On the surface, it seems a moral teaching only. And the idea that one should respond joyfully to the invitation of God (the king) and be prepared to celebrate the wedding feast is clear. But looking at the context adds an interesting layer (this is, of course, why we value the historical/literary critical method of Biblical interpretation). Last week we had the equally weird and brutal parable of the landowner who leased out a vineyard to ungrateful tenants who ignored and beat up and killed the servants sent to collect the harvest rent. The landowner then sent his son, who was also killed by the tenants. On the surface, it’s a warning not to mess with God and to return the first fruits to God. But the addition of the “son” to that tale shifts it to a whole ’nother place. Remember that this gospel was written in the historical context of the Roman crackdown on Israel including the sack of the temple and the siege of Masada. So Matthew is suggesting obliquely that the destruction visited upon the nation was the result of not listening to the prophets (the servants sent ahead of time) and then killing “the son,” whom readers would recognize as “Jesus the Son of God.” Matthew is pretty harsh about this, because the early church was experiencing quite a bit of hostility from the mainstream religious authorities at the time of his writing after the fall of Jerusalem. Bluntly put, failure to recognize Jesus as the Messiah is why Jerusalem was flattened. That diatribe is faintly echoed by other New Testament books, but no where as vindictively as Matthew, whose community appears to have suffered from a crackdown.
So this Sunday’s passage continues the polemic, only going eschatological as well. The king is rejoicing in the son’s wedding, a common gospel image of the realm to come. The servants are again, allegorically, the prophets, some of whom Israel mistreated over the centuries and some of whom were killed, and the people blew off the invitation. Allegorically again, the king sends troops (read: Romans). Then the invitation goes out to the riff-raff and unaffiliated, in other words, non-Jews. Here is Matthew’s allegorical explanation of how Gentiles and “not nice” people (like the tax collectors, prostitutes, un-religious, Greeks and Romans and whoever) get in to the heavenly banquet instead of the first round of invited guests. If Israel blows off the invitation to the joyful feast of the realm of God, then anyone and everyone else gets to attend. And that is how the rest of the world is invited after Israel ignores God.
But what about that guest who got caught not wearing a wedding garment? You’d think that if you suddenly got swept up in the bonus invitation you would be ok “dressed as you are.” No, even then, you are expected to meet God’s minimum standards of deportment and behavior and holiness. If you do not prepare yourself to be a follower of the Son, you won’t get in. Following the commandments and doing justice, loving kindness, and walking humbly with your God, and loving neighbors are all still required on the individual basis. You still have to live up to the extra grace shown you. You, too, have to understand and celebrate that Jesus is your Messiah once you respond to the extra-wide invitation. The invitation is wide open, but you’ve got to respond in faith for yourself!
I hope you can dress your soul up and attend God’s wide-open invitation this Sunday. Remember? No matter who you are or where you are on life’s journey, you are welcome here!
In Christ,
David
Texts For Sunday Worship:
From the Hebrew Bible Exodus 32:1-14
From the Epistle Philippians 4:1-9
From the Gospels Matthew 22:1-14
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