Wedding Invitation

October 9, 2011

Matthew 22:1-14
And again Jesus spoke to them in parables, saying, "The kingdom of heaven may be compared to a king who gave a wedding feast for his son, and sent his servants to call those who were invited to the wedding feast, but they would not come. Again he sent other servants, saying, 'Tell those who are invited, "See, I have prepared my dinner, my oxen and my fat calves have been slaughtered, and everything is ready. Come to the wedding feast."' But they paid no attention and went off, one to his farm, another to his business, while the rest seized his servants, treated them shamefully, and killed them. The king was angry, and he sent his troops and destroyed those murderers and burned their city.
Then he said to his servants, 'The wedding feast is ready, but those invited were not worthy. Go therefore to the main roads and invite to the wedding feast as many as you find.' And those servants went out into the roads and gathered all whom they found, both bad and good. So the wedding hall was filled with guests.
"But when the king came in to look at the guests, he saw there a man who had no wedding garment. And he said to him, 'Friend, how did you get in here without a wedding garment?' And he was speechless. Then the king said to the attendants, 'Bind him hand and foot and cast him into the outer darkness. In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.' For many are called, but few are chosen."

The King gave a wedding feast for his son, but the invited guests did not want to come. Why did they not want to come? It would have been a great feast. There was a lot of good food, roast beef and steaks and everything fit for a king. They did not want to go to the wedding feast because they did not like the king. And in a way, I do not blame them. He was a ruthless ruler. Even if they had attended, they would not have enjoyed the party, they would have gone out of fear, fear for their lives if they did not attend. And so it was. When the guests did not come, he sent his troops to kill them and burn their city. Some of the guests tried to be polite and gave excuses not to attend, others sent the messengers away and treated them with the same contempt that they had for the king. The king understood their refusal not to attend as rebellion.

There was a lot of food, and the king did not want it to go to waste. I do not think that he really wanted a bunch of common folk in his palace, or he would have also invited them in the first place. The wedding hall was filled with guests, even if they included both the good and the bad. I wonder how many of those guests came because they really wanted to. Maybe they had heard about the first group of invited guests who were killed by the king, and so they came in fear. Or maybe some came just for the free food and didn't care about the king and the prince.

Then there was a guest who had no wedding garment. I feel sorry for him. The old custom was that the host would give wedding garments to the guests. Why did he not have a garment? Did not the door-keeper give him one? Or did he refuse to wear one? If he was innocent, then the king should have told his servants to give him a wedding garment and let him enjoy the party. But if it was an act of defiance or contempt of the king on his part, then he should have expected being thrown out of the wedding party.

Jesus concluded by saying "For many are called, but few are chosen." This I think is the teaching of this parable. Whether you are called first or last, whether you are bad or good, you must have the wedding garment. And that wedding garment must be given to you and worn by you.

[Some of the following interpretation is suggested in a Sermon by Martin Luther; taken from his Church Postil. First published in 1523, found on the internet.]

To understand the parable spiritually, we have to think that the King is God. The Prince is Jesus Christ. The Bride is the Church. The Invitation is the call of the Gospel to believe in God as Lord and Savior; to be faithful and loyal to God as your Heavenly King. The wedding feast is Salvation, it is worship in church, and it is the Holy Communion. The oxen and fatted calves would be like the Old Testament sacrifices for the forgiveness of sins: This would be the sacrifice of Jesus Christ and his Blood that forgives and purifies the Bride, the Church. The Servants of the King would be those people who call people to come to God: the Old Testament Prophets and the New Testament Apostles and the Evangelists of all ages. Just like in the parable, the servants of God have been ignored, abused, and even killed because they urged people to come to church, to come to the celebration of Jesus and his Bride.

In the parable the King sent his army to destroy those who had killed the ambassador-like servants of the King. He burned their city. In the year AD 70, the Romans burned Jerusalem to the ground. But to understand this spiritually, it is that the Kingdom of God is now not just for the Jews who rejected Jesus, but it is for all people. The servants went out to the hi-ways and the bi-ways, to the ends of the earth. They called the good and the bad. They came to us heathen.

Then the King comes out to look at his guests at the party. This will take place on the Day of Judgment. This is the first time the guests, including us, will see the King. However, there will surely be more than one person who has no wedding garment. There will be many people trying to enter the wedding reception without the proper garment. That Garment is Faith. Many people want to enter heaven, but they want to wear their own dirty, sinful clothes, these clothes are their good works and the image of themselves that they want to show. It is their hands, their deeds that try to save themselves; it is their feet that signify their wayward walk in life. That is why they are bound hand and foot and thrown out into outer darkness.

The Garment is the Righteousness of Christ. It is made clean in the sacrifice of the Blood of the Lamb. It is made pure in Baptism. As a Guest, we receive this Garment, the forgiveness and righteousness of Christ. It is not something that we do. It is pure faith.

Finally, let's talk about love, the love of a bride and groom. This love is celebrated in the Old Testament book, the Song of Solomon. As a "song," it might have been performed for King Solomon at one of his many weddings. It speaks of love and joy. The bride-to-be says, (2:16) "My beloved is mine, and I am his." When two people are in love, it makes no difference if they have no money, no job, no future, or if the world is against them. They are in love! The groom can give diamonds and riches, but they are never enough to show his love. All the bride and groom want is each other. And so it is with Christ and his bride, the Church. He has given us everything, he has given us himself. He died for the Church. He lives for the Church. And so the Church, the Bride of Christ gives her life to her beloved. Because they are together they are blessed and happy.

Finally, again, as a guest to this wedding, what gift do we bring? We do not bring a gift. We have been given a gift. We receive the wedding garment which is Christ. We have eternal salvation.

Amen.

Michael Nearhood, Pastor
Okinawa Lutheran Church

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