Matthew 22:1-14 page 1

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Well, for the third time in this series we've got 'weeping and gnashing of teeth' (verse 13). I'm seriously beginning to wonder about this church! I ask you to suggest parables for me to preach on and three of you come up with parables containing that phrase!

Of course it may alert us to a theme that is far more prevalent in the teaching of Jesus than we would sometimes like to admit. But in this case what interests me is the difference between the parable of the wedding banquet as told here in Matthew's Gospel and the way Luke records it, in a different context. I differ from those scholars who say it's simply the same parable; I think Jesus told it again a second time, giving a different application and therefore changing some of the details in order to do that.

The main difference between Luke and Matthew in their recording of this parable is in the theme of judgement that recurs through Matthew's version. And since this is the version I was asked to preach on, I'm going to tackle this rather than avoid it. In Luke's version (which, as I say, I think comes from a different context) the guests who reject the invitation don't suffer the fate of destruction with the burning of their city that happens here. Similarly, Luke doesn't give us that piece at the end about the man who was not in wedding clothes and who is cast out.

You might think, then, that here in Matthew Jesus is being very harsh in what he says. But as I've never tired of saying in this series, look for the shocks in the parables. These statements that shock us might be clues to the meaning of the parable.

Let's explore the parable in three phases: the invitation, the rejection and the intruder.

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Copyright © David D Faulkner, 2006 except where other sources are attributed or noted as inspiration.