我的朋友珍妮是一名小學老師，她經常帶領學生去其他不同的教室上音樂或美術等科目。在前往另一間教室前，她會要求這些五年級的學生排隊，而他們總是爭先恐後，搶著要排在最前面的首位。但有一天，珍妮在學生們排好隊之後，出其不意地要所有人轉過身，從隊伍的最尾端那頭出發。學生們都震驚萬分，難以置信地說：「什麼？？」

在耶穌的時代，人們在宴會的餐桌上也有類似爭搶位置的現象。耶穌看到這種情況，就對與祂一同赴宴的賓客說了一個令他們非常驚訝的比喻。耶穌用了一個婚筵的比喻來教導他們「不要坐在首位」，而是要「坐在末位」（路加福音14章8-10節）。接著，耶穌又告訴他們說：「凡自高的，必降為卑；自卑的，必升為高」（11節）。這種思維完全顛覆了他們的社交常規。

要實踐這條上帝國度的法則並不容易，尤其是人類的本性會使我們仍然專注於獲取勝利，就像有些人現在選擇末位，只不過是為了以後能列居首位。然而，耶穌勸勉我們要學習祂的榜樣，尋求祂的幫助，好讓我們能重新調整思維，將謙卑、居於末位和低微，視為真正的尊貴位置。

As an elementary school teacher, my friend often escorted her students to various other classrooms for subjects such as music or art. When asked to line up to make their way to another room, the fifth-grade students would jockey for position, some scrambling for the coveted spot at the head of the line. One day, Jenni surprised them by having everyone turn around and leading them from what had been—just seconds before—the end of the line. Their shock was audible: “Whaaattt?”

When Jesus observed similar jockeying for position at a dinner table, He responded by telling a parable that undoubtedly surprised His fellow guests. Using a story about a wedding feast, He instructed them to “not take the place of honor” but instead “take the lowest place” (Luke 14:8-10). Christ confounded their social norms by saying that “all those who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted” (v. 11).

This kingdom principle can be a difficult one to adopt, especially because our human temptation will be to still focus on “winning” somehow—choosing the last position now so well be first later. But Jesus urges us to follow His example and look to Him for help in reorienting our thinking to see being humble, last, and lowly as truly being in the place of honor.