Sunday’s parable was a challenge for me to preach. There is a lot of stuff going on in Matthew 22 with this tale of a wedding banquet! Yesterday I “zoomed in” on how God has an invitational heart, and that we ought to have one, too. We need to invite all sorts of people (both good and bad) to partake in God’s kingdom. But there are so many other parts to Jesus’ teaching. Believe it or not, this parable includes hidden details about when Matthew was written (right after the year 70AD–when the Jerusalem temple was destroyed), as well as a critique of how God’s people ignored previous prophets… There’s a lot to unpack here!

For this week’s reflection on the church blog, let’s consider how this parable ends. I didn’t preach much on it, but there’s another lesson to be gleaned from Jesus’ final words for this odd story. Here are verses 11-14:

¹¹ “But when the king came in to see the guests, he noticed a man there who was not wearing wedding clothes. ¹² He asked, ‘How did you get in here without wedding clothes, friend?’ The man was speechless.

¹³ “Then the king told the attendants, ‘Tie him hand and foot, and throw him outside, into the darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’

¹⁴ “For many are invited, but few are chosen.”

Sounds pretty strange, right? Why would a king (or God) get so worked up over wedding attire? Why would the king throw someone out, especially if he had invited so many outsiders to enter in? If God invited the poor and downtrodden to participate in the wedding feast, why would it be a dealbreaker to not have a wedding suit?

As with so many other parables, there’s obviously something deeper going on with Jesus’ words. It is clear that “wedding clothes” means something much more than physical clothing. So what could Jesus mean by this? In my studies, there are a couple of themes to help unlock this cryptic ending:

• Several biblical commentators argue that in Jesus’ time, a king would provide wedding attire for the guests. So the guest without the proper clothing would have been someone who refused this gift of the king. This adds a deeper meaning of whether we fully accept God in our own hearts… or if we think ourselves to be too good for God’s grace!
• St. Augustine, a leader in the early church, interpreted this message to mean that “wedding clothes” symbolized having charity. The wedding crasher was not interested in participating in the wedding party itself. He was being self-centered instead of joining in on the festivities.
• Martin Luther, famous Reformation theologian, argued that “wedding clothes” meant to be clothed in Christ himself. There are countless New Testament verses about being “clothed” in righteousness or to “put on” Christ as one would a garment.
• John Calvin, another famous Reformation theologian, put forth the idea that this wedding crasher didn’t leave his old life behind. He wanted to enjoy the king’s feast, but still held onto his old self (i.e. normal everyday clothes meant sin, while “wedding clothes” signified a new life in Jesus).
• Some other biblical commentators, drawing upon the inspiration of these theologians, interpret Jesus’ teaching to mean that we cannot hold onto our previous life of sinfulness. It is impossible to cling to life apart from God, yet still want to enjoy God’s salvation.

In my own personal interpretation and study, I think Jesus included this odd twist of an ending to mean that God doesn’t want you to just show up. Instead, God wants you to fully participate in his kingdom. The right kind of “wedding clothes” means that we allow Jesus Christ to fully impact our lives–we don’t hold anything back. And just as we accept God’s invitation, we join in on all the party has to offer, too. That means wearing what God gives us, so to speak, where we embrace every good a perfect gift God graces us with.

Jesus was obviously no stranger to controversy. He wasn’t crucified out of random chance. Neither did he get along with the religious folk of the day. Instead, Jesus often found himself in dicey situations. In Luke 4, after citing a prophecy from Isaiah, the townsfolk nearly threw Jesus off of a cliff after he criticized the people’s failure to do justice! Jesus also claimed divinity and even challenged the political order of the day–if Jesus were God, then Caesar was not! Jesus was a controversial figure, even back in his day.

Even though it might not seem like it, the same controversial aspect is also true for Jesus’ parable of the two sons. We explored what this parable means for values like integrity and how we should always seek to do Godly work, instead of just being “all talk.”

But the son in the story who promised to work in the vineyard, yet never showed, was a profound critique of Jesus’ peers. This is especially true at the parable’s end where Jesus explicitly says that the tax collectors and prostitutes belong in God’s kingdom. On the other hand, others tragically rejected God (or never showed up to the father’s vineyard).

Consider for a moment the various messages God sent humanity throughout the Old Testament:

• God’s beginning with Abraham included a promise that Abraham’s family ought to bless all the families of the earth (Genesis 12:2).
• Deuteronomy details many regulations and laws for how to treat the poor.  For instance, 15:11 says, “You shall open wide your hand to your brother, to the needy and to the poor, in your land.”
• The prophet Amos called out how Israel was treating the downtrodden: 2:7 “They trample on the heads of the poor as on the dust of the ground and deny justice to the oppressed” and 5:11 “You levy a straw tax on the poor and impose a tax on their grain. Therefore, though you have built stone mansions, you will not live in them; though you have planted lush vineyards, you will not drink their wine” (5:11).
• And one could never forget the simple message of Micah 6:8–“He has told you, O mortal, what is good; and what does the Lord require of you but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God?”

So one of the major interpretations of this short parable is Jesus “calling out” the religious order of the ancient world. They were the ones who promised God to follow his way. They were the ones who had heard God speak through the prophets. The tragic thing was that they didn’t have the actions to back it up.

And yet we also find ourselves in the same position, too. Instead of following God’s guidance, we go our own way. We are like the son with no integrity–ignoring the father’s requests to care for others.

God’s message never really changed throughout scripture–we are to be a blessing to others, care for those less fortunate, and be righteous in how we live life. We have the same choice as the characters of the bible did. Will you heed God’s commandments? Or will you ignore them?

I referenced three profound examples of forgiveness in my sermon yesterday. Here are some videos highlighting these incredible stories. They definitely touched my own life as I prepared for this week’s sermon… and I hope they speak to you, too, on the power of Christ when we forgive others!

1. Steven McDonald– Police officer who was injured by gun violence while on duty, later traveled to speak on the power of forgiveness.

2. Jacob DeShazer– Participated in a retaliation strike for Pearl Harbor but was captured and spent several years in a Japanese POW camp. He found Christ and after being released, returned to Japan as a missionary spreading God’s message of forgiveness.

3. Mary Johnson– A mother who lost her teenage son to gun violence. She reconciled with her son’s killer and is now a mother figure to him.