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Does ‘down here’ affect ‘up there’? (2)
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Now he (Jesus of Nazareth) told a parable to those who were invited, when he noticed how they chose the places of honour, saying to them, ….. (Luke 14: 7) |
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It’s around AD 30 in what is now Israel. Jesus is an invited guest to a dinner at the house of a Pharisee. Clearly, he has noticed how the guests were behaving on arrival…… Then he decides to speak to them all by describing a theoretical parallel situation… A wedding feast….
“When you, under someone, may be called into weddings, you may not sit down into the highest place, lest a more valued than you may be called, under him, and that one who called you and him will come and will say to you, ‘Give your place to this person,’ and then you will begin with shame to hold down the end place. But when you may be invited, having come, sit down in the end place, so that, when he who invited you may come, he may say to you, ‘Friend, move up higher.’ Then you will be honoured in the presence of all those sitting at table with you."
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Ouch! How embarrassing to be asked to take a back seat having planted oneself in the front.
But how super, eventually, to be accorded the right place.
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| What is strange about this parallel, however, is the reference to the one who “calls” these folk to “weddings”. The words Jesus used (“under someone” and “under him”) subtly indicate that the call comes from above the guests. Those listening that evening were not finding the best places among themselves. No, they were doing that in the presence of their “caller” above them.
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| Oh, dear. Richard Syvret, in particular, needs to know that all competition down here – in every area of life - takes place under eyes that are above. And those eyes will eventually sort out the seating plan.
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| “Because everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted.” |
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Sinner Syvret |
