Jesus has been invited by a group of Pharisees to dine with them. Noticing their behaviour he suggests that it is quite dangerous to go and take one of the best places because your host may come and ask you to give the place to someone else and you will lose a lot of face. On the contrary, says Jesus, make a point of going to the lowest place so that your host will come and say, "Please come and sit up here near me." And you will get the admiration (and perhaps the envy) of your fellow-guests. Luke may not only have been thinking of Pharisees. It is possible that manoeuvring for the places nearest to Jesus may have been a problem, even at the Last Supper. Luke says that while they were in the upper room that evening, an argument had broken out among them about which of them was the greatest. Jesus concludes with a general principle: Those who raise themselves up will be humbled and those who humble themselves will be raised up. It is another way of saying what Jesus has taught earlier, namely, that the greatest in the Kingdom of God is the one who puts himself at the disposal of others, who uses his gifts in serving the well-being of others and who has no interest whatever in titles, dignity or status. What a lovely world it would be if everyone acted like that!