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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 in to 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 taught in the temple, "Hear another parable: There was a certain landowner who planted a vineyard and set a hedge around it, dug a winepress in it and built a tower. And he leased it to vinedressers and went into a far country. Now when vintage-time drew near, he sent his servants to the vinedressers, that they might receive its fruit. And the vinedressers took his servants, 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.' So they took him and cast him out of the vineyard and killed him. 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: . . . My study bible notes of today's parable: "Like the preceding parables, this one also proclaims the transfer of the Kingdom from the faithless Jews to the Gentiles. It is set as a joyful wedding banquet, for Christ is often called the 'Bridegroom' (9:15; John 3:29), and St. Paul uses a marriage analogy for the Kingdom (Ephesians 5:21-33). The repeated sending out of servants shows the Father's great desire to have His people with Him in the Kingdom. The first group (verse 3) is interpreted to be Moses and those with him, while the second group (verse 4) is composed of the prophets. These groups call those initially invited -- the Jews. The third group (verse 9) represents the apostles sent to the Gentiles, those not initially invited, but now called."
"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." ' " My study bible says that these oxen represent the sacrifices of the Old Covenant, and the fatted cattle are the eucharistic bread of the New Covenant -- fatted is better translated as "wheat-fed," or more literally "formed from wheat." Therefore, we conclude that both Old and New Covenants are fulfilled at the wedding of Christ and His Church.
"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." My study bible offers the commentary of St. John Chrysostom, who teaches here that Christ is prophesying the destruction of Jerusalem by the Romans in A.D. 70, and thus attributes this destruction to an act of God rather than simply to that of men. "Nevertheless," it says, "God showed His patience by waiting some 40 years from the time of Christ, giving the entire generation a chance to repent."
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 in to 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.'" My study bible says, "The wedding garment would have been provided by the king, and therefore the man had no excuse for not wearing one; thus he is speechless. His refusal to wear the garment that was provided is an illustration of those who refuse God's hospitality, or who want His Kingdom on their own terms. Specifically, the garment refers to the baptismal garment, and by extension, a life of faith, repentance, virtue, and charity. Without these, a person will ultimately be cast into outer darkness."
"For many are called, but few are chosen." This phrase was used by Jesus at the end of the parable of the laborers in the vineyard, who each received the same wage regardless of when they were called and when they began working. It is once again an illustration of the ultimate power of God, to choose. It reminds us again that it is not we ourselves who make this decision about who is welcome or why.
Let us think about the wedding garment. There are several places in the Gospels where we have given to us the idea of the "white garments." There is first of all the Transfiguration, at which Jesus' garments were shown to be white as the light (in Matthew's version). In John's Gospel, as the villagers in a Gentile town come to him, Jesus tells the disciples, "Lift up your eyes, and look on the fields, for they are white already to harvest" (John 4:35). The traditional interpretation is that these believing Gentiles are dressed in white as they approach Jesus. In Revelation 19, at the marriage supper of the Lamb, His Bride was granted to be arrayed in fine linen, clean and bright, for the fine linen is the righteous acts of the saints (Rev. 19:8). The armies of the Lamb in heaven are clothed in fine linen, white and clean (Rev. 19:14). In Revelation 7, those multitudes from every nation who serve the Lamb are clothed in robes that they have washed and made white in the blood of the Lamb (Rev. 7:9;14). These garments represent not "perfect lives," but lives that have been lived in endurance through difficulty, "washed in the blood of the Lamb" (His Covenant, His sacrifice), and made pure by their own transfiguration, or metamorphosis, in the life and light of Christ. It is not so much the notion that someone has made choices that are perfect, so much as it is the notion that those who come in faith may wash their clothes in the blood of the Lamb, transfiguration via the repentance that comes with God's help. As in the previous reading where Jesus said, "Many are called, but few chosen," we recall that this choosing is not up to us. We are to endure, and to live as He has asked of us, accepting the great grace that has been given to us in the blood of the Lamb. That is our calling. How do we endure so that we, too, live as these clothed in the bright wedding garment?
