The gospel for the upcoming Sunday is taken from the Gospel of Luke describing an encounter with the Pharisees at a banquet. In yesterday’s post we discussed “humility”. Today we consider “honor.” The meal setting is common in many of the gospels as a metaphor for the celebration of the Kingdom’s come. But it is also often a setting of controversy. Consider that 14:1-6 centered on the debate at table regarding the lawfulness of curing on the Sabbath – reminiscent of earlier discussions about appropriate behavior on the Sabbath (e.g., 6:2, 9; 13:14–16). When Jesus asks if it would be lawful to cure the man with dropsy, those at the table are silent. When Jesus next asks if their son or oxen fell into a cistern would they pull them out, again, they are silent. The easiest take on their reaction is that Jesus has them timid and stumped. But there was a long standing tradition for debate about the understanding of the Law. I would suggest that given Jesus’ challenging questions, one would need time to think about the reasoning – and in the face of such challenging wisdom, perhaps there is a struggle for the host to figure out exactly where this wandering preacher from Nazareth should be sitting.

That dynamic then opens the way for Jesus’ larger questions about honor at meals. Notice that vv.7-11, addressed to guests, is parallel to vv. 12-14, addressed to hosts, both showing a common pattern in which humility plays out.