Wedding Garments
Wedding Garments
Wedding Garments Parable
Matthew 22:1-14
“And Jesus answered and spake unto them again by parables, and said, The kingdom of heaven is like unto a certain king, which made a marriage for his son, And sent forth his servants to call them that were bidden to the wedding: and they would not come. Again, he sent forth other servants, saying, Tell them which are bidden, Behold, I have prepared my dinner: my oxen and my fatlings are killed, and all things are ready: come unto the marriage. But they made light of it, and went their ways, one to his farm, another to his merchandise: And the remnant took his servants, and entreated them spitefully, and slew them. But when the king heard thereof, he was wroth: and he sent forth his armies, and destroyed those murderers, and burned up their city. Then saith he to his servants, The wedding is ready, but they which were bidden were not worthy. Go ye therefore into the highways, and as many as ye shall find, bid to the marriage. So those servants went out into the highways, and gathered together all as many as they found, both bad and good: and the wedding was furnished with guests. And when the king came in to see the guests, he saw there a man which had not on a wedding garment: And he saith unto him, Friend, how camest thou in hither not having a wedding garment? And he was speechless. Then said the king to the servants, Bind him hand and foot, and take him away, and cast him into outer darkness; there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth. For many are called, but few are chosen.”
Interpretation
The parable is a story that The Master told in order to describe what our life should be like and how it will be in the Kingdom of God. The parable cannot be understood using words. The Master explained the parables through His behavior. By watching what he does, we can see how a man behaves when he is in the Kingdom of God.
This parable is the story of the refusal of Israel to come to the wedding of God’s son and the consequences of this refusal.
Some theologians, like Barnes, say
“the gospel, with all its privileges, was offered to the Jewish people; but through their wickedness and pride they rejected it, and all its blessings were offered to the Gentiles, and accepted. This is the general truth.”
But this is not the whole story, and may not even be the best interpretation. I think that this story contains a terrible warning for those who are guests at the wedding, but are not prepared for the meeting with God The Father. And there is by implication a warning to those who are responsible for these guests being unprepared - perhaps they will have to answer God, as to why they led the man to believe that he was ready to become a bride to The Christ, though he was so obviously unprepared?”
In the parable the “King” is a metaphor for God, the “son” is The Christ. The “marriage” is The Christ’s marriage to His “brethren, and sisters, who do the Will of the Father - His Church. The “wedding” is the call to The Christ, and leads to a celebration that goes on throughout the life of the believer.
In the story we see that it is God who decides who is to be invited to the wedding (called to The Christ - to be the “bride” of The Christ). First he invites the children of God - all Israel. Then after most of them refuse the first invitation, He calls them again, assuring them that they won’t have to make any sacrifices to be accepted. But they made light of the offer and turned down the invitation.
“The remnant” perhaps meaning the Judeans, treated His servants badly, and even killed some of them. In revenge for the death of His servants, God, through His “armies”, “destroyed” those unfaithful who lived in Jerusalem, and burned up the City. (This prophecy would be fulfilled through the Roman siege of Jerusalem 66-70).
Then God ordered His servants to compel (bid) those in the highways (Diaspora) to come to the marriage, and many came, “the bad and the good”, but not all will be properly prepared for the marriage. For when God sees a man without “wedding garments” He has him ejected from the house.
Now, the wedding feast is our life in The Christ and this begins wherever we become aware of The Christ within us. Through God’s servants, we are made ready to become a guest of God. The preparation complete (which takes a lifetime)C, we finally will be called to enter the wedding chamber which God will enter to bless the marriage. He will look over the “brides” to see if anyone is unworthy to be there.
In the parable, God sees “a Friend” who is not wearing the garments that God himself has prepared for every believerB . He asks him how he got in to the wedding feast, seeing that he has not been prepared for God’s presence.D The man cannot talk to God. And even though God called him Friend E, He tells his servants to put the man into bondage, and put him out of His presence (and so into darkness.) All shall weep F and grind their teeth in despair at his suffering as he plummets into the darkness.
So what is the truth about the Kingdom of God that The Master is trying to get his apostles to understand?
That:
•People must now be called to become children of God (to be included in “Israel”,) not just those previously chosen by God.
•response to the call must be immediate.
•anyone who treats the apostles badly, will suffer.
•there must be a place for people to make preparations.
•the apostles are responsible to make the people worthy; to receive God’s wedding garments (his declaration of righteousness).
•if God finds a man to be unrighteous, the servants must reject him.
You see here the beginnings of the commissioning of the Church, with it’s mission to call the non-Hebrews to become “Israel,” to build instruction centers, and to teach people how to live in the Kingdom of God, to become worthy and prepare for the “marriage”.
But how can we know whether or not God has declared us righteous now? Through the spiritual understanding in the heart, which understanding is made manifest through our Christ-like behavior. How will we know whether we are still righteous at the judgement? Because we are wearing God’s wedding garments - but what does this mean? Thomas Cranmer and the Bishops of the Church of England thought that it meant that those who had persevered to the end were clothed in righteousness.
Notes:
B Believers come to The Christ “naked” and are clothed with righteousness by God.
cf, Rev 19:7 - 8 regarding The Master’s wedding and fine linen garments.
C Homily on Salvation - Thomas Cranmer (part of Article XI).
D Who let him in?
E This may be Judas, because God recognizes him, and sees that he is ‘unrighteous.’
F Perhaps because the servants understood that his role had been forced on him.
AlsoMatthew 25:30
“30 And cast ye the unprofitable servant into outer darkness: there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth.”
Sunday, October 21, 2007