Rupert’s Blog

This Sunday we are looking at the parable of the wedding banquet, found in Mt 22: 2-14. Andrew (aka “guest-blogger”) is sharing his insights and no-doubt thought provoking ruminations on the text. But, if you are going to be there, lets not let him do all the work, but come having grappled with the text ourselves. Here it is:

The Parable of the Wedding Banquet - Mt 22: 2-14

The kingdom of heaven is like a king who prepared a wedding banquet for his son. He sent his servants to those who had been invited to the banquet to tell them to come, but they refused to come.

Then he sent some more servants and said, ‘Tell those who have been invited that I have prepared my dinner: My oxen and fattened cattle have been butchered, and everything is ready. Come to the wedding banquet.’

But they paid no attention and went off—one to his field, another to his business. The rest seized his servants, mistreated them and killed them. The king was enraged. He sent his army and destroyed those murderers and burned their city.

Then he said to his servants, ‘The wedding banquet is ready, but those I invited did not deserve to come. Go to the street corners and invite to the banquet anyone you find.’ So the servants went out into the streets and gathered all the people they could find, both good and bad, and the wedding hall was filled with guests.

But when the king came in to see the guests, he noticed a man there who was not wearing wedding clothes. ‘Friend,’ he asked, ‘how did you get in here without wedding clothes?’ The man was speechless.

Then the king told the attendants, ‘Tie him hand and foot, and throw him outside, into the darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’

For many are invited, but few are chosen.

Questions for reflection:

As you reflect on the parable and attempt to honestly evaluate yourself, you may like to consider the following questions:

The King initially invites the worthy, the good and the great … but they turn down the invitation. In what ways do you see yourself deserving God’s blessing, but miss His grace?

The invitation is to everyone, the good and the bad, the worthy and the unworthy. Everyone is indiscriminately “in” until they choose to be “out”. What reactions does that kind of generosity provoke in you?