Don Fredenburg
Jim Tucker
H.E. 'Hub' Bowen
Mike Coble
Ron Bowen6/26/2018
Jesus went to the house of a prominent or influential
Pharisee (Luke 14:1) to eat and
while there He noticed how the guests picked the places of honor at the table
and told this parable. Even though Jesus
was being watched. He was watching them (Romans
14:7-8). The dinner was the scene of
a marvelous healing. The parable tells
how it is better to take the lowest place, thus avoiding the humiliation of the
host asking you to move in order to make way for a more important guest. If the host asks you to move up, you will be
honored in the presence of all your fellow guests. The first lesson of this parable is "everyone
who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be
exalted." (Luke 14:11) This very
principle is found in Proverbs: "Do not claim honor in the presence of the
king, and do not stand in the place of great men; for it is better that it be
said to you, "Come up here," than for you to be placed lower in the presence of
the prince, whom your eyes have seen" (Proverbs
25:6-7).
The kingdom of heaven is not based on status or rank, but
upon humility. It is easy to get so
involved in this world and the importance the world places on prestige and
honor that we do things to be seen and honored. Jesus had to deal with this problem among His own disciples concerning
who would be the greatest. Jesus said,
"If anyone wants to be first, he shall be last of all and servant of all" (Mark 9:34-35). Why is it that even though we detest
self-promotion when we see it in someone else we can still find "reasons" to
promote ourselves. We need to be
reminded that pride is destructive and selfish in the Kingdom. Paul held Jesus up as the perfect example of
humility. Paul said that He didn't cling
to position, but emptied himself taking the form of a bond-servant, and being
made in the likeness of men He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the
point of death, even death on a cross(Philippians 2:5-11). This is the
same kind of humility which should characterize us. God only honors the person who comes to Him
in humility and serves in humility.
There are different kinds of ambition. There is the ambition of recognition—for
applause. There is the ambition of
competition—the desire to win at all costs. There is the ambition of self-righteousness—the desire to appear better
than others, more righteous. Humility
does not seek its own but depends on God to exalt us. Jesus said, "Abba! Father! All things are
possible for You; remove this cup from Me; yet not what I will, but what You
will" (Mark 14:36). Humility does not seek dominance over others,
but rather to be a servant to others. Paul wrote, "For we do not preach ourselves but Christ Jesus as Lord,
and ourselves as your bond-servants for Jesus' sake" (2 Corinthians 4:5). Humility frees us to love and serve others
selflessly, for their sake, rather than our own. Humility does not seek self-exaltation but
rather the glorification of God. Paul
commanded, "Whether, then, you eat or drink or whatever you do, do all to the
glory of God" (I Corinthians
10:31). Humility is the foundation
of all the other virtues because it enables us to see the way God sees. To live a life of humility, we must practice
being submissive. Do we really want to
be a servant as our Lord?
"Daily Devotions by Guy Roberson"
Walnut Street Church of Christ
