behavior, comes from this parable. It is at once quite literally pragmatic, and enormously spiritual: we need such humility to open to us the mysteries of God. And, of course, it is also a teaching of what is to come - the grace of the Holy Spirit, and where it will rest, even in the fullness of judgment.

I quite think the whole notion of humility is enormously exploited in our world. Too often, authority figures will use this tremendous example of the exaltation of humility simply in order to exalt themselves - in the same manner as the hypocrisy of the Pharisees Jesus always criticizes. Authority in any worldly sense, in and of itself, does not guarantee justice or righteousness, and this is an important lesson for anyone in a nominal position of authority. Humility is not an attitude of servility. It is, quite the opposite, an attitude of humbling oneself before God - a way of keeping oneself as thoroughly honest as possible, open and ready to learn, and ready to repent and change the things in ourselves that need undoing. It is the queen of the virtues, and one which I find I need to learn over and over again in so many ways. But it is that which leads us to grace, and indeed, hopefully, to gracious and loving behavior toward one another. Can you do it? Our worldly lives make it so difficult to learn, to undo our exaltation - for so many reasons - of ourselves. The question is: who are we in the eyes of God? Who does God teach us to be? This is the authentic spiritual self, with true gold and radiant light, we seek to be. Can you do it? Can you pray for this? Remember His words. Arrogance - a lack of ability to go before God for direction, even to the depths of what we cherish - is another burden or affliction of evil in the world, perhaps its most powerful legacy. It leads to the hypocrisy exemplified in the Pharisees. It is here, in Jesus' words about the importance of humility, that we begin to undo that burden in us. This is the definition of spiritual battle.