The Wedding Feast

Dear saints, “The kingdom of heaven may be compared to a king who gave a wedding feast for his son.” Weddings are festive events even in our day. Countless hours are spent planning them. From colors to dresses to guests lists, it can be exhausting. And while it does not have to be, a wedding is often expensive. But the weddings of our day are brief when compared to weddings in the days of Jesus. These weddings were week-long feasts. And this morning, we hear of a king who has prepared the wedding feast for his son.

Everything is ready, the oxen and fattened calves are slaughtered and prepared. And the king sends his servants to call those invited to the feast. Call those who knew the feast was coming. But those invited would not come. They spurned the invitation.

Undeterred, the king sends other servants, this time announcing that all was prepared and the dinner is ready to begin. These servants are met with two groups of people: The first ignore the call to the feast and go to farm or business. The other group forcibly seizes the servants, treats them in a shameful and spiteful manner, and kills them. Imagine killing someone who brings the news that you have been called to a wedding feast, where you would be fed and dined in luxury for a week by your king!

The king’s response is swift. He sends soldiers to the cities of those murderers and destroyed them, burning down their cities. The destruction of the cities would impact those who ignored the servants and went to their farms and businesses. “Then he said to his servants, ‘The wedding feast is ready, but those invited were not worthy. Go therefore to the main roads and invite to the wedding feast as many as you find.’” When these servants go, they find whoever they found, good or bad, and gathered them into the wedding hall. Finally, the dinner begins.

There is more to the parable but let us begin unpacking it now. It is clear who the king and his son are. It is none other than our Heavenly Father and His Son, our Lord, Jesus Christ. The parable is an allegory explaining the Father and His work accomplished through Christ. The wedding feast here is the church.

While most English translations use the word servants, a more literal word is slave. Slaves are sent to those invited, that is, called to the feast. These people are the Jews, the people of Israel. God’s servants in the form of prophets and priests have been calling Israel to His church since God chose them as His people. And we hear in the Old Testament that these prophets and priests are ignored. Sometimes they are killed.

Undeterred, God sends more slaves. These slaves represent God’s servants and messengers in the form of the Apostles and early disciples, such as Philip and Stephen. They are ignored by the Jews when invited to believe in the Messiah they have been waiting for. Some are mistreated and murdered for inviting the King’s people to His feast. And when the destruction of the Temple occurred in 70 AD, we could be seeing another part of the parable occurring.

Israel and the Jews were called to the feast. But they deemed themselves unworthy to attend. Finally, God sends even more slaves. This time they go anywhere and everywhere to invite all they find. These slaves represent the early church through today and into the future. These slaves are the pastors and teachers and Christians who desire their neighbor to know the love of Christ and to believe in Him for their salvation.

To be sure, many today still ignore the message. Many today are more worried about the fruits of their earthly work or the gain they can gather from trade and business. And many slaves are treated shamefully by those the Good News is proclaimed to. They are sometimes even killed. But these slaves also bring into the feast both the good and the bad. The wedding hall, that is, the Church is filled with guests.

The good and evil in the parable are described in this way because of what they look like to the human eye. The tax-collectors and others in open sin are the evil; people like Nicodemus and Joseph of Arimathea are the good. And yet all are guilty before God. All are equally sinful and in need of forgiveness and righteousness that they cannot achieve on their own. That means that you and I are among those evil and good who have been brought into the wedding hall.

Wedding feasts in those days often had a garment that was worn by the guests. This was not a tuxedo you rented. It was not your finest suit and tie. It was nothing you brought but was given to you upon your arrival. Thus, all these people arrive at the feast, remove their dirty clothes, and put on the garment provided by the King.

The garment is the righteousness of Christ. In your baptism, you are clothed in this righteousness. No longer are you guilty before God, but you are perfect and pure. You attend the feast and recline at the table with your fellow saints, even coming to the altar where you are fed and nourished and forgiven by Christ’s Body and Blood.

“But when the king came in to look at the guests, he saw there a man who had no wedding garment. And he said to him, ‘Friend, how did you get in here without a wedding garment?’ And he was speechless.

The man represents those in the church who have insulted God and who reject the garment that He graciously provides. By removing the garment provided and taking on his own clothing, he thinks himself worthy by what he has done and by who he is. When the King finds him and questions him, the man knows there is nothing he can say for himself. He is silent.

Then the king said to the attendants, ‘Bind him hand and foot and cast him into the outer darkness. In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’ For many are called, but few are chosen.” The man is not excluded from the feast by God. He excludes himself from the feast and declares himself unworthy to be there by rejecting the gift of grace that is salvation.

Jesus is making it clear in this parable that not everyone goes to heaven. Not even everyone who goes to church goes to heaven. Some come outwardly, that is, they sit in the pews and may even serve as leaders or pastors. But they do not come into the kingdom. They want the power of Christianity, but they do not want the cross.

In this parable, we see the reality and the danger of unbelief. It would be appropriate to feel shivers running down your spine.

But, even more, we also see a beautiful example of God’s mercy. It is God, your King, who provides the your garment. Who provides your soul’s healing and cleansing.  And in this, God is glorified by exercising His mercy upon you. By forgiving your sins. And He invites you to his feast not simply as a guest but declares you to be the immaculate bride that Christ loves. He does not invite you because you are worthy, but because He is worthy. And this invitation and work that He does has made you worthy. Amen.

Rev. Brent Keller 
Peace Lutheran Church 
Alcester, SD  

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