Chapter 92

“Take the Lowest Room”

“And he put forth a parable to those which were bidden, when he marked how they chose out the chief rooms; saying unto them, When thou art bidden of any man to a wedding, sit not down in the highest room; lest a more honourable man than thou be bidden of him; And he that bade thee and him come and say to thee, Give this man place; and thou begin with shame to take the lowest room. But when thou art bidden, go and sit down in the lowest room; that when he that bade thee cometh, he may say unto thee, Friend, go up higher: then shalt thou have worship in the presence of them that sit at meat with thee. For whosoever exalteth himself shall be abased; and he that humbleth himself shall be exalted.”

(Luke 14:7-11)

Our Lord Jesus is not here giving us a lesson about the excellence of behaving with humility before men and moral virtue. This is obvious for three reasons:

1.        He is addressing a band of lost, self-righteous religious Pharisees.

2.        That which He says here simply is not true with regard to earthly things. In this world, if you want to get ahead, you must push your way ahead. If you want the highest seat, you must take it. If you are willing to settle for the lowest place, you are sure to get it. Everyone around you will gladly accommodate your wish.

3.        In His Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 6:1-8), our Savior taught us plainly that we must never attempt, in any way, to show our religion, to show godliness, or to show spirituality and devotion to God by any outward action. Let us adorn the Gospel (Titus 2:10) by our behavior, always. But we must never make a show of godliness.

            Believers, men and women who live for and seek the glory of God must never behave as proud worldlings do. Let it ever be ours to seek the glory of our God, the good of men, and the welfare of our brethren, each preferring the other better than himself, each submitting to the other, each promoting the other, and each serving the other. But we do not attempt to act religious or make a show of godliness before men.

Christ’s Example

Clearly, our Lord teaches us by the parable in these verses, throughout the Scriptures, and by His own example that we ought to be and always behave as truly humble people. One passage will be sufficient to show this: — Philippians 2:1-11.

“If there be therefore any consolation in Christ, if any comfort of love, if any fellowship of the Spirit, if any bowels and mercies, Fulfil ye my joy, that ye be likeminded, having the same love, being of one accord, of one mind. Let nothing be done through strife or vainglory; but in lowliness of mind let each esteem other better than themselves. Look not every man on his own things, but every man also on the things of others. Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus: Who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God: But made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men: And being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross. Wherefore God also hath highly exalted him, and given him a name which is above every name: That at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth; And that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.” (Philippians 2:1-11)

            Here in Luke 14:7-11 our Master teaches humility in two ways. First, He tells those who are bidden to a wedding to “sit down in the lowest room.” Second, He declares a great principle, which frequently fell from His lips: “Whosoever exalteth himself shall be abased, and he that humbleth himself shall be exalted.”

KEY

The key to this parable is found in Proverbs 25:6-7. — “Put not forth thyself in the presence of the king, and stand not in the place of great men: For better it is that it be said unto thee, Come up hither; than that thou shouldest be put lower in the presence of the prince whom thine eyes have seen.” The Lord must have had this passage in mind when He spoke this parable. He is the King to whose wedding feast sinners are bidden, before whom we must come in humility.

            The shame and confusion of face which in this parable is represented as the lot of mortified pride does not always follow it in this world. Self-assertion, self-assumption, forwardness, and boasting, do not always entail a disgraceful fall upon the person who behaves arrogantly. The meek do not as yet “inherit the earth,” though they assuredly will. David said of the ungodly, “with their mouth they speak proudly” (Psalm 17:10), and “speak grievous things proudly and contemptuously against the righteous” (Psalm 31:18).

            Men who are ambitious and self-seeking at times attain to the height of their ambition, provided, of course, that they have other qualities, such as prudence, cleverness, and perseverance. But a day is coming when the words of Christ with which the parable concludes (v. 11), will be verified in the case of every man. He is the King before whom all pride displays itself, and before whom it will be abased.

            And there is the greater reason that He should do so, for when He had the highest place in the universe next to the eternal Father, He abased Himself, and took the lowest place, even the place of the cross of death (2 Corinthians 8:9), in order to save and exalt forever all who humble themselves before Him. The Judge at that day will remember and humble every act of pride, just as He will remember and reward those who humble themselves before Him. He will bring every idle word into judgment, and make manifest the secrets of all hearts.

God’s Work

Yet, this humility is so contrary to our nature that we can never attain it. We can never perform it. We must be humbled by our God, or we will never humble ourselves before God. A humble man is a humbled man. We will never bow before the throne of grace until God Himself bows us by His grace. Oh, may God graciously humble us here rather than hereafter! It may be very bitter to have our pride mortified now, but it will be indescribably more bitter to have it mortified before men and angels, and before the presence of the great King and Judge of all the earth.

            To know our own sinfulness and weakness and to know our need of Christ is the very beginning of salvation. This thing called “salvation” begins with the conviction of sin. Abraham, and Moses, and Job, and David, and Daniel, and Paul were all truly humbled men. They were men who knew themselves sinners before the thrice holy Lord God, sinners chosen, redeemed, called, forgiven, justified, and accepted in Christ.

Humility

What is humility? One word describes it. The root of humility is right “knowledge.” It is wrought in us by the revelation of Christ to us in that day when the Fountain of redemption is opened to us (Zechariah 12:10; 13:1). The man who really knows himself and his own heart, who knows God and His infinite majesty and holiness, who knows Christ and the price with which he has been redeemed, that man is a humbled man. He counts himself, like Jacob, unworthy of the least of all God’s mercies. He says of himself, like Job, “I am vile.” He cries, like Paul, “I am chief of sinners.” (Genesis 32:10; Job 40:4; 1 Timothy 1:15). He considers anything good enough for him, and indescribably better than he deserves. In lowliness of mind he esteems his brethren better than himself (Philippians 2:3).

            Ignorance, nothing but sheer ignorance, ignorance of self, of God, and of Christ is the cause of all pride. From that miserable self-ignorance we should daily pray to be delivered. He is the wise man who knows himself; and he who knows himself will find nothing within to make him proud and everything to humble him.

            But our Lord does not here set humility before these Pharisees as a virtue to be cultivated. Rather, He is here exposing and rebuking the pride of that self-righteousness and unbelief that keeps sinners from trusting him.

Context

Look at the context in which this parable is given. Our Lord has just healed a poor, despised, needy man of the dropsy on the sabbath day, thereby condemning the Pharisees who used him to bait a trap, by which they hoped to destroy our Lord’s credibility as God’s prophet (vv. 1-6). Then, notice that the opening word of verse 7 is a conjunction — “And.” When the Pharisees could not answer Him, we read, “And he put forth a parable to those which were bidden, when he marked how they chose out the chief rooms” (v. 7).

            Then, after giving this parable, the Lord declares to the proud Pharisee who had invited him to dinner that true humility, true goodness serves those who can give nothing in return, from whom no benefit can be derived (vv. 12-14). Obviously, He was not teaching this work monger how to earn God’s blessing in the resurrection. Rather, He is teaching this man and us how God dispenses His favor — freely! The gospel of Christ is likened to an invitation to a great feast. And the Lord God, our great Savior graciously calls the poor, the maimed, the lame, and the blind, those who cannot recompense Him, to His banqueting table.

            One man in the crowd understood exactly what the Master was saying. Look at verse 15. — “And when one of them that sat at meat with him heard these things, he said unto him, Blessed is he that shall eat bread in the kingdom of God.”

            Then, our Lord continues His instruction. Remember, He is still in the Pharisee’s house. He is still talking about how men are to behave when they are invited to a wedding feast. Specifically, the Lord Jesus is here telling us how poor sinners must come to God’s great wedding feast.

“Then said he unto him, A certain man made a great supper, and bade many: And sent his servant at supper time to say to them that were bidden, Come; for all things are now ready. And they all with one consent began to make excuse. The first said unto him, I have bought a piece of ground, and I must needs go and see it: I pray thee have me excused. And another said, I have bought five yoke of oxen, and I go to prove them: I pray thee have me excused. And another said, I have married a wife, and therefore I cannot come. So that servant came, and showed his lord these things. Then the master of the house being angry said to his servant, Go out quickly into the streets and lanes of the city, and bring in hither the poor, and the maimed, and the halt, and the blind. And the servant said, Lord, it is done as thou hast commanded, and yet there is room. And the lord said unto the servant, Go out into the highways and hedges, and compel them to come in, that my house may be filled. For I say unto you, That none of those men which were bidden shall taste of my supper.” (Luke 14:16-24)

The Message

The purpose of our Lord Jesus in this parable is to teach us how sinners seeking mercy must come to God. Here is the message of the parable. — We must come to God, we must come to Christ as humble, worthless, doomed, damned, helpless, bankrupt sinners, taking our place in the dust before him. We must bow before Him in shame, taking the lowest seat in the dust before the throne of grace. — “For whosoever exalteth himself shall be abased; and he that humbleth himself shall be exalted.”

            This is a mystery that natural men do not understand. This is something no man will ever understand until he is born of God and taught by His Spirit (1 Corinthians 2:7-14). In the natural world the way up is up, but in the spiritual world the way up is down. “He that humbleth himself shall be exalted.” In the natural world, to live is to live, but in the spiritual world the way to live is to die. “He that findeth his life shall lose it: and he that loseth his life for my sake shall find it” (Matthew10:39). In the natural world men find satisfaction in their own strength, but Paul declared, “when I am weak, then 1 am strong” (2 Corinthians 12:10). The greatest thing God can do for a person (whatever the cost) is to show him in heart and soul the vanity of all things in this world (Ecclesiastes 1:2, 14), and to turn his interest, affection, love, and concern from the world to Christ (Matthew 5:3-12).

            To be full is to be emptied of self. To be wise is to become a fool for Christ’s sake. To be clothed we must be stripped. To be rich we must be made poor (Proverbs 16:18-19; Matthew 5:3; 11:29; James 4:6). Would you come to God and obtain the mercy and grace that He alone can give? Come to Christ. Come, taking the only ground He gives, as a poor sinner with nothing to give, trusting Christ alone for everything (1 John 1:7-10). Let us ever come to God just as we came to him in the beginning. — “As ye have received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk ye in him” (Colossians 2:6).

“Nought have I gotten, but what I received.

Grace hath bestowed it, since I have believed.

Boasting excluded, pride I abase—

I’m only a sinner, saved by grace!”

Don Fortner

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