October 9, 2011

by Jon Strasman

Parable of the Wedding Banquet

Have you received any good invitations lately? Did you take the person up on the invite? Did you ask, who all is coming before making up a decision? Last week I was invited to watch the packer game at the mill after church with Chuck Lindsey. I surprised him and showed up. I am glad I went. I made some new Packer friends as well. Jeranna was invited to the Lakeside Woman's Tea yesterday. She was blessed by attending.

Today we have a king that sent out an invitation to the wedding of his son. We get the Parable of the Wedding Banquet. Martin Luther called this parable the terrible gospel which he did not like to preach.

The trouble with this parable for me is the apparent absence of grace.
It's a parable of judgment… common in Matthew's Gospel

SCENE

The scene for the parable is a wedding banquet. Not just any wedding. It was a royal wedding in a royal city.

All of our lessons have feast imagery in them today. A Wedding banquet was a metaphor for the coming new age.

Those hearing the parable of Jesus are still the chief priests and the scribes. Perhaps by telling a parable, Jesus could critique them while keeping things ambiguous. And keep Jesus out of trouble for the time being.

CHARACTERS

One way to read is parable is to look at the characters and see who you identify with.

The original guest list. It was common in those days to have double invitations. It allowed potential guests to find out who was coming and whether everything had been arranged properly. If the right people were coming, all would come. If the right people stayed away, all would follow suit. Trivial excuses followed.

The excuses, are an indirect but traditional way of signaling disapproval of the dinner arrangements on the part of the elite who have been invited. Shameful treatment and murder of the king's servants are a direct insult of the kings honor.

… invited 3 times

Patience of the King. They made light of the invite. Disregarded it. One to his farm, one to his business.

Maybe you can identify with the The rag tag bunch. The servants went into the throughfares. The cross roads, the city squares… the normal places of communication with the non-elite. These people were the opposite of the original invitees.

This was a scandal brewing. Non-elites would never have table fellowship with the elites. What kind of king is this? Eating together implied sharing a common set of ideas and values… social position as well.

The expected are absent and the unexpected are present.

Then there is The man who was kicked out. You are probably thinking, I am glad I am not him. Dress a certain way. The King would hand out proper garments to the non-elites coming to the banquet. If you didn't wear the garment you would shame the king. You would be thrown out. The unlimited grace of the kingdom always bring unlimited demand.

Grace in the parable

Invited guests were invited 3 times. Still rejected. Most of us quit after the first invitation. God invites us over and over to feast on God's generosity and extravagance. God doesn't give up after the first invite. God is persistent with us.

All people good and bad, (could mean in poor condition physically or evil) were welcome t the wedding. Hultgren, "In the present era, God's embrace of humanity is universal: there is no sorting out ahead of time of who shall be welcome into the kingdom.

Judgement came at the end with the person not wearing the proper wedding robe given by the king. We were giving our new garment in baptism. Are we wearing it daily. Can others see it on you?

Is there anything in our context that threatens Jesus authority? That poses a threat to Jesus?

This is a parable about God

The invitation to the kingdom has expanded before our very eyes. Christians are to have an inclusive table.
Jesus is in route to calvary where God will sacrifice his son for the good and the bad.

Most of all, are we going out into the thoroughfares… Go out into the main streets and invite everyone.

I love the image of main streets. The servants go out into main streets and invite the guests in.

The Goal for the king was to simply fill the wedding hall in order to feed the guests.

Slaves gathered all.

Notice it was the slaves… Servants that kept doing the inviting.

We have some opportunities in our community. Logos next weekend.

Partnering with Neighbors in Need to provide a warming shelter. Or a tent city. We have the space, we have the heat, we have people that love to serve.