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The Wedding Banquet

A king prepares a wedding feast for his son. The invited guests refuse, so he fills the hall with everyone from the streets — but one guest comes without a wedding garment.

Read Matthew 22:1–14 in the reader

Awaiting theological review

Before you read

Who Jesus was speaking to

Scripture

Jesus is in the Temple in Jerusalem in his last days, in conflict with the chief priests and Pharisees. This is the third parable in a row addressed to them, after the two sons and the wicked husbandmen.

Matthew 22:1–14

Douay-Rheims 1899 American Edition · Public Domain

The invited would not come1And Jesus answering, spoke again in parables to them, saying: 2The kingdom of heaven is likened to a king, who made a marriage for his son. 3And he sent his servants, to call them that were invited to the marriage; and they would not come. 4Again he sent other servants, saying: Tell them that were invited, Behold, I have prepared my dinner; my beeves and fatlings are killed, and all things are ready: come ye to the marriage. 5But they neglected, and went their own ways, one to his farm, and another to his merchandise. 6And the rest laid hands on his servants, and having treated them contumeliously, put them to death. 7But when the king had heard of it, he was angry, and sending his armies, he destroyed those murderers, and burnt their city. Bad and good8Then he saith to his servants: The marriage indeed is ready; but they that were invited were not worthy. 9Go ye therefore into the highways; and as many as you shall find, call to the marriage. 10And his servants going forth into the ways, gathered together all that they found, both bad and good: and the marriage was filled with guests. The wedding garment11And the king went in to see the guests: and he saw there a man who had not on a wedding garment. 12And he saith to him: Friend, how camest thou in hither not having a wedding garment? But he was silent. 13Then the king said to the waiters: Bind his hands and feet, and cast him into the exterior darkness: there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth. 14For many are called, but few are chosen.

Everyone is invited

The king, the guests and the man without a garment

All things are ready

The king

He wants his son's feast to be full, and keeps sending invitations.

  1. 22:4 — Behold, I have prepared my dinner… come ye to the marriage
  2. 22:9 — As many as you shall find, call to the marriage

Interpretation

The banquet is an image of the Kingdom, and of the joy God prepares for his Son and for all people. The invitation goes out to everyone, bad and good alike.

Think about it

Do you live your faith as an obligation, or as an invitation to a feast?

They neglected

The invited guests

Busy with farms and business — or worse — they refuse to come.

  1. 22:5 — One to his farm, and another to his merchandise

Interpretation

Most of them are not hostile, just busy. The parable warns that ordinary concerns can make us miss the one invitation that matters.

Think about it

What keeps you from accepting God's invitation?

He was silent

The man without a wedding garment

He accepted the invitation, but came as if nothing had changed.

  1. 22:12 — Friend, how camest thou in hither not having a wedding garment?

Tradition & devotion

The Fathers read the wedding garment as charity, or as the new life of Baptism that must be kept clean. The invitation is free, but it asks to be answered with a changed life.

Think about it

How do you dress your soul to meet the Lord?

What first hearers would have noticed

Context

Two invitations

History & scholarship

A first invitation announced the feast; a second, on the day, told the guests that all was ready. Refusing at the second call, after accepting the first, was a public insult to the host.

The burnt city

History & scholarship

The king's armies burning the city is a harsh detail in a wedding story. Many scholars see in it an allusion to the destruction of Jerusalem in the year 70; others read it as traditional language of judgement. Luke's simpler version has no such scene (Luke 14:15–24).

Look closer

Symbols

The wedding feastMatthew 22:2

Scripture

The prophets describe the end of time as a feast for all peoples (Isaias 25:6), and Revelation speaks of the marriage supper of the Lamb (Apocalypse 19:9).
Many are called, but few are chosenMatthew 22:14

Interpretation

Not a number to calculate, but a warning: being invited is not the same as responding.

Remember

Quiz me

Question 1 of 3beginner

For whom did the king make the marriage feast?

The next question

Luke's version: the great supperWhat is the Mass?The ten virginsThe prodigal son's feast