The substance of this Sunday’s Gospel reading is an instruction on humility, but the reading does not begin that way. Luke writes, “One Sabbath Jesus went to dine at the house of a ruler who was a member of the Pharisees.”

In his ongoing catechesis under the framework “Journey to Jerusalem,” Luke continues to astound readers with difficult material for instruction. In this Sunday’s Gospel reading he seems to have reached the limits of problematic sayings attributed to Jesus.

The immediately preceding context, which was also last Sunday’s gospel reading, centered on the end time and the return of Jesus, although in somewhat veiled language. What now follows in Luke’s Gospel seems to also be related to the end time and the expected problems in such a time of turmoil and upheaval.