Matthew 22:1-14; Ephesians
5:15-21; Isaiah 55:1-9
In the Name of the Father and of the
+ Son and of the Holy Spirit.
Jesus says that the kingdom of heaven is
like a party, a festive wedding banquet, in which everything is prepared,
ready, and free, to which you are invited, so that you need do nothing at all
but come. You don’t even have to buy a new suit or gown, for wedding clothes
are included in the invitation. And yet, you refuse to come. You make excuses.
Or, you insist on paying for your dinner, wearing a suit or gown of your own
purchase and choosing. Haven’t you heard the saying, “Don’t look a gift horse
in the mouth?” The kingdom of heaven is a gift to you. You cannot buy it. You
cannot earn it by your works. And, you certainly don’t deserve it. But it is
yours for the taking, absolutely free, no strings attached, as a gift. You are
in, by the Father’s, by the King’s gracious working. Only you can make yourself
to be out.
But, this is a parable, an analogy. The
kingdom of heaven isn’t really a wedding feast, although there will be a feast
and a wedding, but the kingdom of heaven is a relationship of love between a
father and a son. Jesus said, “The kingdom of heaven may be compared to a king
who gave a wedding feast for his son.”
Long before the invitations were sent, the guests invited, the beasts slaughtered,
and the dinner prepared, long before all that, there was a father and a son.
The son is getting married, and the father is going to throw a wedding feast
for his son whom he loves. It’s all about the son. The banquet is for him and
his bride whom the father loves. Indeed, the father’s love for his son is what
makes the wedding feast to be the incomparable free gift of grace that it is. For,
the father has done everything for the sake of his son because he loves him. And,
that’s why absolutely everything that is necessary is already prepared and
there is nothing for you to do, nothing for you to bring, nothing for you to
buy, nothing for you to earn or to deserve, but it’s all free, absolutely,
completely free by grace, and by grace alone, because of the father’s love for
his son.
Yet, this isn’t any ordinary wedding
banquet, for the kingdom of heaven isn’t any ordinary kingdom, and the King of
Heaven isn’t any ordinary king. Likewise, the invitation isn’t any ordinary
invitation, but it’s more like an offer you cannot refuse. Of course, you
actually can refuse it, and, sadly, many do, but what I mean is that you
shouldn’t refuse it, you shouldn’t want
to refuse it, and, if you truly knew the nature of the invitation you have
received and the implications of its refusal, you wouldn’t want to refuse it. No, this is no ordinary banquet, but
this banquet is life, and its refusal is death. To refuse the King’s gracious
invitation is to say, “No thank you, I’d rather die first.” Be certain of this,
you will! This is why Jesus warns you of the grave implications of refusing to
come to the wedding feast, or of insisting that you come on your own terms.
Twice the king appealed to the invitees to come to the wedding feast, but they
refused. Some even killed the king’s messengers! Therefore, “the king was angry,
and he sent his troops and destroyed those murderers and burned their city.”
The wrath of God is not His proper disposition towards us, but rather His
alien, or foreign disposition towards those who refuse and reject Him, but it
is nevertheless real and uncompromising. Yet, no one need face God’s wrath
against sin, for the invitation is to all through Jesus Christ – It is His
wedding feast, and the Father, the King, would have His banquet hall filled.
Thus, the king said to his servants, “Go
therefore to the main roads and invite to the wedding feast as many as you
find. 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.” You see,
badness or goodness are not conditions for participating in the wedding feast,
but it is acceptance of the king’s gracious invitation. It was, and it is, by
the king’s grace alone, for love of his son, that anyone is invited. It is by grace
alone that you are saved, it is by
grace alone that you must be saved,
for it is by grace alone that you can
be saved. Those initially invited were found unworthy because they refused and
rejected the king’s gracious invitation. However, those invited later were not
found unworthy even though some of them were bad. It is not badness that
condemns you, or goodness that saves you, but you are saved by grace alone,
through faith in Jesus Christ.
Still, one of those guests gathered from
the highways and the hedges was found by the king in the wedding hall without a
wedding garment. The king had him bound hand and foot and cast into the
darkness outside the gates. Why such harsh treatment to one who had responded
positively to the king’s gracious invitation? Well, again, it is by the king’s
grace alone that anyone enjoys his banquet, which includes, not only the
invitation, mind you, but the proper attire as well. In order to demonstrate
the totality and completeness of his grace upon his invited guests, the king in
Jesus’ parable even supplied the proper wedding attire. His guests need not
purchase, borrow, or worry about having the proper clothing, for all would be
provided by his grace alone. Free means free – period! Thus, the king asked the
man, “Friend, how did you get in here without a wedding garment?” To put it
another way, “What arrogance and disrespect, to reject and to refuse the
wedding garment I have provided for my guests!” Grace is the only way in. You
are invited by grace, and you must be clothed by grace. Anything that you do
and put your trust in will surely put you out.
But, again, this is a parable.
Therefore, we’re not even really talking about a wedding or a banquet, and
we’re certainly not talking about the proper tux or gown! The wedding garment
is Christ’s righteousness, given to you by grace alone in Holy Baptism. The
only way that you can enter into the kingdom of heaven is through Christ: “I am
the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father except through
me.” Christ’s righteousness must cover you. Jesus’ blood must cover you. And, holy
Baptism gives this gift to you, purely and freely by grace alone – no strings
attached. You don’t even have to understand it. You don’t even have to believe
in order to receive this gift. But, this gift gives all that is required: It
forgives sin. It clothes you with Christ’s righteousness. It even creates faith
that clings to Christ alone. It’s a gift of God’s grace – perfect, pure, and
holy, unlike any other gift you could ever imagine or receive! That’s what the
man who was cast out had refused and rejected. He had refused and rejected
God’s gift. He had refused and rejected Christ’s righteousness. Therefore, he
had no standing before the King, and necessarily, he was cast into His alien
wrath.
But, here’s the real kicker: You’re not
just guests at the wedding. You’re the Bride! The wedding garment of Holy
Baptism isn’t a tux or a gown, but it’s a wedding dress, pure white and
spotless. Jesus says that “many are called, but few are chosen.” Indeed, only
one is chosen – You, His precious Bride, the Church! “From heaven He came and
sought Her to be His Holy Bride. With His pure blood He bought Her, and for Her
life He died.” Though you are many, you are one body, His body, flesh of His
flesh and bone of His bone. He will never leave you or forsake you, and nothing
can separate you from His love. His Father loves you because He loves His Son.
Graciously He gives you all things, for He sees you as one flesh and one body
with His Son. In Him, nothing is spared or reserved, but all things are yours.
But, apart from Him, you have nothing.
That’s why Jesus warns, “Whoever is not
with me is against me” and “You cannot serve two masters,” for you are wholly
His by grace alone, or you have no part with Him at all. That is why the
Prophet exhorts you to “seek the LORD while He may be found; call upon Him
while He is near,” for the time is coming when the gates to the wedding hall
will be shut, and outside there will be darkness, weeping, and the gnashing of
teeth. But, the good news, the Gospel is this: No one need be found outside!
The invitation is to all, whether Jew or Gentile, good or bad, believer or
unbeliever. It is delivered by the Holy Spirit through the Word of the LORD and
it has the power to create faith when and where He pleases. But, don’t try to
buy or to work your way in, and don’t try to wear your own garment of works and
pride – you will be cast out. But, come without money. Come without works.
Just, come, and receive. For the LORD is good, and He graciously gives to all whose
eyes look to Him, to those who desire the goodness of the LORD.
Come, now, and receive His gifts. The
invitation is for you today to feast on this foretaste of the Great Wedding
Feast of the kingdom of heaven. All is prepared for you, the Bride, to receive the
goodness of your Groom. “Our Bridegroom and our Lord is He, who gives us our
identity; and He whose promise can’t grow old has nothing that He will
withhold. For this is He who did ascend and preaches still to all earth’s end
through all His preachers who proclaim salvation in our Savior’s Name.”
In
the + Name of Jesus. Amen.
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