Preaching Paths 15 October 2023

Sally A. Brown, Professor Emerita, Princeton Theological Seminary

Matthew scholars generally agree that Matthew presents Jesus in the mode of “apocalyptic prophet.” In the tradition of Amos, Isaiah, and his cousin John the Baptist, Jesus announces the approach of God’s day of reckoning, focusing especially on Israel’s leadership. He calls for a return to the nation’s core identity, in which the law functions first and foremost to provide justice and mercy for the vulnerable, not as a ladder to climb in pursuit of status and power.  Mt expands material from Mk and Lk, particularly emphasizing the eschatological judgment sure to fall on the obdurate.

There are strong parallels between today’s reading (Mt 22:1-14, the parable of the wedding feast) and Luke’s parable of the great banquet. In both Mt and Lk, the original invitees refuse to attend the feast. In both, the host is angered; in both the household servants are sent into the streets and byways to fill the empty seats. Yet other details differ significantly. First, the banquet in Mt is the wedding feast of the king’s son, not simply “a great dinner.” Second, Luke’s host is angry when invitees proffer elaborate excuses for inattendance, but  his anger simply prompts him to find worthier guests—specifically “the poor, the crippled, the blind, and the lame.” (Note parallels in Lk 4:18-19.)  In Mt, however, the guests not only spurn the feast, but murder the servants sent to summon them. The enraged king responds in kind, killing the murderers and incinerating their city. In Mt, the servants don’t seek those on the margins, but simply gather “both good and bad,” phrasing already familiar to us from the (also apocalyptic) parable of the fishnet (Mt 13:47-50).

The violence of the parable seems to continue into an additional scene (vv 11-14). The king spots an attendee who wears no wedding robe. Confronted, the offender is speechless. He is “bound hand and foot” and consigned to “the outer darkness where there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth.” Mt uses this latter OT phrase repeatedly in apocalyptic contexts to signify the suffering that awaits those who are unresponsive to God. In an honor/shame culture, under-dress might well suggest smug flippancy and/or a deliberate gesture of dishonor toward the king.

Attention to context can help us come to grips with the strong tone of this parable. At this point, Jesus has delivered parable after parable, seeking to elicit repentance and reform, especially among the nation’s leaders and teachers. The last of Jesus’ public parables (the remaining two are addressed only to his disciples), this is Jesus’ final effort to evoke self-examination, reform, and the renewal of the nation. Jesus will say of these opponents, “you tithe mint, dill, and cumin, and have neglected the weightier matters of the law, justice and mercy and faith” (23:23). But they are stone-faced. The parable is bracketed by statements announcing their intent to arrest him (21:46, 22:15).

Preachers can invite listeners to find points of identification within the world of the parable. How might God be asking us to realign our priorities with God’s own? What preoccupations divert us from engaging in this most holy work? Might God be sending us to bring in “the good and the bad” to experience God’s feast of justice and mercy? Some of us are the fortunate ones filling the empty seats. (Surely, early Gentile Jesus-followers read the story this way.)  Let us put our convictions into action, bringing more chairs to the table until Isaiah’s vision of a “feast for all peoples” is fulfilled. Let us share until anyone and everyone hungry for bread and justice, healing and mercy, is fed.