REFLECTION
ISAIAH 25:6-10A. PHILIPPIANS 4:12-14, 19-20 MATTHEW 22:1-14
We have an interesting passage in the Gospel of Matthew to ponder today. It’s presented as one parable but it’s actually two. Both are parables about the kingdom of God. Let’s look at the first parable.
“The kingdom of heaven may be likened to a king who gave a wedding feast for his son.” Wedding practices were quite different from ours in Jesus’ day. We need to understand them to better interpret the parable. When wedding invitations were sent out for a great feast such as a royal wedding the date was given but the time was not. Middle Eastern weddings were, and still are, extravagant events that lasted days. When the food had been prepared and everything was ready for the reception, the servants were dispatched to personally call all the guests to the wedding.
Remember that hospitality is sacred in Middle Eastern culture. In the book of Genesis, the destruction of Sodom was God’s punishment for the city’s sins against hospitality. As the king’s servants went from one guest to another to announce the time of the wedding they found that very few were coming. One wanted to work on his farm, another was involved in his business. Some ignored the invitation altogether. Some even mistreated or killed the messengers.
The king’s response was swift and brutal. “The king was enraged and sent his troops, destroyed those murderers, and burnt their city.” This verse is a later editorial insertion. The parable is an accusation against the Chosen People. God had invited them to the wedding feast of the kingdom many years ago. When the time finally came to celebrate the feast, the arrival of the Messiah, they refused to come.
Matthew wrote his gospel between 80AD and 90AD. He, or a later editor, tacked this image of the destruction of the guests and their city to this parable interpreting a horrible event took place in the year 70AD – the destruction of Jerusalem and the temple. In response to continued Jewish revolts, Titus invaded Judea and attacked Jerusalem for four months. He burned the city, crucified its inhabitants and destroyed the temple. The famous Arch of Titus in Rome depicts the pillaging of the temple. The editor interpreted the event as God’s punishment of the Jewish people for their rejection of the Messiah.
We have to be cautious of interpretations like these; they have led to antiSemitic persecutions and pogroms throughout Christian history. This would not have been Jesus’ way. That’s why I felt it important to note this editorial insertion.
brutal. “The king was enraged and sent his troops, destroyed those murderers, and burnt their city.” This verse is a later editorial insertion. The parable is an accusation against the Chosen People. God had invited them to the wedding feast of the kingdom many years ago. When the time finally came to celebrate the feast, the arrival of the Messiah, they refused to come.
Matthew wrote his gospel between 80AD and 90AD. He, or a later editor, tacked this image of the destruction of the guests and their city to this parable interpreting a horrible event took place in the year 70AD – the destruction of Jerusalem and the temple. In response to continued Jewish revolts, Titus invaded Judea and attacked Jerusalem for four months. He burned the city, crucified its inhabitants and destroyed the temple. The famous Arch of Titus in Rome depicts the pillaging of the temple. The editor interpreted the event as God’s punishment of the Jewish people for their rejection of the Messiah.
We have to be cautious of interpretations like these; they have led to antiSemitic persecutions and pogroms throughout Christian history. This would not have been Jesus’ way. That’s why I felt it important to note this editorial insertion.
The parable goes on. “Then he said to his servants, ‘The feast is ready, but those who were invited were not worthy to come. Go, therefore, into the main roads and invite whomever you find…good and bad alike.’” This is more like something Jesus would put in a parable. Everyone is invited to the feast of the kingdom of God – good and bad alike. What a beautiful testimony to the love of God. No one is excluded from the kingdom. All one has to do is accept the invitation. The second parable adds a commentary to this testimony.
The setting for the parable is the wedding feast itself. The king is mingling with his guests when he notices a man without a wedding garment. Throughout the bible clothing is of special importance. It is always symbolic of the person wearing it. All are invited into the kingdom, “good and bad alike.” This doesn’t mean, however, that people don’t need to change their lives in order to enter the wedding feast.
Let’s conclude the reflection on a practical note. It seems that we’ve heard nothing but bad news for months now. We certainly need to be concerned about many things – the global pandemic – the toxic political atmosphere – the nation’s institutions that are in shambles – the economy that’s in a tailspin – the alarming increase in homelessness – growing fear – and perhaps the worst of all, hopelessness.
Why have we refused the invitation to the wedding? Why have we not put on our wedding garments? Why have we allowed ourselves to be bound hand and foot and thrown out into the darkness, wailing and grinding our teeth? Why are we afraid to rage against the darkness? Why aren’t we shining the light of hope. Why do we hide in the darkness with everybody else?
Jesus told us, “You are the light of the world!” That means that we’ve been called and fortified to do the work of the kingdom. It’s up to us to accept the invitation or not.
Maybe I need to pose a question to myself today. Am I daring enough to follow the example of the servants in the parable? Am I willing to deliver God’s invitation to celebrate a new world where people care for each other – a world that recognizes the beauty and uniqueness of every single person – none excluded. Where in this dark world should I begin to shed the light of the kingdom?
