The summer months bring sun, later bedtimes, tans (or burns), outdoor fun and weddings. June is the most common wedding month, with the other summer months close behind. I remember well one of the weddings I officiated in 2000. Josh and Jennifer were excited about their day. I was excited for them for I met with them for pre-marriage counseling and they were grounded and ready for starting life together. Near the close of the service, I pronounced them “husband and wife” and sent them on their way. As I watched them make their way down the aisle, a woman making hand motions caught my eye. She was rubbing her two pointer fingers together. Not able to make sense of her signing directed at me, I continued on and closed the service in Benediction. With some impressive speed, she made her way to me and informed me that I “forgot the kiss!” Josh and Jennifer assured me that they were not concerned and then Josh added that he was sure that they would make up for it. I wish I had provided that moment for them; yet nevertheless, they were married and full of joy. I want to tell you about another wedding that is being prepared. The wedding is to be a joy-filled event.
Notice the first few verses. Jesus tells us that the King prepared a wedding banquet and that banquet included a grand feast. George Buttrick explains that the wedding banquet of which Jesus speaks was: “an occasion which . . . would be the acme of delight. Thus Jesus again makes joy a dominant note in the kingdom-music” (Parables 224). That was the event to attend. Let’s be honest. While some absolutely love the events, I know some of you do not really enjoy going to weddings. It seems like more of an obligation than a joy. But would you like it more if the wedding included a good feast? Not just a little cake and some punch! The King brought it all out to celebrate His Son’s wedding. Yet even with the lavish feast added, still not one of the invited guests came to celebrate. Why did they refuse to come?
After two preoccupation refusals and one violent refusal, we might think that the King would cancel His banquet. Instead, however, the King commands His remaining servants to invite others. Craig Blomberg states that, “The execution of God’s sentence against faithless Israel began to unfold.” Jesus, the Son sent to the lost sheep of Israel, explains with this parable that He came not only for those sheep and that if those sheep refuse, they will not celebrate at the banquet (326).
“Anyone you find” will be welcome to attend. They brought in the good, the bad (and, yes, the ugly), and the wedding hall was filled! Right here we see the grand news that Jesus truly so loved the world! He died for all. We see this truth and we rejoice. Keep rejoicing for a marriage feast is a grand occasion. Do you celebrate and rejoice enough in your invitation? As we hear this good news, let us keep in mind Ben Witherington’s warning: “But lest one think there are no entrance requirements for dining at the eschatological banquet, we have vv. 11-12. Though there was an open invitation, it did not mean there were no requirements . . .” (409). We need to celebrate God’s grace but we do not, in the words of Bonhoeffer, make it “cheap.” So what are the requirements for the banquet beyond receiving the invitation? We find those in the end of the parable.
One guest came to celebrate but he was not prepared. He did not don the required garment. What garment is needed? You see the verse for reflection from earlier in our service. Listen to it again and some verses that follow.
All wedding guests must RSVP to their invitation by receiving the washing in the blood of the lamb. Do you see the irony in the parable? Some invited guests acted in rage and killed the Son. Yet it is the very blood of that Son who makes all the other guests welcome!
The one inappropriately dressed man tried to enter without washing in the sacrificial and grace-filled blood of the Lamb. Notice what happened when the King confronted him. “The man was speechless.” Johnson writes, “When God confronts a sinner, his mouth is stopped” (517). Paul, likewise, wrote: Now we know that whatever the law says, it says to those who are under the law, so that every mouth may be silenced and the whole world held accountable to God. (Romans 3:19 NIV) When I go to the Lord, I may be silent before God out of awe; but I sure do not want to be silent out of being confronted with my sin. The way you need to prepare and to RSVP is by calling on Jesus to wash you clean. He will dress you in a pure garment of love and grace and you will be welcome to stay at the feast-filled banquet of joy! You cannot falsify your way in, you must come properly clothed. The preoccupied and the rebellious need to surrender all to the Lord, and to accept His proposal. He will receive the Good or Bad (we have no ugly). Will you say, “I do!”? #ordinarylives For further reading … Blomberg, Craig L. The New American Commentary. Ed. David S. Dockery. Vol. 22 Matthew. Nashville: Broadman, 1992. Buttrick, George A. The Interpreter’s Bible. Vol. 7. New York: Abingdon, 1951. Buttrick, George A. The Parables of Jesus. New York: Harper and Brothers, 1928. Johnson, Sherman E. The Interpreter’s Bible. Ed. George Arthur Buttrick. Vol. 7. New York: Abingdon, 1951. Witherington, Ben, III. Smyth & Helwys Bible Commentary - Matthew. Macon: Smyth & Helwys, 2006.
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