Musings on Matthew 22:1-14 (A great wedding banquet)

For many years, the citizens of Judah lived in fear of conquest by their neighbors. Already, their family to the north, the kingdom of Israel, had been overwhelmed by the Assyrians. Many were carried off into the obscurity of exile, while those who were left lived under the oppressive rule of a foreign empire. Now more than ever, with the Assyrian army at their doorstep, the Judeans needed a king who would help them to stave off what seemed inevitable.

The burden fell to King Hezekiah to fulfill the hopes of the people. 2 Chronicles (chapters 29 & 30) describe Hezekiah’s efforts to save his kingdom. “In the first year of his reign, in the first month, he opened the doors of the house of the Lord and repaired them.” (29:3) He had the Levites and priests cleanse the Temple and sanctify themselves so that they could restore the sacrificial rites.

Hezekiah then sent out an invitation to all the people to assemble in Jerusalem for the celebration of the Passover: “[He] sent word to all Israel and Judah, and wrote letters also to Ephraim and Manasseh, that they should come to the house of the Lord at Jerusalem, to keep the Passover to the Lord the God of Israel.” He called on them to repent of the idol worship and turning away from God:

“Do not now be stiff-necked as your ancestors were but yield yourselves to the Lord and come to his sanctuary, which he has sanctified forever, and serve the Lord your God, so that his fierce anger may turn away from you. For as you return to the Lord, your kindred and your children will find compassion with their captors and return to this land.”

Jesus tells a parable of a king who gave a wedding banquet and summoned the invited guests who in turn ignore or reject the invitation. I wonder if he had in mind the great Passover feast prepared by Hezekiah. Did Jesus want his hearers to remember this story? If so, the chief priests and the Pharisees would understand the implication in this parable that they are the ones who have failed to obey, and their destruction was imminent. They are the stiff-necked ones. But I cannot imagine they would be led to repentance by this parable. That is not its purpose.

The parable is for us, the ones to whom the king sends his slaves to compel into attendance, the ones in the highways and byways whom Jesus summons to faith. But we also hear a warning that we too can be stiff-necked and disobedient, refusing to accept that God’s invitation is for us, even when we are already at the banquet. When we put ourselves in the place of the king, judging those who have been called, we judge ourselves as unworthy as well.

Instead, God invites us to put on our wedding garment and celebrate. This is God’s party, not ours, and God calls whom God desires.

The prophet Isaiah, who appears in the court of King Hezekiah (2 Chr. 32:20) may have that great Passover feast in mind when he writes, “On this mountain the Lord of hosts will make for all peoples a feast of rich food, a feast of well-aged wines”. In this vision, God’s vision is not exclusive to Israel; it includes all peoples.

We are called to appreciate God’s generous mercy that includes even those whom we might find repugnant. In Matthew’s gospel, those are most often portrayed as the tax-collectors and sinners, the very ones rejected by society, who don’t fit into our expectations, who cannot make themselves acceptable. These God declares acceptable, just as we too have been made acceptable by the gift of Jesus Christ.