Parable · Matthew 22:1-14
The Wedding Feast
A king invites guests to his son’s wedding. They refuse, so he opens it to everyone.
Also called The Wedding Banquet, The Man Without a Garment
The point
Matthew version is darker than Luke, and it does not end when the hall fills up.
1Once again, Jesus spoke to them in parables:
2“The kingdom of heaven is like a king who prepared a wedding banquet for his son.
3He sent his servants to call those he had invited to the banquet, but they refused to come.
4Again, he sent other servants and said, ‘Tell those who have been invited that I have prepared my dinner. My oxen and fattened cattle have been killed, and everything is ready. Come to the wedding banquet.’
5But they paid no attention and went away, one to his field, another to his business.
6The rest seized his servants, mistreated them, and killed them.
7The king was enraged, and he sent his troops to destroy those murderers and burn their city.
8Then he said to his servants, ‘The wedding banquet is ready, but those I invited were not worthy.
9Go therefore to the crossroads and invite to the banquet as many as you can find.’
10So the servants went out into the streets and gathered everyone they could find, both evil and good, and the wedding hall was filled with guests.
11But when the king came in to see the guests, he spotted a man who was not dressed in wedding clothes.
12‘Friend,’ he asked, ‘how did you get in here without wedding clothes?’ But the man was speechless.
13Then the king told the servants, ‘Tie him hand and foot, and throw him into the outer darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’
14For many are called, but few are chosen.”
Berean Standard Bible, public domain. Read the whole chapter
Using this at church
Read in church on
- Lectionary 28 Year AGospel, Matthew 22:1-14
For a newsletter or sermon notes
The parable of the Wedding Feast, explained in plain words. A king’s wedding guests refuse, so he invites everyone. https://freescripture.org/parables/wedding-feast/
Lines for the next eight Sundays, on Digital Lutheran Church
More on grace that offends
The Workers in the Vineyard Workers hired at dawn and workers hired an hour before quitting time are paid the same.The Great Banquet Invited guests all make excuses, so the host fills the table with strangers off the street.The Two Sons A father asks two sons to work. One says no and goes. One says yes and does not.The Wicked Tenants Tenants beat the servants sent to collect rent, then kill the owner’s son.