Jesus compared the meal in the home of the chief Pharisee to that of a wedding feast, and his guests were scrambling to seat themselves in the most honorable positions at his table (Luke 14:1, 8). The context of a wedding supper would point to the coming of a husband for his bride, which itself pointed to Jesus’ coming at the end of the age to (Matthew 25:1-13). At such a time a wedding banquet would be prepared to celebrate the union of the bridegroom and his wife (Matthew 22:2-4). However, the context of Jesus’ parables of the wedding banquet also shows those who were invited refused to honor the invitation of the king (Matthew 22:2-14; cf. Luke 13:25, 28-30, 34-35).
Similarly, the guests of the chief Pharisee sought positions of prominence at the dinner table, but the positions they sought were the furthest from where Jesus, the Bridegroom, sat! In other words, they dishonored the Bridegroom, their Messiah, by seeking to be as far from him at the banquet as possible (Luke 14:7-8). Therefore, at the end of the age, when the Messiah would come in the glory of his Father, these men would find the door shut (cf. Matthew 25:10; Luke 13:25).
Jesus showed the other guests how their unchecked desire for prominence could end in their own humiliation, while a more modest approach to an honorable status might end in being exalted before all (Luke 14:7-10). Jesus earlier theme that there would be many who were first but would end up last in the Kingdom (Luke 13:30) is continued here but in the context of a banquet.
Jesus’ words seem to imply that he had taken the lowest position at the table, i.e. the furthest from his host, the chief Pharisee. Therefore, the competition of the other guests to get positions of honor at the table, i.e. to be as close to the chief Pharisee as possible, meant that they were choosing positions that were furthest from Jesus, their Messiah. In such a case they, who wished to be first, actually chose to be last (Luke 13:30).
The Lord tells us that our thoughts are not his thoughts, nor our ways his (Isaiah 55:8). Therefore, the Pharisees and rabbis at the table needed to reconsider the practices of their religion and take to heart how they treated the less advantaged among them. Religion is not a matter of ceremony (Isaiah 58:1-7), but of reaching out to the poor. If and when they would do these more important things, they would gain the Father’s ear when they prayed, and they would find themselves in positions of honor at his table (Isaiah 58:8-11).
Moreover, the positions the Pharisees and rabbis sought at the table exposed their hearts’ desire for honor. Each one exalted himself as much as he dared, for each, no doubt, had a pecking order in mind, as he chose his assumed place (Luke 14:11). Nevertheless, Jesus’ theme of the straight gate in Luke 13:24 is played out here at the chief Pharisee’s table. Each guest, while seeking to exalt himself as much as he could in present company, chose out a position at the table as near to his host as possible. Jesus, on the other hand, chose the lowest position, but is exalted by the Father in anointing him the Messiah. Therefore, in the end, these, who exalted themselves in this world, abased themselves as far as seeking to be near the Messiah is concerned. Jesus was exalted by the Father, but the Pharisees and lawyers (rabbis) chose to be as far away from his exalted position as humanly possible.
Smoodock's Blog 