Sermon for the Twentieth Sunday after Trinity - Mt 22:1-14

 

         Trinity 20

                                                                                                Mt 22:1-14

                                                                                                10/13/24

 

            From the moment that Jesus entered into Jerusalem at the beginning of Holy Week he was in constant conflict with the religious leaders. They were indignant when they heard children in the temple crying out “Hosanna to the Son of David!” because of Jesus. They challenged him as they said, “By what authority are you doing these things, and who gave you this authority?”

            Just prior to our text, Jesus had told two parables which are directed against the religious leaders. At the end of the first, about two sons, he said, “Truly, I say to you, the tax collectors and the prostitutes go into the kingdom of God before you. For John came to you in the way of righteousness, and you did not believe him, but the tax collectors and the prostitutes believed him. And even when you saw it, you did not afterward change your minds and believe him.”

            Our Lord then told a second parable about tenants at a vineyard. At the conclusion of this one he said, “Therefore I tell you, the kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to a people producing its fruits.”  And Matthew tells us, “When the chief priests and the Pharisees heard his parables, they perceived that he was speaking about them. And although they were seeking to arrest him, they feared the crowds, because they held him to be a prophet.”

            In our text, Jesus tells a third parable.  After what has happened thus far, it’s not hard to guess the target of the parable.  He began by saying, “The kingdom of heaven may be compared to a king who gave a wedding feast for his son, and sent his servants to call those who were invited to the wedding feast, but they would not come.”

            When Jesus refers to the “kingdom of heaven” he is talking about the reign of God.  Our Lord began his ministry by proclaiming, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.”  When accused that he was casting out demons because he was in league with the devil, Jesus replied, “But if it is by the Spirit of God that I cast out demons, then the kingdom of God has come upon you.”

            Jesus announced that the saving reign of God was present in him.  Our Lord tells this parable to describe what the kingdom of God – the reign of God was like at that time.  He said it was like a king giving a wedding feast for his son.  This would be a grand occasion.  Following the practice of the day, those who had been invited had already indicated they would be coming.  And of course they would be coming. After all this was the wedding feast for the son of the king!

            But then something strange happened.  The people who had been invited would not come.  So the king sent out 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.”  The king described how a rich feast had been prepared as he urged the people to come.  Remember, the people in first century Palestine rarely ate meat as part of their diet. This was going to be a grand celebration!

            However, the people paid no attention and then went off to their farms and businesses.  Worse yet, the people seized the king’s servants, treated them shamefully and killed them.  The people had disregarded and shamed the king and his son. They had offended the king.  The king was angry and so he took things into his own hands.  He sent his troops who destroyed the murderers and burned their city.

            With these words, Jesus describes how the religious leaders were responding to him.  Jesus was the Messiah sent from God.  In his person the saving reign of God was present for his people.  But the religious leaders had completely rejected Jesus.  They wanted to arrest him.  And soon enough, they would do so.

            Jesus says that this is what the kingdom of God is like.  It is not what we would expect.  We expect God’s reign to look mighty and powerful.  But Jesus has come to Jerusalem because God’s saving reign arrives in a way that is the opposite of our expectations. 

            Just before entering Jerusalem, our Lord had told the apostles, “See, we are going up to Jerusalem. And the Son of Man will be delivered over to the chief priests and scribes, and they will condemn him to death and deliver him over to the Gentiles to be mocked and flogged and crucified, and he will be raised on the third day.” And then a little after this he said, “the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.”

            Jesus brings the reign of God by dying as the sacrifice for our sins.  The sinless Son of God took our sin and received God’s judgment.  He died on the cross because you have false gods in your life that receive more time and attention than the triune God.  He died on the cross because you have angry thoughts that turn into angry words and action towards others. He died on the cross because you don’t defend your neighbor’s reputation, but instead join in passing on gossip.

            When Christ suffered and died in the darkness of Good Friday, it did not look like God was doing anything.  But then on the third day, God raised Jesus from the dead just as he had foretold. Because of the resurrection, we now understand the cross to have been God’s powerful action to reconcile us to himself. And in the resurrection we see that God has defeated death in Christ.

            God’s saving reign arrived in the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ.  And in the second half of the parable we learn about the gracious invitation to forgiveness that God offers to all.  Jesus went on to describe how the king said to his servants: “‘The wedding feast is ready, but those invited were not worthy. Go therefore to the main roads and invite to the wedding feast as many as you find.’”  Those who had been invited had shown they were not worthy by rejecting the king and his son.  Now the king sent the servants out on the roads to invite as many people as they could find.  Jesus said: “And 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.”

            The Jewish religious leaders had rejected Christ.  Ultimately their rejection of Christ would lead the nation to receive God’s judgment as the Romans destroyed Jerusalem in 70 A.D.  But God’s saving reign was not going to be negated by their unbelief.  Instead, God extended out the invitation further.  Jesus’ words describe the proclamation of the Gospel by the apostles.  They carried it to Jews.  And prompted by God’s Spirit they also shared the Gospel with Gentiles.

            You believe in Jesus Christ because of this action by God to extend his saving reign to all people.  God has called you to faith through the work of his Spirit.  He has done this through his word. Peter said that “you have been born again, not of perishable seed but of imperishable, through the living and abiding word of God.”  And God has combined this life giving word with water in Holy Baptism.  You have been born again of water and the Spirit.  Because of this, you are the forgiven child of God.  You have received God’s saving reign in Christ.

            However, we must also note that we have not yet reached the end of the parable. Jesus tells of how when the king came in to look at the guests, he saw there a man who had no wedding garment.” The king said to him, “Friend, how did you get in here without a wedding garment?” The man was unable to give an answer.  Then we learn that 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.”

            The parable closes with an unexpected turn of events. There is no evidence that any kind of special “wedding garment” was worn for a wedding, or was given to those attending.  Instead, people wore the best clothes that they had.  So why was this man thrown out of the wedding feast?

            Here we must recall the king’s statement about the first group in the parable who refused to attend. The king said that “those invited were not worthy.” We have seen that religious leaders were not worthy because they rejected Christ.  They did not believe in him.  Now we find that this individual is no longer worthy to remain at the wedding feast.

            Our Lord’s words warn us that it is not enough to begin in faith.  It is not enough to have once been in the faith.  Instead, we must continue to walk in faith, believing and trusting in Jesus Christ. 

            The way of faith brings forgiveness and eternal life.  It brings peace with God and joy.  But that does not mean it is easy.  Jesus causes divisions in the world.  Faithfulness to Christ and his word will put us in challenging situations.  Our Lord said, “Do not think that I have come to bring peace to the earth. I have not come to bring peace, but a sword. For I have come to set a man against his father, and a daughter against her mother, and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law. And a person's enemies will be those of his own household.

Whoever loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of me, and whoever loves son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me. And whoever does not take his cross and follow me is not worthy of me. Whoever finds his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.”

            Jesus calls us to a faith that puts him before everything.  Yet he does so because by his death and resurrection he has already given us everything.  He has given us forgiveness, peace with God, and resurrection on the Last Day.