This morning I am reflecting on a difficult set of 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 of Jesus has always been a bit of a mystery to me, and certainly has a few verses I prefer not to read. It is so important that we work through everything Jesus said, not just the things we like. I like the idea of a wedding feast, of inviting everyone, not so much a couple of other things.
First, there are statements that seem contradictory - verses 9 & 10 and verse 14. In the first statement the King has thrown open the invitation to all they can find, and good and bad alike are invited and come, and fill the banquet hall. So it seems to me that many are invited, and many come. Of all those that come, only one is rejected, the one who doesn't have on the wedding garb, which seems in contradiction to Jesus' final statement of only choosing a few. I guess, we have to include in His final statement all those who were originally invited, who rejected or ignored His invitation, so that is a much larger group of those who were invited, but who ultimately were not chosen to remain. I am sure that Jesus, in speaking to the people who were following Him, was speaking to the Jews, and there were probably Pharisees and teachers in the crowd, and thus He is wrapping his parable up and essentially bringing their minds back to the original invitees, who were clearly the Jews.
This final statement may very well be pointing to the time following Jesus death and resurrection where there were only a few remaining followers of Jesus, and may well be prophetically looking at the overall rejection of the Gospel by the great percentage of the Jews. I have no idea how many Jews converted as a percentage of all possible, but it seems likely that of the overall population - few would have been the correct description. That is somewhat helpful.
The second bit worthy of reflection is that here Jesus seems to be clearly indicating that there would be an opening of the Gospel to the Gentiles, for the servants invited everyone they could find, which would likely have included those not of Jewish decent, especially if we read this logically and look to the fact that Jesus said the King had sent an army to burn the city of the first invitees, thus there were not many of those people left. Regardless, we find Jesus' description of those that are gathered unexpected for the list includes the good AND the bad. The Greek word that is translated as bad in English is the word "poneros" and it is defined as follows:
1. full of labours, annoyances, hardships
a. pressed and harassed by labours
b. bringing toils, annoyances, perils; of a time full of peril to Christian faith and steadfastness; causing pain and trouble
2. bad, of a bad nature or condition
a. in a physical sense: diseased or blind
b. in an ethical sense: evil wicked, bad
If we take the whole of that definition, we find described many that we would hope to be invited, those whose lives are full of hardship, troubles and pain. It seems here that Jesus is veery much prophetically speaking of the Gospel of Grace, and the mercy and compassion that flow from that Gospel. Secondly, we find those who are broken, in some way physically; the blind, lame, diseased, etc. but also mentally, emotionally and spiritually. I think this would be extended to those who see themselves as broken, the worn down, the weak, those overcome by their struggles. Again, here I see a great message of hope in the Gospel of Grace. These things don't disqualify anyone from being invited. Finally, in the definition we find the invited could include the ethically bad, those that would cause us to question the King's motives. Why would He want these bad people invited to the wedding banquet of His Son? That I can't answer, but again, judgement of who is bad is not my place. The point is that these people receive an invitation too, and come to the banquet.
Next up is the man without a wedding garb, and the King's response to him. To me, the King's response seems a bit harsh on the surface, but digging into this a bit more, I am not so sure. Everyone else, good and bad, those gathered from the streets, the alleys, the countryside, wherever, were wearing wedding garb. Clearly this wasn't something they had time to grab, but was something that was provided by the King. I read a few commentaries and apparently that was not uncommon for wedding garb to be provided for guests of such large and elaborate weddings. Anyway, the point is everyone else puts on the wedding garb, except this man. He clearly is an exception, and must have made a specific choice to not wear the garb. The commentators believe this represents those who are presented the Gospel, but in their final act of rebellion, reject it. One wonders if the man thought he would never meet the King anyway, and could just take what he wanted, eat what He wanted and enjoy the feast without honoring the Son, whose wedding it was, or the King who invited him, paid for everything and even provided the wedding garb? Whatever his state of mind, the King responds rightly, for this is His son's wedding, after all.
Finally, I was thinking about where I would put myself in this story. My first response was as one of the wedding guests, for I clearly have accepted His invitation. However, my second thought was that actually, while I could be one of the wedding guests, I think I am actually invited to be one of the servants of the King, who is sent to invite all who would come to the wedding banquet of the the Son! What a great invitation, not to just be a guest and enjoy the feast, but to invite all I can to join the feast!
This morning I am encouraged to make sure that I read and reflect even on the difficult passages, for the words of Jesus, the Word of God is worthy of my time, my energy and my understanding. Secondly, I am encouraged that even these difficult passages can bring me hope, encouragement and an understanding of my purpose. Lastly, I am encouraged to pray for all those who have not yet received their invitation, and to be an inviter myself. Lord, help me be one whose life leads others to You!
Amen!
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