I am always struck,
when reading Matthew’s version
of the parable of the wedding feast,
by how violent and disturbing it is.
Luke’s gospel includes the same parable,
but there it is a pretty straightforward story
of people refusing an invitation to a great feast
and other people being invited in their stead.
But in Matthew’s version
we have emissaries murdered,
cities destroyed,
and guests who are underdressed
being cast into the outer darkness.
Luke’s simple story of the abundant feast
to which God invites us,
and the importance of accepting that invitation,
takes on in Matthew a dark and somber coloring.
when reading Matthew’s version
of the parable of the wedding feast,
by how violent and disturbing it is.
Luke’s gospel includes the same parable,
but there it is a pretty straightforward story
of people refusing an invitation to a great feast
and other people being invited in their stead.
But in Matthew’s version
we have emissaries murdered,
cities destroyed,
and guests who are underdressed
being cast into the outer darkness.
Luke’s simple story of the abundant feast
to which God invites us,
and the importance of accepting that invitation,
takes on in Matthew a dark and somber coloring.
Matthew’s parable shows a world
in which people act
against their own self-interest:
what do the unwilling invitees gain
by killing those servants
who brought them the invitation?
It shows a world in which people
more than match evil for evil:
why destroy the innocent
alongside the guilty
in retaliation for murder?
It shows us a world beset by,
as the prophet Isaiah puts it,
“the veil that veils all peoples,
the web that is woven over all nations.”
It shows us a world
enclosed in the shroud of sin
and entangled in the mesh of mortality.
It shows us, in short, our world.
It shows us how we reject and react and retaliate.
It shows us how even the joyous event
of a wedding banquet
can be turned into
one more manifestation
of the evil in which we
are enclosed and entangled.
But the parable does more that,
for if that was all it did
then it would hardly be good news.
The image of the wedding feast
draws our minds to God’s promise
that this sad, violent world
will one day be transformed.
It draws our minds to Scripture’s promise
that God “will provide for all peoples
a feast of rich food and choice wines,”
the promise that God
will wipe the tears from every face
and that death itself will be destroyed.
And it draws our minds
to our liturgy’s promise that,
even now,
in the midst of all this sin and sorrow,
we are blessed to be called
to the supper of the Lamb,
who bears away the world’s sin
and gives to us his peace.
Even now, beneath the veil
and within the web that death has woven,
the Lamb of God feeds us with himself,
sustaining us each week in his banquet of love,
a feast of rich food and choice wine.
Matthew’s version of the parable
weaves together in a striking fashion
the promise of the wedding banquet
with the violence and sorrow
that shrouds our world,
as if to remind us that death’s defeat,
which is already won for us
in the resurrection of Christ,
is something that is not yet
fully realized in us.
It reminds us that the Lamb’s peace
is truly present to us in this meal,
but veiled under sacramental signs
that only faith can discern.
weaves together in a striking fashion
the promise of the wedding banquet
with the violence and sorrow
that shrouds our world,
as if to remind us that death’s defeat,
which is already won for us
in the resurrection of Christ,
is something that is not yet
fully realized in us.
It reminds us that the Lamb’s peace
is truly present to us in this meal,
but veiled under sacramental signs
that only faith can discern.
But what about that
underdressed wedding guest
who is cast into the outer darkness?
How does he fit into the picture?
It does seem strange that someone
who was dragged in from the streets
should be faulted for not wearing
something suitable for a royal wedding.
But in Scripture, clothing
is never merely clothing.
The Psalms speak repeatedly
of the righteous being clothed
with joy and salvation,
and the wicked being clothed
with shame and dishonor.
In the New Testament, St. Paul speaks
of clothing yourself with compassion,
kindness, humility,
meekness, and patience.
He speaks, above all,
of clothing yourself with love,
which, he says,
“binds everything together
in perfect harmony” (Col 3:12-14).
underdressed wedding guest
who is cast into the outer darkness?
How does he fit into the picture?
It does seem strange that someone
who was dragged in from the streets
should be faulted for not wearing
something suitable for a royal wedding.
But in Scripture, clothing
is never merely clothing.
The Psalms speak repeatedly
of the righteous being clothed
with joy and salvation,
and the wicked being clothed
with shame and dishonor.
In the New Testament, St. Paul speaks
of clothing yourself with compassion,
kindness, humility,
meekness, and patience.
He speaks, above all,
of clothing yourself with love,
which, he says,
“binds everything together
in perfect harmony” (Col 3:12-14).
If the wedding banquet
is the Lamb’s high feast,
then surely love is the festive garment
in which we should be clothed.
It is not enough to be invited
out of the sad world of sin and death
and into the joyous banquet of life;
it is not enough even to accept the invitation
and to gather with others to celebrate.
As St. Paul says,
“If I comprehend all mysteries and all knowledge…
but do not have love, I am nothing.
If I give away everything I own…
but do not have love, I gain nothing” (1 Cor 13:1-2).
For it is love that carries us out of this world of death
and into the banquet of life,
and it is the lacking of love that leads
out of the banquet into the outer darkness.
In the face of the violence and sorrow of the world,
we who have been invited must clothe ourselves in love.
But where do we find this love?
After all, are we not those
who have been called in from the streets,
who arrive unprepared and unworthy?
But, St. Paul says in our second reading today,
“My God will fully supply whatever you need,
in accord with his glorious riches in Christ Jesus.”
We come to the banquet with nothing,
but if only we ask
God will clothe us
in joyful wedding garments
of compassion, kindness, humility,
meekness, and patience.
Above all, God will clothe us in his love.
And finding ourselves in such bright array,
we can reflect the light of God’s love
to a world enclosed in the shroud of sin
and entangled in the mesh of mortality,
so that every tearful eye might hope to see
that day when all the saints will sing
“This is the LORD for whom we looked;
let us rejoice and be glad that he has saved us!”
After all, are we not those
who have been called in from the streets,
who arrive unprepared and unworthy?
But, St. Paul says in our second reading today,
“My God will fully supply whatever you need,
in accord with his glorious riches in Christ Jesus.”
We come to the banquet with nothing,
but if only we ask
God will clothe us
in joyful wedding garments
of compassion, kindness, humility,
meekness, and patience.
Above all, God will clothe us in his love.
And finding ourselves in such bright array,
we can reflect the light of God’s love
to a world enclosed in the shroud of sin
and entangled in the mesh of mortality,
so that every tearful eye might hope to see
that day when all the saints will sing
“This is the LORD for whom we looked;
let us rejoice and be glad that he has saved us!”
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