Over the past few weeks as we have made our way through the Gospel of Matthew, we have witnessed Jesus as He rode triumphantly into Jerusalem. We witnessed His popularity, especially by those trying to kill Him, which got there dander up. We witnessed as He proceeded to cleanse the temple. There was also the thing about the fig tree. We witnessed as He was questioned as to His authority, which He does not answer, but in so doing does answer. We listened as He told the parable of the two sons to get across the idea of who is a part of God’s Kingdom. And this parable piggy backed on the previous parable with the understanding that the Pharisees and teachers of the Law are missing it. They are not sons, they are not members of the Kingdom. Following that parable is the parable we have this morning, the parable of the Wedding Banquet and more “accusations” against the Pharisees and teachers of the Law.
Our text begins, “1And again Jesus spoke to them in parables, saying, 2“The kingdom of heaven may be compared to a king who gave a wedding feast for his son, 3and sent his servants to call those who were invited to the wedding feast, but they would not come (v. 1-3). The king of the kingdom of heaven is of course God Himself, Yahweh. He is the One who is King of Kings and Lord of Lords. He is the One who invites. Those who were invited were God’s chosen people, in particular, the Children of Israel. Of course, as we hear this parable today, we might realize that we too are included in those invited, that is we are a part of God’s chosen people, that is by faith in Jesus we too are children of Abraham. So, God’s call is to us and all people.
Because those called first failed to respond to the invitation, the servants were sent out again. “4Again he sent other servants, saying, ‘Tell those who are invited, See, I have prepared my dinner, my oxen and my fat calves have been slaughtered, and everything is ready. Come to the wedding feast.’ 5But they paid no attention and went off, one to his farm, another to his business, 6while the rest seized his servants, treated them shamefully, and killed them” (v. 4-6). The response to this second invitation was a response of excuses, a response of a rejection of the invitation. There are many in our world today, including us at times, who refuse and reject the gifts of God. Some reject the gifts of God because the cares and concerns of the world overshadow what is most important, one’s own spiritual life. Too often, or even how often do we so busy ourselves that we do not have time for what is most important, our relationship with Jesus. Sunday after Sunday after Sunday millions of people have something more important to do than be in God’s house being given the gifts God has to give, which is gift refusal, which is invitation refusal.
The response “7The king was angry, and he sent his troops and destroyed those murderers and burned their city” (v. 7). The warning we get here from Jesus Himself is that the ultimate punishment for refusing His gifts is death, eternal death, hell. Certainly we understand that the punishment for original sin is physical death, but indeed, to continually refuse and reject God’s good gifts and blessings to the point of physical death is hell.
But the King, Yahweh is not done. He sends out a second invitation. We might imagine this invitation is an invitation in particular to the Gentiles. “8Then he said to his servants, ‘The wedding feast is ready, but those invited were not worthy. 9Go therefore to the main roads and invite to the wedding feast as many as you find.’ 10And those servants went out into the roads and gathered all whom they found, both bad and good. So the wedding hall was filled with guests” (v. 8-10). The Pharisees and the teachers of the law understood what Jesus was saying and what He meant in His parable. They understood that He was speaking about those detestable Gentiles. Since God’s chosen people, the Children of Israel, Jesus’ own people refused and rejected Him, He sent His invitation of faith to the Gentiles.
The kings desire, God’s desire is that all people are saved and come to a knowledge of the truth of Jesus Christ. God’s desire is that the kingdom of heaven is filled. God fulfills His desire by calling to and giving faith. As we confess, He calls, gathers and enlightens the whole Christian Church on earth and He does this through His means of Grace, His Word and Sacraments. And so, the banquet hall is filled.
The wedding hall is filled, but something is not right. One of the guest is there without proper attire, “11“But when the king came in to look at the guests, he saw there a man who had no wedding garment. 12And he said to him, ‘Friend, how did you get in here without a wedding garment?’ And he was speechless. 13Then the king said to the attendants, ‘Bind him hand and foot and cast him into the outer darkness. In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’ 14For many are called, but few are chosen” (v. 11-14). What does this mean that one guest was there without a wedding garment? This particular guest refused the garments of faith given to the guest. Instead he chose to be present, to present himself there with his own garments, his garments of his own good works. He crashed the wedding thinking more highly of himself. He crashed the wedding so that when we was confronted by the king he had no answer, he had no confession of faith. Instead of rejoicing and confessing the gifts given to him by the king and giving thanks for those gifts and blessings, he had nothing to say, he was speechless.
“For many are called, but few are chosen” (v.14). With these words Jesus reminds us that God’s call is to all people of all place of all times, yet, not all people respond to His call. Too many people refuse and reject God’s call and gift of faith. Too many people, through time and eternity reject God’s call and instead want to stand before Him in their own robes of works righteousness, again, refusing the wedding garments provided by the king.
The Pharisees and the teachers of the law understood, time after time, that Jesus was speaking about them in His parables. And time after time their response was to seek some way to get rid of Him. How do we respond to these parables of Jesus? How do we respond when we read God’s Word, when we hear God’s Word, when the Pastor preaches God’s Word and we know that word is read, heard, and preached to us? Do we rejoice when we are found out, when our sins are exposed? Or do we get upset, do we simply decide to stay away because we do not want to hear how sinful we are, do we have an inclination to think of how we can get rid of our Pastor? Certainly, as conceived and born in sin sinners we do not like having our sins pointed out, especially if they are our favorite sins. Certainly we do not like having our rejection of the gifts of God being pointed out. Certainly we do not like it being recognized that our attention is divided such that we are breaking the commandments and certainly we do not like being made to feel guilty about our sins. Unfortunately, it is not just the law that brings condemnation, but to those who constantly refuse and reject the gifts of God, it is also the recognition of our rejection of the gifts of God that brings guilt.
Today we are reminded once again that God’s call to faith is to all people. All people, of all places around the world, of all times throughout history, of all cultures, all people are invited to be given the gifts and blessings God has to give. All people are invited to be given forgiveness of sins. When Jesus was born He was born as true Israel. He was born and lived the perfect life demanded of His people Israel and of us today. He lived the perfect, obedient life. Then He took all our sins and all the sins of all people of all places of all times, including those sins we have yet to commit. He took all sins upon Himself and suffered the eternal punishment of hell for us in our place. And He died. But, death and the grave had no hold over Him as He rose victorious over sin, death and the devil. And now He calls all people to be given that forgiveness that He paid for with His life.
Unfortunately, just as in His parable, so too today, many people refuse and reject His forgiveness. Some refuse and reject His forgiveness because they refuse to acknowledge and confess their sins. Some refuse and reject His forgiveness because they desire to continue living in their sin refusing to recognize that what they have done or are doing is sin. Indeed, one trip through the Ten Commandments reminds us of our sins, our sins of commission, that is our sins of doing those things we should not be doing and our sins of omission, that is failing to do those things we should be doing. As we heard a few weeks ago, the most loving thing we can do as Christians is to help our brother or sister recognize their sins so that they repent and are given forgiveness. The most unloving thing we can do is to let them go on sinning so that their sin remains and they are eternally lost in hell.
Yes, we all need to hear the Law, but it is not the Law that moves us to repentance. We all need to hear the Gospel and it is the Gospel, it is the knowledge of sins forgiven that moves us to repent and not refuse and reject the forgiveness which is already there. Remember, all sins have already been paid for, thus, our only option would be to reject that forgiveness which is done by not confessing. As we confess at the beginning of the service, “If we say we have no sin we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. But if we confess our sins, God, who is faithful and just, will forgive us our sin and cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” It is truly this knowledge that our sins have already been forgiven that gives us the confidence to confess.
Indeed, as Jesus concluded His parable, many are called, but few are chosen. God’s desire is that all people are saved. Yet, just as in His parable, so too today, many people have many excuses for refusing and rejecting the calling and gifts of God. As with His parable of the sower and the seed, so too the cares and weeds of this world, the business of the things of this world, so much and so many things draw too many away from the gifts and blessings God has to give and thus so many refuse and reject the gifts of God.
Even in the church, those who have been called to and given faith, too often get caught up in the business, the cares, worries and concerns of the world to the detriment of their own souls. And there are those in our world who believe themselves to be apart of God’s kingdom by what they believe to be the good deeds they have done without a confession of faith. How often do we hear people pointing to themselves, to their good works, to their obedience in hopes of gaining life. And yes, each one of us must admit that from time to time we struggle as well.
Thanks be to God that we continue to be a part of those few who have been chosen. We have been chosen from our baptism and even before the world was created, as God looked through time and called us to faith, as God through the hands of the pastor put water on our head and using the mouth of the pastor spoke His name on us so that we are His. Indeed, we rejoice in our baptism, in our being called to and given faith, in our having God’s name put on us and our names written in the book of life. We rejoice and Sunday after Sunday we confess our sins and hear again and again those most precious words, “Your sins are forgiven.” We rejoice as we hear God’s Word again and again in the divine service and even in Bible class. We rejoice in our being given Jesus’ body and blood in His Holy Supper for the forgiveness of sins. We rejoice in God’s gifts and blessings and we respond saying, to Him be the glory, for Jesus’ sake. Amen.
