3rd Sunday of Trinity: Matthew 22:1-10

June 9, 2013; 3^rd Sunday of Trinity; Texts: Psalm 34:12-22; Proverbs 9:1-10; Ephesians 2:13-22; Matthew 22:1-10; The Point is in the Surprise; Rev. Tim Beck

Grace, mercy, and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ

Why so many hard to understand parables; what good do they do? Jesus said earlier (Mt. 13:13-17): I speak in parables because… seeing they do not see, and hearing they do not hear… their eyes have closed lest they should perceive with their eyes… That’s a hard saying too.

          Before we consider today’s saying let’s look at parables in general asking why Jesus uses them. What is a parable? A parable is a figure of speech, a kind of story that communicates real content. For example our text begins the kingdom of heaven may be compared…  In other words, parables compare one thing with another, and by that, Jesus says there are valid comparisons between heaven’s kingdom and earth’s kingdom. What you see on earth is not entirely unlike what exists above. Yet heaven is above earth, so do not expect it to be the same as earth, or even just a slightly better version. Our vision is earthbound, that’s what we know. So in parables God reveals Himself and surprises our earth-bound vision.

          There are surprises in parables, and there are supposed to be.  That’s common to the parables Jesus told. You hear the story about how a sower sows or how figs grow or what goes on at weddings and then you say “what? That’s not what we expect!” In Jesus’ parables look for a surprise or two, look for the unexpected. And in the most surprising parts of the story, the point is hidden there.    The key to the meaning is where the comparison doesn’t carry through, because the kingdom of heaven is not the same as the kingdom of earth.  When heaven rises above what we know on earth, we are surprised, and at the surprise a vista appears, unless our eyes are shut tight and our ears are closed. In fact, because our eyes and ears are closed by sin, the surprises are what our Lord uses to say, “see and hear,” see and hear for faith.

          You see, God speaks to us.  He accommodates to our limitations to tell us about the kingdom of God. He communicates what is true through figures of speech. He surprises us to get us to pay attention to the truth. Scripture is not a fairy tale, including parables. God speaks clearly, even when he speaks in figures. His speech shows our blindness and deafness yet has power to heal. That’s why Jesus spoke in parables. He wants us to ask, “What does He mean?” That’s why parables – even today’s. Oh God, grant that we see and hear (Amen).

          The kingdom of heaven may be compared to a king who gave a wedding feast for his son…   What are the points of comparison between earth and heaven, and what are the surprises? The first point of comparison concerns the Son.  The Son will have his wedding feast; oh joyful day for the royal family and all loyal subjects. Only who does the Son wed, who is His bride?  The first two surprises at the point of comparison are these: The text says nothing about the bride! How many weddings have you attended where the bride wasn’t even mentioned? In this parable, she is not the center of attention walking the aisle. All eyes are on God’s Son. He is given the wedding feast! To him belong all glory, honor and might. 

          And there’s another surprise! Those who go to the feast as guests become the Son’s bride.  This we know from other sayings of our Lord. The bride feasts on the bread of life; on the Pascal Lamb whose flesh is true flesh and blood is true drink. The guests become the bride. Therefore the Father gives a wedding feast for the Son. The Son redeemed His bride. He made her worthy, by his invitation. So the Son’s wedding feast may be compared to those on earth, yet it is surprisingly greater. The groom saves, cleanses, and keeps the bride.

          The second point of comparison concerns the king. How do the kings of the earth compare to heaven’s king in Jesus’ day? Caesars were not like England’s present queen, or like presidents in our country. Back then they had power. They wouldn’t put up with ignoring them, or slander against them, like the innuendos we so freely make about our officials. (By the way, the 8^th commandment does apply in politics.)  Kings in Jesus day called such talk treason and punished subjects accordingly. Is this like God the Father who is greater in power and authority by far?

          What will heaven’s King do to people like a woman I met in the parking lot? She started conversing, “I don’t care what anyone else thinks, this is what I think about God…” And what she thought was not at all what Scripture says, nor would she listen to Scripture through this pastor… for like earthly kings, the heavenly Lord speaks through ambassadors. Like kings of the earth, what we think of God is shown in how we treat his servants; for example, if we heed the invitation to the King’s feast. The King’s servants speak for the King. As the voice of the king and the mouth of deity, or ought to. (How can a local Presbyterian reverend-ess seamlessly shift between preaching a Christian funeral and a Buddhist one? That’s not an invitation to the wedding feast, that’s not the mouth of God.) The king’s servants have authority, not in their person, but when they speak the words of the King. They speak the King’s words, words that go out to the entire world. And that word, the one that invites also judges the world.

          As for our text, remember to whom Jesus is preaching, whom He is inviting. The invitation is to the chosen people, to the heirs of Abraham, Moses, and David. What has the King already done for them? Has he not given them their land, their wealth and his promise? However, (He) sent his servants  to call those who were invited to the wedding feast, but they would not come.

          Now come two surprises to the point of comparison concerning the king and his messengers: The first surprise is if invited to the wedding party of Caesar, who would not want to attend, or dare not to? And we say “foolish, stupid subjects!”  Why don’t they come?  For the same reason any of us don’t believe. The short answer is sin. A longer answer, is how often is the earthly preferred to the heavenly, the transient to the eternal, and the sinful to the pure? I’ll take land and wealth, but what is heaven compared to my toys in the garage? What is Sunday morning in church compared to snoring in bed?  But look at the gift the King gives those who come to the wedding feast! What happier occasion can there be? But they won’t come.

          Surprise number two, the kingdom of heaven is not like earth’s kingdom because the king does not immediately destroy them for ingratitude, insubordination, and arrogance. Rather, grace treats these rebels like nobles in the king’s realm. Although the Almighty will judge, look how he pleads with his ungrateful subjects! Again he sent 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.’  He kindly, affectionately, sends more ambassadors with generous forgiving words. For these ingrates the Lord prepared everything good, rich, and plentiful.

          The King holds out his hand through emissaries of grace. The king sent the prophets and the apostles. The king sends out messengers today as well. But they paid no attention and went off, one to his farm, another to his business, while the rest seized his servants, treated them shamefully, and killed them.  So Jesus relates the history of His people whom He called for over 2,000 years. As a whole the Israelites would not follow.  Lest we excuse ourselves from the story, the parable also warns all who presume       to be the church today. Let us ask, do we seek first the things of God’s kingdom? (Mt. 6:33) Do we receive the Lord as He revealed Himself?  And what of those who do not believe? For all are invited to the feast. Until death, it is not yet too late to enter.

          There is good reason to not reject the invitation.  Consider what the King prepared for you, a banquet in his sacrificed flesh and blood. Consider the honor the King bestows by inviting you and your neighbor. Consider that those who enter the feast as guests become the Son’s bride. What unmerited favor is given in that invitation! See what love He has when His wooing words were cast into His sacred face as curses; when His love was spat upon and hated; for the sake of that bride, He died. As groom, He prepared a spotless robe, bleached clean by His red blood. He is ready to dress His bride in the coverings of his cross and resurrection. He bids His guests to enter the eternal feast, sending messengers who taste the afflictions of the groom; who were beaten and mocked, ignored and ridiculed. Hearing of that treatment, of love spurned, we ask, will God contend with man forever?

          Here is another point of comparison. There shall be a judgment. All who persist in refusing grace are given their wish. The king was angry, and he sent his troops and destroyed those murderers and burned their city. Then he 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.’ 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.

          There is also a surprise - judgment is not the only word. Although Israel as a whole refused their king, as too the nations do because they will not believe…ambassadors are still sent from near to far. They indiscriminately invite everyone. Who makes a wedding list that way? Just think of the kinds of folks who might show up? Yet the king calls the good, the bad and the ugly to the banquet. The King’s ambassadors proclaim grace until the hall is full. And surprise, no one enters the banquet because they were first friends of the groom. No one becomes the groom’s bride because she first loved Him. Those who come are compelled, brought in, and receive all by faith. They receive something great, honorable, and true by grace. He loved you first, and in that grace made you His bride. (No wonder the church’s response is love.)

          Now consider the King’s highway upon which his messengers walked to bring you here. Were you born in Israel, of the race of David?  When did your barbaric ancestors first hear the invitation? When were you personally invited to the marriage feast? Over your head the promises of baptism were poured, and you entered in. There is another promise in this parable. There will be a wedding feast. The banqueting hall will be filled. And all there are dressed in white robes, the bridal gown of Christ’s righteousness. That’s how you know you are the chosen, saved by grace. Christ died for all, and for you.   

          To conclude with an earlier surprise - Jesus Christ who redeemed His bride, made her worthy of sharing His honor and glory. He so lifts you up to heaven. You who were brought to the feast as guest, now made Bride, shall be filled with eternal joy at the Son’s wedding feast. And that explains why this feast is about the Groom, for in Him the Bride receives all good things.

The peace of God which passes all understanding keep your hearts and minds though Christ Jesus.