Saturday, September 30, 2006

The parable of the wedding banquet

Jesus spoke to them again in parables, saying: "The kingdom of heaven is like a king who prepared a wedding banquet for his son. He sent his servants to those who had been invited to the banquet to tell them to come, but they refused to come.

"Then he sent some more servants and said, `Tell those who have been invited that I have prepared my dinner: My oxen and fattened cattle have been butchered, and everything is ready. Come to the wedding banquet.'

"But they paid no attention and went off--one to his field, another to his business. The rest seized his servants, mistreated them and killed them. The king was enraged. He sent his army and destroyed those murderers and burned their city.

"Then he said to his servants, `The wedding banquet is ready, but those I invited did not deserve to come. Go to the street corners and invite to the banquet anyone you find.' So the servants went out into the streets and gathered all the people they could find, both good and bad, and the wedding hall was filled with guests.

"But when the king came in to see the guests, he noticed a man there who was not wearing wedding clothes. `Friend,' he asked, `how did you get in here without wedding clothes?' The man was speechless.

"Then the king told the attendants, `Tie him hand and foot, and throw him outside, into the darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.'

"For many are invited, but few are chosen" (Matthew 22:1-14).

Jesus begins by saying, "The kingdom of heaven is like a king who prepared a wedding banquet for his son." The king of this parable represents God the Father, who created heaven and earth and exercises His authority over both. The son of the king represents the Son of God, Jesus Christ. And the parable concerns itself with a wedding banquet that God the Father is organizing for his Son.

What is the nature of this wedding banquet? Is Jesus getting married? In a sense, yes He is. In several places, Jesus refers to Himself as a bridegroom. As one example, in Matthew 9:15 Jesus responds to criticism that His disciples are not in the habit of fasting like other pious men do; He says "How can the guests of the bridegroom mourn while he is with them? The time will come when the bridegroom will be taken from them; then they will fast."

If Jesus is a bridegroom, who is the bride? For the answer, we need to turn to Paul’s letter to the Ephesians, chapter 5. There we read, Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave Himself up for her to make her holy, cleansing her by the washing with water through the word, and to present her to Himself as a radiant church, without stain or wrinkle or any other blemish, but holy and blameless. In this traditional wedding text, St. Paul compares the relationship between husband and wife to the relationship between Christ and His church. This point is made even more explicitly in Revelation 21:9-10 where St. John tells us, One of the seven angels who had the seven bowls full of the seven last plagues came and said to me, "Come, I will show you the bride, the wife of the Lamb." And he carried me away in the Spirit to a mountain great and high, and showed me the Holy City, Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God. Who are the residents of this city? Those who are forgiven by Jesus, who have a relationship of love and trust with God. The residents of the Holy City are the members of Christ’s church. The church is the New Jerusalem, the Holy City, the Bride of Christ, and the wedding banquet is being seated even now, as believers die and go to heaven. The feast will begin as soon as the Last Day has concluded.

Jesus next tells us in the parable, He sent his servants to those who had been invited to the banquet to tell them to come, but they refused to come. Then he sent some more servants and said, `Tell those who have been invited that I have prepared my dinner: My oxen and fattened cattle have been butchered, and everything is ready. Come to the wedding banquet.' But they paid no attention and went off--one to his field, another to his business. The rest seized his servants, mistreated them and killed them. The king was enraged. He sent his army and destroyed those murderers and burned their city. Here, Jesus speaks of the Jewish nation; He issues a prediction and a warning to the Jews who were His immediate audience. An invitation to the banquet had been sent long ago; God had told Abraham, "I swear by myself…that because you have done this and have not withheld your son, your only son, I will surely bless you and make your descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky and as the sand on the seashore…and through your offspring all nations on earth will be blessed, because you have obeyed me" (Genesis 22:16-18). When God said that through your offspring all nations on earth will be blessed, He was referring to Jesus, the most important offspring of Abraham’s line—it is through Jesus that all nations are offered God’s blessings. Abraham received the honor of having Jesus come from his family, because Abraham had listened faithfully to the Lord and trusted in Him—even when God asked Abraham to offer up his only son as a sacrifice, Abraham trusted in the word of God. Paul tells us, "Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness" (Romans 4:3).

But over the years, many of Abraham’s descendants became more concerned with the affairs of the world than with the promises of God. Jesus typifies these people by saying, but they paid no attention and went off--one to his field, another to his business. They made their time laboring in the field or the workshop more important than God; others would rather spend their time on recreation instead of hearing God’s word and thanking Him for His mercy.

Others of Abraham’s children remained spiritual, but they buried the truth of God’s word under layers of inflexible traditions and pride in personal piety. When God’s prophets tried to warn them that they were drifting away from humble submission to God, they rejected God’s servants, evening murdering some of them.

Jesus warned the Jews seated before Him that these patterns of ignoring God and of rejecting His call to repentance would continue, and that those who persisted in rejecting God’s grace offered through Jesus would face God’s judgment. Jesus said, The king was enraged. He sent his army and destroyed those murderers and burned their city. This happened less than 40 years later, when the Roman Empire destroyed Jerusalem, the city that all Jews regarded as their holy capitol.

Which shows us an important point. God’s invitation is not a one-time thing. According to the parable, the king invited His guests at least three times; although we cannot put a number on God’s offers of mercy, we can say that He is generous and patient with stubborn humanity. But there does come a time when God’s patience runs out; it is foolish for anyone to take His mercy for granted.

Now the king says, `The wedding banquet is ready, but those I invited did not deserve to come. Go to the street corners and invite to the banquet anyone you find.' Here Jesus predicts what was soon to happen; because most Jews would reject the Gospel, the followers of Jesus turned their attention to the Gentiles, the non-Jews. In Acts chapter 13 we read, On the next Sabbath almost the whole city gathered to hear the word of the Lord. When the Jews saw the crowds, they were filled with jealousy and talked abusively against what Paul was saying. Then Paul and Barnabas answered them boldly: "We had to speak the word of God to you first. Since you reject it and do not consider yourselves worthy of eternal life, we now turn to the Gentiles. For this is what the Lord has commanded us: " `I have made you a light for the Gentiles, that you may bring salvation to the ends of the earth.' "

So the servants went out into the streets and gathered all the people they could find, both good and bad, and the wedding hall was filled with guests. What comforting words! God’s servants bring His heavenly invitation to everyone, no matter how "good" or "bad" they appear to human eyes. No one has led such a wasted, evil life that they are ineligible for a banquet invitation.

Do we take from this that bad people are allowed to enter heaven? Jesus continues, "But when the king came in to see the guests, he noticed a man there who was not wearing wedding clothes. `Friend,' he asked, `how did you get in here without wedding clothes?' The man was speechless. Then the king told the attendants, `Tie him hand and foot, and throw him outside, into the darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.'

To understand this part of the parable correctly, we must understand what the wedding clothes are. In Isaiah 61:10 the prophet writes, I delight greatly in the LORD; my soul rejoices in my God. For He has clothed me with garments of salvation and arrayed me in a robe of righteousness. The clothing that we are to wear to the wedding feast of Christ is the robe of righteousness. In Revelation 19:6-8 John writes, Then I heard what sounded like a great multitude…shouting: "Hallelujah! For our Lord God Almighty reigns. Let us rejoice and be glad and give Him glory! For the wedding of the Lamb has come, and His bride has made herself ready. Fine linen, bright and clean, was given her to wear." (Fine linen stands for the righteous acts of the saints.)

Notice that the robe of righteousness is a gift. He has clothed me; fine linen, bright and clean, was given her to wear. Righteousness is a gift of God. In the parable, the king’s servants invited common people in off the street—no commoner could afford to dress appropriately for a royal wedding. The servants gave each guest a present from the king—suitable clothing for the celebration. Our God gives each of us suitable clothing for the heavenly celebration—the forgiveness of Jesus Christ. When Jesus died as a penalty for our sins, He was rewarded by His Father with everlasting life and the authority to extend His righteousness to us. When Jesus forgives our sins, He covers them with a robe that He has made white by washing it in His blood, the blood of the Lamb of God (Revelation 7:14). It doesn’t matter how evil our lives have been—Jesus’ robe of righteousness covers up every sin, no matter how vile. The robe of righteousness is Jesus’ gift of the work that He has done for us—on our own, none of us can come to the banquet acceptably dressed.

`Friend,' the king asked, `how did you get in here without wedding clothes?' The man was speechless. In order to be welcome in heaven, we must be clothed in Jesus’ righteousness. Since that clothing is a gift freely given by God, no one has an excuse for coming before God soiled in his sins. The man was speechless. He had no defense, no excuse that he could offer. He had turned down the king’s free gift of wedding clothes, and for what reason? Pride? Indifference? It doesn’t matter. One cannot stand in the presence of the heavenly king stained with sin. "Then the king told the attendants, `Tie him hand and foot, and throw him outside, into the darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.' Those who cannot live in heaven will forever weep in the dark loneliness of hell’s despair.

Jesus concludes His parable with the words, "For many are invited, but few are chosen." Jesus offers us both a promise and a caution. The promise is that God desires everyone to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth (1 Timothy 2:4). The caution is that, although all of humanity is invited, only a portion will accept the robe of righteousness that God expects us to wear as members of Christ’s bridal party. Thankfully, we have our Lord’s promise that no matter how we’ve lived our lives, all can be forgiven, all can be covered in Jesus’ righteousness. Salvation is not up to us, and for that we are glad—none of us is competent enough to make wedding clothes fit for God’s inspection. Our white robe, our glorious dress, comes from Jesus, and His righteousness.

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