The Gospel of Matthew
The Wedding Feast: Mt 22,1-14
There three parables are linked by the chain of opening phrases:
21,28 says "what do you think"
21,33 is "another parable"
22,1 begins "Jesus answered and spoke again in parables".
Luke's great banquet in chapter 14 sees Jesus invited to the house of a leader of the Pharisees. In that gathering of the great and the wealthy, Jesus stresses the importance of inviting the poor to a banquet (Lk 14,13). From that, Luke tells his banquet parable. For the Matthew version, we can keep in mind Luke's stress on the poor.
We can note too that Matthew has included the story of the man without his wedding garment, 22,11-14.
Both the vineyard and the wedding banquet parables follow a similar outline but with a notably different theme.
In the vineyard, the slaves are sent out to collect the produce before the son is sent.
Likewise, for the wedding feast, the slaves are sent twice to those invited and then a third into the highways to invite everyone they can find.
The difference is that the parable begins similarily to those in chapter 13: "the kingdom of heaven may be likened to...". Matthew though does add the kingdom to the vineyard parable, 21,43.
Return to the main page.
The Parable
The kingdom of heaven is always central to Matthew. It's manifestation in this world is found in the Church.
The wedding imagery for the covenant relationship between God and his people is found in both the OT (Hosea 1-2) and the NT (Apoc 19,7). I mention the Isaiah reading and Psalm 23 with my comments on the Sunday readings below.
The king here is God and the Son will be Jesus who has already appeared in the vineyard story (21,37). Jesus will also be the bridegroom of the parable of the bridesmaids (25,1).
In verse 3, it is supposed that invitations were sent out earlier. It is only with the feast already prepared that the rejections come in.
The rejections in verses 5 & 6 are blunt and rude, a contrast to Luke where there is politeness (Lk 14,18-19).
Verse 7 is a sudden change of tone and may well refer to the destruction of Jerusalem by the Romans in 70 AD. Nowhere does the New Testament clearly refer to this event.
Verse 8 then resumes the parable. Worthy means living the standards required for the kingdom as set out, for example in the Sermon on the Mount.
In verse 9 the slaves are sent out once again and the invitation is thrown wide open. "Into the countryside" would be one way of understanding this.
Verse 10 therefore with the new guests present indicates a new people of God, those who have accepted the invitation of verse 9. We note that there are good and bad alike, as in the parables of chapter 13.
And so we have one of the bad appearing in the extra verses 11 to 14. It is pushing the story too far to ask practical questions about where he might have obtained the wedding garment. Rather, we are to see him who is just not willing to make the effort, who is not worthy as in verse 8. Standards are required in the kingdom even from those coming in from the streets.
The King addresses the man as "friend", rather loaded as in 20,13. That leaves the man speechless.
Thus the consequence is that many are called but few are chosen because the call is all demanding. In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus comments that not everyone who says "Lord, Lord will enter the kingdom of heaven..." (7,21) and before that there was the reminder to enter by the narrow gate (7,13-14).
Return to the main page.
The Sunday Gospel
The weakness of choosing the reading from Isaiah 25 is that the wedding theme is lost. However, this reading about a banquet refers to the banquet at the end of time. So too is the banquet at the end of the psalm where the shepherd becomes the host. This focus on the end time certainly helps our understanding of the Gospel.
Reflection: Vineyard and Wedding Banquet
Our reading has indicated that the first stage of the confrontations end with the parable of the vineyard whilst the second stage opens with the banquet of the wedding feast. I have seen no discussion even that there is this interface between the two stages and my comments will be tentative.
The vineyard parable is told at the end of the first stage as a parable of rejection: the vineyard being a symbol of the people of Israel. The son is thrown out of the vineyard and killed. It follows the discussion about the authority of the Jewish leaders and the parable of the two sons, a Matthew addition. Matthew has also added the comments about the kingdom being taken away and given to a people who will produce the fruits of the kingdom.
This is therefore a parable of closure. The authority of the second son is ended, as the Jewish leaders incriminate themselves in 21,31 and 21,41. The new people, the first son, are present and waiting.
The wedding banquet then picks up the theme as those invited reject the king and his son and the new people receive their invitation. Yet even the new people have to show theselves worthy.
This is a parable of opening and sets the scene for what follows. The encounters of the rest of the chapter, taxation, resurrection, love and David's son all have a particular importance for the Christian community. Which is why Matthew leaves out Mark's final criticism of the scribes devouring widow's property.
With those thoughts, return again to the main page.