TRANSLATION MATTHEW 22:1

Jesus made his argument to them in parables such as this:

The Rule of Heaven can be likened to a man, a king, who gave a wedding banquet for his son. And he sent his slaves out to summon those invited to the banquet, but they did not want to come. Again he sent out other slaves, saying, tell those invited, “See this! My wedding breakfast is prepared: My bulls and fattened beasts have been slaughtered and everything is ready; come to the wedding banquet!” But they were unimpressed and went off, one to his own farm, another to his place of trade. The rest of them took hold of his slaves, shamefully beat them, and killed them.

The king was enraged and sent his soldiers who put those murderers to death and burnt their city. Then he told his slaves, “The wedding banquet is indeed ready but those invited were not worthy., So, go out into the entrances and exits of the city and call everyone you find to the wedding. These slaves went out into the street, gathering all whom they found, good and bad alike, so that the wedding hall was filled with guests.

But when the king came in to see the guests he saw there a man who was not wearing wedding clothes. And he said to him, “Friend, how did you get in here without having a wedding tunic?” The man was flabbergasted. Then the king said to his servants, “Bind him hand and foot and throw him outside into the darkness where there will be weeping and grinding of teeth. For many are called, but few are chosen.”

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The concept of the Messianic Banquet comes fromIsaiah 25 and lies behind a number of events in Jesus’ ministry (for example, his meals with sinners) and a number of his parables, We can ask to what extent this reflects the life and understanding of Jesus himself, and to what extent the theology of his first followers, but in either case, the concept is central to the gospels.

This parable is so direct an application of the concept to Jesus’ life that it is barely a parable, more a theological narrative. The Messiah was viewed as the bridegroom of Israel, hence the notion of the wedding banquet. The unfortunate slaves used as messengers are doubtless, the prophets of Israel, who were rejected and abused in their time.

The invitation to all and sundry, good and bad, can be seen as Jesus’ ministry and its consequences. A motley mob responds and fills the wedding hall. But the divine purpose must not be forgotten; it is no mere hooley, but the wedding feast of God’s son. The wedding tunic represents an understanding of this. The choosing of the few is often ascribed to God, but at any rate the initial choice is by those who are called, in the nature of their response, that they either come to honour God’s Son, or not. I would not define it more narrowly than that. Some scholars want to interpret the wedding tunic as ethical obedience to Jesus’ teaching but the parable specifically mentions good and bad as equally welcome.

Scholars also attempt to separate the original parable from the story of the wedding tunic, but as it stands, as Matthew’s work, I cannot see how this can be justified. He is concerned that the beauty of God’s disgraceful openness should not be sullied by some taking it for granted. The darkness outside belongs to all who do not want to be inside, from arrogance or carelessness.