Proper 23A (Pentecost 20 2023)

“11 “But when the king came in to look at the guests, he saw there a man who had no wedding garment. 12 And he said to him, ‘Friend, how did you get in here without a wedding garment?’ And he was speechless. 13 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.’” (Matthew 22:11-14).

Let’s talk about this poor man who is not just kicked out of the wedding, but “cast… into the outer darkness… [where] there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth”(Matthew 22:13).

In the past, I’ve pointed out that the main reason why this poor man’s fate seems so strange to us is because, in their culture, the bride and groom provided wedding clothes for their guests. The fact that this man had no wedding garment shows a deliberate choice on his part to make the statement that he was fine just how he was. That’s completely trues. Today, let’s see if we can make that more concrete.

What Clothes Was He Holding On To?

It might be helpful if Jesus explained why the man’s clothes were so offensive. He doesn’t, because that’s not the point that He’s trying to make. But, since we struggle with that detail, let’s look at the rest of scripture to answer that.

This is not just a question of the man being dressed too casually. It’s not that the man failed to wear a jacket and tie, for example. This is Joseph in his full arrogance, parading around in the infamous coat of many colors to make sure his brothers knew which one of them was their father’s favorite (Genesis 37). This is Jacob, still dressed in his brother, Esau’s clothes in order to steal the blessing that Esau should have had because he was the firstborn (Genesis 27).

This is what Isaiah was confessing when he wrote, “6 We have all become like one who is unclean, and all our righteous deeds are like a polluted garment” (Isaiah 64:6a). This is what Zechariah was describing in his vision when he saw Joshua the high priest standing before God in filthy garments (Zechariah 3:1-5).

That is the sort of clothing that the man at the wedding feast was refusing to part with. When we say that he offended the king by choosing to remain in his own clothes— that he was fine just like he was— this is the sort of thing that we’re talking about. Is there any wonder why the king would not only have thrown him out, but cast him into the outer darkness?

What Wouldn’t He Accept?

But there’s more. It’s absolutely true that he offended the king by insisting that he was fine the way he was. There’s another side, though. The other side of the story is the wedding garment that he turned down. He also offended the king because of the garment he refused.

First of all, if a king offers you a gift, it’s not wise to say no without a good reason. Don’t you think that would be especially true at his son’s wedding. The king would have spared no expense on those garments. They would have been absolutely the best cloth, the best style, the best quality. They would have been sought after, to say the least. Imagine how great an insult refusing that garment would have been. Is there any wonder why the king would not only have thrown him out, but cast him into the outer darkness?

What Clothing Have You Been Offered?

Brothers and sisters in Christ, from nearly the beginning of history, God has been ‘clothing’ His people.

The moment that Adam and Eve ate the forbidden fruit, they realized that they were naked. So they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves loincloths to hide their shame (Genesis 3:7). But those fig leaves were not an adequate covering. So God made Adam and Eve garments of animal skin and clothed them (Genesis 3:21). God, Himself, literally provided clothing for human beings. And He provided it for them in order to cover their shame.

But that clothing was only temporary. He had something far better in mind. He would provide far better clothes.

That was the point of Zechariah’s vision, for example. In his vision, Joshua, the high priest, stood before God in filthy garments, representing the sin of God’s people. So God “4 said to those who were standing before him, “Remove the filthy garments from him.” And to him he said, “Behold, I have taken your iniquity away from you, and I will clothe you with pure vestments.” 5 And I said, “Let them put a clean turban on his head.” So they put a clean turban on his head and clothed him with garments” (Zechariah 3:4-5).

Can you imagine Joshua refusing those new garments in that moment?

And isn’t that a really good way of describing what Jesus has done for you?

The One who made garments of animal skins to cover Adam and Eve’s shame allowed his own clothing to be taken from Him. As He was led to the cross, the soldiers “18 [divided His] garments among them, and for [His] clothing they cast lots” (Psalm 22:18). But that physical shame of being stripped and lifted up on the cross for all to see does not compare to the far greater shame that He took upon Himself that day. He took upon Himself the shame of humanity’s sin. But, this time, there was no covering it up. Even your righteous deeds were like a polluted garment. But that polluted garment has been washed clean in the blood of Jesus Christ.

Through His holy, precious blood and His innocent suffering and death, “10 he has clothed [you] with the garments of salvation; he has covered [you] with the robe of righteousness, as a bridegroom decks himself like a priest with a beautiful headdress, and as a bride adorns herself with her jewels. 11 For as the earth brings forth its sprouts, and as a garden causes what is sown in it to sprout up, so the Lord God [has caused] righteousness and praise to sprout up before all the nations” (Isaiah 61:10-11).

What Jacob did deceitfully in dressing up like Esau to try to steal their father’s blessing, your Brother has done with joy. “27 For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ” (Galatians 3:27). He has dressed you in His clothing and presented you to His Father and your Father. And your Heavenly Father is happy to be willfully deceived in this way, giving you the full blessing of His beloved child.

Like the prodigal son, when you turned back to God in repentance over your sin, your Heavenly Father came running to you, embracing you and commanding that you be clothed with the best robe, with a ring on your hand and shoes on your feet, and ordering that a feast be prepared in your honor (Luke 15:22-23).

Your Heavenly Father gives you a new, perfect garment to mark you as His beloved child— not a coat of many colors, but the perfect robe of Christ’s righteousness that covers all your sins. What Joseph wore arrogantly, you wear with honor because God has “3 [granted] to those who mourn in Zion— to give them a beautiful headdress instead of ashes, the oil of gladness instead of mourning, the garment of praise instead of a faint spirit; that they may be called oaks of righteousness, the planting of the Lord, that he may be glorified” (Isaiah 61:3).

Get Dressed

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, make sure that you are never found without that clothing. Live each day in that promise that, in baptism, you have been clothed with Jesus Christ. Put to death the Old Adam in you by contrition and repentance, and “24 and to put on the new self, created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness” (Ephesians 4:24). “14 [P]ut on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh, to gratify its desires” (Romans 13:14).

In other words, “12 Put on then, as God’s chosen ones, holy and beloved, compassionate hearts, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience, 13 bearing with one another and, if one has a complaint against another, forgiving each other; as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive. 14 And above all these put on love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony” (Colossians 3:12-14).

Yes, that will be a battle each and every day. “4 For while we are still in [the] tent [of these bodies], we groan, being burdened—not that we would be unclothed, but that we would be further clothed, so that what is mortal may be swallowed up by life.” But you fight that battle with the confidence that “51 we shall all be changed, 52 in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we shall be changed. 53 For this perishable body must put on the imperishable, and this mortal body must put on immortality. 54 When the perishable puts on the imperishable, and the mortal puts on immortality, then shall come to pass the saying that is written: “Death is swallowed up in victory.” 55 “O death, where is your victory? O death, where is your sting?” 56 The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. 57 But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. 58 Therefore, my beloved brothers, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that in the Lord your labor is not in vain” (1 Corinthians 15:51-58).

Let me say that slightly differently. Each day may seem like a battle but, for you, by faith, each day is an opportunity to make yourself ready for that Last Day.

The Apostle John, in his visions of the last days, got a glimpse of this marriage feast. He recorded for us, in Revelation 19, “6 Then I heard what seemed to be the voice of a great multitude, like the roar of many waters and like the sound of mighty peals of thunder, crying out, “Hallelujah! For the Lord our God the Almighty reigns. 7 Let us rejoice and exult and give him the glory, for the marriage of the Lamb has come, and his Bride has made herself ready; 8 it was granted her to clothe herself with fine linen, bright and pure”— for the fine linen is the righteous deeds of the saints” (Revelation 19:6-8).

Make yourself ready. Your righteous deeds are no longer filthy rags. It is granted you to clothe yourself with the bright and pure linen of compassion; your kindness; your humility; your meekness; your patience; and, especially, the love that binds all of those together.

“11 “But when the king came in to look at the guests, he saw there a man who had no wedding garment. 12 And he said to him, ‘Friend, how did you get in here without a wedding garment?’ And he was speechless. 13 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.’” (Matthew 22:11-14).

This detail of the parable will still seem sort of strange to us. But, hopefully, you hear in it a warning against the arrogance and the selfish grasping that we normally clothe ourselves in. Hopefully you hear in it the assurance that Christ has exchanged your filthy rags for the perfect robe of His righteousness. And, hopefully, you hear in it the opportunity to make yourself ready for the Last Day.