The Grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Love of God, and the Fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all. Amen.
Matthew 22:1 “And Jesus answered and spoke to them again in parables, saying, 2 ‘The kingdom of heaven may be compared to a king, who gave a wedding feast for his son. 3 And he sent out his slaves to call those who had been invited to the wedding feast, and they were unwilling to come. 4 Again he sent out other slaves saying, ‘Tell those who have been invited, Behold, I have prepared my dinner; my oxen and my fattened livestock are all butchered and everything is ready; come to the wedding feast.’ 5 But they paid no attention and went their way, one to his own farm, another to his business, 6 and the rest seized his slaves and mistreated them and killed them. 7 But the king was enraged and sent his armies, and destroyed those murderers, and set their city on fire. 8 Then he said^ to his slaves, ‘The wedding is ready, but those who were invited were not worthy. 9 Go therefore to the main highways, and as many as you find there, invite to the wedding feast.’ 10 And those slaves went out into the streets, and gathered together all they found, both evil and good; and the wedding hall was filled with dinner guests. 11 But when the king came in to look over the dinner guests, he saw there a man not dressed in wedding clothes, 12 and he said^ to him, ‘Friend, how did you come in here without wedding clothes?’ And he was speechless. 13 Then the king said to the servants, ‘Bind him hand and foot, and cast him into the outer darkness; in that place there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’ 14 For many are called, but few are chosen.’” (NASB)
Today we continue working our way through a series of parables told by Jesus in the closing days of His earthly ministry and in these closing weeks of the Season of Pentecost. Today we consider the parable of the King’s Wedding Banquet, which was probably told on Tuesday of holy week on the temple grounds.
It’s a simple story, at least on the face of it. A king had arranged a marriage for his son. The king went about making the finest arrangements for his son, the bride, and the people of his kingdom. Weddings and the institution of marriage use to be a big deal. When Jesus told this parable, wedding banquets were a big deal and could last up to a week. A royal wedding feast certainly did.
The king in the parable spared no expense. He paid for everything. The guests didn’t have to spend a penny. They didn’t have to bring a gift. The entrée was not going to be chicken. It was not a cash bar. You didn’t have to go out and buy new clothes to fit the occasion. Everything was paid for by the host, everything was provided (food, housing, clothing).And everything provided was going to be the best.
When the time came the “King sent out his slaves to call those who had been invited to the wedding feast, [but there was a problem] “they were unwilling to come.” The people of the kingdom didn’t want to be bothered. In their minds they had more important things to do. In days gone by church services on Sunday morning use to be the priority. There was little more important that going to the banquet of God’s Word and Sacrament Ministry.
In this week’s parable the King “sent out other slaves saying, ‘Tell those who have been invited, Behold, I have prepared my dinner; my oxen and my fattened livestock are all butchered and everything is ready; come to the wedding feast.’ 5 But they paid no attention and went their way, one to his own farm, another to his business, 6 and the rest seized his slaves and mistreated them and killed them.”
The Greek word translated “mistreated” means literally to “treat in an arrogant or spiteful and abusive manner,” which in this case led to murder just like the tenants in the vineyard. In this parable Jesus was again invoking the treatment of the Old Testament prophets.
He was also using the image of the God’s wedding feast in Isaiah 25:26-27. “The Lord of hosts will prepare a lavish banquet for all peoples on this mountain; A banquet of aged wine, choice pieces with marrow,
And refined, aged wine. And on this mountain He will swallow up the covering which is over all peoples, Even the veil which is stretched over all nations.”
You have to be a pretty hateful, self-righteous, and short sighted people for the story to start with grand wedding banquet cut from the cloth of Isaiah 25 to end up with the murder of the king’s messengers. It’s just like last week’s parable. The people driven mad by sin and God’s invitation.
In last week’s parable Jesus ended the parable by asking the religious elite a question about what the owner of the vineyard would do to the murdering thieves who had killed His son. They said that the vineyard owner, “will bring those wretches to a wretched end.” In this parable Jesus “ups-the-anti” and the king actually does it. “The king was enraged and sent his armies, and destroyed those murderers, and set their city on fire.”
In the ministries of John the Baptist and Jesus, the whole nation of Israel had been called to repent. They were called to contrition over sin, to be baptized, and to faith in Christ. But very few understood and believed the Gospel. In 70 A.D. God did to the “nation” of Israel what the king in the parable. He sent the Romans and they laid siege to the city, set it on fire, destroy the temple, and scattered the people.
But Jesus was not finished crafting His parable. Having dealt with his unwilling and rebellious subjects, the king 8 “said to his slaves, ‘The wedding is ready, but those who were invited were not worthy. 9 Go therefore to the main highways, and as many as you find there, invite to the wedding feast.’ 10 And those slaves went out into the streets, and gathered together all they found, both evil and good; and the wedding hall was filled with dinner guests.”
Now the first thing that should have caught your attention is that the king calls the first group “unworthy.” They were unworthy because of their rejection of the king and the king’s invitation. To make it less abstract. The people were invited to the wedding, to church to celebrate the marriage of Christ Jesus to His bride the church. They rejected the call of the Gospel.
Their rejection of the call of the Gospel prompts the king to send his slaves to go out and round up everyone they find in the streets to become a part of the wedding feast, the church. That included people who were “evil and good.” Some translation say, “bad and good,” but the original Greek doesn’t say “bad.” “Bad” is a watered-down translation. “Bad” is a bad translation! The original text says “ponārous kai agathous,” evil and good. (It’s the same word that Jesus used in the Lord’s Prayer, “Deliver us from evil—ponārou.”
From God’s perspective evil is anything that stands in opposition to Him and His holy will. From God’s perspective there is no one who is good, except the Son of God. Everyone who is invited and called to the wedding feast of Christ and the Church is by nature evil. But Jesus didn’t crafted a parable from God’s perspective. He used earthly images to teach heavenly truths.
Jesus’s audience consists of two groups. One group includes the lowliest the low. The repentant faithful (e.g., tax collectors and former prostitutes). The other group consists of a many of the religious elites: chief priests, elders, Pharisees, and such.
According to the world’s definition, the religious elite, the ruling elite were the good guys. They worked at being good by complying with the more than 600 rabbinical laws. They were the best, most upstanding and good people you would know.
On the other side of the “good/evil continuum” were the tax collectors and the prostitutes; the cripples; the lepers. The lowest of the low. These were regarded as the “evil” people. The best that could be said of them was that they were Israelites. They had their bloodline going for them. At least that would count for something. Gentiles and Samaritans were considered the worst of all sinners, thoroughly evil.
But sinful human beings and God see evil differently. Sinful human beings have a habit of getting confused over what is good and what is evil. But when it comes to a difference in judgment on such things, God’s judgment is what counts. What counts in God’s eyes is who is seated at His heavenly banquet table.
In the parable all those who answered the King’s invitation have been deemed worthy. “Many are called, but few are chosen.” It makes no difference to God whether the rest of the world saw them of sees you as “good” or “evil.” It didn’t matter to the king in the parable because it doesn’t matter to God the Father.
People from that second group were welcomed into God’s royal feast. They were welcomed into the church. Why? Because they responded to His gracious calling/invitation. They responded in faith to their Lord and King.
Well all but one did. The king “came in to look over the dinner guests, [and] he saw there a man not dressed in wedding clothes, and he said to him, ‘Friend, how did you come in here without wedding clothes?’ And he was speechless. 13 Then the king said to the servants, ‘Bind him hand and foot, and cast him into the outer darkness; in that place there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’ 14 For many are called, but few are chosen.”
One guest is not “endedumenon,” clothed properly. Without getting too technical, the Greek word is a perfect middle-passive participle meaning “having been clothed and therefore now wearing.” The man had been clothed in and was still wearing his common clothing, his sinful nature.
The king had provided suitable clothing for those brought in to the feast, but this guest has refused to wear the garments provided. He has chosen to remain in his own self righteousness. When the king asked the man why he wasn’t dressed appropriately, the man was speechless. He was without excuse.
The garment provided by the king is the righteous robe of Jesus Christ. The garment worn by this particular guest was his own good works. The garment provided by the king made the guests worthy. The garment worn by this particular guest made him worthy of being thrown out into utter darkness.
This guest’s inclusion in the parable and at the banquet table shows us that Jesus teaches that the visible church consists of true Christians who are wrapped in the righteous robe of Jesus Christ and false Christians who cling to their own perceived goodness and good works. But in the end, only those who wear the provided garment remain.
We have been clothed with Christ. We are the one who have been called to the feast. Galatians 3:27 “For all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ.” We are the ones who have been chosen of God to live in His kingdom. We were not chosen because of our works or status. We had none. That’s why we wear the person and works of Jesus Christ as a garment that covers our own sinful condition.
The parable not only points us to a reality that exist here and now in the hidden church. It also points us to the church victorious, in the life of the world to come. There the garment of Jesus Christ worn by everyone, that means you. You who have been called and chosen will be at that feast and will not be thrown out.
Rev. 3:4-5 “But you have a few people . . . who have not soiled their garments; they will walk with Me in white; for they are worthy. He who overcomes shall thus be clothed in white garments; and I will not erase his name from the book of life.”
Rev. 7:9-10 “After these things I looked,” writes St. John, “Behold, a great multitude, which no one could count, from every nation and all tribes and peoples and tongues, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed in white robes, and palm branches were in their hands; and they cry out with a loud voice, saying, ‘Salvation to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb.’”
This morning, you’re all dressed up and you have a place to go.
AMEN
May the Peace that surpasses all understanding keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus our Lord. Amen.