Be Sure to Mind Your Manners—Lectionary Reflection for Pentecost 12C (Luke 14:1, 7-14)

 

James Tissot, The Meal in the House of the Pharisee

Luke 14:1, 7-14 New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition

14 On one occasion when Jesus was going to the house of a leader of the Pharisees to eat a meal on the Sabbath, they were watching him closely.

⁷ When he noticed how the guests chose the places of honor, he told them a parable. ⁸ “When you are invited by someone to a wedding banquet, do not sit down at the place of honor, in case someone more distinguished than you has been invited by your host, ⁹ and the host who invited both of you may come and say to you, ‘Give this person your place,’ and then in disgrace you would start to take the lowest place. ¹⁰ But when you are invited, go and sit down at the lowest place, so that when your host comes, he may say to you, ‘Friend, move up higher’; then you will be honored in the presence of all who sit at the table with you. ¹¹ For all who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted.”

¹² He said also to the one who had invited him, “When you give a luncheon or a dinner, do not invite your friends or your brothers and sisters or your relatives or rich neighbors, in case they may invite you in return, and you would be repaid. ¹³ But when you give a banquet, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, and the blind. ¹⁴ And you will be blessed because they cannot repay you, for you will be repaid at the resurrection of the righteous.”

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                Jesus was known to be invited to people’s homes for meals. In many cases, the hosts were people of means. Sometimes the hosts were religious leaders, while at other times they were people of less repute. After all, he was criticized for eating with sinners and tax collectors. He did host a few meals, the best known of which was his “Last Supper,” which became the foundation for the Christian observance of the Lord’s Supper, also known as the Eucharist and Holy Communion. Considering the nature of Jesus’ eating habits, one must ask who might join him at the Table. If interested in pursuing that question, I’ve written a book I’ve titled Eating with Jesus: Reflections on Divine Encounters at the Open Eucharistic Table (Cascade Books, 2025). In that book, I argue that based on Jesus’ dining habits, the church should open the table to everyone. If the Table is open, then the possibility of an encounter with Jesus is made available.

                The reading for the Twelfth Sunday after Pentecost offers us one of those opportunities to reflect on Jesus’ view of who he might want to share meals with. It is good to remember that the readings during this Pentecost season from Luke cover Jesus’ journey from Galilee to Jerusalem, where he will first be greeted as something of a hero but end up dying on a cross (before being resurrected). Along the way, Jesus had the opportunity to spend time with a variety of people, some of whom were religious leaders like the one he dined with here. We’re told that on one occasion, Jesus was invited to dinner on the Sabbath. Ron Allen and Clark Williamson note something worth pondering, and that “As a wandering teacher in Israel, Jesus regularly depended on the hospitality of strangers to him, a stranger in their community” [Preaching the Gospelswithout Blaming the Jews, pp. 231-232]. Therefore, at one level, this Pharisee did the right thing by welcoming Jesus into his home. Of course, the dinner didn’t go off without a bit of controversy.

We are told that the other guests at this Sabbath dinner were watching Jesus. While our passage includes verse 1, which places Jesus at the home of this religious leader somewhere in Judea, the reading skips to verse 7. In the verses lying between, Jesus has a discussion about whether it’s okay to heal on the sabbath, since there was a man with dropsy sitting in front of him (perhaps placed there to set up a confrontation). Jesus heals the man and then asks the same question he asked earlier at a synagogue after healing someone on the sabbath (Luke 13:10-17).  In this case, no one replies to Jesus’ question about healing on the sabbath.

                Once the healing had taken place and Jesus had silenced his would-be critics,  he went into observation mode. Luke tells us that he watched how the guests at this banquet chose to seat themselves. As he watched what was going on in the room, he offered a parable of sorts, though you might say this is a message involving table manners, with a twist.

                When you are invited to a wedding banquet, where do you sit? Do you take a seat at the head table, next to the newly married couple? Or do you find a place in a more discreet location? It might not be at the back of the room, but it’s not what you would call prime real estate. Jesus has some words of wisdom about seat selection that warrant our attention. He tells the people gathered at the meal that a person shouldn’t “sit down at the place of honor.” Why? It’s because someone more distinguished arrives at the banquet, so the host asks you to remove yourself from the place of honor and take a seat somewhere else, probably in the back. By choosing to exalt yourself, you will have disgraced yourself. However, if you seat yourself in the lowest place, probably at the back table, the host might come up to you and invite you to move higher. Then, you will be honored in the presence of the gathered guests. Isn’t that much better?  As Jesus told the group: “For all who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted” (Luke 14:11). This is bit of wisdom reflects Jewish wisdom teachings, such as that found in the Book of Proverbs:  Do not put yourself forward in the king’s presence or stand in the place of the great,  for it is better to be told, “Come up here,” than to be put lower in the presence of a noble” (Prov. 25:6-7). This is a bit of wisdom we can all take note of the next time we go to a banquet.

                After Jesus shared this bit of wisdom, he had more to say to the gathered community. Having told the group that those who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted, he has a word for his host (and for all of us). He offers a word of advice about hospitality that should prove challenging because it turns things upside down. When we throw a banquet or dinner party, it’s natural to invite friends and family. If you have rich friends, it’s better to invite them. After all, they might invite you to their place in return. Jesus’ message turns things upside down by telling the host to instead invite the poor, crippled, lame, and blind. That is, invite the people who live on the margins of society, the people who won’t be in a position to reciprocate. But you will be blessed, not because they reciprocate because they’re not in a position to do so, but rather in the resurrection. The message here has to do with the promised Messianic banquet, which the Eucharist itself presages.

One might think here of the vision we find in Revelation 19, which depicts the marriage supper of the Lamb. After the fall of Babylon, depicted in Revelation 18, a celebration takes place in Heaven (Rev. 19). It takes the form of the Marriage Supper of the Lamb.

⁶ Then I heard what seemed to be the voice of a great multitude, like the sound of many waters and like the sound of mighty thunderpeals, crying out,

“Hallelujah!

For the Lord God

    the Almighty reigns.

⁷ Let us rejoice and exult

    and give him the glory,

for the marriage of the Lamb has come,

    and his bride has made herself ready;

⁸ to her it has been granted to be clothed

    with fine linen, bright and pure”—

for the fine linen is the righteous deeds of the saints.

⁹ And the angel said to me, “Write this: Blessed are those who are invited to the marriage supper of the Lamb.” And he said to me, “These are true words of God.”  (Rev. 19:6-9).

                The invitation that is made in Revelation 19 is issued to the saints of God. When it comes to that banquet, none of us is in a position to reciprocate. However, if we follow Jesus’ guidance here, we will get to share in that banquet. Blessed are those who are invited to this banquet. There is no social hierarchy present in this invitation. This isn’t the way things are done in polite society, but it is the way things are done in God’s realm. [For more on this passage and its eucharistic implications, see Eating with Jesus, pp. 94-97].

                As we ponder this word from Jesus, it is worth remembering the words shared in Hebrews 13 about the nature of hospitality:  “Do not neglect to show hospitality to strangers, for by doing that some have entertained angels without knowing it” (Heb. 13:2). This passage is itself a reflection on the hospitality shown to the three strangers by Abraham and Sarah, strangers understood to be angels (or the Trinity in the famous Rublev icon) (Gen. 18:1-8). This word also has eucharistic implications.

                The lectionary reading ends in verse 14, but there is more to the story as Jesus isn’t finished with his message to the gathered dinner guests and their host. We’re told in verse 15 that one of the other dinner guests, having heard Jesus’ message about welcoming the marginalized, declared, “Blessed is anyone who will eat bread in the kingdom of God” (Luke 14:15). There is great truth to this statement. Still, it needs unpacking, so Jesus offers another parable, this time addressing those invited guests to a great banquet who choose not to attend, such that the host compels others, not originally invited, to come to the banquet (Luke 14:15-24). Again, there is a message of divine hospitality that needs to be unpacked, but for now, it is worth taking note of as we ponder what it means to gather together in the presence of God to share the meal of God’s realm.