Jesus again in reply spoke to them in parables, saying, 2 “The kingdom of heaven may be likened to a king who gave a wedding feast for his son. 3 He dispatched his servants to summon the invited guests to the feast, but they refused to come. 4 A second time he sent other servants, saying, ‘Tell those invited: “Behold, I have prepared my banquet, my calves and fattened cattle are killed, and everything is ready; come to the feast.”’ 5 Some ignored the invitation and went away, one to his farm, another to his business. 6 The rest laid hold of his servants, mistreated them, and killed them. 7 The king was enraged and sent his troops, destroyed those murderers, and burned their city. 8 Then he said to his servants, ‘The feast is ready, but those who were invited were not worthy to come. 9 Go out, therefore, into the main roads and invite to the feast whomever you find.’ 10 The servants went out into the streets and gathered all they found, bad and good alike, and the hall was filled with guests. 11 But when the king came in to meet the guests he saw a man there not dressed in a wedding garment. 12 He said to him, ‘My friend, how is it that you came in here without a wedding garment?’ But he was reduced to silence. 13 Then the king said to his attendants, ‘Bind his hands and feet, and cast him into the darkness outside, where there will be wailing and grinding of teeth.’ 14 Many are invited, but few are chosen.”
This parable is an allegory illustrating truths about the Kingdom of Heaven. Jesus uses the setting of a royal wedding feast to teach that God invites all to salvation. God first invited honored guests, the religious leaders of Israel, but they rejected the invitation. God then extends the invitation to everyone regardless of social status or background. However, among that group, some were found to be unprepared, not spiritually ready, because their hearts were not turned towards God so they were not ready to enter fully into the Kingdom of Heaven.
Jesus addressed this parable to the Chief priests and elders of the people and compared the Kingdom of Heaven to a king who was hosting a wedding feast for his son. The king sent his servants to tell the honored guests who were previously invited that the feast was ready, but they ignored the invitation. God invited the people of Israel, especially the religious leaders, to the Kingdom but they ignored his invitation. The king sent servants a second time to earnestly invite the honored guests to the lavish banquet that had been prepared but some ignored his pleading, and others mistreated and killed the servants who were sent to invite them. Mistreatment of the messengers is what happened to the prophets God sent to the Israelites throughout OT history. In anger, the king sent troops to destroy those guests and their city. This has been interpreted as a reference to the destruction of Jerusalem in AD 70.
Those who were initially invited were not worthy, but the King still wanted to fill the banquet hall, the Kingdom of Heaven, so he sent his servants to invite whoever they could find. The servants went out and brought to the banquet the good and the bad alike regardless of their social status or background until the banquet hall was filled. When the king came to meet the guests, he saw a man who was not appropriately dressed for the wedding feast and the king asked the man why he was not properly prepared. The man could not provide an explanation and the king ordered the man to be bound and thrown into the darkness outside, where there was weeping and gnashing of teeth, symbolizing exclusion from the kingdom.
God chose the guests, the religious leaders opposed to Jesus, to be worthy to attend the feast. The wedding feast was the Kingdom of Heaven which is often referred to as the Messianic Banquet (Is. 25:6-10). Jesus is sometimes presented as a bridegroom elsewhere in this Gospel (Mt. 9:15; Mt. 25:1). The servants dispatched were the prophets who told God’s chosen people, the Israelites, to obey the Law and return to God. The religious leaders ignored the warnings and ill-treated or killed the prophets. They did not respond to the prophets in the appropriate moral or spiritual way, so they were found not worthy, and a bleak future awaited them. God then invited the common people, the outcasts; the sinners, the tax collectors, and those in trades that were despised. They were expected to have a conversion of life symbolized by the wedding garment. The man who was not dressed in a wedding garment represented those who did not respond to God’s invitation with a conversion of heart (metanoia) and who were not leading moral lives filled with good deeds. They were excluded from the Kingdom (Mt. 8:12; 13:42). Many are called by God to salvation (invited to the banquet), but few are destined to enter (chosen). They must, as St. Paul said, work out their salvation with fear and trembling (Phil. 2:12).
Almighty God, help us to accept your invitation to the eternal wedding feast paid for with the blood of your Son. Help us to respond with a conversion of heart so that we may receive your blessings, be clothed in righteousness, and be counted among the chosen guests in your kingdom. This we pray through Christ our Lord. Amen!
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References
Chiu, José Enrique Aguilar, et al. The Paulist Biblical Commentary. Paulist Press, 2018.
Brown, Raymond Edward, et al. The New Jerome Biblical Commentary. Upper Saddle River, NJ, United States, Prentice Hall, 1990.
Chiu, José Enrique Aguilar, et al. The Paulist Biblical Commentary. Paulist Press, 2018.
Brown, Raymond Edward, et al. The New Jerome Biblical Commentary. Upper Saddle River, NJ, United States, Prentice Hall, 1990.
Orchard, Bernard, et al. A Catholic Commentary on Holy Scripture. Feb. 1953.
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