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SCRIPTURE: Matthew 22:1-14
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VERSES 21:23 - 22:14: THE CONTEXT
This controversy section begins with the chief priests and elders asking Jesus, "By what authority are you doing these things?" (21:23). At 21:45 they become chief priests and Pharisees. Jesus counters by asking, "The baptism of John, where was it from? From heaven or from men?" When his critics refuse to answer him, Jesus refuses to answer them. He then responds with four parables of judgment (21:28-32, 33-46; 22:1-10, 11-14)
VERSES 1-14: TWO WEDDING PARABLES
This lesson includes a pair of parables (1-10 and 11-14). They are often treated as a single parable because the setting for both is a wedding banquet, but they make two related but somewhat different points.
VERSES 1-10: THE PARABLE OF THE WEDDING BANQUET
1Jesus answered and spoke again in parables to them, saying, 2"The Kingdom of Heaven is like a certain king, who made a marriage feast for his son, 3and sent out his servants to call those who were invited to the marriage feast, but they would not come. 4Again he sent out other servants, saying, 'Tell those who are invited, "Behold, I have prepared my dinner. My cattle and my fatlings are killed, and all things are ready. Come to the marriage feast!"' 5But they made light of it, and went their ways, one to his own farm, another to his merchandise, 6and the rest grabbed his servants, and treated them shamefully, and killed them. 7When the king heard that, he was angry, and sent his armies, destroyed those murderers, and burned their city.
8"Then he said to his servants, 'The wedding is ready, but those who were invited weren't worthy. 9Go therefore to the intersections of the highways, and as many as you may find, invite to the marriage feast.' 10Those servants went out into the highways, and gathered together as many as they found, both bad and good. The wedding was filled with guests.
"Jesus answered and spoke again in parables to them" (v. 1). This parable is more allegorical than most. An allegory is a story in which each of the elements (people, things, and happenings) has a hidden or symbolic meaning. The code for understanding it is as follows:
• The king (v. 2) is God.
• The son (v. 2) is Jesus.
• The invited guests (v. 3) are the people of Israel.
• The first slaves (v. 3) are the Hebrew prophets.
• The second and third sets of slaves (vv. 4, 8) are Christian missionaries.
• The burned city (v. 7) is Jerusalem.
• The good and bad (v. 10) are the members of the church, which includes both righteous and unrighteous.
• The wedding robe (vv. 11-12) equates to righteousness.
This is obviously more than a story about a king and a banquet. It is the story of salvation history in which God sent prophets and Christian evangelists with Good News, which some rejected and others accepted.
"The Kingdom of Heaven is like a certain king, who made a marriage feast for his son" (v. 2). The wedding banquet is a metaphor for the messianic banquet that we will enjoy with Christ in the kingdom of heaven (see Isaiah 25:6-8).
"and sent out his servants to call those who were invited to the marriage feast" (v. 3a). Preparing for a banquet is expensive and requires time, so the custom is to send and accept invitations well in advance. Once the banquet is ready, the host sends a second notice –– rather like our custom of making medical appointments in advance and receiving a reminder call a day ahead.
"but they would not come" (v. 3b). A guest who fails to attend not only causes food to be wasted, but also dishonors the host. The invited guests offer no excuses, but simply refuse to honor the invitation. Perhaps the time or preparation required has become inconvenient.
Likewise, the call of Christ, in its specifics, can be inconvenient. Like the invitees, we find it easy to accept Christ in principle, and, like them, we find it less easy to accept the particulars –– Christ's call to serve on the church board, etc.
"Again he sent out other servants, saying, 'Tell those who are invited, "Behold, I have prepared my dinner. My cattle and my fatlings are killed, and all things are ready. Come to the marriage feast'" (v. 4). As is often the case with allegory, the story is exaggerated. A real-life king would not try to persuade people to attend his banquet, but would punish those who refused to come.
"But they made light of it and went their ways" (v. 5a). A king dishonored in this fashion must punish the offenders to salvage his honor.
"one to his own farm, another to his merchandise" (v. 5b). Good things, not bad, distract them. Their problem is not drinking or whoring, but the routine of daily life. Temptation often comes clothed in wholesome attire.
"and the rest grabbed his servants, and treated them shamefully, and killed them" (v. 6). This is an allusion to the prophets –– God's messengers –– often murdered by Israel (1 Kings 19:10, 14; 2 Chronicles 24:18-22; 36:15-16; Acts 7:51-53; Matthew 5:12; 23:29-39).
"When the king heard that, he was angry, and sent his armies, destroyed those murderers, and burned their city" (v. 7). Matthew is writing this after the destruction of Jerusalem in 70 A.D., and makes it clear that this destruction was the judgment of God upon the people of Israel.
"Then he said to his servants, 'The wedding is ready, but those who were invited weren't worthy'" (v. 8). Matthew is writing to Jewish-Christians. They would understand "those invited" to mean Israel (see also Romans 1:16).
The king sent a third set of servants, saying, "Go therefore to the intersections of the highways, and as many as you may find, invite to the marriage feast" (v. 9). The alternative would be to have no guests. The king has partially redeemed his honor by punishing those who spurned his invitation, but his honor is still in jeopardy unless he can present the bride and groom with a gala banquet.
"Everyone" includes Gentiles. There have been intimations in this Gospel from the beginning that the invitation would be extended beyond Israel (see 2:1-12; 21:28-32; 21:33-41; 28:19). However, God has not rejected the Jewish people (see Romans 11:1, 28-29).
The slaves gathered in "both bad and good. The wedding was filled with guests" (v. 10). The "good and bad" reflect the church of Matthew's day, which is struggling with the problem of Christians who fail to exhibit evidence in their personal lives of their relationship with Christ (see also 5:20; 7:21; 13:24-30, 36-43, 47-50; 21:43).
Sinners and irreligious people were not welcome in the synagogues. As a matter of fact, people with physical or mental handicaps were barred (Bruner, 776). The church found an eager audience among those not welcome elsewhere. Matthew is quite troubled about the presence of these "sinful" people in the church, a fact that is reflected in a number of places in this Gospel.
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VERSES 11-14: THE PARABLE OF THE WEDDING GARMENTS
11But when the king came in to see the guests, he saw there a man who didn't have on wedding clothing, 12and he said to him, 'Friend, how did you come in here not wearing wedding clothing?' He was speechless. 13Then the king said to the servants, 'Bind him hand and foot, take him away, and throw him into the outer darkness; there is where the weeping and grinding of teeth will be.' 14For many are called (Greek: kletoi), but few (Greek: oligoi) chosen" (Greek: eklektoi).
"But when the king came in to see the guests, he saw there a man who didn't have on wedding clothing" (v. 11). The failure to wear a robe is not general. The other guests apparently have robes, and this man is conspicuous by his failure to dress properly.
"Friend, how did you come in here not wearing wedding clothing?" (v. 12). Surely God would not enforce a dress code! This parable warns that he will.
Where would the guest have obtained a wedding robe? Jesus doesn't tell us. However, it is clear that other guests responded appropriately but this guest did not. It is also clear that the king believes this failure to be a serious and willful offense.
What is the meaning of the wedding robe in a Christian context? Jesus doesn't tell us, but the reference to "both bad and good" in verse 10 suggests that it is righteousness. The issue would appear, then, to be sanctification –– growth in holiness by the power of the Holy Spirit –– righteousness –– discipled lives.
"Bind him hand and foot, take him away, and throw him into the outer darkness; there is where the weeping and grinding of teeth will be" (v. 13). This Gospel includes several references to terrible eschatological punishment characterized by weeping and gnashing of teeth. In each case, it is Jesus who tells us of such punishment (13:42, 50; 24:51; 25:30).
"For many are called (kletoi), but few (oligoi) chosen (eklektoi)" (v. 14). Note the rhyme between kletoi and eklektoi that is lost in translation.
"few chosen" (v. 14b). This verse "should not be taken as a forecast of the proportion of the saved to the damned. Its function is not to frighten Christians with the thought that the statistical odds are against them but to encourage vigorous effort to live the Christian life" (Hare, 252).
SCRIPTURE QUOTATIONS are from the World English Bible(WEB), a public domain (no copyright) modern English translation of the Holy Bible. The World English Bible is based on the American Standard Version (ASV) of the Bible, the Biblia Hebraica Stutgartensa Old Testament, and the Greek Majority Text New Testament. The ASV, which is also in the public domain due to expired copyrights, was a very good translation, but included many archaic words (hast, shineth, etc.), which the WEB has updated.
BIBLIOGRAPHY:
Bailey, Kenneth E., Through Peasant Eyes: A Literal-Cultural Approach to the Parables of Jesus (Grand Rapids: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., 1976)
Barclay, William, Gospel of Matthew, Vol. 2 (Edinburgh: The Saint Andrew Press, 1957)
Bergant, Dianne with Fragomeni, Richard, Preaching the New Lectionary, Year A (Collegeville: The Liturgical Press, 2001)
Blomberg , Craig L., New American Commentary: Matthew, Vol. 22 (Nashville: Broadman Press, 1992)
Boring, M. Eugene, The New Interpreter's Bible, Vol. VIII (Nashville: Abingdon, 1995)
Brueggemann, Walter; Cousar, Charles B.; Gaventa, Beverly R.; and Newsome, James D., Texts for Preaching: A Lectionary Commentary Based on the NRSV –– Year A (Louisville: Westminster John Knox Press, 1995)
Bruner, Frederick Dale, Matthew: Volume 2, The Churchbook, Matthew 13-28 (Dallas: Word, 1990)
Brunner, Emil, Sowing and Reaping: The Parables of Jesus (London: The Epworth Press, 1964)
Craddock, Fred B.; Hayes, John H.; Holladay, Carl R.; Tucker, Gene M., Preaching Through the Christian Year, A (Valley Forge: Trinity Press International, 1992)
Gardner, Richard B., Believers Church Bible Commentary: Matthew (Scottdale, Pennsylvania: Herald Press, 1990)
Hagner, Donald A., Word Biblical Commentary: Matthew 14-28, Vol. 33b (Dallas: Word, 1995)
Hare, Douglas R. A., Interpretation: Matthew (Louisville: John Knox Press, 1993)
Hultgren, Arland J., The Parables of Jesus: A Commentary (Grand Rapids: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 2000)
Johnson, Sherman E. and Buttrick, George A., The Interpreter's Bible, Vol. 7 (Nashville: Abingdon, 1951)
Keener, Craig S., The IVP New Testament Commentary Series: Matthew, (Downers Grove, Illinois: InterVarsity Press, 1997)
Klein, Leonard R. in Van Harn, Roger (ed.), The Lectionary Commentary: Theological Exegesis for Sunday's Text. The Third Readings: The Gospels (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2001)
Long, Thomas G., Westminster Bible Companion: Matthew (Louisville: Westminster John Knox Press, 1997)
Morris, Leon, The Gospel According to Matthew (Grand Rapids, Eerdmans, 1992)
Senior, Donald, Abingdon New Testament Commentaries: Matthew (Nashville: Abingdon Press, 1998)
Soards, Marion; Dozeman, Thomas; McCabe, Kendall, Preaching the Revised Common Lectionary, Year A (Nashville: Abingdon Press, 1993)
Thayer, Joseph Henry, A Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament (NY: American Book Company, 1889)
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