In Matthew 22, Jesus compares the kingdom of heaven to a monarch who prepared a wedding banquet for his son. In our last blog, we examined the nature of this kingdom. (Remember, Matthew uses the phrase “the kingdom of heaven,” while the other three gospels speak about “the kingdom of God.” But it’s the same concept.) We noted that kingdom has nothing to do with people escaping from the present world in order to reach some celestial realm called “heaven.” Rather, God’s kingdom involves the establishment of his sovereignty over all creation. Human beings have manifestly corrupted our world by rebelling against divine authority. We see the tragic results all around us: hatred, conflict, bloodshed, injustice, poverty, immorality and death itself. Many Christians mistakenly believe that salvation requires a grand evacuation whereby God whisks us away while the world inexorably spins off to destruction. As Dwight Moody, the famous 19th century evangelist, proclaimed, “I look upon this world as a wrecked vessel. God has given me a lifeboat and said, ‘Moody, save all you can.'”
But the story of the Bible is precisely the opposite of Moody’s vision. It’s a tale about how the God who made the universe is working to redeem & restore his creation. And human beings have a key role to play in this rescue project. From the very beginning, God made humans in his very own image. He bestowed upon us the exalted & awesome responsibility of governing the creation on His behalf. We were meant to imitate the loving, wise & just character of our Creator. When humans fulfill this role, the creation flourishes in the way that God intended. The world becomes a wondrous place of abundance, beauty, peace, joy and life.
A wedding banquet is thus an excellent metaphor for God’s kingdom. Whether in the ancient world or in modern times, weddings are a time of tremendous joy & celebration. The bride adorns herself in a magnificent dress just for this occasion. The groom & the attendants are likewise dressed to the hilt. After the ceremony, the guests enjoy a sumptuous feast (ok, sometimes modern wedding food is not that great) and strong drink flows freely. Dancing & frivolity extend well into the night. Host families expend considerable resources to ensure the wedding is a lovely & indelible memory for all involved.
But Jesus’ story has a jolting twist: “He sent his servants to those who had been invited to the banquet to tell them to come, but they refused to come. 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.’ But they paid no attention and went off—one to his field, another to his business. The rest seized his servants, mistreated them and killed them.” (Matthew 22:3-5)
Who are these selfish, stubborn & wicked people? Jesus’ listeners would have had little difficulty recognizing that the parable is about God & Israel. In a few words, Jesus summarized the long, tragic story of the Old Testament. God had called Israel to be his image bearers, to fulfill the royal role marked out for humanity. They would be God’s regents, implementing His kingdom on earth.
On Mt. Sinai, God & Israel had ratified a solemn covenant. Through his prophet Moses, God declared to Israel, “Now if you obey me fully and keep my covenant, then out of all nations, you will be my treasured possession. Although the whole earth is mine, you will be for me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.” (Exodus 19:5-6) This is the logic of the kingdom: Israel was required to worship the one true God & obey his commandments. If they were faithful to the covenant, God promised to pour out his lavish blessings upon them.
The covenant blessings are described in Deuteronomy 28:1-14. Israel would be blessed in the country & the city; they would enjoy wonderful families with many children; their crops would yield rich abundance & their livestock would multiply; the LORD would rout their enemies, allowing them to dwell in safety & security; they would prosper & succeed in everything they did.
But, to repeat, these magnificent promises all depended on Israel’s obedience. The unbreakable connection between obedience & blessing is repeated throughout the passage.
“If you fully obey the LORD your God and carefully follow all his commands I give you today, the LORD your God will set you high above all the nations on earth. All these blessings will come on you and accompany you if you obey the LORD your God.” (v1-2)
“The LORD will establish you as his holy people, as he promised you on oath, if you keep the commands of the LORD your God and walk in obedience to him.” (v9)
“If you pay attention to the commands of the Lord your God that I give you this day and carefully follow them, you will always be at the top, never at the bottom. Do not turn aside from any of the commands I give you today, to the right or to the left, following other gods and serving them.” (v13-14)
Of course, despite fleeting times of faithfulness, Israel ultimately failed to keep the covenant. This is how the book of Chronicles (the last book in the Hebrew Bible) summarizes the story: “The LORD, the God of their ancestors, sent word to them through his messengers again and again, because he had pity on his people and on his dwelling place. But they mocked God’s messengers, despised his words and scoffed at his prophets until the wrath of the Lord was aroused against his people and there was no remedy.” (2 Chronicles 36:15-16)
The words of Jesus hauntingly echo the Chronicler’s verdict. God had invited Israel to a grand party – pledging joy, abundance & life. But the people of Israel had been the ultimate party poopers. They had repeatedly refused the entreaties of their God. His messengers they openly scorned & mocked. Some of God’s prophets they coldly, callously & cruelly murdered.
The story here takes a very dark turn: “The king was enraged. He sent his army and destroyed those murderers and burned their city.” (Matthew 22:7) This verse gives many readers a sudden shock. We love to read about God’s generous love. It’s much more difficult to be confronted by His stern justice. Here we find both themes side by side. God’s covenant with Israel was like an invitation to an extravagant party. But if they obstinately refused, there would be severe consequences.
This isn’t a matter of a capricious deity losing his temper. God’s love & wrath are two sides of the same coin. God showed Israel the path to life & blessing. But the people of Israel insisted on going their own way. They embraced idolatry, violence, greed, cruelty and all kinds of immorality. Again and again, God sent his messengers, desperately calling Israel to repent and turn back to him. Prophets like Jeremiah repeatedly warned that disaster was approaching. God showed immense patience, but his patience has its limits. Precisely because of his love, God will not allow evil & injustice to have the last word.
The king “destroyed those murderers and burned their city.” What would Jesus’ listeners have thought about when they heard those words? No doubt they would have recalled how King Nebuchadnezzar and his armies had marched against Jerusalem. In 586 BC, the Babylonians razed and burned the city and the temple. The prophets made it clear that these events weren’t merely the result of the vicissitudes of history. Rather, it was God’s judgment: “[God] brought up against them the king of the Babylonians, who killed their young men with the sword in the sanctuary, and did not spare young men or young women, the elderly or the infirm. God gave them all into the hands of Nebuchadnezzar.” (2 Chronicles 36:17)
But this history doesn’t exhaust the meaning of Jesus’ words. He was also warning that Israel was in imminent danger of repeating their past. The parable of the wedding banquet is immediately preceded by the parable of the wicked tenants (Matthew 21:33-45). Both stories allude to the long procession of prophets which had been sent to Israel. But the story of the wicked tenants uniquely emphasized that God’s final messenger would be his very own son. If they rejected Jesus as their Messiah, Israel would be sealing their fate. God’s judgment would come crashing down on their heads.
Indeed, that is precisely what happened. Within a generation (66 AD), the Jews rose up in rebellion against the Roman Empire. Led by a general named Vespasian (who became Emperor in 69 AD), the Romans systematically crushed this revolt. Their brutal campaign culminated in 70 AD, when the Roman legions (now under Vespasian’s son Titus) destroyed Jerusalem and burned the temple to the ground. Countless Jews perished in this cataclysm.
What then would become of the king’s wedding banquet? Would the party be cancelled?
