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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 our current readings, it is Holy Week, and Jesus is in Jerusalem. He is teaching daily in the temple, and has begun His sparring with the criticisms and questions of the religious leaders. He has entered into the Holy City in His Triumphal Entry, and cleansed the temple. Yesterday we read that Jesus said to the religious leaders, "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: "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." Jesus builds upon His preceding parables of the coming of the Kingdom, and the transfer of its stewardship from the faithless leaders who will seek to put Him to death, and to another people made up of faithful Jews and Gentiles. This parable is set as a joyful wedding banquet (see Matthew 25:1-13), for, my study Bible says, Christ is often called the "Bridegroom" (Matthew 9:15; John 3:29). St. Paul uses a marriage analogy for the Kingdom as well (Ephesians 5:21-33). In this parable, my study Bible explains, the repeated sending out of servants shows the Father's great desire to have His people with Him in the Kingdom. This first group is interpreted to be Moses and those with him. These groups call those initially invited -- the Jews. The third group represents the apostles sent to the Gentiles; that is, those who were not initially invited, but are now called.
"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." My study Bible tells us that the oxen represent the sacrifices of the Old Covenant, while the fatted cattle represent the eucharistic bread of the New Covenant. The word "fatted" in the Greek is better translated "wheat-fed," or even more literally meant as "formed of wheat"). So, both Old and New Covenants are fulfilled at the wedding of Christ and His Church. This second group of servants is meant to be understood as the prophets who came after Moses. These first two groups call those who were initially invited to the wedding feast of God and God's people -- the Jews.
"But when the king heard about it, he was furious. And he sent out his
armies, destroyed those murderers, and burned up their city." According to St. John Chrysostom, my study Bible notes, here Christ is prophesying the destruction of Jerusalem by the Romans in AD 70, and is thereby attributing this destruction to an act of God rather than simply to that of human beings. Nonetheless, God showed God's patience and mercy by waiting some forty years from the time of Christ, which gave 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 informs us that the wedding garment would have been provided by the king, and so therefore this man had no excuse for not wearing one; therefore he is speechless. His refusal to wear the garment that was provided illustrates those who refuse God's hospitality -- or who want God's Kingdom on their own terms. My study Bible says that 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." Once again, we recall that for many is an Aramaic expression which means "for all." Jesus has used their same expression at Matthew 20:16, in the ending to His parable of the workers in the vineyard (see Matthew 20:1-16).
In today's parable of the wedding feast, it becomes all too easy to perhaps recognize things that are very common to us today. We're always absorbed in our own business, in the business of life, the pursuits of ambition of one sort or another, our own self-interest and what we think we need to do. We can recognize such reality in the actions of those in the parable Jesus specifies: they made light of the great plans of the king of a wedding feast for his son, and went their ways, one to his own farm, another to his business. This sort of complacency might be something we're all familiar with. Who cares about the things that haven't happened yet, or the things we might hear about that the King, Christ, teaches us about in a sense of a place and reality that is far away from us? We're all busy with our own plans, and it can't be all that important if it doesn't seem to be something that touches our lives and what we're concerned with. Moreover, those nagging messengers, calling us toward something we don't want to think about, and don't want to have to acknowledge or prepare for, are just the problem themselves. Their message is, in some sense, annoying. Or perhaps like the religious leaders described in our present Gospel, there are other things they care about which are being threatened by the message of the messengers. A very brutal and simple solution is just to get rid of the messengers. Then they won't bother us with their calling us back to other responsibilities we don't want to hear about. This is also a common way to brush off what is inconvenient, or somehow threatening to our way of life, to who we think we are. For, how do we prepare for this wedding feast after all? Does it require of us some kind of sacrifice, or change of our own behavior on some terms? If we were to put ourselves in the shoes of the king in this parable, would we not tire of those who do not love nor care for us, nor respect us, and go out and call others -- to find others more worthy of this wedding feast being offered? The parable serves as a kind of warning in tandem to St. John the Baptist's warning to the Pharisees and Sadducees who began coming to his baptism after the multitudes of the people, "Brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the wrath to come? Therefore bear fruits worthy of repentance, and do not think to say to yourselves, We have Abraham as our father.' For I say to you that God is able to raise up children to Abraham from these stones" (see Matthew 3:7-12). That God is able to raise up children to Abraham from the stones tells us a great deal of wisdom, that our complacency or lack of attention to the real value of our faith ignores God's infinite creative power. We are loved by God, so much so that God sent His Son to die on the Cross in order to offer us salvation and welcome to God's Kingdom -- but to take that love for granted invites a different kind of outcome. To disrespect and abuse it is something that has consequences; the same is true of our abuse of God's messengers, those who are willing to bear God's word. So the call can always go out to others, even "to all," as is the generous word of Christ who died for all, and offered salvation to all. But we still need that wedding garment; the respect for true value, for what we're offered in love and total mercy, still counts for something, for abuse of the reality of God is not worthy of that Kingdom. To treat God with abuse is another way of blaspheming the Holy Spirit, spurning the message of the prophets, the Spirit sent as our Helper. It is, effectively, a way to show we do not value the life we're offered. If it was worth it to Christ, to God's salvation plan, to die of love for us all, then how can we prize that love and sacrifice cheaply? Let us turn to the gift we're offered with gratitude. In the end, Jesus says that "many are called, but few are chosen." Let us endeavor to be among the chosen, and receive such a gift we're offered with proper gratitude, and cherish the wedding garment He offers us.
