Luke 14:7
And he put forth a parable to those which were bidden, when he marked how they chose out the chief rooms; saying unto them, And he put forth a parable to those which were bidden, when he marked how they chose out the chief rooms; saying unto them,
The verse opens a parable addressed to invited guests at a Sabbath meal in the house of a chief Pharisee, spoken when it was observed how they picked out the chief rooms and highest places of honor at the feast. Though cast as a parable, it portrays real scenes witnessed in actual life, and through it their grasping for seats of honor was reproved while their conduct was turned into a lesson on humility. It was uttered as one having authority, instructing disciples in the duties and regulations of true social life, which are the same as the laws of the kingdom of God, with great clearness and simplicity and certainty, with precious fitness like apples of gold in pictures of silver.
When invited to a wedding, a guest should not take the highest room, lest a more honorable guest come and the host require giving place and compel a shameful removal to the lowest room. Instead the guest should take the lowest room, so the host may invite him to move higher to honor in the presence of fellow guests. Those who exalt themselves will be humbled and those who humble themselves will be exalted, and it is better to be honored by being lifted up than to lift up and exalt self. Striving for the highest place brings peril to the soul, warning against seeking honor and against failing to remain humble before God.
Seeking the highest place and wanting to be first reveal pride, self-importance, and desire to impress others rather than the meekness and lowliness of Jesus, while genuine worth comes from following Christ rather than pursuing outward show or human approval. Those who seek supremacy display themselves instead of Jesus and cannot be trusted with the work of the Lord. Self-exaltation leads to humiliation while humility leads to honor, so seeking the highest seat from pride brings a person low, and the one who seeks the first seat will ultimately have the last and lowest seat. The nearer people come to Jesus, the less they desire exalted positions.
The parable it introduces goes on to charge a host making a dinner or supper not to invite friends, brethren, kinsmen, or rich neighbors lest repayment be made. He is instead to invite the poor, the maimed, the lame, and the blind for blessing because they cannot recompense, with recompense to come at the resurrection of the just. Then, upon hearing blessed is he that shall eat bread in the kingdom of God, it tells of a certain man who made a great supper and bade many and sent his servant at supper time to announce readiness. But the invited with one consent made excuse about a piece of ground to see, five yoke of oxen to prove, and a marriage preventing coming, which the servant reported to his lord.