Matthew 22:1-14 (Invitation to a wedding banquet)

Once more Jesus spoke to them in parables, saying: "The kingdom of heaven may be compared to a king who gave a wedding banquet for his son. He sent his slaves to call those who had been invited to the wedding banquet, but they would not come. Again he sent other slaves, saying, 'Tell those who have been invited: Look, I have prepared my dinner, my oxen and my fat calves have been slaughtered, and everything is ready; come to the wedding banquet.' But they made light of it and went away, one to his farm, another to his business, while the rest seized his slaves, mistreated them, and killed them. The king was enraged. He sent his troops, destroyed those murderers, and burned their city. Then he said to his slaves, 'The wedding is ready, but those invited were not worthy. Go therefore into the main streets, and invite everyone you find to the wedding banquet.'

Those slaves went out into the streets and gathered all whom they found, both good and bad; so the wedding hall was filled with guests. "But when the king came in to see the guests, he noticed a man there who was not wearing a wedding robe, and he said to him, 'Friend, how did you get in here without a wedding robe?' And he was speechless. Then the king said to the attendants, 'Bind him hand and foot, and throw him into the outer darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.' For many are called, but few are chosen."

If ever there were a good news/bad news story, here it is. Good News: There’s a wedding party. Bad News: Those originally invited foolishly decline the invitation. Good News: More guests are found who accept the invitation. Bad News: Some of the original guests try to sneak in but are thrown out. The story is told in vivid terms. If it were portrayed as a TV drama there would have to be a warning, ‘Viewers might find some of the scenes distressing’. We could also add another warning, ‘This story has been misunderstood by many. Watch out for fake interpretations.’

This is great story telling by Jesus, and if we had been there when he first told it we would understand it clearly by the reaction of the crowds. Without such a benefit we have to rely on the context of the story within Matthew’s Gospel. Why does this matter? Because a lot depends on the identity of the two sets of guests. 

Some commentators have suggested that the first set of guests who declined the invitation were the Jews, and those who accepted the invitation were the Gentiles. Others have widened the scope to say that the first group are generally the whole human race whilst the second group are the Christians. These different interpretations play on the central idea that when it comes to the Kingdom of heaven, some are in and some are out. As soon as we hear this, alarm bells will start ringing for any follower of Jesus’ teaching. 

Jesus spent so much of his time crossing boundaries and reaching out to those who felt left out of society – the poor, the sick, certain ethnic groups, and some who had been labelled as ‘sinners’. Jesus’ natural instinct was to include people rather than separate people into those who are in or out. Having said that, he does use this kind of ominous language for one group of people – hypocrites who were full of their own self-importance. The context of this story identifies who, in particular, Jesus had in his sights. The people who should have been worried by Jesus’ teaching were the corrupt authorities of the day, both religious and secular but particularly the religious. The unexpectedly delighted guests at God’s banquet seem to be the likes of you and me. But hold on a moment, I’m a religious authority. I had better watch out what I say and do.