Fellow redeemed, I think it’s safe to say that most of us have been to a wedding reception. Whether it was your own, a family member’s, or a friend’s. Wedding receptions are wonderful, joyful times and worthy of celebrating. The union of a man and a woman is certainly a reason to celebrate! So, we do. Most receptions have plenty of food and drinks. There’s laughter and singing. And in the midst of all of this, memories are shared and made. Though some may go overboard in their celebrations, nevertheless, the reason for celebrating a marriage along with its reception and banquet are enjoyable and worthy things.

In the Gospel this morning we hear of a king who gave a wedding feast for his son (Matt. 22:2). In great joy he pulls out all the stops. He slaughters oxen and calves fattened for this very event to be served at this wedding feast. When everything was ready, the King sends His servants to call those who were invited.

Now, if you’re sitting there thinking, “This text sounds familiar”, you would be right. Back on the Second Sunday after Trinity we heard the Parable of the Great Banquet from Luke 14. That text and today’s text are similar in many ways. Yet, there are some differences.
First, today’s text is a little darker, more violent than the Luke account. Some people who had been invited when told that it was time for the banquet reacted violently by beating and killing the king’s servants, and they in turn were destroyed and their cities burned by the king. That is not in the Luke account.

Second, today’s text eventually places us inside the wedding hall itself with its food and guests as the king is milling about the festivities.

And so, with these differences, it’s good for us consider this text from the Gospel according to St. Matthew. Jesus told this parable most likely on the Monday or Tuesday of Holy Week.
This parable is describing the wedding feast celebrating the marriage of the Bridegroom Christ to His beloved bride the Church. The son of the king, was about to redeem His beloved bride, through His sacrificial death on the cross, and by doing so, He washed her clean of all her sins. And was to clothe her in the glorious dress of His own righteousness in preparation for the eternal wedding banquet. This redemptive marriage had been promised long before throughout the Old Testament, and the people should have been aware that this day of celebration was on the horizon.

And now with everything ready as Jesus is crucified and raised, God the Father sends His servants: the apostles, preachers, and teachers out to proclaim to all people, “Everything is ready” (Matt. 22:4). Nothing is left undone. Jesus kept the Law perfectly without sin, yet He bore in his very flesh the sin of the world to redeem it. This was the task of the bridegroom: He drank the cup of the Father’s wrath. He died the death mankind deserves. And then on the third day He rose from dead. The empty tomb declares that sin is forgiven. Death is undone, the rescue of men and women achieved, because Satan has been defeated!

So, the invitation goes out, “Everything is ready” (Matt. 22:4). It’s as if they were saying, “you who hunger and thirst for righteousness that only Christ can give, come to the wedding feast.” Feed your soul on the delicious and wholesome food and drink of the Gospel that gives the forgiveness of sins and eternal life and salvation. Come to the wedding feast of the Son of God for everything is ready!

While this gracious invitation goes out, we see that there’s a wide range of responses from those first invited. The first group paid no attention and went off, one to his farm, another to his business…” (Matt. 22:5). These individuals feel no particular anger toward Jesus and His Gospel and His Church. They simply don’t care. They are too busy or distracted by the cares of this world to be bothered by a redemption they feel that they do not need. And while we’re sadden by this rejection of the Gospel. It isn’t a new thing. It’s happened since man’s fall into sin. And so, seeing neither the depth of their sin and their need for the forgiveness that Jesus has won for them they reject the King’s invitation.

The second group that’s invited to the wedding feast isn’t as polite in their rejection as the first group. We see that they”…seized [the king’s] servants, treated them shamefully, and killed them” (Matt. 22:6). Ultimately these individuals are more aggressive in their rejection of Christ and His bride the church. This was the reaction of those Jewish leaders and authorities who actively persecuted the early church proclaiming Christ, the Bridegroom as Lord and Savior.

But this also is the reaction of the world to this Christ as we’ve seen this down through the centuries. Consider St. Paul who we heard from in the Epistle for this day. He was most likely beheaded in Rome. Throughout the centuries prophets and apostles and also other men and women were persecuted and martyred for their confession of Christ crucified and risen for sinners.

And we see this today. In fact you yourself should expect persecution and the possibility of martyrdom as well!

Martin Luther supposedly once said “The martyr is the typical Christian life.” This is to say the normal Christian life is one of martyrdom. If we don’t come to that end and God preserves us to die of natural causes then that is the abnormal Christian life. And so, as Christians following in the footsteps of Christ we shouldn’t expect an easy and comfortable life. We should expect persecution. We should expect martyrdom and the hatred of the world.
What we believe, teach, and confess is folly to the world around us. People often become enraged when they’re confronted with the truth of God’s Law that their behavior is sinful and that it merits eternal death.

But they also become enraged when they’re confronted with the truth of God’s Gospel that those who participate in the wedding feast of the King’s Son can enjoy forgiveness of sins and eternal life with God.

And so, they persecute Christ and His church because like the previous group they see neither the depth of their sin nor the forgiveness that Christ won for them.
Those who reject the Word of God and persecute those who faithfully proclaim it will not get away with it. While God doesn’t desire the death of the sinner He does declare “Vengeance is mine, I will repay…” (Rom. 12:19). If God didn’t withhold punishing His chosen people Israel which He did time and time again throughout the Old Testament and finally by allowing the destruction of Jerusalem in 70AD, neither will He withhold punishing those individuals, those countries that reject His gracious invitation and persecute His servants.

And yet, despite this rejection the King will have a wedding feast for His Son. The wedding hall will be filled. The food and drinks will be consumed. There is still reason to rejoice! “The king said to his servants, ‘…Go therefore to the main roads and invite to the wedding feast as many as you find.’ And those servants went out into the roads and gathered all whom they found, both bad and good. Then the wedding hall was filled with guests” (Matt. 22:9-10). The fact the servants gathered everyone they found and made no distinction is wonderful news for us, and it’s the reason for us to rejoice!

On account of sin, we deserve no good thing in this life and in the life to come. It’s as we confess, we’re deserving of both temporal and eternal punishment in hell. And yet, God doesn’t desire the death of the sinner. He desires that we would be gathered into the wedding feast of His Son to be clothed with the righteousness of Christ and to eat and to drink of His forgiveness and life in faith.

Yet, here in the parable we get a glance inside the wedding hall. It’s here where Jesus makes a distinction between guests. He says, “But when the king came in to look at the guests, he saw there a man who had no wedding garment” (Matt. 22:9-11). The man without the wedding garment isn’t like the other two groups before him. Those without the proper wedding garment are the false sons within the so-called visible church on earth. They attend the Divine Service, outwardly partaking of the King’s feast in receiving baptism confessing their sin seating and drinking of Christ’s body and blood. However, they don’t really believe in the promises given there. They hear the Word of God and yet, don’t take it to heart and they refuse to live by its truths. While they may claim to be Christian they don’t really trust God’s Word that reveals sins but also reveals there’s forgiveness of those sins through Jesus’ obedience, suffering and death, and glorious resurrection. Ultimately, they trust in themselves. They don’t hunger and thirst for the righteousness of Jesus and neither do they desire to be clothed with it. Instead, they insist on the filthy garments of their own ways. They refuse to repent of their sins trust in the Gospel and to go forth walking in the ways of the Lord.

Fellow redeemed, contrary to what some people may believe there is a hell. There is a place outside of the eternal lifegiving wedding feast where God pours out His wrath on unbelief. Jesus clearly speaks of it in our text. Those who insist on their own garments, that is, their own works; they are setting themselves up to be bound hand and foot and tossed into the outer darkness. And there where the fire never dies there is the weeping and gnashing of teeth (Matt. 22:13). May God keep us from unbelief, and the rejection of His grace, lest we get what our sins deserve. You can fool the world and even fool yourself, but you can’t fool God. The only way to come into the King’s wedding feast is to repent of your sin to shed your self-righteous garments for they are like filthy rags before the Lord.

While these may be harsh words, they’re necessary words. Because as you are repentant, you don’t find a harsh ruler in God the Father. You find a loving King who bids you to come the wedding feast of His Son. “Everything is ready,” (Matt. 22:4) for you! God doesn’t invite those who have it all together. He invites spiritually poor sinners who can’t get rid of their sins and are in desperate need of the forgiveness that He alone gives in this feast for you.

The Triune God would have you rejoice and be glad in the certainty of His invitation and your place at His table. It was in the waters of Holy Baptism where He clothed you in the proper garment the robe of Christ’s righteousness. It’s in the Lord’s Supper where you receive the life-giving meal of Christ’s body and blood for the forgiveness of all your sins: a foretaste of and participation in that eternal banquet. You don’t have to wait until heaven. Through the blood of Christ everything is finished for you! All your debts are paid. All your sins are removed through the death of Christ on the cross and His glorious resurrection from the dead. And having opened the kingdom of heaven to you there’s nothing left to do but to receive.

Come and receive. Be satisfied. Rejoice. Give Thanks. Come to the wedding feast of the King’s son, for “Everything is ready” for Jesus Christ’s sake for your salvation. Amen.

Pr. Aaron Kangas