“When he noticed how the guests picked the places of honor at the table, he told them this parable: “When someone invites you to a wedding feast, do not take the place of honor, for a person more distinguished than you may have been invited. If so, the host who invited both of you will come and say to you, ‘Give this person your seat.’ Then humiliated, you will have to take the least important place.” (Luke 14:7-9)
My married daughters spent much time preparing the seating arrangement for their weddings, so I understand the difficulties. At a work family wedding, the older people at work were at one table and the younger people sat at another. My husband and I were leftovers from the table of elders and were sat at the younger table. The spouse of a young co-worker sitting next to me turned his chair from me so I could only see his back. I felt like an unwanted insect.
We’re all guilty of honoring ourselves. We think we are a better mother, a better cook, a better athlete, etc. Perhaps Jesus will ask us to give up our seats of honor.
Jesus has his own seating chart in heaven. God sits on the main throne and Jesus sits to his right. Twenty-four thrones surround them – twelve belong to the sons of Jacob/Israel, the twelve tribes. The other twelve belong to the apostles. (Revelations 4:4) The surrounding spots belong to close family. Jesus says, “For whoever does the will of my father in heaven is my brother and sister and mother.” (Matthew 12:50)
When we get to heaven, Jesus is in charge of seating at the marriage supper of the lamb. Doing the will of God determines where we will sit. Don’t get me wrong, God loves everyone in His kingdom deeply and heaven will be paradise for all, but God has special rewards for those who do his will on earth.
Lord, let me be Your hands and feet on Earth. Tell me Your will, and give me the power of Your Holy Spirit to do it. I long to be close to you. In Jesus’ name I pray. Amen.
There is nothing worse than going to a wedding where you know no one but the bride or groom. Being placed at a table where you are surrounded by strangers, either asking a hundred questions or completely ignoring you because it feels awkward to everyone. Then there is the business meeting, where you don’t know a soul, and it is awkward. I was in business for years and then in education. I thought there was no where that politics could be worse than in the business world, until I was in education, and found out it is just as bad, if not worse. Then there is family. I feel rejected by one family because they have a club that I don’t feel part of. Then the other family who rejected my family because of a small child. Small children aren’t perfect, but yet he was expected to be perfect, and because he wasn’t perfect we weren’t included in what should have been fun family times. Now I guess I have heaven to add to the list, the one place that I thought might be different. Now there is a seating chart in heaven too.
A lot of people, in fact most people, interpret scripture differently than I do. Heaven is not going to be discriminatory. It will be pure bliss. Most people will tell you that everyone who does not accept Jesus as their savior during their life on earth will go to hell. I don’t believe that, and I do have biblical reasons for my beliefs. However, my beliefs can be wrong too. I am not an expert. I do a lot of research before I post, but my interpretations are often different from others. So we all need to interpret for ourselves. The Bible says we will be rewarded in heaven for what we do on earth. The Bible talks about crowns and seating arrangements and places in line, but they are likely symbolic for other rewards.