Look Who's Coming to Dinner!
What possible
reason would a person have not to attend such a great banquet as described in
Matthew’s gospel today? In an earlier reading, the passage from Isaiah recounts
some of the memorable great feasts by the Kings of the past, all very well
attended, and suggests that someday Zion will host a great feast hosted by God
that breaks down the human boundaries of nations, and the “veil” of mortality
that covers all peoples; God will send invitations to all of humanity. God’s salvation is ultimately universal, not
exclusive to a particular tribe; it looks as if Isaiah is suggesting that in
the future, some people will be coming to dinner whom God’s people would not
consider inviting to a banquet today.
This is part of the link to Matthew’s banquet.
Cast in this
context, Matthew’s parable in two parts (originally two different parables) combines
two important sets of symbols: the symbols of a great banquet and the wedding
feast. The parable, though, seems a bit bizarre and strange. However, if we
consider an earlier banquet scene in the ninth chapter of Matthew, we might see
this parable take on a more sensible presentation.
Jesus, in
inviting “sinners and tax collectors” to dine with him, is suggesting the time
has come for such a banquet, but the religious leaders are having none of this.
In such a scene earlier in Matthew, the Pharisees ask the disciples, "Why is your Teacher eating with the tax collectors and
sinners?" Outraged, it is safe to assume they wanted nothing to do with
eating with the likes of whom Jesus invited to dinner. God’s kingdom is
being established, but the folks showing up, hungry and not accustomed to such
invitations, eagerly accept, while the well-sated religious leaders rebuff the
idea of sharing a table with such scoundrels.
The wedding
garment has its symbolic value of representing the purity of God’s grace, much
as it is used in both Isaiah and Revelation. God’s kingdom clothes and feeds in
abundance, but some reject the offer by refusing to dine with those invited or
refuse to wear the garment provided. And this, I think, is the core of Jesus’
message: Communion with God is communion with those whom God loves and
values- those in most need of God’s hospitality, what God is offering an eternal banquet.
The guests, not the food, keep away some who are invited. The sinners and
saints, both invited, create a mix that thwarts the notion of a “pure” church
and embraces a kingdom where “tax collectors and sinners” are offered communion
as they are in order to become what they receive, the Body of Christ.
