Before delving into the Gospel Reading of the Twenty-Eighth Sunday in Ordinary Time, Cycle A (Matthew 22:1-14), it is helpful to review its context. For this, we must go over the historical sequence leading to the Gospel text.
Jesus spoke this parable, along with two other
parables, in Jerusalem during his last 5 days before his death on the Cross.
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Upon entering Jerusalem and fervently welcomed by the
crowd (Matthew 21:1-11), Jesus went to the Temple and overturned what turned this
holy house of prayer into a den of robbers (Matthew 21:12-13). Then, he healed
the blind and the lame, who came to him in the Temple area (Matthew 21:14). In
response to these wonderful acts of Jesus, children were crying out, “Hosanna to the Son of David!”, but the
chief priests and the scribes were indignant and asked Jesus, “Do you hear what they are saying?”(Matthew
21:15-16a). And Jesus said to them, “Yes;
and have you never read the text, ‘Out of the mouths of infants and nurslings
you have brought forth praise?”(Matthew 21:16b; cf. Psalm 8:3 LXX).
Because of this set of events, the chief priests and
the elders of the people questioned Jesus of his authority to storm into the
Temple and to perform healing (Matthew 21:23). Rather than giving them an
answer, Jesus asked them if they could answer where the authority of John the
Baptist came from to conduct baptism, in order for him to tell them about his
authority (Matthew 21:24-25a). But they could not answer (Matthew 21:25b-27a).
So Jesus said he could not tell them about his authority (Matthew 21:27b).
Instead of arguing about his authority with the chief
priests and the elders, Jesus spoke three parables to these religious leaders
to confront their wickedness: the parable of the two sons (Matthew 21:28-32),
the parable of the wicked vineyard tenant workers (Matthew 21:33-44), and the
parable of the wedding banquet (Matthew 22:1-14). All of these parables spoken
by Jesus against the chief priests and the elders are like the parable that
Nathan spoke to David to confront his sin with a parable about a rich man who
stole a poor man’s ewe lamb (2 Samuel 12:1-13). Though David realized his sin
of “stealing” Uriah’s wife Bathsheba by letting her husband die (2 Samuel
11:2-27) and repented (2 Samuel 12:13), the chief priests and the elders began
to think how they could silence Jesus, instead of recognizing and repenting
their sins (Matthew 21:45-46).
In the parable of the two sons (Mathew 21:28-32),
which is the Gospel Reading of the 26th Sunday, Jesus pointed out
that the chief priests and the elders were like the son who said, “yes”, to his
father when asked to go to the vineyard to work there but never went. This is
to reflect their sinful hypocrisy. Though they promised God to take the
stewardship of the Temple, they turned this holy house of worship into a den of
robbers for their greed. In the parable of the wicked vineyard tenant workers
(Matthew 21:33-44), which is the Gospel Reading of the 27th Sunday,
these religious leaders’ vices and intent to have Jesus killed are juxtaposed
to the murders committed by the vineyard workers to the landowner’s servants
and son. They promised to God to make the house of Israel, which is God’s
vineyard, fruitful for a good harvest but what came out of the vineyard was the
blood of murders, instead of the choicest wine, because of these leaders’ wickedness.
The priests were to be selfless servants of God,
ministering as willed by God (i.e. Leviticus 10:6-20; Deuteronomy 18:1-8), and
so were the elders (i.e. Numbers 11: 1-30). However, as reflected in these two
parables, these leaders in the house of Israel were irresponsible because of
their selfishness and greed.
Then, Jesus spoke the third parable to further confront
the sinfulness of the chief priests and the elders, and this is the parable of
the royal wedding banquet (Matthew 22:1-14), which is the Gospel Reading of the
28th Sunday. The metaphorical setting is the royal wedding feast,
which allegorizes the Kingdom of Heaven, as Jesus began this parable with these
words:
The
Kingdom of heaven may be likened to a king who gave a wedding feast for his son
(Matthew 22:2).
In fact, the Kingdom is a running theme throughout the
three parables that Jesus spoke directly to the chief priests and the elders.
In the parable of the two sons (Matthew 21:28-32), Jesus pointed out that these
leaders were to be the last ones to enter the Kingdom, behind the tax
collectors and the prostituted who repented and converted, because of their
hypocrisy and unwillingness to repent (Matthew 21:28-32). And through the parable
of the wicked tenant vineyard workers (Matthew 21:33-44), Jesus rebuked them by
saying, citing from Psalm 118:22–23:
Did
you never read in the scriptures: ‘The stone that the builders rejected has
become the cornerstone; by the Lord has this been done, and it is wonderful in
our eyes’?
Therefore,
I say to you, the Kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to a
people that will produce its fruit. The one who falls on this stone will be
dashed to pieces; and it will crush anyone on whom it falls
(Matthew 21:42-44).
So, in the third parable, the parable of the royal
wedding feast, Jesus zeros in on the Kingdom, symbolically represented with the
royal wedding feast. And this also means in the presence of Jesus, the Son of
God (i.e. Matthew 9:14-17; cf. Revelation 19:6-9).
The setting of the parable is that the king sets up
his son’s wedding feast, ordered his servants to summon invited guests but they
refused to attend (Matthew 22:3). But the king was determined to bring guests
for his son’s wedding feast. So, he tried again, sending another batch of
servants, emphasizing the readiness for the feast (Matthew 22:4). But some
ignored the king’s invitation, while others too busy to attend because of their
worldly affairs (Matthew 22:5), while there were those among the invited
guests, who mistreated and killed the king’s servants (Matthew 22:6). Then the
king destroyed those who murdered his servants and their cities (Matthew 22:7),
as sung in Psalm 92:6-10.
Up to this portion of the parable (Matthew 22:1-7),
the first two parables: the parable of the two sons (Matthew 21:28-32), and the
parable of the wicked tenant workers of the vineyard (Matthew 21:33-44), as
Jesus spoke the judgement against obstinately unrepentant sinners, like the
chief priests and the elders.
The rest of the parable of the royal wedding feast
(Matthew 22:8-14) speaks not only to these wicked religious leaders of the
house of Israel but to all of us.
Being disappointed about the responses from the
originally invited guests, the king said to his servants:
The
feast is ready, but those who were invited were not worthy to come. Go out,
therefore, into the main roads and invite to the feast whomever you find
(Matthew 22:8-9).
So the servants brought all of those whom they could
gather, good and bad, to fill the king’s banquet hall (Matthew 22:10). Then,
the king inspected those who were brought by greeting first and spotted a
person not dressed for the occasion (Matthew 22:11). He was questioned by the
king why he was not with appropriate attire but silenced and expelled from the
banquet all into the darkness of anguish, where there will be wailing and grinding
of teeth (Matthew 22:12-13). Then, in concluding the parable, Jesus said:
Many
are invited, but few are chosen (Matthew 22:14).
Remember, only those who are in the good standing with God at the time of the call for the Kingdom can enter there (Matthew 7:21-23; 25:1-11; 31-46). It means the readiness to meet the Lord in his Kingdom. For this, we must repent and convert our hearts, and bear fruits of our works of faith according to the will of God. If we failed to meet this set of standards, then, we would be rejected and thrown into the place of darkness in agony.
Though both good and bad may be gathered together at
first (Matthew 22:10) for the Kingdom, as a fisherman draw up the net filled
with all sorts of fish, good and bad (Matthew 13:47). But, as the fisherman
select only good fish out of the net and throw away the rest (Matthew 13:48),
the king rejected the man who was not fit to be at the royal wedding banquet
(Matthew 22:11-13), just as the bridegroom rejects the bridesmaids who are not
ready for his return (Matthew 25:10-13) and Jesus rejects those who did not do
bear fruit of their work of faith by the time of his parousia (Matthew 25:37-46).
Upon Jesus’ return, we are invited to the heavenly
wedding feast (Revelation 19:9-6). But not everyone who is invited can be at
the feast, if they are not fit for the occasion. It means that we must repent
and reconcile with God through our conversion. This is why both John the
Baptist and Jesus himself called us to repent for the Kingdom of Heaven
(Matthew 3:2; 4:17). Namely, wearing a proper garment for the king’s son’s
royal wedding feast means attaining the purity of heart, as the wedding points
to the heavenly wedding of Christ the Lamb and his bride, who is taken by him
into the Kingdom (Revelation 19:6-9; 21:2, 9; 22:17), while those who are not
fit are damned (Revelation 20:10; 21:8).
As Jesus said, Many
are invited, but few are chosen (Matthew 22:14). It means that those who
are baptized are invited to the heavenly royal wedding feast of Christ the Lamb
and his bride. But not all of the baptized and those who profess their faith
are necessarily chosen to be at the feast, because not all of those who are
baptized and said “yes” to do God’s will by following Christ in receiving the
Sacrament of Confirmation will actually do so, just like the son who said “yes”
to his father’s call to work in the vineyard but never went there (Matthew
21:30).
No sola fide,
but fide et labore cum fructu abundans.
Not faith alone but faith and work with abundant fruit, to be chosen by God the
King to be at the heavenly royal wedding in entering the Kingdom of God.
It is also important for the Catholics to understand that Mass is allegorical to the royal wedding feast in the Gospel Reading, because only those who are chosen are truly blessed to receive the Holy Eucharist. Remember, not just externally but internally, we must be adequate for this sacred celebration of the Eucharist, enriched with the Word of God. This is why only those who are in the state of grace shall receive the Holy Eucharist (Catechism of the Catholic Church, 1415).
In juxtaposing the royal wedding feast in the Gospel
Reading (Matthew 22:1-14) to the First Reading (Isaiah 25:6-10a), the feast is
held on God’s holy mountain, served with rich food and the choicest wine
(Isaiah 25:6). Our reproaches are removed (Isaiah 25:8). Because the feast is
allegorical to the quality of the Kingdom, there is no darkness, sorrow and
suffering but eternal joy and light (Revelation 21:1-22:5). And this is the consummation of God’s
salvation (cf. Isaiah 25:9-10a).
As the refrain of the Responsorial Psalm (23:1-3a, 3b-4, 5, 6) joyfully sings, we shall live in the house of the Lord all the days of our life, upon repenting, being fruitful of our work of faith, and being purified – fitting to be at the heavenly royal wedding banquet and to live in the house of the Lord, the Kingdom. And the Second Reading (Philippians 4:12-14, 19-20) reminds us that we need to be and remain humble as a proof of our good standing with God – our fitness to be chosen for the heavenly royal wedding, to be ushered by the bridegroom, Christ the King, into his Kingdom.
Let us repent, convert our hearts to the will of God,
remain humble and selfless, to be chosen for the heavenly wedding banquet and
to enjoy living in the house of the Lord in the Kingdom of God! The Kingdom of
God is at hand. We must be ready for the call for the feast hosted by God the
King.
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