Monday in Holy Week,
[The Scripture passages chosen for this week were all conversations Jesus had during these last few days prior to his crucifixion. These are roughly in chronological order.]
WEDDING FEAST
Scripture
Matthew 22:1-14 (ESV)
And again Jesus spoke to them in parables, saying, “The kingdom of heaven may be compared to a king who gave a wedding feast for his son, and sent his servants to call those who were invited to the wedding feast, but they would not come. Again he sent other servants, saying, ‘Tell those who are invited, “See, I have prepared my dinner, my oxen and my fat calves have been slaughtered, and everything is ready. Come to the wedding feast.”’ But they paid no attention and went off, one to his farm, another to his business, while the rest seized his servants, treated them shamefully, and killed them. The king was angry, and he sent his troops and destroyed those murderers and burned their city.
Then he said to his servants, ‘The wedding feast is ready, but those invited were not worthy. Go therefore to the main roads and invite to the wedding feast as many as you find.’ And those servants went out into the roads and gathered all whom they found, both bad and good. So the wedding hall was filled with guests.
“But when the king came in to look at the guests, he saw there a man who had no wedding garment. And he said to him, ‘Friend, how did you get in here without a wedding garment?’ And he was speechless. Then the king said to the attendants, ‘Bind him hand and foot and cast him into the outer darkness. In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’ For many are called, but few are chosen.”
Some Thoughts
In this account Jesus told a parable on the Pharisees and leading Jewish priests. Just prior to this passage in Matthew’s gospel, Jesus made a similar point with the parable of the evil tenants who killed the vineyard owner’s son. In this parable the king is God the Father, his son, the bridegroom, is the Messiah. The religious leaders and the children of Israel represent the invited guests. An invitation is sent to the guests to attend the wedding feast. Their refusal to come is portrayed as their failure to rightly understand the prophetic messages of Old Testament prophets well as their current rejection of the Messiah.
The king then sent more servants with a second invitation describing the preparation, joy, and greatness of the wedding banquet. But they too were met with indifference and hostility, even killing the sent servants—the prophets. When the guests refused to come, the king destroyed the town. This harsh language is similar to Old Testament judgment verbiage. Finally the king then sent more servants out to invite everyone indiscriminately, good and bad alike. To the self-righteous Pharisees and Jewish priests this general invitation was damnable. Gentiles were despised. Recall Jesus’ words that unless your righteousness exceeds the righteousness of the teachers of the religious law and Pharisees, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven (Matt. 5:20). Jesus made the point that kingdom righteousness is beyond merely rigorous attempts to obey the law, the very thing the Jewish leaders stressed endlessly. Here, God’s grace was pictured firsthand which was more than the priests and Pharisees could handle.
Finally, when the king entered the feast, he noticed one of the guests was not wearing the proper wedding clothes. [Regardless of social position in Jesus’ day, everyone knew the necessity of wearing proper wedding clothes.] When confronted by the king, though called a friend, the guest had no answer. The fact that he had no response meant he knew he was guilty. The king had him thrown out into outer darkness. This guest was a fraud. [See Matt. 7:13-27 for Jesus’ further description of this guest.]The outer darkness is a metaphor for final judgment.
In the parable, Jesus described three kinds of people. Though all people were invited, there were those who refuse outright to come into the kingdom, there were those who came but refused to submit to kingdom norms and were thus rejected, and there were those who were chosen and embraced the kingdom through God’s grace. The Pharisees and leading priests understood this parable to be against them and were even more determined to kill Jesus.
The last verse reminds us that the grace of God is extends to everyone though only a few respond in faith. Notice, unlike the Pharisees and priests, we are not the ones who set the guidelines for entering the kingdom of God. You and I are the servants who go out into the roads and gather all we find. We don’t decide who’s worthy. Every person is graciously invited to come as they are. Continue to pray for those people who come across your path who have not yet embraced the narrow way to life in God’s kingdom. May the message of Holy Week and Easter continue throughout this year to penetrate the hearts of people from every tribe, nation, and tongue, and may we be helpful in the proclamation in our little part of the world.
Music “The Church’s One Foundation,” Duke Chapel Choir
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2ECY2IIeRg8&list=RD2ECY2IIeRg8&start_radio=1
Prayer
Remember, O Lord, your Church, to deliver her from all evil, and to make her perfect in your love; and gather together from the four winds the sanctified Church into your kingdom, which you have prepared for her. For yours is the power and the glory forevermore. Amen.
(the Didache, c.120 AD)