Most of the stories told in the Gospels are self-contained. In the story of the Prodigal Son or the Good Samaritan for example, everything is there within it to complete the point of the story. There are a few stories however, and today’s story of the wedding feast is one of them, that in their present form, point to events completely outside the story itself and only make sense when certain outside events are explained.
By the time Matthew incorporated this story into the Gospel, a large part of the Jewish population had rejected Jesus as the anointed one and considered the church as a strange new heretical sect. Those early Christians of Jewish background became estranged from their formally fellow synagogue worshippers. There was a lot of pain to go around. It would have wiser if each side would have wished the other well and mutually respected each other, even if profoundly disagreeing with each other, but unfortunately that often did not happen.
In the opinion of Christians, those who rejected Jesus seemed to be like those who were invited but ungraciously chose to scorn a wonderful invitation. Hence they were like those who disregarded the King’s invitation to the feast meant for all people to partake in.
In 70 AD, the Roman army, tired of putting down perennial insurrections against Roman rule, expelled everyone one from Jerusalem, both Christian and Jews, and razed the city, including the beloved Temple. Christian blamed Jews for Rome’s actions and Jews blamed Christians. Rome loved to divide and conquer and alas this was another tragic case of what has been repeated again and again by ruthless tyrants throughout history. The reference to the king burning down the city of those who refused the invitation alludes to Jerusalem’s destruction.
Matthew knew that there were those within the fellowship who were insincere and had less than honorable motives when they joined the church. Some of the new followers may have been spies for the always-nervous authorities or looking to take advantage of new converts. Whatever the reason, Matthew previously alluded to this problem in the parable of the wheat and the weed tares growing together until the harvest, and in the drawing ashore the net of fish both good and bad. In these two parables, the church is assured that there will be judgment in the end and that God will be the one who will do the sorting.1 So at the beginning of today’s story when people first gather, the wedding hall is filled with guests, both good and bad.
The one without a wedding garment seems to be Matthew’s way of also acknowledging that some who would find their way into the great feast of God would not fully accept and partake of it. Of course those who were suddenly and unexpectedly invited from off the street to come to the feast of the king would not have been expected to be prepared. Perhaps it was a local custom to offer everyone a robe when they entered the house for the feast. What Matthew seems to be saying is that this one guest refused to identify with anyone else. He refused even to speak to the host when the host asked why he was not wearing a garment. It would seem as if this guest chose to be clothed in the rags of distrust of the host’s generosity, or that he spurned the fellowship of the other guests and refused to be associated with them. This guest refused to acknowledge he too was just like the others whom had been included to join the grateful throng at the party. Then as now there are people on one hand who believe they are too good for everyone else, or on the other hand, believe that God does not wish them well.
Of course all these outside factors occurred long after whatever context Jesus actually told these stories. We can’t go back and recover what Jesus originally said and it was entirely possible that Mathew combined two or more stories into one. What the Gospel editors have done is to incorporate some of Jesus’ stories into the events that they faced in their own lives. We at some level are encouraged to do the same. There are many ways we are invited to participate in God’s party, just as there are many ways to answer God’s call to work in the vineyard. The Crop Walk last week was one of these; helping someone with a ride to get their picture taken for the parish picture directory; baking for the party recognizing those who are being confirmed next week; singing in the choir week after week, serving on the Board of Loaves & Fishes, are others. We can all as Matthew did, reinterpret Jesus stories in the context of our time. Perhaps that is exactly what Matthew hoped we would do.
God continues to invite humanity to a party. We are free to refuse and some of us do. Yet we can welcome those who respond without wishing retribution on those who do not. Moreover we are never invited simply on our own merits. So we had better be pretty careful before we look down our nose on those who are also invited. We may be surprised at some of those on God’s guest list and some might be surprised we are on it, but God clothes us in robes showing that we all share this earth together.
Hell is not a place in which we cast others; it is a place where we isolate ourselves in. It is like the one who refused to wear the wedding garment, the garment of our common humanity. The parting lesson of this difficult story is that hell is not where one ends up by accident, but more by a course one deliberately chooses to take.
1 Cf. Matthew 13: 24-30, 47-50, and Matthew 7:15-20
