THE WEDDING ROBE

XXVIII SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME - Matthew 22:1-14

The parable of the wedding banquet of the king’s son is very revealing. Salvation is presented as a feast, a wedding feast and a banquet is always part of a big feast, mainly a wedding feast.

In Isaiah, God had promised to prepare for all peoples a great banquet with the best foods and best wines. Everybody will rejoice, because “the Lord will wipe away the tears from every cheek; he will take away his people’s shame everywhere on earth”. “He will destroy Death for ever”, and all lips will sing songs of victory (Is 25:6-10)

In the book of Revelation, myriads of people will gather for the marriage of the Lamb (Rev 19:6-7) and rejoice singing God’s praises.

The parable of the wedding banquet makes as well an interpretation of the history of salvation. There was a first group invited to the banquet who refused to take part in the banquet, presenting all kinds of excuses, even senseless excuses. Presenting a refusal without any valid reason, the parable is an indictment of those who rejected the invitation and it is not difficult to understand that they stand for the people of Israel. That’s why those with a standing among the people tried to entrap and catch him (Mt 22:15)

Presented with the rejection of those who had been invited, the king decided to open the palace’s gates and to call everybody to the banquet. So the “servants went out on to the roads and collected together everyone they could find, bad and good alike; and the wedding hall was filled with guests.” (Mt 22:10). We may think that the king took this action out of frustration with the behaviour of those who had shown to be unworthy of his invitation. However, as we can find in the first reading, from the beginning God had a plan of universal salvation and the people of Israel were chosen and set apart to facilitate the fulfilment of that plan. With their unfaithfulness, it was as if they had become an obstacle to that plan. The parable shows clearly that the revolt of the people of Israel cannot stop God’s plan from being fulfilled.

The parable ends with a saying that sounds strange: “For many are called, but few are chosen.” (Mt 22:14). It is strange because the parable shows a different reality: of those called all but one were accepted; all but one entered the kingdom hall and sat at the table of the Lord. They were called in the streets, unexpectedly, without much time to prepare themselves. Maybe, they were already prepared. In Bemba, the proverb says: Uwaitwa, tafwala bwino. Once called, we must not delay. We must ready to answer the call, God’s call.

In that big crowd, there was one who should not be there and he was asked: “How did you get in here, my friend, without a wedding garment?” And he was thrown out into the dark. 

What was that wedding garment? The parable does not say. However, in his letters, speaks several times of what should wear: 

“put on the Lord Jesus Christ” (Ro 13:14); 

“put on the breastplate of faith and love” (1 Tea 5:8);

“Put on the whole armour of God” (Ep 6:11)

The conclusion of the parable - “For many are called, but few are chosen.” - comes as a warning for us to be faithful, so that we may sit at the Lord’s table and rejoice in his presence