Fellow redeemed of Christ, here is a topic of much importance to the Church. Jesus speaks of taking places of honor at a wedding feast. In his own way, He relates this to the Great Wedding Feast—the Feast of Victory of the Lamb. So, when Jesus speaks of a wedding feast, we have no option but to look at the Foretaste of the Feast to Come that He has given us to do in remembrance of Him. It is a matter of much importance to the Church because it is in this feast that her members find their Life in Christ.

Last week, we were told by our Lord that the door to Heaven is narrow. There is only one door, and it is too narrow to enter carrying anything, like a sack of pet sins; it is too narrow to enter wearing your awards for meritorious service; it is too narrow to enter with shoulders broadened by the idea that "I've done my best" (an impossible thing to do); it is too narrow to enter as a group—to say that I have entrance because I carry membership in this congregation is ridiculous, Jesus died for all as individuals. The door is wide enough for only one person at a time—a person who has been clothed with the righteousness of Christ. But the door is nothing for the person who trusts in Christ to be concerned about. For if our entrance has already been won, then we have what's on the other side of the door to look forward to—the Wedding Feast of the Lamb!

And for our short time on earth, we get a glimpse of that Feast in the Lord's Supper. So, we hear these words from Jesus regarding the feast:

When someone invites you to a wedding feast, do not take the place of honor, for a person more distinguished than you may have been invited. If so, the host who invited both of you will come and say to you, "Give this man your seat." Then, humiliated, you will have to take the least important place. But when you are invited, take the lowest place, so that when your host comes, he will say to you, "Friend, move up to a better place." Then you will be honored in the presence of all your fellow guests. For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted.

Jesus begins his instructions by speaking to those invited to the Wedding Feast. He speaks of bad table manners, referring to the particular attitude of the individual in attendance. It is haughty for one filled with pride and self-importance to wander into the house and right up to the place of importance at the table; it is sinful to go to the table as a guest and expect or demand or think that you deserve to be served. It may be that you have seen this kind of thing happen, perhaps even had to do it yourself—someone in either their arrogance or ignorance has to be directed away from the head table because they should not be there. It is embarrassing and humiliating when someone is told to return to where they came from and sit down.

Such a person is the kind of person with broad shoulders who will never be able to enter through that narrow door. Their view of themselves and others is dangerously turned in upon themselves. It is the same attitude that the sons of Zebedee had when they approached Jesus and asked for the places of honor in Jesus' glory. It is the same attitude of all the disciples at the Last Supper—for when Jesus had told them that He was going to be betrayed, they wondered who would do this, then "a dispute arose among them as to which of them was considered to be greatest."

"The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and a contrite heart, O God, Thou wilt not despise." If these are the actions of one with broad shoulders, then the attitude of a guest at the feast should be one of humility. The humble guest recognizes that it is by gracious invitation that he is at the table. The humble guest recognizes that it is only by that same invitation that he is even in the house—that he is through the narrow door. The humble guest is like the publican who enters the temple, stays in the back and keeps his head bowed low and confessed, "God, have mercy on me, a sinner." The humble guest is like the woman who is satisfied, like a little dog, with the crumbs that fall from the master's table. The humble guest is the one who approaches the table, thankful that he has a place there.

These are the proper table manners Jesus speaks in His instructions. "But when you are invited, take the lowest place, so that when your host comes, he will say to you, 'Friend, move up to a better place.' Then you will be honored in the presence of all your fellow guests." There is no deserving to be served; for if we received what we deserved, there would be no Christ, no Feast, no doorway, and we would all be lost and without any hope. But by God's gracious invitation, we are served the righteousness of Christ. So, we should approach the Lord's Table, thankful for what we are about to receive—we take the lowest place—and we are filled with Christ and His merits, made to be like him—we are honored in the presence of all our fellow guests.

Take Christ's example as your own. In response to the bickering of the disciples mentioned earlier, Christ says, "[W]ho is greater, the one who is at the table or the one who serves? Is it not the one who is at the table? But I am among you as one who serves." For whom is the highest place reserved? We should have no doubt and we would be quick to answer "Christ," of course, and the scriptures confirm this. But the scriptures also confirm that Jesus switched places. For in that same night when He was betrayed, Jesus took a bowl and towel and switched places by crawling on the floor and washing His disciples' feet. He switched places with us, taking the punishment and death that we deserved. Hear it from St. Paul, who also speaks of the highest place Jesus ascended to:

[Christ Jesus], being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, but made himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself and became obedient to death—even death on a cross! Therefore God exalted him to the highest place and gave him the name that is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

Christ switched places with us, granting us pardon while taking the death we deserved on the cross, taking us out of the Kingdom of Darkness, and granting us entrance into the glorious Kingdom of Light, His kingdom.

But, Christ does not end his instruction with the table manners of the guests. He then turns toward the host and has words for him as well.

When you give a luncheon or dinner, do not invite your friends, your brothers or relatives, or your rich neighbors; if you do, they may invite you back and so you will be repaid. But when you give a banquet, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind, and you will be blessed. Although they cannot repay you, you will be repaid at the resurrection of the righteous.

When Jesus speaks to the host of the Foretaste of the Feast to Come, He speaks not to Himself, but to the one who stands in His stead—for in this case, the one who serves the guests, the one who gives Jesus to those who are invited to Christ's table, is the pastor...the celebrant.

This meal is not a means to impress people or to somehow gain favor with those of high standing. The feast is not to be used so that people will be indebted to the host. No, Jesus instructs to close the table to the "high and mighty"—in other words, the table is off limits to the proud and arrogant. The celebrant is not to celebrate the Lord's Supper in order to gain favor among those he wishes as friends; nor is he to celebrate in order to influence people. On the contrary, he is to "invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, [and] the blind." The one who comes to the Lord's table with broad shoulders, expected and demanding to be served, eats and drinks to his condemnation—to this the steward of the mysteries, the celebrant, is to be on guard. The one who approaches the Lord's table in humility is graciously invited, and is there given forgiveness, life, and salvation; that which the poor, the crippled, the lame and the blind—that is, the sinner—needs. The celebrant is instructed to give Jesus to the penitent sinner for his forgiveness, and when you receive Christ's forgiveness, you also receive life and salvation.

This is a matter of much importance to the Church. Christ has given us a Foretaste of the Feast to Come; He has given us a means by which we receive Him and His righteousness. This feast, a mirror of the feast beyond the narrow door, is not for the Pharisee or the one who wallows in his own self-worth; this feast is closed to those who expect or demand to be served by Christ. The door is too narrow for these with broad shoulders. This feast is for those who have been invited by our Lord—the poor, the crippled, the lame, and the blind—for the sinner who trusts in Christ's saving word. This feast is for those who hunger and thirst for righteousness. This feast is for those who desire forgiveness for their sin. Are we among them? If so, then this feast is for us. To us, Christ gives life...he gives forgiveness and salvation. To us, Christ opens the narrow door, and ushers us in where with the angels and archangels and with all the company of heaven, we will laud and magnify His glorious name, evermore praising Him, and eating at the Wedding Feast which has no end.