Matthew 22 now shifts to a parable about a wedding banquet prepared by a proud father for his beloved son. It actually says a “king” prepared the banquet for his son but few of us know kings and we can picture a father. Actually, I was the bride and my groom’s father was deceased but I have been to weddings here and in Africa. As Jesus journeys to the cross, he tells a parable of a wedding feast and the dreams and aspirations that went into it.
Invitations were sent. The guests refused the invitation of a king. Unimaginable. As I reflect though, in Kenya we once received an invite to State House for a President’s affair. I was all flustered. Our car was a rattletrap! What should I wear? How does one interact with a President? Who was I to be at a King’s party? I was only the wife of one of his servants. I could have easily not gone. There was no TV so I would not know what I had missed. Maybe the guests for this banquet counted themselves unworthy, unprepared, or not important. Maybe it was not hardness of heart but faint of heart and untrusting.
During Lent we have done some serious self-introspection about our faith or lack thereof. Who are we to be invited to be in relationship with the God of the universe? That, there, is the truth. We are undeserving. The cross is necessary because we are undeserving and unbelieving. We cannot “earn” the right to be invited to a banquet by the king. It is a gift, an invitation.
Today let’s just remember wedding banquets we have been invited to and how we prepared or perhaps why we did not go. An invitation opens a window to reflect on how we respond to all of God’s invitations for relationship. Let us not be hard hearted or untrusting today. He is excited about his gift to us! Blessings.
On the Way to Wonder 