(9) And thou begin with shame to take the lowest room.--At first sight the words seem to suggest lower motives than those by which the disciples of Christ should regulate their lives--an artificial and calculating rather than a real humility. Three explanations may be given of what is a very real difficulty--(1) That all precepts bearing directly upon social ethics start naturally, as in the Book of Proverbs (from which the form of the teaching is, indeed, directly derived, comp. Proverbs 25:6-7), from the prudential rather than the spiritual view of life. (2) That there is in this counsel an adaptation of teaching that, left to itself, would have been higher, to the weaknesses of those who listened; a method, that as we have noted elsewhere, can hardly be defined in strictly accurate language, but, in its merely human aspects, might be regarded as involving some tinge of grave and solemn irony. From their own point of view even, they were grasping at the shadow and losing the substance, poor as that substance was. Their restless vanity was suicidal. (3) There is the deep ethical truth that every victory obtained, even under the influence of a lower motive, over a dominant weakness or strong temptation, strengthens the habit of self-control, and that the power thus developed tends in the nature of things to go on to further and yet further victories.

14:7-14 Even in the common actions of life, Christ marks what we do, not only in our religious assemblies, but at our tables. We see in many cases, that a man's pride will bring him low, and before honour is humility. Our Saviour here teaches, that works of charity are better than works of show. But our Lord did not mean that a proud and unbelieving liberality should be rewarded, but that his precept of doing good to the poor and afflicted should be observed from love to him.And he that bade thee and him,.... To the feast, and who is the master of it, and has a right to dispose of, and order his guests at his table, as he thinks fit:

come and say to thee, give this man place; pray rise up, and give this honourable man this seat, which is more suitable for a person of his rank and figure, and take another:

and thou begin with shame to take the lowest room; or place, which must unavoidably fill a man with shame and confusion; because hereby his pride and vanity, in affecting the uppermost room, will be publicly exposed; and he who before sat in the chief place, will have the mortification, before all the guests, to be seated in the lowest.