Parable of the Wedding Feast

Series: Ready for the Reign

Ready for the Reign. Moving toward the end of the Christian year, which concludes on Christ the King Sunday, Nov. 26th.

We are drawing our Scripture readings from the Revised Common Lectionary — a schedule of lessons that move us through our experience of Christ in communion with Christians around the world.

The focus of our readings is being ready for the Reign of Christ at the end of history by showing his lordship in our lives right now.

First Reading

Our first reading comes from the prophet Isaiah 25:1-9. Isaiah preached to God’s people in the 6th century before Christ. In this reading, Isaiah is encouraging God’s people to know that one day, God will establish his kingdom on earth and all conflict and sorrow among all people will be over ruled by God’s salvation.

Isaiah 25:1–9 ESV

O Lord, you are my God; I will exalt you; I will praise your name, for you have done wonderful things, plans formed of old, faithful and sure. For you have made the city a heap, the fortified city a ruin; the foreigners’ palace is a city no more; it will never be rebuilt. Therefore strong peoples will glorify you; cities of ruthless nations will fear you. For you have been a stronghold to the poor, a stronghold to the needy in his distress, a shelter from the storm and a shade from the heat; for the breath of the ruthless is like a storm against a wall, like heat in a dry place. You subdue the noise of the foreigners; as heat by the shade of a cloud, so the song of the ruthless is put down. On this mountain the Lord of hosts will make for all peoples a feast of rich food, a feast of well-aged wine, of rich food full of marrow, of aged wine well refined. And he will swallow up on this mountain the covering that is cast over all peoples, the veil that is spread over all nations. He will swallow up death forever; and the Lord God will wipe away tears from all faces, and the reproach of his people he will take away from all the earth, for the Lord has spoken. It will be said on that day, “Behold, this is our God; we have waited for him, that he might save us. This is the Lord; we have waited for him; let us be glad and rejoice in his salvation.”

Second Reading

Our second reading comes from the gospel of Matthew 22:1-14.

Jesus is in Jerusalem. The crowds have welcomed him, but the religious leadership fears and resents him. He has been teaching the crowds that the Kingdom of God is at hand, that he himself is the Son of God upon whom salvation depends, and that the Kingdom of God is radically open to all people. In the view of the leadership, these kinds of teachings could lead people into rebellion against religious authority and the political might of Rome. So, they have been trying to discredit Jesus and they have the ultimate aim of putting him to death.

In response to their trick questions, Jesus has been telling them several parables. Last week, we read about the parable of the wicked tenants. Jesus used this parable to show the leaders that they were resistant and even violent toward the Kingdom of God, and thus in danger of missing out on it all together.

Today we hear another parable. It follows right on the last one. Jesus tells a parable about a great wedding feast.

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.”

Introduction

A story about a wedding I attended. There was a man there who was dressed way down. Hoody and jeans. Not saying you have to wear a tux. but at least a nice shirt, or tuck in your t-shirt. I wondered: are you supposed to be here? Where’s the respect and love for the couple, the dignity of the event. It wasn’t my place to challenge him, so I just noted him.

Jesus’ parable is tapping into that experience.

Parable is an earthly story with a heavenly meaning. A common experience that helps us to understanding something on the spiritual plane.

Ancient Problem - Not fit for the party

A wedding is a glorious, celebration. Especially of the Son of the King. It is an invitation to desire and respond to, it is one to which you show up ready.

Group 1. Those that resist the invitation.

Group 2. Represented by an individual. Inspected by the King. Not dressed for the occasion.

The kingdom of God is like a wedding feast. God and his Son Jesus, the people of God.

accept the invitation, don’t resist it.

if you do come, come ready.

Certain attire is just not acceptable: idolatry, blasphemy, dishonoring of parents, murder, adultery, lying, stealing, bearing false witness, coveting...

Will any of those persist into the kingdom of God? Would be like a badly dressed person at the wedding!

A shared bad destiny. Destroyed. Cast out.

Current Problem - Not fit for the party

We are invited into the Kingdom of God. We are the highways and byways.

We are here. We have heard the invitation and responded to it.

Are we ready for the inspection? Looks into the heart.

If you were to die today, Jesus were to come today....would you be ready?

Or is there sin still playing a dominant role in life?

the 10, plus quarreling, dissensions, factions, selfishness, pride, lust, gluttony, sloth,

I hope so…I think so…

Hinge

Uncertainty is part of the design of the parable. Jesus wants us to look closely at ourselves now. Are we ready for the kingdom.

Many are invited, but few are chosen.

Example of the Marines. The few, the proud, the Marines.

Ancient Solution - Now is the time to get dressed.

Recipients of a great invitation to come into the Kingdom of God.

Like a wedding we should have the right attire. Attire that matches Christ.

The Scriptures tell us that we have to be “dressed in Christ.”

Baptism which is an expression of faith and community. Galatians 3:27–28 “For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ. There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is no male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.”

Filled with the Spirit. Luke 24:49 “And behold, I am sending the promise of my Father upon you. But stay in the city until you are clothed with power from on high.””

Fight against sin.

Romans 13:12 “The night is far gone; the day is at hand. So then let us cast off the works of darkness and put on the armor of light.”

Romans 13:14 “But put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh, to gratify its desires.”

Ephesians 6:11 “Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the schemes of the devil.”

Live a new life. Ephesians 4:22–24 “to put off your old self, which belongs to your former manner of life and is corrupt through deceitful desires, and to be renewed in the spirit of your minds, and to put on the new self, created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness.”

Practice virtues, especially love. Colossians 3:12–14 “Put on then, as God’s chosen ones, holy and beloved, compassionate hearts, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience, 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. And above all these put on love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony.”

Expectant of resurrection. 2 Corinthians 5:4 “For while we are still in this tent, 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.”

Humble with one another. 1 Peter 5:5 “Likewise, you who are younger, be subject to the elders. Clothe yourselves, all of you, with humility toward one another, for “God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.””

Enduring in faith. Revelation 3:5, “The one who conquers will be clothed thus in white garments, and I will never blot his name out of the book of life. I will confess his name before my Father and before his angels.” Revelation 7:9 “After this I looked, and behold, a great multitude that no one could number, from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed in white robes, ...”

Dressed = matching our union to Christ who is the Son of the King. He embodied all the characteristics above.

Lyrics from a beloved hymn, “On Christ the Solid Rock I Stand.”

When he shall come with trumpet sound, O may I then in him be found: dressed in his righteousness alone, faultless to stand before the throne. [Refrain]

On Christ, the solid Rock, I stand: all other ground is sinking sand; all other ground is sinking sand.

Current Solution

Ready for the Reign by

Living a righteous kingdom life now being fit for Jesus.

Seeking as much as possible to let his life shape our lives.

Christianity not just mental assent and affirmation of faith, but a way of life.

1 John 3:18–20 “Little children, let us not love in word or talk but in deed and in truth. By this we shall know that we are of the (realm of) truth and reassure our heart before him; for whenever our heart condemns us, God is greater than our heart, and he knows everything.”

External actions show the internal condition of the heart and this can assure us when we are uncertain.

I feel like I am not a good Christian

going to church. Praying. Giving. Serving.

To me this sounds like a good Christian. So needed reframe: I’m not a good Christian should be, I want to be even better, more fully loving.

Fit and growing and showing in church, ready for the kingdom.

Conclusion

I saw a man at a wedding who did not seem to belong there. He was there at the beginning, but not at the end.

I would want to see you all at heaven and I would want you to see me.

Let’s get dressed and ready for the kingdom.

Charge:

Let us pursue righteousness and good deeds without which no one will see the Lord. Hebrews 12:14.

Exegesis

Jesus begins his parable by describing a great king. His son is getting married, so he is going to throw a great feast for him.

In that time, two invitations would go out. A first invitation was way in advance. Like we do today…months ahead of time to reserve the date. Then a second invitation would go out to confirm that all was ready and to come to the feast.

the king has sent all the invitations. It is now time for the feast. But those who were invited decide not to come.

By this illustration, Jesus is pointing to the fact that God has invited the religious leaders into the kingdom of God through the law and the prophets. The leaders, by teaching and preaching the Scriptures, had accepted the invitation. But now it is time to actually come into the Kingdom, which Jesus himself represents, but they are not coming.

The characters in the parable choose mundane tasks — such as their farm and their business. Similarly, the religious leaders were preoccupied with their traditions and roles, rather than the joyful reality of the Kingdom of God.

Some of the characters even seized the wedding messengers and treated them shamefully and even killed them. Just as in his previous parable about the wicked tenants who seized the landowners son and killed him, Jesus is accusing the religious leaders of even reacting with violence against the law, the prophets, and especially himself, the Son of God.

In the parable, the consequence of this violent, unwarranted hostility to the king’s messengers results in royal judgment. The king sends his troops and destroys those murders, and burns the city.

Jesus is here touching on a theme that runs throughout the Bible. There is a mysterious hostility of man against God, which is the essence of sin, will not be permitted to endure forever. At some point, God will destroy all evil so that his kingdom of peace and justice can reign supreme.

In our first lesson, Isaiah describes this truth in relation to ancient Israel’s experience of violence from the empire nations of their day. He preaches judgement against godless powers and offers the hope of redemption to God’s people: The foreigner’s palace is a city no more, it will never be rebuilt. On this mountain (the Kingdom of God) the Lord will make for all peoples a feast of rich food, and he will remove the pall that is cast over all people, and he will swallow up death forever and will wipe away tears from all eyes.” (Isaiah 25:2, 6,8)

So, the original invitees to the wedding do not come. But this does not mean that the wedding is cancelled.

The king orders his servants to go out into the highways and byways and invite any they could find — good and bad alike.

Jesus is describing here the work of his apostles. He will send them out into the world with the message of the gospel that all people, good and bad, are invited into the kingdom. A message of radical grace and inclusion.

And the wedding hall was filled with guests.

And the kingdom will be filled. Indeed the church has grown through the ages all over the world, filled with all kinds of people.

All the new guests are enjoying the wedding feast. Eating, drinking, making merry.

In the church, eating and drinking the sacraments, enjoying the fellowship of the church, and celebrating the union between God and man in Christ.

But. And this is the alarming turn in the parable. One of the guests already at the feast, does not get to stay.

The king is moving through the wedding hall. Looking at the guests. One had no wedding garment. Friend, how did you get in here?

The king understands of course that the man was invited. And that the man accepted the invitation. And that the man showed up. All good things.

What the king does not understand, or accept, is that the man should be there with no wedding garment. Not dressed for the occasion.

Jesus is saying that when the Kingdom of God comes, and when all the people who are willing have come into it…then God the Father will examine each one.

The garments he is looking for are the garments of righteousness. Or, the garments of love.

The judgment. You did it to the least of these and to me. Come into the kingdom. The others of you, depart.

The man without the garment is speechless. There is no good reason. He should have a wedding garment on.

The king orders him to be bound and cast out.

FOR many are called few are chosen.

Not a systematic statement about how many will be in heaven, a majority or minority of humanity. But rather a summons. By saying “few” are chosen, Jesus is challenging assumption. Asking his hearers to look carefully at themselves.

The USMC. The few, the proud, the Marines. Not that you cannot be a Marine,…but by saying “few” saying this is a special path. Are you sure you are equal to the call? Motivating.

Jesus: Many are called…an invitation…many have, all have. Are you one of the “few” are you ready for what it takes to enter in fully and stay? Are you motivated?

Interpretation

As Christians, we are the second to be invited. We are the good, the bad, those from the highways and the byways.

Recipients of a great invitation to come into the Kingdom of God.

We have heard that call. We want to be a part of God’s reconciliation between heaven and earth. That is the wedding feast.

We celebrate it in word and sacrament and fellowship. All of this points to the future when the wedding feast will come in reality.

The question to us right now is: are we really ready for the kingdom to come?

Are we fit for the inspection of the Father? Are we dressed for the event.

The Scriptures tell us that we have to be “dressed in Christ.”

Baptism which is an expression of faith and community. Galatians 3:27–28 “For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ. There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is no male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.”

Filled with the Spirit. Luke 24:49 “And behold, I am sending the promise of my Father upon you. But stay in the city until you are clothed with power from on high.””

Fight against sin.

Romans 13:12 “The night is far gone; the day is at hand. So then let us cast off the works of darkness and put on the armor of light.”

Romans 13:14 “But put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh, to gratify its desires.”

Ephesians 6:11 “Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the schemes of the devil.”

Live a new life. Ephesians 4:22–24 “to put off your old self, which belongs to your former manner of life and is corrupt through deceitful desires, and to be renewed in the spirit of your minds, and to put on the new self, created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness.”

Practice virtues, especially love. Colossians 3:12–14 “Put on then, as God’s chosen ones, holy and beloved, compassionate hearts, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience, 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. And above all these put on love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony.”

Expectant of resurrection. 2 Corinthians 5:4 “For while we are still in this tent, 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.”

Humble with one another. 1 Peter 5:5 “Likewise, you who are younger, be subject to the elders. Clothe yourselves, all of you, with humility toward one another, for “God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.””

Enduring in faith. Revelation 3:5, “The one who conquers will be clothed thus in white garments, and I will never blot his name out of the book of life. I will confess his name before my Father and before his angels.” Revelation 7:9 “After this I looked, and behold, a great multitude that no one could number, from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed in white robes, ...”

Dressed = matching our union to Christ who is the Son of the King. He embodied all the characteristics above.

Lyrics from a beloved hymn, “On Christ the Solid Rock I Stand.”

When he shall come with trumpet sound, O may I then in him be found: dressed in his righteousness alone, faultless to stand before the throne. [Refrain]

On Christ, the solid Rock, I stand: all other ground is sinking sand; all other ground is sinking sand.

Application

Ready for the Reign by

Living a righteous kingdom life now being fit for Jesus.

Christianity not just mental assent and affirmation of faith, but a way of life.

1 John 3:18–20 “Little children, let us not love in word or talk but in deed and in truth. By this we shall know that we are of the (realm of) truth and reassure our heart before him; for whenever our heart condemns us, God is greater than our heart, and he knows everything.”

External actions show the internal condition of the heart and this can assure us when we are uncertain.

I feel like I am not a good Christian

going to church. Praying. Giving. Serving.

To me this sounds like a good Christian. So needed reframe: I’m not a good Christian should be, I want to be even better, more fully loving.

Fit and growing and showing in church, ready for the kingdom.

Conclusion

I saw a man at a wedding who did not seem to belong there. He was there at the beginning, but not at the end.

I would want to see you all at heaven and I would want you to see me.

Let’s get dressed and ready for the kingdom.

Charge:

Let us pursue righteousness and good deeds without which no one will see the Lord. Hebrews 12:14.

Invitation to Confession

Example of the trapped gecko. He was trapped in the gap between the screen and the window. He couldn’t get out. Not even sure how he got in there. There was already a gecko corpse in there. I wanted to set him free. Had to catch him, grab him, without hurting him. He did all he could to evade me. Finally caught him safely and got him out. Saved him.

God sees we are trapped in sin. The end is death. We evade him as if he is going to hurt us, when really he is trying to save us.