Jesus seems to be concentrating on the positive side of the honor code of society in His time. In Mediterranean societies of Jesus’ day public shame and public honor were of very great importance. His advice seems to be about how not to be shamed in public, and how to be wise enough so that you are more likely to be honored. Don’t sit in the top seat in case you’re moved down, but do sit in the lower place so that you have the chance of being moved up. There is a certain practical wisdom being deployed. However, Jesus is surely saying much more than that. Heaven is often compared in the scriptures to a wedding banquet, so we can assume Jesus is using this imagery here. The context is one of eternal salvation. So in the case of getting to the heavenly banquet, do not presume that you are worthy and better than everyone else. Presumption, St. Thomas Aquinas says, comes from pursuing something beyond our powers. Authentic humility is necessary because without it we can never benefit from God’s grace. If we think we are self-sufficient, God will respect that, but we will never be able to enjoy the banquet of eternal life. Presumption is better than despair, better than false humility, but all should be avoided in favor of genuine humility.
So how we are to be invited to the great wedding banquet of eternal life? First of all we are called to realize that there is absolutely nothing we can do to deserve, earn or buy an invitation. The invitation is an entirely free gift of God. That is the first reason why we should not presume to think we should even be there, let alone sit at the top place. Secondly, the invitation we have been given is always available through the passion, death and resurrection of the Lord. How do we respond to the invitation? We can do so by participating in the sacraments. Through the sacrament of penance we show the necessary and fitting humility to accept the invitation. Then the Eucharist is the great feast in this world which anticipates the heavenly banquet. In the Holy Mass, Jesus is the lamb of sacrifice, the high priest and the bread of life. In the whole sacramental system, we have a new way of conducting human affairs – it is the renewal from within of our human interaction, with the added benefit that is also helps us interact with and be more closely united to God.