I suppose a second thought is that this pericope (a "pericope" is an extract from a text, but particularly an extract from a book of the Bible) does not require much by way of exegetical clarification to understand what the Lord is saying in either of his two utterances.
In this passage, he does not use parables. Rather, he speaks directly about what he is experiencing at the dinner. Concerning the points he seeks to make, not only can we say plus ça change plus c'est la même chose, it seems, at least to me, that the tendencies he address have become even more pronounced.
Mindful that what used to be satire is now real, in our day and cultural milieu what Jesus denounces regularly occurs it what would perhaps seem to him an exaggerated manner. We talk a lot about humility and remain not just prideful but downright arrogant. We're always careful to ensure that any definition of humility we set forth preserves not only our pride but often our vanity.
One of the great things about the virtue of genuine humility is that helps you get beyond self-deception and exaggerated self-images. Often, we to distinguish between humility and humiliation. More often than not, only the proud can be humiliated. The truly humble person cannot be humiliated in most instances. This is not because the genuinely humble person necessarily thinks that s/he is deserving of the humiliation. It's because that person has rid her/himself of the vice of pride. So, s/he can chalk up to the insecurity of the person or people responsible for the humiliation.
Just as prudence governs the virtues, pride can be said to govern the vices. The main point of Jesus' first teaching in today's Gospel is that a humble person often (by no means always) avoids humiliation because, not being prideful, s/he is not prone to acting in presumptive ways.
As to the second teaching, we do not understand the Gift Economy. We only understand the Exchange Economy. The latter makes life a perennial quid pro quo, which, in turn, makes us all users and the used. The economy of the kingdom of God is the Gift Economy. Such an economy is "a system of exchange where valuables are not sold, but rather given without an explicit agreement for immediate or future rewards."
How many birthday and Christmas presents have you bought for people you wouldn't otherwise buy them for but, because they gifted you, you feel obligated to return the gift. To bring home how deeply ingrained the economy of exchange is in us, think of how easily and badly feelings are hurt when you buy someone a birthday, Christmas, or present for another occasion and then on the same or similar occasion they don't get you one. To cure this, Jesus tecahes that it's only when you gift something and expect nothing in return that you've truly given. So, give to those who are utterly incapable of paying you back.
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