The Wedding Feast

Wedding Feast

Jesus has entered into Jerusalem in the triumphal entry. He then heads to cleanse the Temple, then as he is leaving he curses the fig tree. Then we see the chief priests and the elders came up to Jesus while he was teaching in the Temple, and they challenged his authority. He asks them a question about John the baptist, and they cannot answer (21:23-27). Then, instead of stopping after they could not answer his question, he proceeds to tell them three parables. 1)Parable of the two sons 2)Parable of the Tenants, and 3)Parable of the Wedding Feast. These three parables are directed towards the religious leaders and the main point of the parables is that they have missed the kingdom and now the people who’d they think would never get into the kingdom are getting in.

CULTURE/THEOLOGICAL CONTEXT:

wedding:

wedding attire:

The third parable compares the kingdom of heaven to a wedding banquet prepared by a king for his son. The King’s servants tell the invited guests the banquet is ready, but they all make lame excuses, refuse to attend, and even kill his servants (22:3-6). The king is insulted and enraged. He sends his army to judge the murderers and destroy their city, a symbol of the coming judgement of the Jewish leadership and Jerusalem. The remaining servants are sent to gather “all the people they could find, both good and bad” to the wedding feast (22:10). When the king arrives he spots a man not wearing the proper wedding attire. Either the man fails to dress properly or he rejects the wedding clothes provided by the king. The man is imprisoned and punished, representing the eternal punishment awaiting those who rejected the King.