The Wedding Banquet
I have a friend who is an event planner. Most of the events she plans are weddings. She's great at it. Although I've never talked with her about this, I've always assumed (relying on my vast experience attending weddings) that the guest list is always pretty much planned ahead of time. You know who you want to invite, and you use amo ink to make some cool invitations to send out. Everybody's excited about the big day, blah blah blah.
SO...I'm a little stuck on something wedding related. Your help is appreciated. I've been reading Matthew, making special note of all the times Jesus leads with something along the lines of "For the Kingdom of God is like..." I'm familiar with all these parables, but I've really tried to dig into how Christ is describing his Kingdom, and how that Kingdom is present currently, here on earth. Anyway, Matthew 22 is throwing me for a loop. I understand the general premise...the king (God) invites guests to the wedding banquet for his son (Christ). The parable continues that the guests he invited basically snubbed him..."Sorry King, too busy preparing my taxes and sharpening my plow." This enraged the king, who then asked his servants to go to the street corners and invite anyone they find. I like this part, because in this I think God is calling out to me (a Gentile), inviting me to some join the banquet even though I wasn't on the original list. Yea! I'll take that invitation any day! Sign me up, thank you very much. So we all end up at the party, hanging out, good and bad...end of story? Not quite. This is where I get a little hung up. The king then notices a man there not wearing wedding clothes, and gets pissed. Now my honest immediate reaction is "Hello...you invited people off the street. Not everyone will be in their Sunday best." When the king confronts the man, Matthew records the man as "speechless." I would be too. Then, without warning, the king tells his servants to tie the man up, hand and foot, and throw him outside into the darkness. Jesus ends with "For many are invited, but few are chosen." Now, I've read several commentaries on this passage. I understand that all are welcome at the banquet, but no one should remain the way he or she entered, in view of the final separation of "the wicked from the righteous" (MT 13:49). Still, I feel like I'm getting stuck on something. Perhaps I'm missing something obvious (it happens with frequency.) All I know is I spend some serious time with this over the last week, and I'm not feeling settled, and that's ok. Maybe that's the point...wrestling with God's word is DEFINITELY not a comfortable exercise.
SO...I'm a little stuck on something wedding related. Your help is appreciated. I've been reading Matthew, making special note of all the times Jesus leads with something along the lines of "For the Kingdom of God is like..." I'm familiar with all these parables, but I've really tried to dig into how Christ is describing his Kingdom, and how that Kingdom is present currently, here on earth. Anyway, Matthew 22 is throwing me for a loop. I understand the general premise...the king (God) invites guests to the wedding banquet for his son (Christ). The parable continues that the guests he invited basically snubbed him..."Sorry King, too busy preparing my taxes and sharpening my plow." This enraged the king, who then asked his servants to go to the street corners and invite anyone they find. I like this part, because in this I think God is calling out to me (a Gentile), inviting me to some join the banquet even though I wasn't on the original list. Yea! I'll take that invitation any day! Sign me up, thank you very much. So we all end up at the party, hanging out, good and bad...end of story? Not quite. This is where I get a little hung up. The king then notices a man there not wearing wedding clothes, and gets pissed. Now my honest immediate reaction is "Hello...you invited people off the street. Not everyone will be in their Sunday best." When the king confronts the man, Matthew records the man as "speechless." I would be too. Then, without warning, the king tells his servants to tie the man up, hand and foot, and throw him outside into the darkness. Jesus ends with "For many are invited, but few are chosen." Now, I've read several commentaries on this passage. I understand that all are welcome at the banquet, but no one should remain the way he or she entered, in view of the final separation of "the wicked from the righteous" (MT 13:49). Still, I feel like I'm getting stuck on something. Perhaps I'm missing something obvious (it happens with frequency.) All I know is I spend some serious time with this over the last week, and I'm not feeling settled, and that's ok. Maybe that's the point...wrestling with God's word is DEFINITELY not a comfortable exercise.
Labels: Wedding banquet
March 1, 2007 at 7:53 AM
1. appreciate the shout-out. I think AP is amo-ink's biggest fan.
2. THANK YOU FOR WRITING THIS ENTRY. I too read this passage recently, and could not come to a conclusion. Unfortunately I have no wise comments to add. Was the king expecting that he go and FIND some wedding attire - that he must make an EFFORT to change? But what does that have to do with "being chosen?" I feel like there is a part of the story being left out. I am going to go read this in the Message and get back with you. I will be eagerly awaiting any insightful comments. top
March 1, 2007 at 11:36 AM
Sometimes challenging bible passages make me cranky too. Here are some thoughts on this one. Maybe the clothes symbolize our choice to fully participate. Maybe we ourselves CHOOSE to be one of the chosen. Maybe lots of people are called, and maybe lots of people show up, but maybe only some choose to believe they are there because God thinks they are something pretty darn special. While God knows that this is his intention for everyone, unless we allow ourselves to believe it – we allow ourselves to believe we are chosen – aren’t we just showing up? Do we get kicked out for just showing up? No. But, maybe we should. Maybe it is OK to feel chosen if all that means is acknowledging God’s unique love for each of us. Deep Thoughts by Beth S. Lots of maybes. top
March 1, 2007 at 12:04 PM
This comment has been removed by the author. top
March 1, 2007 at 4:39 PM
In the days of Jesus, when there was a royal wedding as described in this passage, it was customary for the king to offer wedding garments (traditionally robes) to those attending.
Isaiah 61:10 states:
I delight greatly in the LORD; my soul rejoices in my God. For he has clothed me with garments of salvation and arrayed me in a robe of righteousness, as a bridegroom adorns his head like a priest, and as a bride adorns herself with her jewels.
As I see it, this guy must have simply refused to put on the clothing given to him and not allowed the King to put His covering on him. God does ask us simply to show up -- BUT then He desires to clothe us in His righteousness. If we choose to stay the way we are without allowing Him to cover us, bad on us.
This passage also reminds me of the parable of the prodigal son -- when he returned to the Father, stinking and smelling in all of his sin and his mess, the Father ran to greet him and covered him in a fine robe and a ring, right on top of his mess. I think Jesus was making a similar point each time. We can show up in any condition, just as we are, but we can't stay that way. We need to let His love, His blood, His righteousness, and His holiness clothe us.
My friend Wendi Kaiser said many years ago, "Many are called but few can stand it". We're told throughout the New Testament to die to flesh, put off the old man, clothe ourselves in righteousness, put on the armour of God, and so on. We are also told that many will cry "Lord, Lord" and will be cast out because He never knew us. "Just showing up" isn't going to cut it.
Going back to the beginning of Jesus' public ministry, His first word was "Repent". Our old ways, our old dress has to be replaced by God's. I think this passage of Scripture does challenge us to look at ourselves and at our place in Christ. Are we just showing up -- showing up to church, showing up to serve, showing up to show up? Are we just showing up in front of God? Or are we partaking instead? Partaking in the Cross, in the sufferings as well as the blessings, the sacrifices as well as the rewards? The Pharisees showed up (and showed off), believing themselves to be holy men. Jesus called them snakes and told them what their fate would be.
Jesus came for all and died for all. He chose us and invited us. But can we stand it? top