A wedding in the time of Jesus had many difficulties that are not felt in modern times. The greatest would be the lack of refrigeration and the difficulties of catering. For this reason it was necessary to have the invitations given out long in advance and a very accurate idea of the numbers attending. The king would send out a messenger now to give you the invitation for a wedding sometime in the future. The date would be flexible, say in about one year, the refusal was an option, but acceptance was considered a matter of life or death. No excuse short of one’s death was accepted!!!
The application of this parable. The day I was baptized my godparents accepted the invitation on my behalf to the heavenly banquet. It will be held sometime in the future. There is no definite date at this time. I accepted the invitation and said I would be ready when the royal party arrived at my door to deliver me to the royal banquet.
‘Tell those who were invited that I have my banquet all prepared…everything is ready, come to the wedding.”
I have already accepted the invitation to the banquet of eternal life. If at this stage I refuse to honour my word, the king will allot my place to someone else.
“So these servants went out on to the roads and collected together everyone they could find, bad and good alike, and the wedding Hall was filled with guests”.
A note on the wedding garment V13-14. Most scholars consider this verse does not belong here in the text of Matthew. It seems to have been cut and pasted by a monk centuries ago by mistake. Whatever about this, it is of course part of Sacred Scripture. You would notice that the Church gives us two versions of the Gospel to read today, one with these verses and one without.
The application of this parable. The day I was baptized my godparents accepted the invitation on my behalf to the heavenly banquet. It will be held sometime in the future. There is no definite date at this time. I accepted the invitation and said I would be ready when the royal party arrived at my door to deliver me to the royal banquet.
‘Tell those who were invited that I have my banquet all prepared…everything is ready, come to the wedding.”
I have already accepted the invitation to the banquet of eternal life. If at this stage I refuse to honour my word, the king will allot my place to someone else.
“So these servants went out on to the roads and collected together everyone they could find, bad and good alike, and the wedding Hall was filled with guests”.
A note on the wedding garment V13-14. Most scholars consider this verse does not belong here in the text of Matthew. It seems to have been cut and pasted by a monk centuries ago by mistake. Whatever about this, it is of course part of Sacred Scripture. You would notice that the Church gives us two versions of the Gospel to read today, one with these verses and one without.
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