THE WEDDING FEAST OF THE LORD

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

Throughout the Holy Scriptures, the human experience is used for us to grasp the profound meaning of the divine realities. Thus, the prophet Isaiah speaks of a big feast, during which God offers on his holy mountain a banquet for all peoples of the earth (Is 25:6-10). God will invite everybody, meaning that he will not exclude anybody. In this banquet, God will present his guest with the best food, “rich and juicy” and with “fine wines”, so that they rejoice and be fully satisfied. A banquet is always a time of certain extravagance, as people celebrate and rejoice. They come together to be united as one family or one community. It is a time of communion, with God himself, who offers the banquet and with all the other guests, who are God’s family. A banquet is always a special occasion to celebrate. We celebrate life and peace, freedom and salvation. Isaiah says it quite clearly, giving the reason for the banquet: 

God “will remove

the mourning veil covering all peoples,

and the shroud enwrapping all nations,

he will destroy Death for ever.

The Lord will wipe away

the tears from every cheek;

he will take away his people’s shame

everywhere on earth”.

Indeed, “We exult and we rejoice

that he has saved us”.

In his parable of the wedding feast, Jesus made use of the idea of a banquet to speak of the Kingdom of God. It is the wedding feast of God’s Son. In the same manner, the book of Revelation speaks of the wedding feast of the Lamb (Rev 19:7), that is of the Messiah, the Son of God.

For this wedding feast, the people of Israel were the first invited, since they were called to be the first fruits of salvation or the initiators of the Kingdom of God. However, as we can find when we read the Scriptures, they left behind a trail of betrayal, which forced God to extend the invitation to everybody who could be found willing to come. Listening to the parable, we may think of this universal invitation as an afterthought, due to Israel’s failures. Isaiah tells us that it is not so. God’s plan of salvation is universal, and he invites all peoples to seat at his table. The Messiah would come through the people of Israel. However, as we see in the parable, many rejected the invitation, since they were busy with issues that concerned only their lives. We are invited as well, and we may accept the invitation or we may reject it, thus excluding ourselves from the Kingdom of God. Once invited, we must dress up properly for the wedding feast. That is, we must repent and convert, accepting Jesus as our Lord and Saviour. To enter God’s Kingdom and have a seat at his table, we must put on Jesus Christ, so that we look like him, and are recognised as God’s children.

Balishuka abaitwa ku mitebeto ya Mfumu. Blessed are those called to the wedding feast of the Lord.