A couple of days ago I had a dream about a heavenly wedding and as such, I wanted to spend some time reflecting on a few stories in the Gospel's having to do with weddings and banquets first from Matthew's Gospel and then from the Luke's Gospel. Here are the verses from Matthew 22:1-14 NIV:
[1] "Jesus spoke to them again in parables, saying: [2] “The kingdom of heaven is like a king who prepared a wedding banquet for his son. [3] He sent his servants to those who had been invited to the banquet to tell them to come, but they refused to come. [4] “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.'
[5] “But they paid no attention and went off---one to his field, another to his business. [6] The rest seized his servants, mistreated them and killed them. [7] The king was enraged. He sent his army and destroyed those murderers and burned their city."
[8] “Then he said to his servants, 'The wedding banquet is ready, but those I invited did not deserve to come. [9] So go to the street corners and invite to the banquet anyone you find.' [10] So the servants went out into the streets and gathered all the people they could find, the bad as well as the good, and the wedding hall was filled with guests."
[11] “But when the king came in to see the guests, he noticed a man there who was not wearing wedding clothes. [12] He asked, 'How did you get in here without wedding clothes, friend ?' The man was speechless."
[13] “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.'
[14] “For many are invited, but few are chosen.”
This parable is such an interesting teaching, and this is another that must be understood from the mindset of the listener, as well as our own more informed perspective. I find that sometimes it is easy to understand things, because we know the rest of the story, but we must try to put ourselves into the shoes of those who heard this for the first time. Even that is difficult sometimes because everything in the Gospels is written years after the events actually occurred. Anyway, I will make an effort to understand this parable as the people hearing them the first time.
Jesus was speaking these parables, according to Matthew, in the week following Palm Sunday, to what appears to be a mixed crowd of Apostles, disciples, followers and Pharisees and Sadducees. Jerusalem's population was swelling in anticipation of Passover so there were many devout Jews gathering. Also since Jerusalem had the true temple, this was where the Pharisee's and other religious leaders were strongest and where they gathered.
Now, Jesus is delivering this story in Jerusalem, the city of David and Solomon, and the other kings. The Jews, at present, were ruled by Rome, and even though there was still a King (Herod) it was clear to them that he wasn't really in charge. The Jews longed for the Messiah, who they thought was going to be a king like David, who would throw off the Roman rule and restore to them the power and glory they had once experienced as a nation. In fact, if the timing of this passage was accurate, He had just days before ridden in Jerusalem heralded as the coming King. Thus, when Jesus started talking about a King, He would have grabbed their attention!
Secondly, Jesus starts talking about the King wanting to throw a wedding feast for His son, and sending out invitations. Now again, the people were thinking He might be the King, so they were probably thinking this is good, He is going to be a great king who throws parties! He continues on and tells them how those invited refused to come. It wasn't that they forgot, it was that they refused. The people would have surely been upset by this, who would turn down a King's invitation? Then Jesus drops the final straw, the people didn't just refuse, but actually mistreated and killed the King's servants. I am sure the people were not surprised by Jesus' next statement about the King's next steps, destroying the city and the people who murdered his servants. I think at this point they were likely wondering if He was talking about Himself, a fictitious King or maybe the Roman ruler. This story certainly wasn't going in the direction the people initially thought it would.
I am not sure if the people would have realized that Jesus was talking about the Old testament prophets and themselves, as we commonly believe now. We see this all in retrospect, but they hadn't crucified Jesus yet, and were actually still in favor or Him. I think the Pharisees might have figured it out, because Jesus had been actively pointing out their issues, and after these verses, He goes into a much more thorough attack on them. Regardless, Jesus is trying to communicate Kingdom truths through a story that would have stuck in their minds.
Jesus continues the story, picking back up the wedding celebration invitations and now gives the most hopeful statement, the commoners are going to be invited! The people listening to this, would have been amazed by this generosity and opportunity. Again, going back to what they were thinking, this could possibly be them! If Jesus was going to be King, could they be invited to His banquets??? Even better, the servants of the King went out and gathered in anyone and everyone, good and bad alike. (I wonder how often we really grasp the significance of that last statement?). This is glorious news to the people hearing, for that meant their likelihood of being invited went way up, they didn't even have to be good people! Jesus said the wedding hall was full of guests! The people were probably getting excited!
Then Jesus seems to take an unexpected turn, which is one of the important things for good story-telling, He wanted the people to break out of their imaginations of the party and listen to Him again! He describes the King coming and finding one guest, of all the guests in attendance, not wearing wedding attire. The King actually asks the man about his situation, and the man has nothing to say.
This is an interesting turn of events. I am not sure what wedding attire was back in those days, but we could make a couple of assumptions, either it was common and everyone had the right attire, or the King in opening up the banquet to everyone, provided the clothing as well, for otherwise the King's reaction makes no sense. In comparing this version of the story to the one found in Luke, I believe that the second assumption is most likely. Actually in retrospect, that is really the only option that makes sense, as the people who were invited clearly wouldn't have clothing fit for the wedding of a King's son. Reading this with our post-resurrection spiritual understanding we know that this attire would symbolize the righteouness of Jesus, which we are clothed in by His actions, not ours, so again the second assumption makes sense.
At this point I think it makes sense to look at Luke's version, for a brief comparison. Here is the story - Luke 14:16-24 NIV:
[16] "Jesus replied: “A certain man was preparing a great banquet and invited many guests. [17] At the time of the banquet he sent his servant to tell those who had been invited, 'Come, for everything is now ready.'
[18] “But they all alike began to make excuses. The first said, 'I have just bought a field, and I must go and see it. Please excuse me.'
[19] “Another said, 'I have just bought five yoke of oxen, and I'm on my way to try them out. Please excuse me.'
[20] “Still another said, 'I just got married, so I can't come.'
[21] “The servant came back and reported this to his master. Then the owner of the house became angry and ordered his servant, 'Go out quickly into the streets and alleys of the town and bring in the poor, the crippled, the blind and the lame.'
[22] “ 'Sir,' the servant said, 'what you ordered has been done, but there is still room.' [23] “Then the master told his servant, 'Go out to the roads and country lanes and compel them to come in, so that my house will be full. [24] I tell you, not one of those who were invited will get a taste of my banquet.' ”
We see that the story in Luke has similarities, but it is also less extreme. The people don't mistreat the King's servants, and He doesn't destroy them. Also the last section is not included, although the final statement is actually more definitive than the last statement of Jesus' in the Matthew version.
Now we don't know if these are different versions of the same story, or just similar stories that Jesus told a different times. I think the latter explanation makes sense, for Jesus often covered the same theme with different nuances each time (e.g. Stories of what the Kingdom is like). Regardless, these stories survived in the memories of the people who heard them and Jesus revealed truths that were important to their future understanding of the Gospel and the Kingdom of God.
The importance of these two stories are multi-fold. First they present some of the clearest indications that the Kingdom will be open to all the world (Gentiles included), not just to the Jews (those that were first invited). Secondly, they establish a freedom from works ideology, for those invited had done nothing to earn their invitation. Third, these stories introduce a welcoming of all, good or bad, sick or crippled, lame, poor or even wealthy, into the Kingdom of Heaven. The understanding at that time was that sin was the cause of sickness, crippling and lameness, and as such the thought would have been that they would never be invited into the Kingdom of Heaven. Fourth, the imagery of a heavenly banquet, and abundance and blessing continue the theme of the greatness of the Kingdom of God!
Finally, we could be tempted to create theological teachings about the final statements in each story, and yet we find them inconsistent and thus we should steer clear of any definitive statements. In Matthew, some of the invited are chosen, in Luke's version, none are. We would be better served to place these statements into the greater theme of the coming judgment, and add them to the list of Jesus other statements and stories. That there will be a day of judgment is clear from Jesus' stories. How exactly that will be accomplished and what God will use to decide is known only to God. We get some understanding form Jesus' teachings, but I don't think we can say definitively what are all the conditions. What we can say, after reading these stories, is that we want to be invited and respond positively to God's invitation! We want to be found with His righteousness applied to our life. We want to respond to His open invitation ourselves and, as His servants in this life, issue the same invitation to all those around us.
I am encouraged this morning that we all have been invited to take a seat at the Heavenly banquet, and I, for one, am not going to ignore that invitation! Thank You Lord that we get to experience that eternal banquet some day, and we are able to experience a foretaste of it here on earth as Your Kingdom realities are demonstrated in and through us.
Amen!
No comments:
Post a Comment