Matthew 22 contains one of Jesus’ most alarming parables. The story begins innocently enough, with a king throwing an extravagant wedding banquet for his son. But the people invited to the party were selfish, stubborn & wicked. Not only did they refuse the invitation, but they mistreated & murdered the king’s servants. Filled with rage, the king sent his army to destroy those murderers and burn their city.
Jesus’ shocking story summarizes the history of God & Israel. God called Israel to be his special representatives. They would fulfill the role marked out for humanity, to reflect God’s image & govern the world wisely. If Israel worshiped the one true God & faithfully obeyed his commandments, they would enjoy His rich blessings.
Yet Israel failed miserably. They’d been unfaithful to the covenant. Again & again, God sent prophets who courageously confronted his wayward people. But Israel had been obstinate. At best, they scorned God’s messengers; at worst, they killed them. Finally, God’s patience had run out. God summoned King Nebuchadnezzar and his Babylonian armies against Jerusalem. In 586 BC, the city and the temple were destroyed and burned. Many Jews lost their lives in this apocalypse. Those who survived were taken into exile.
After the exile, many Jews returned to the land of Israel. But their hearts remained hard & impenitent. Most of those who heard Jesus’ words would soon reject God’s final messenger, his very own son: “Last of all, [the vineyard owner] sent his son to them. “They will respect my son,” he said. But when the tenants saw the son, they said to each other, “This is the heir. Come, let’s kill him and take his inheritance.” So they took him and threw him out of the vineyard and killed him.” Matthew 21:37-39) The rightful king of the Jews would suffer a shameful execution at the hands of his own people.
Jesus warned that if Israel rejected him, history would repeat itself: “As he approached Jerusalem and saw the city, he wept over it and said, “If you, even you, had only known on this day what would bring you peace—but now it is hidden from your eyes. The days will come upon you when your enemies will build an embankment against you and encircle you and hem you in on every side. They will dash you to the ground, you and the children within your walls. They will not leave one stone on another, because you did not recognize the time of God’s coming to you.” (Luke 19:41-44) This dark prophecy came to fulfillment in 70 AD, when the Roman legions conquered Jerusalem and burned the temple to the ground.
What then was God to do? By His own design, the creation required image-bearing human beings in order to function and flourish. Moreover, God had solemnly promised that blessing would be restored through Israel, the “seed” of Abraham. Therefore, in order for God to rescue his beloved creation, God needed to restore Israel to covenant faithfulness.
This sets the stage for the second act of Jesus’ story. God will not simply cancel the party. He will not allow evil & injustice to ruin his creation forever.
“Then he said to his servants, ‘The wedding banquet is ready, but those I invited did not deserve to come. So go to the street corners and invite to the banquet anyone you find.’ 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.” (Matthew 22:8-10)
A superficial reading of this parable might suggest that God had been caught flat-footed. His invitation to Israel was “plan A.” But since Israel had refused, God was forced to resort to the Gentiles as “plan B.”
But the scriptures make two things very clear: 1) Israel’s failure was not a surprise to God and 2) God’s purposes were never limited to ethnic Israel alone. Rather, Israel was to be the vehicle by which God’s grace would reach people of every nation.
Jesus’ words anticipate the moment when the message of salvation would go out to all the world. God famously promised Abraham that “all peoples on earth will be blessed through you.” (Genesis 12:3) Likewise, through the prophet Isaiah, God had long ago promised that one day He would send a “servant” who would not only restore Israel to faithfulness but would be a light to all the nations: “It is too small a thing for you to be my servant to restore the tribes of Jacob and bring back those of Israel I have kept. I will also make you a light for the Gentiles, that my salvation may reach to the ends of the earth.” (Isaiah 49:6)
Earlier in his ministry, Jesus himself made it clear that people of every nation would be welcomed into God’s kingdom. In Matthew 8, Jesus “was amazed” by the remarkable faith of a Roman centurion, who acknowledged his authority over disease & sickness. In response, Jesus declared, “Truly I tell you, I have not found anyone in Israel with such great faith. I say to you that many will come from the east and the west, and will take their places at the feast with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven. But the subjects of the kingdom will be thrown outside, into the darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.” (Matthew 8:10-12)
This passage is remarkably similar to the parable of the wedding banquet in Matthew 22. The “subjects of the kingdom” are of course the Jews, the physical descendants of Israel, many of whom will be “thrown outside into the darkness.” They correspond to those who were first invited to the king’s banquet but responded with mayhem & murder. Both stories make the same point: God’s judgment will come upon unfaithful Israel.
Yet even Israel’s failure cannot thwart God’s purposes. The party will go on! “Many will come from the east and the west” to dine with the patriarchs in the kingdom of God. This corresponds to the second part of Jesus’ parable: “So go to the street corners and invite to the banquet anyone you find.” (Matthew 22:9)
As was often the case, Jesus was challenging his hearers. Those who earnestly reflected on his words would be rewarded with a deeper understanding of God’s unfolding plan. The God of Israel was the creator of all things. He would soon call people of every nation into his kingdom, even people like this Roman centurion. Such a thought would have been scandalous for many of the Jews. They hated the Romans and would love nothing more than to shed Roman blood in violent insurrection. No wonder Jesus often spoke in parables!
But after his resurrection, Jesus explicitly declared, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore, go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you.” (Matthew 28:19-20)
Likewise, in Acts 1 Jesus gave his apostles the task of testifying to Jew & Gentile alike: “you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.” These passages correspond precisely to the king’s generous invitation: “go to the street corners and invite to the banquet anyone you find.”
The worldwide kingdom of God has been inaugurated by the royal enthronement of Jesus as the Messiah. God always promised that salvation would come through Israel but would bring blessing to the whole world. And He has been true to his word. Whereas Israel had heretofore failed, Jesus succeeded. It turns out that God’s plan always required a faithful king who would lead Israel in righteousness. He was (and is) the genuine human being who perfectly reflected God’s image.
The faithfulness of Jesus has radically altered the composition of Israel itself. Membership in God’s people is no longer limited by physical descent but is now open to everyone who gives their full allegiance to Jesus, the king of the Jews. His loyal followers will receive a warm welcome at God’s kingdom banquet.
