“The Wedding Banquet,” by Alessandro Botticelli
Originally posted October 5, 2011, at Faith Formation. Republished with permission of the author.
Once more Jesus spoke to them in parables, saying: “The kingdom of heaven may be compared to a king who gave a wedding banquet for his son. He sent his slaves to call those who had been invited to the wedding banquet, but they would not come. Again he sent other slaves, saying, ‘Tell those who have been invited: Look, I have prepared my dinner, my oxen and my fat calves have been slaughtered, and everything is ready; come to the wedding banquet.’ But they made light of it and went away, one to his farm, another to his business, while the rest seized his slaves, mistreated them, and killed them” (Matthew 22:1-6).
Sometimes I wish Jesus hadn’t used so many parables!
If he had spoken directly to the people in front of him, his teaching would have been addressed only to their situation and we could have stood apart from the pain of the truth spoken in love.
As it is, though, the parables speak powerfully across thousands of years and meet me as I sit here on my porch in the early morning autumn splendor of a day in 2011.
So here’s the message: Jesus proclaims that we are invited to God’s main event. It is a life and a relationship that has been prepared for all.
It includes a sumptuous never-ending meal and a celebration of abundant living. In a mystical marriage between the creator and all creation there is a union of all that is right now with everything that ever was or ever will be.
There is no longer any painful separation between “us!” In this amazing celebration we are gathered around a feast where there is more than enough for everyone.
We dance together on a floor with just the right amount of space with a rhythm and a beat that is perfect for each of us. (As a dancer, that’s a dream come true.) And the host of the celebration is there with us — meandering about, guiding us, even dancing with us.
How sad it is that we so often find something better to do. We set the invitation aside. Or we ignore or rudely slam the door of our heart in the face of the messenger extending the invitation on the Lord’s behalf.
RSVP stands for a French phrase, “répondez, s’il vous plaît,” which means “please reply.” God’s invitation spoken through Christ is spoken to us all even now. What shall we say? How shall we respond?
Find a link to Pamela Czarnota’s blog Faith Formation at Lutheran Blogs.
You might also want to read:
The biggest dandelion in the world
What are you wearing?
‘What’s My Line?’
We respond the same way as they do in the parable. We have better things to do. God also responds as in the parable. He sends agents to burn the village down and put them all to death.
The Promise, though, is that we unworthy are invited. That the story doesn't end with us being put to death, but that the unworthy are freely given a place at the banquet, invited there through the Blood of Christ (how's that for an invitation written in Blood?)