Last and First: Today’s gospel is the source of an iconic turn of phrase. “For behold, some are last who will be first, and some are first who will be last. “(Lk. 13:30) The contradiction of being last yet first, or first yet last leaves a striking image in the mind. It brings another passage to my mind, that of Luke 14:7-11.
Jesus is telling the story of guests invited to a banquet; one guest comes in and takes the best seat while another guest enters and chooses the lowest seat. The host of the party moves, the first guest to the lower seat and the last guest to the higher seat.
In both gospel passages the main lesson seems to be about being humble versus being humiliated. A person with a humble attitude will not often be humiliated.
Being Humble
What does it actually mean to be humble? The Christian definition of being humble has to do with living in the truth of who you are before God, and who God is in the context of all of creation. To live in the truth of who you actually are as a creature of God, created by God for his glory. This implies that all that you have, all that you are, comes from God. Your actions and your attitude reflect this truth. To be humble, then is not an emotion, but an attitude.
Living in the truth also has to do with the truth about others. While it is possible for God to know the truth about everyone, it is not always possible for each of us to know the truth about everyone else. This is also a part of living the virtue of humility: to accept that I do not know everything there is to know about other people. If I am able to accept this, my harsh judgments of others could possibly diminish.
Will Only a Few Be Saved?
It seems to me that the question posed to Jesus at the beginning of this gospel passage, “Lord, will only a few people be saved? “(Lk. 13:23) could be loaded with harsh judgment of others. Jesus answers the question by stating the difficulty in being saved oneself. It is as if he is saying, “if you want to be saved, … “In fact, he says the word “you” nine times after beginning his answer.
The lesson could be, worry about your own salvation before worrying about that of others. Our main mission in life is to get to Heaven. We do have a missionary mandate to share the good news of salvation with others. However, it is not our mandate to continually judge others harshly. Instead, we must live in the truth of who we are facing God, trusting that He will work our salvation out if we give ourselves wholeheartedly to Him.
[Readings: Isaiah 66:18-21; Hebrews 12:5-7, 11-13; Luke 13:22-30]
