For many are called, but few are chosen

And Jesus answered and spoke to them again by parables and said: "The kingdom of heaven is like a certain king who arranged a marriage for his son, and sent out his servants to call those who were invited to the wedding; and they were not willing to come. Again, he sent out other servants, saying, 'Tell those who are invited, "See, I have prepared my dinner; my oxen and fatted cattle are killed, and all things are ready. Come to the wedding.'" But they made light of it and went their ways, one to his own farm, another to his business. And the rest seized his servants, treated them spitefully, and killed them. But when the king heard about it, he was furious. And he sent out his armies, destroyed those murderers, and burned up their city. Then he said to his servants, 'The wedding is ready, but those who were invited were not worthy. Therefore go into the highways, and as many as you find, invite to the wedding.' So those servants went out into the highways and gathered together all whom they found, both bad and good. And the wedding hall was filled with guests.

But when the king came into see the guests, he saw a man there who did not have on a wedding garment. So he said to him, 'Friend, how did you come in here without a wedding garment?' And he was speechless. Then the king said to the servants, 'Bind him hand and foot, take him away, and cast him into outer darkness; there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.' For many are called, but few are chosen."

- Matthew 22:1-14

In yesterday's reading, Jesus told another parable to the chief priests and elders in the temple at Jerusalem. They had been questioning Him as to His authority to cleanse the temple. In yesterday's reading, He told the parable of the man who planted a vineyard, built a tower and dug a winepress. He leased it to vinedressers and went into a far country. Periodically the vineyard owner would send servants to receive the fruit at vintage-time. But the vinedressers treated the servants badly: they beat one, killed one, and stoned another. Again he sent other servants, more than the first, and they did likewise to them. Then last of all he sent his son to them, saying, "They will respect my son." But when the vinedressers saw the son, they said among themselves, "This is the heir. Come, let us kill him and seize his inheritance." And they killed the son. Jesus asked, Therefore, when the owner of the vineyard comes, what will he do to those vinedressers?" They said to Him, "He will destroy those wicked men miserably, and lease his vineyard to other vinedressers who will render to him the fruits in their seasons." Jesus said to them, "Have you never read in the Scriptures: 'The stone which the builders rejected has become the chief cornerstone. This was the LORD's doing, and it is marvelous in our eyes'? Therefore I say to you, the kingdom of God will be taken from you and given to a nation bearing the fruits of it. And whoever falls on this stone will be broken; but on whomever it falls, it will grind him to powder." Now when the chief priests and Pharisees heard His parables, they perceived that He was speaking of them. But when they sought to lay hands on Him, they feared the multitudes, because they took Him for a prophet.

And Jesus answered and spoke to them again by parables and said: "The kingdom of heaven is like a certain king who arranged a marriage for his son, and sent out his servants to call those who were invited to the wedding; and they were not willing to come." In this parable of a wedding feast, we are once again given images of the Kingdom: this Kingdom is like a wedding feast, of God the Son with His bride, Jerusalem. We remember that in the Triumphal Entry into Jerusalem, the heavenly is mixed with the worldly: a sign of the coming Kingdom, of the eventual fulfillment of this age which was inaugurated at that time. The celestial Jerusalem is the city of the people of God. The wedding is the Covenant, the New Covenant. My study bible notes that John the Baptist called Christ the bridegroom. Earlier in Matthew's Gospel, Jesus also referred to Himself as such, when He answered questions from John's disciples regarding why His disciples did not fast. Invitations are being issued to this marriage feast: but those first invited do not want to come.

Again, he sent out other servants, saying, 'Tell those who are invited, "See, I have prepared my dinner; my oxen and fatted cattle are killed, and all things are ready. Come to the wedding.'" But they made light of it and went their ways, one to his own farm, another to his business. And the rest seized his servants, treated them spitefully, and killed them." Again, the king sends yet more servants to those who are invited: they issue a more explicit invitation about all that is ready, and all that awaits them. We remember that in yesterday's parable, the servants of the landowner are the prophets who have come before Christ. But these people who have been invited to this great wedding feast are too busy with their own businesses and their own plans for themselves. The great wedding of the kingdom can wait; their own plans are more important to them. Even worse, the rest of the invited guests seized his servants, denigrated them and even put them to death. In modern Greek, the word used for "spitefully treated" means to curse. It is the picture of injustice, an undeserved condemnation.

"But when the king heard about it, he was furious. And he sent out his armies, destroyed those murderers, and burned up their city." My study bible says that this is a prophetic teaching, a warning, and refers to the destruction of Jerusalem that would come in A.D. 70, in which the Temple was burned.

"Then he said to his servants, 'The wedding is ready, but those who were invited were not worthy. Therefore go into the highways, and as many as you find, invite to the wedding.' So those servants went out into the highways and gathered together all whom they found, both bad and good. And the wedding hall was filled with guests." These guests who have been invited by the servants who went out into the highways, are those who come from the Gentile world. My study bible points out that though the Apostles do not immediately understand it, this parable proclaims their work beforehand, in which they will go out to all the world (into the highways) proclaiming this gospel, as well as the rejection of this call by those among the first called who did not believe. The wedding hall, it notes, is "the Kingdom of God. God calls all peoples to salvation in Christ -- Jew and Gentile -- carrying forth the plan of salvation to all humanity." We note that the guests are "both bad and good."

But when the king came into see the guests, he saw a man there who did not have on a wedding garment. So he said to him, 'Friend, how did you come in here without a wedding garment?' And he was speechless. Then the king said to the servants, 'Bind him hand and foot, take him away, and cast him into outer darkness; there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.' For many are called, but few are chosen." Everyone is called, everybody is invited: but are all ready for the banquet, the feast, the wedding? My study bible points out that the wedding garment is provided by the host. "To be at the wedding improperly dressed indicates one who is uninvited or who, having been invited, rejects the host's hospitality. In the Church, the wedding garment is true repentance and righteousness -- the way of salvation -- gained only by the grace of God." The culmination of the age initiated by Jesus' Triumphal Entry includes Judgment. All are invited, but how do we accept this invitation? What then do we do with it, and with our lives?

In some sense, in this parable, Jesus is calling us all to this great wedding feast. Once again, we have the overlapping of time, and times -- the eternal nature of the Kingdom is at work in this parable, in this telling of the parable. Yes, it is told to certain people in a certain place and a certain time: and it is a deliberate and direct warning specifically to them of what is to come because of their rejection (and note, this rejection is tied to repeated warnings throughout Jewish spiritual history, from all of Israel's prophets -- the son in yesterday's parable is the final call in a long series of calls by the landowner). Here, Jesus is not teaching them anything these experts do not already well know from the Scriptures. But they fail to hear Him. However, this call goes out to all the highways, all the world, to us, to today. We are all invited to this wedding feast; the invitation has been extended through His servants to all of us. But what do we do with this invitation? The warning therefore is also for us. We mustn't be like the examples we read in the Gospels, who insist their ancestor is Abraham and therefore they are among the saved. Neither can we rest on this invitation issued to all, but rather it also depends upon our own "yes" to grace. There is a place in which we allow in the work of grace to be at work in us. And it is grace that dresses us in that wedding garment, so that we are ready to be fully participating, full members of this wedding. How about you? How does grace seek to dress you today? This is not the first time Jesus has made the statement many are called, but few are chosen, in speaking of those who are called to this Kingdom. Let us remember that He is calling us to a place where the heavenly and the worldly overlap, where the holy is a part of life, to a wedding feast for which we pray, "Thy kingdom come . . . on earth as it is in heaven." Let us consider this when we pray to Our Father, and what our part in it is that accepts this king's will, anticipating the fullness of the wedding feast, so that we are fully dressed in his garments.