There are no Hollywood stars or Disney princesses or NHL all-stars at the head of Jesus’ table. There are no place cards making sure that those with the most money, the most talent or the most influence are sitting in the choice spots. There is no head table for the guests of honour. As the apostle Paul writes to the Galatians, there is no Jew nor Greek, male nor female, slave nor free, for we are all one in Christ.
That’s the point that Jesus made in the story he told at the home of Pharisee, where he had been invited to eat the Sabbath meal. Jesus had just healed a man with dropsy (or swelling of the soft tissues of the body). Great, we might think. Jesus healed the man and the man could now go and enjoy life more. But technically healing would be work, and one didn’t work on the sabbath – so as Jesus enters the Pharisee’s home there is already a debate going on around him about whether he has broken the law.
But that doesn’t stop Jesus. He wasn’t one to refrain from causing chaos and dispute. So when he sees that people are jockeying to get the best seats at the table – the seats where they will be most noticed, be closest to the host, and get served first, Jesus dives right in with another challenge to conventional thinking. As people are trying to inch their way toward the good seats, he loudly pronounces, “When you are invited to a banquet, do not sit down in the place of honour or try to distinguish yourself. Take the lowest place – and let the host move you to the best place if the host so chooses.”