Pride and Humility

DEVOTION

THE GOSPEL OF LUKE

PRIDE AND HUMILITY

Luke 14:7-11

7 When he noticed how the guests picked the places of honor at the table, he told them this parable: 8 "When someone invites you to a wedding feast, do not take the place of honor, for a person more distinguished than you may have been invited. 9 If so, the host who invited both of you will come and say to you, 'Give this man your seat.' Then, humiliated, you will have to take the least important place. 10 But when you are invited, take the lowest place, so that when your host comes, he will say to you, 'Friend, move up to a better place.' Then you will be honored in the presence of all your fellow guests. 11 For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted." 

NIV

Humility is far, far better than to be humiliated. This is the lesson Jesus is teaching those people who thought more highly of themselves then they ought to have. This is also the lesson for us today. It is rather easy to get puffed up about ourselves. It seems we can always find something about our own abilities, talents, skills or intelligence that is superior to those around us. However there is also the danger of getting trapped into having false humility, pretending to be humble while all the time still believing in our own superiority. This teaching of Jesus certainly applies to our everyday life in our relationships with others, but because of the context of his message it might be that he is referring to the sense of self-righteousness those Pharisees and experts of the law had. The host would be God, or perhaps even Jesus himself and all people are invited to his banquet table. Some think because of their righteousness they should have the best seats, while those who actually understand they have absolutely no righteousness of their own, being humble before God, will be exalted to the best place at the table. When we start to think we have any righteousness or that we are “Good Christians” or that, as this man has heard some say, “We don’t sin anymore”, we are in real danger of being like those who will be asked to move to the lower place to make room for those who are exalted. This lower or least important place at the table may not even refer to the table to but in fact the lower place period. Nothing replaces the understanding the before God we are nothing but sinners saved by grace and as such this is how we should also be before men. None of us are too good to do the most menial of tasks for the kingdom of God. There is no one that is better than anyone else. We have to understand that we are not even any better than those who have not accepted Jesus yet. They are sinners that have not accepted his grace, we are sinners who have accepted his grace. In the reality or realm of God that is the only difference. It is in the realm of man that humility has been swallowed up by pride. We need to see pride comes before the fall, which is the lesson Jesus is teaching here. So let us forsake pride and adopt true humility, both in the realm of God and man.