MATTHEW 22,1-14 : YEAR A

Jesus tells another parable to the same audience as heard last Sunday’s parable, the chief priests and Pharisees [21:45]. The comparison to the kingdom of heaven tells us immediately that this is no ordinary king.

The main character in the story acts the same way as in last week’s tale: he sends servants and they are badly treated: the maltreatment of the servants reflects what happened to prophets and to Jesus. The burning of ‘their city’ may reflect what happened to Jerusalem in 7O AD.

Wedding festivities usually lasted several days. Male cattle were used for feasts and sacrifices, since cows were needed for milk, curds and cheese. The slaughter of such an animal was a rare and special event. The crossroads is the best place to come across all travellers: finding the guests demands effort. Mention of bad and good reminds us that some unlikely people have to be invited if the banquet hall is to be filled, not least those on the margins of society, in terms of previous parables tax collectors and sinners, but also Gentiles. Like us.

The man without the wedding garment seems to be treated unfairly if he has just been pulled in off the road. However, since everything was ready, perhaps wedding robes may be taken as included. It could be a reference to the baptismal robe (“All baptised in Christ, you have all clothed yourselves in Christ”, as St Paul put it [Gal 3:27]), or it may mean simply that being invited and admitted to the banquet is not a guarantee of staying there. One must fully take part. The king coming in to look the guests over is a scene of judgement.

The notion of wedding feast does not occur much in religious language in our day, but for Jews and in the Old Testament it was the image used to bring home the love of God for his people, and is extended by St Paul to include God’s love for humanity. Marriage is the great image in St Paul of the union between Christ and his Church, Head and members. Furthermore, the joys of the kingdom of the Messiah (Christ) are pictured as a messianic banquet, a theme that points towards the Blessed Eucharist also.

• The parable of the wedding banquet is about invitation and response. How important to me is the idea that God invites me?

• “They collected together everyone they could find.” How comfortable am I with this picture of the members of the Church?

• How much attention do I give to my ‘wedding garment’? Does it say anything to me about my approach to the Blessed Eucharist?

• A common tooth problem in ancient times was the grinding, the wearing down, of teeth, with its effect on the chewing of food later in life: problems with eating, being cast into darkness, with one’s hands bound. What do I make of that as a way of imagining life without Christ?

Thanks to the book of Sirach (Ecclesiasticus), we have a statement of a cultural difference between modern readers and those of the Middle East in biblical times: “Young man, speak only when necessary, when they have asked you more than once” [Sir 32:7]. The fondness for the double invitation permeates Middle Eastern culture. Double invitations to banquets were common. During the time between the first and second invitation, those invited ‘checked out’ the reputation of the host, the rest of the guest list and sought information needed to determine whether to attend or decline when the time came.

--John J. Pilch: Cultural Dictionary of the Bible (abbreviated)