Parable of the impolite guests
"Observing how the guests chose the first seats at the table, he told them a parable, telling them"
This parable begins with a richly detailed description, consistent with its teaching and application content. In those days, they did not use, as they do today, the card system to previously assign the location of the guests to the table. Consequently, we can imagine that those who were arriving went to the room of the house where the table had been set and hurried as much as possible to occupy the best places. At that time there were 4 main places on the table. Instead of chairs, a kind of mat was used and the guests reclined at the table. On each side of the table there were 3 places to recline; and on each side, the central place was that of honor, with a total of four main places for the entire table. At the head of the table were the first, second and third places: the second place, or central place, was the place of honor.
Around, on the other side, were the fourth, fifth, and sixth places, and the place of honor was the fifth. Continuing around the table, on the other side, were the seventh, eighth, and ninth places, with the eighth place being the place of honor. And on the fourth side of the table, the eleventh place was the place of honor.
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It was understandable that one of these old Pharisees did not move as fast as any of the young Pharisees. When the cook announced that the first plate of lunch or dinner was ready, we can imagine that the old Pharisee was heading as fast as he could to the second place, that of honor, at the head of the table. Perhaps a young Pharisee had arrived there before him and then the old man would successively try to get to the fifth place on time; if the latter was already busy, he would try to reach the eighth and if the latter was not free either, perhaps he would be able to occupy the eleventh. Although this was the least important, it was still considered a place of honor.
We can imagine that it would have been a comical scene to contemplate those men trying to get as quickly as they could to the places of greatest honor. So the time had come for the Lord to correct his manners with elementary rules of behavior. Let's continue reading verses 8-10:
"When you are invited by someone to a wedding you do not feel in the first place, lest someone more distinguished than you be invited by him, and when the one who invited you and him comes, he says to you: Give place to this one, and then you have to take the last place in shame. Rather, when you are invited, go and sit in the last place, so that when the one who invited you comes, you will say: Dude, go to this most prestigious place. Then you will have the recognition of those who sit with you at the table. "
The first thing that the Lord advised the guest at a wedding party was the following: "You do not sit in the main place. Your host may have thought of another guest for such a place and then he will come and tell you: change to the last place in the table so my guest of honor can sit here. " Actually, to move to the last place (that is, the twelfth) you would only have to move one place, but it would be very embarrassing.
And the advice would continue as follows: "always go to the least important place at the table. You will have no difficulty getting it occupied, because nobody else will try to get there. Then, when the host comes and sees where you are sitting, he will tell you:" You are my special guest. Please, take pride of place. "Then, someone else will have to change places. Anyway, these would be good manners and just the opposite behavior to the usual race of this group to occupy the places of greatest honor.