October 14, 2015
Today’s reading from Encounter with God

Wedding Clothes

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Opening Prayer

Lord, my God, reacquaint me with Your presence and enfold me in Your care. How great You are.

Read MATTHEW 22:1-14

[1] Jesus spoke to them again in parables, saying: [2] “The kingdom of heaven is like a king who prepared a wedding banquet for his son. [3] He sent his servants to those who had been invited to the banquet to tell them to come, but they refused to come. [4] “Then he sent some more servants and said, ‘Tell those who have been invited that I have prepared my dinner: My oxen and fattened cattle have been butchered, and everything is ready. Come to the wedding banquet.’ [5] “But they paid no attention and went off-one to his field, another to his business. [6] The rest seized his servants, mistreated them and killed them. [7] The king was enraged. He sent his army and destroyed those murderers and burned their city. [8] “Then he said to his servants, ‘The wedding banquet is ready, but those I invited did not deserve to come. [9] So go to the street corners and invite to the banquet anyone you find.’ [10] So the servants went out into the streets and gathered all the people they could find, the bad as well as the good, and the wedding hall was filled with guests. [11] “But when the king came in to see the guests, he noticed a man there who was not wearing wedding clothes. [12] He asked, ‘How did you get in here without wedding clothes, friend?’ The man was speechless. [13] “Then the king told the attendants, ‘Tie him hand and foot, and throw him outside, into the darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’ [14] “For many are invited, but few are chosen.”

Scripture taken from the THE HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION, NIV Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.

Reflect

It is fashionable (politically correct) today to use the word “inclusive.” However, sometimes we need to hear about judgment, standards of holiness and punishment. Jesus didn’t avoid touching on these subjects in this parable.

Nearly everyone enjoys a wedding. To be invited to a royal wedding would be a great privilege. To refuse to attend would be unthinkable. To make excuses of being too busy would be ridiculous. To attack the servants of the king would be unforgivable. And yet that is what the Jewish leaders are doing in the presence of Jesus. It is what many are doing today when they hear and refuse the Gospel invitation.

This parable has a different emphasis from the similar one told in Luke 14. Matthew notes that even the second group invited includes both good and bad. This reflects “the messy reality of church life” (Richard France). Although we rejoice in the inclusiveness of the invitation to the wedding, in contrast to the narrow approach of the Pharisees, that does not mean that an initial openness to accept the invite will always mean a full participation in the banquet. This is reflected in the account of a man who does not have a wedding garment. Here is someone whose acceptance of the invitation didn’t include his getting into a clean tunic. Although he was physically present, and was probably looking forward to the food, he did not acknowledge the specialness of the occasion nor the wonder of the king inviting him. He was insulting his host as much as those who refused to attend.

God looks for a wholehearted response to his invitation. Even in the purest church there will be people who once seemed to follow Jesus with enthusiasm but have turned away from him. Today’s reading should make us want to pray for all who hear the invitation and also to reconsecrate our own lives to follow him without any reservations.

Apply

Read Revelation 2:4-5. Examine your walk with the Lord in the light of these verses. Does your love for the Lord need to be renewed?

Closing prayer

Patient Father, it’s not easy to recognize spiritual drift. Quicken my love for You so that I will love You with my whole heart.

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