Scripture Daily

Context No. 3246 of 4322 · Matthew

Context · Reflection

Matthew 22:8-14: in context

8“Then he said to his servants, ‘The wedding is ready, but those who were invited weren’t worthy. 9Go therefore to the intersections of the highways, and as many as you may find, invite to the wedding feast.’ 10Those servants went out into the highways and gathered together as many as they found, both bad and good. The wedding was filled with guests. 11“But when the king came in to see the guests, he saw there a man who didn’t have on wedding clothing, 12and he said to him, ‘Friend, how did you come in here not wearing wedding clothing?’ He was speechless. 13Then the king said to the servants, ‘Bind him hand and foot, take him away, and throw him into the outer darkness. That is where the weeping and grinding of teeth will be.’ 14For many are called, but few chosen.”

In the parable of the wedding feast, the king's first guests prove unworthy, so he sends his servants to the streets to invite anyone at all, both bad and good, until the hall is full. But when the king comes in, he finds a guest with no wedding garment, and has him bound and cast into the outer darkness. Many are called, but few chosen.

The parable turns unsettling. The feast is filled freely with all sorts off the streets; grace invites everyone. But then a man is found without a wedding garment and cast out. If all are invited freely, why should this one guest's clothing matter? The garment stands for the response the invitation calls for, a life changed to match the grace received. To accept the invitation is not merely to show up but to be clothed in the transformation grace works. Grace is free, but it is not to be treated cheaply; the one who comes must let it change him. The call reaches many; to be among the chosen is to let the grace we accept actually reclothe us.

Have I not only accepted the invitation but let grace clothe me anew, or have I presumed on grace while remaining unchanged?

Sources