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

Yesterday we read that some Pharisees came, saying to Jesus, "Get out and depart from here, for Herod wants to kill You."  And He said to them, "Go tell that fox, 'Behold, I cast out demons and perform cures today and tomorrow, and the third day I shall be perfected.'  Nevertheless I must journey today, tomorrow, and the day following; for it cannot be that a prophet should perish outside of Jerusalem.  O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the one who kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to her!  How often I wanted to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her brood under her wings, but you were not willing!  See!  Your house is left to you desolate; and assuredly, I say to you, you shall not see Me until the time comes when you say, 'Blessed is He who comes in the name of the LORD!'"

 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.  This isn't the first time this conflict has arisen; Jesus healed on several occasions on the Sabbath, and has been confronted by members of the leadership.  (See these earlier readings.)   They've been watching in order to have something with which to accuse Him.  In the previous chapter of Luke, Jesus' illustration regarding the tending of animals sets the tone for His response today, which builds on His earlier words.

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 says that these parables are directed toward guests.  (In the next reading, there will be parables directed at hosts.)  It says, "In imitation of Christ, perfect humility is expected of guests, and boundless charity is demanded of hosts (see James 4:6)."  

Of course we can't help but note the circumstances in which Jesus introduces parables about humility (and in the following verses, the hospitality of hosts).  He's been invited to dine, but some of the guests are watching Him to find something with which to accuse Him.  Jesus' grace gives healing to one on a Sabbath, and not for the first time in the presence of religious authorities, to their disapproval.  But they don't recognize grace, and they don't recognize the One who sits among them and His place.  Humility is necessary for us to perceive grace and how it works.  If we take Jesus' parable to heart in this setting, the image of humility is clear in terms of how it helps us to properly see what is what; we are blind in our prior assumptions of superiority.  And we may also be blind to God's work, and the presence of grace in our lives.  We note the law doesn't prohibit the maintenance of health of the animals, including the saving of their lives.   (We may think such upside-down thinking is far away from modern lives, but the truth is that in New York city it was illegal to mistreat animals before there were laws regarding the treatment of children.)   But Jesus' parable refers to the certainty of their superiority, which is broken when His argument regarding the treatment of animals shows them up, and they are unable to answer.  So often we think we know "the last word."  And this is another example of the assumption of superiority, and why we need humility to "learn" from God.  When we decide we have nothing to learn anymore, then we've put ourselves in a place where repentance (metanoia in the Greek, meaning "change of mind") becomes impossible.   The real practice of repentance is a lifelong habit, in which we're prepared to learn new things, to change habits and thinking we thought were fine, toward God whose grace teaches us to move along the road following Christ, teaching us to become more "like Him."  The Greek word for "sin" does not necessarily convey a terrible guilt; it means "missing the mark."  So in this context, even those habits and customs we wouldn't question may need to come under scrutiny.  We don't have the "last word" on anything, after all.  And there is our humility, the exposure of a smugness that is unbecoming to the true Superior, the One who knows better.  Within that spectrum lies the whole of humanity.  Our job is to learn, and both humility and graciousness are necessary for that journey.  As Jesus' example teaches, this should be not just the basis, but the whole form of our lives in what we do.  It is a proper attitude, one that is cultivated in aims for "gentle" behavior.  It is an aim understood even before Christ:  for the ancient Greeks, hospitality to strangers was the most important virtue.  But to know this, we have to turn "worldly" thinking in terms of power on its head, and understand how God's power works, and strive to be "godlike."  We note that humility, in Jesus' teaching, is akin to a search for truth:  we strive by this practice to a proper assessment of ourselves, of our own true reality, our true places.  Jesus lays out the benefits of the practice of humility, and in Monday's reading He will speak of truly gracious behavior -- also dependent upon the practice of humility.  So often these concepts seem to be missing from modern life, and increasingly so.  Can we really afford to diminish their importance from all our lives and the ways in which we conduct ourselves through the world?  So much more depends on how we think, what habits we cultivate.  Ultimately, the host is Christ Himself, who may tell us, "Friend, go up higher."  But only if we know the value of humility can this happen.