Jesus is such a great teacher. His parables draw us in, have surprising elements and stunning lessons at the end. Jesus was well aware of Ezekiel’s preaching during the Exile that we have been hearing for the past few weeks. Ezekiel was full of promise. The remnant left behind in a destroyed Jerusalem needed hope. God promises that the covenant will be restored. God will purify the people from their impurities and give them new hearts. The gift will include God writing His statutes in their hearts. They will again be God’s people. God will again be their God.
But today, in Matthew (Matthew 22:1-14), it is obvious that the ultimate gift of God, announced by Jesus, has been rejected by many of his own people. Jesus ends his previous parable, about the unjust tenant farmers, by concluding, “Therefore, I say to you, the kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to a people that will produce its fruit.” (Matthew 21:43) There will be some believing Jews, Gentiles, and the new community of Jesus’ followers who will heed this message. But others will not. Jesus continues his teaching by relaying today’s Gospel story.
“The Kingdom of heaven may be likened to a king who gave a wedding feast for his son.” Is it not consoling to think of heaven as a wedding feast? Jesus must have loved wedding feasts. Remember his role at Cana? He finds them to be the closest analogy he could find to give us a peek into what God has prepared for us.
The drama builds when the people first invited simply don’t come. The king’s response replays the whole history of God’s working with the Chosen People and Jesus’ listeners knew it immediately. Now comes the really good news: “Go out, therefore, into the main roads and invite to the feast whomever you find.” All along it has been God’s plan to offer salvation and the joys of the Kingdom not only to a chosen few, but to everyone! The victory Jesus will win over sin and death is universal. It is for all people.
Then the story takes a surprising twist. One of the invited guests shows up wearing something other than an appropriate wedding garment. (It is clear from the story that the person is without a wedding garment out of ingratitude and a lack of serious respect for the king; it is not that the guest couldn’t afford one.) While the invitation is universal – that is, it is free and unmerited – there is also a universal call to holiness. We are called to receive the gifted invitation by living our lives as grateful guests. We are invited to be with Jesus by being like him. We are called to come to the banquet ready to celebrate because we have been ready and open to giving our lives in imitation of the one who invited us.
We can imagine Jesus telling this story today. How often does it seem that we who have been invited to be part of the kingdom of heaven, simply take it for granted? We seem quite satisfied to know that we are saved. We can unconsciously act as though, “well, if I don’t do anything seriously wrong, I’m in. What more do I need to worry about?”
In this gospel our holiness has to “surpass that of the scribes and pharisees” (Matthew 5:20). Jesus wants us to know that it is “mercy that I desire, not sacrifice” (Matthew 9:13). One of his final parables will tell us that our judgement – the decision about whether we ultimately will enter the Kingdom of heaven – depends upon whether we care for the “least of my brothers and sisters” – feeding the hungry, clothing the naked, caring for the sick and imprisoned (Matthew 25).
Today, let’s ask for the grace to receive the invitation worthily. Let us respond more and more fully to Jesus’ invitation to love as we have been loved. Let us see, feel, act upon the invitation to eternal life by dying to ourselves a bit more today, particularly in each of our relationships. Let’s forget about our own wounds and become healers of others’ wounds. Let us open our hearts to hear the cries of all those who are poor and on the margins of our societies. Let us ask ourselves how we can respond, what role we can take, how we can make a difference. Today, let’s put on an appropriate wedding garment, committing ourselves, and witnessing to everyone, that we are ready for the banquet of heaven.