Tag Archives: Clothed

Covered – Sermon on Matthew 22:1-14 for the Twentieth Sunday after Trinity

Matthew 22:1-14

In the name of Jesus. Amen.

Weddings and marriage are all over the Bible. Scripture opens with the marriage of Adam and Eve (Gen. 2:21-25). It closes with the wedding feast of the Lamb (Rev. 19:6-9). And one of the most common pictures of God’s relationship to His people is marriage (Is. 54:5-8; Hos. 2:16-20; Eph. 5:25-32). So when we hear this parable opening with a king giving a wedding feast for his son, it sounds like it’s going to be a really good story.

The king sends out an announcement that he’s prepared the dinner. Oxen and fattened calves have been slaughtered. Remember how the father of the prodigal son had one fattened calf for the feast that welcomed his lost son home (Lk. 15:23)? Well, this king had all the grills and smokers going for this party.

But the parable takes an unexpected turn because the guests don’t show up. Some fancy weddings will have valet parking, but this wedding has chauffeurs that go out to bring the guests in. So, the king is befuddled that no one will come. He sends his servants back out to tell everyone about the feast. “Tell them about the menu and the venue. Tell them it’s all ready.” The servants go again, but this time, they don’t come back. The people who were invited take the servants and beat them, treat them shamefully, and kill them.

The king is done sending his servants. Now, he sends his military, and they level the place, utterly destroying it. The king, his son, and the soon-to-be princess are waiting at the palace to begin the wedding, but there are no guests. The king sends out more servants to find anyone who will to come to the feast—both good and bad (Mt. 22:10).

So, the parable started out good, got messy in the middle, but now it seems like it’s getting better. The reception is filled, the music is playing, the food is served, the dancing has begun. You can imagine the king going around the ballroom with his goblet filled and greeting the guests. But then, he comes to this guy who isn’t clothed in a wedding garment. The king confronts him, “How did you get in here without a wedding garment?” And the man is speechless. So, the king has his servants bind him hand and foot and cast him into the outer darkness where there is weeping and gnashing of teeth—in other words, nothing but sorrow and anger. “For many are called, but few are chosen.”

The parable is a warning because it’s a picture of what has happened. God’s own people rejected and killed the prophets. Even worse, when Christ came, they rejected Him. So, God destroyed them. But the parable is still happening, even right now. God’s invitation to come be a guest at His feast is still being extended throughout the world.

Dear saints, we are the ones who were in the roads and gathered from all sorts of different places to be at this banquet. You have been brought into the feast to celebrate the wedding of God’s Son. Now, the question is: are you worthy to be there? Do you have the right clothes, or are you at the king’s feast without the wedding garment? Is the king going to see you and cast you out?

There’s no question that this king has a strict dress code. But is it reasonable for him to be so hard-nosed about what people are wearing? Remember where these guests came from. They were just out wandering around the roads and doing who knows what. Why should they be expected to have the right clothing for such a fancy feast?

It’s true that you can’t just show up to a wedding. It takes time to get ready—especially when the wedding is in the palace. You can imagine the people wandering along the roads hearing the invitation. The servants come up to them and say, “I’m here to bring you to the palace for the royal wedding.” They would probably say, “I can’t go like this, all dusty and dirty in these old rags.” But the servants would reply, “Don’t worry about that. The king has plenty of extravagant robes. We’ll find one just for you.”

This was how it was done back then. If you went to the palace, the king would provide the right clothing for you to be there. If you were going to go to the palace, the king would deck you in fancy new clothes that would have been way out of your price range. If you were going to see the king, the king had to make you ready. This is how it was then, and this is how it is for us now.

If you or I are going to appear before God in the splendor of His holiness, He has to make us ready. He must provide the robe and give us what is needed. And He does this in holy Baptism. Galatians 3:27 says, “As many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ.”

Einar, that brings me to you. Today, Christ has joined you to Himself in those waters. Our eyes could only see water being poured on your head. But our ears heard Jesus joining His Word and promise to that water. Scripture promises that God saw you receive the righteousness of Christ (2 Co. 5:21). Einar and all you saints, Ephesians 5 says that Jesus has given Himself unto death so that He might sanctify you, having cleansed you by the washing of water with the Word, so that He might present you to Himself in splendor, without spot or wrinkle or any such thing, that you might be holy and without blemish (Eph. 5:25-27). In other words, you have been brought into the wedding banquet of the King of kings, and you have been covered in the most precious and expensive garment of Christ’s righteousness. That garment is free of charge to you, but it is fully paid for by the Blood of Christ.

That covering isn’t a new idea. God has been covering His people ever since the Fall into sin. After Adam and Eve ate the fruit, they knew they were naked, so they tried to cover themselves with fig leaves when God showed up (Gen. 3:7). God had something better. God Himself slaughtered an animal to show that He would accept the death of another in place of the sinner. From that animal, God made garments of skins that clothed and covered their nakedness and shame (Gen. 3:21).

Dear saints, you are covered. In those waters, Christ has joined Einar to Himself, and He has joined you to Himself. The promise from Galatians 3, that those who are Baptized into Christ have put on Christ, that isn’t wishful thinking. You are covered and you remain covered not by adding your own works or your own righteousness to dazzle up the garment. You remain covered by faith. Philippians 3 puts it this way, you are found in Christ, not having a righteousness of your own that comes from the law, but that which comes through faith in Christ. It is the righteousness that comes from God that depends on faith (Php. 3:9).

Don’t be that man without the wedding garment. He insisted on keeping his own dirty, stinky, stained, ragged clothes. He did not want the covering the king had provided. In other words, he didn’t have faith in the king’s provision. Don’t do that.

God has covered you. The garment is His own precious Son, and it remains yours by faith. Amen.

The peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus (Php. 4:7). Amen.

The Garment-Giving King – Sermon on Matthew 22:1-14 for the Twentieth Sunday after Trinity

Matthew 22:1–14

1 And again Jesus spoke to them in parables, saying, 2 “The kingdom of heaven may be compared to a king who gave a wedding feast for his son, 3 and sent his servants to call those who were invited to the wedding feast, but they would not come. 4 Again he sent other servants, saying, ‘Tell those who are invited, “See, I have prepared my dinner, my oxen and my fat calves have been slaughtered, and everything is ready. Come to the wedding feast.” ’ 5 But they paid no attention and went off, one to his farm, another to his business, 6 while the rest seized his servants, treated them shamefully, and killed them. 7 The king was angry, and he sent his troops and destroyed those murderers and burned their city. 8 Then he said to his servants, ‘The wedding feast is ready, but those invited were not worthy. 9 Go therefore to the main roads and invite to the wedding feast as many as you find.’ 10 And those servants went out into the roads and gathered all whom they found, both bad and good. So the wedding hall was filled with guests.

11 “But when the king came in to look at the guests, he saw there a man who had no wedding garment. 12 And he said to him, ‘Friend, how did you get in here without a wedding garment?’ And he was speechless. 13 Then the king said to the attendants, ‘Bind him hand and foot and cast him into the outer darkness. In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’ 14 For many are called, but few are chosen.”

In the name of Jesus. Amen.

What kind of king is this? Throughout most of this parable, he doesn’t look or act like a normal king.

His royal highness is throwing a wedding feast for his son and has already sent out invitations to his subjects. But when he sends his servants to call the guests, they don’t come. The king sends out a second batch of servants with a third invitation, “The feast is ready, the best food – the oxen and fattened calves – have been slaughtered and prepared. Come to the wedding feast.”

Here the king just looks desperate. He doesn’t look like a dignified, royal ruler. He looks more like the smelly, dorky kid in school who wants his classmates to come to his party. And that is how his subjects treat him. They don’t pay any attention to the invitation. They don’t care about his party. They have better things to do. Some go off to work in the dirt, others simply go about business as normal, but some get violent. They seize the servants, commit all kinds of atrocities against them, and even kill them.

What kind of king is this? He seems desperate, needy, whiny, and almost pathetic. That’s what his subjects seem to think of him. They have no interest in him. They don’t care about him, his son, the wedding, or the banquet. How is the king going to react? Well, he’s still the king. Even though he appears weak, he still has his army. After his three invitations have been despised and dismissed as an inconvenience, the king is done with these ungrateful, unworthy subjects. No more servants. Now, it’s time for the troops, the horses, chariots, battering rams, swords, and torches. Vengeance against these unworthy subjects is what is called for and is doled out. The ungrateful invitees are destroyed, and their city is burned to the ground.

But what happens next? Standing on the walls of his castle and overlooking the smoldering ruins that surround him, we would expect that the king would give up on this party and just have a small ceremony for his son. But still the king hasn’t given up. He sends out more servants to the highways and byways. “Bring in anyone you can find. I don’t care who they are. I don’t care if they are good or bad. Just bring as many as you can find into the palace. Fill the banquet hall. It’s time to feast.” All this king wants to do is celebrate the marriage of his son. And he wants people around him to enjoy what he provides.

So, the servants go out and find people. It doesn’t matter if they are noble or common peasants. It doesn’t matter if they are rich or beggars. If the servants can find them, they bring them in. This is a royal wedding and a “black tie” event, but none of these guests needed to rush home and find their best attire. No need to rent a tuxedo or evening gown. The king had them covered, literally. Upon their arrival, the king provided each one of these unprepared, unwashed guests with a wedding garment. He would clothe them from his own royal wardrobe. This king spares no expense when it comes to throwing this feast.

So, the hall is filled with guests. The food is served. The drinks are poured. The music starts. The dancing begins. And the king enters the banquet hall to finally enjoy his party. But what does he see? Another holdout, another person who despises him and his provisions. There in the corner is a man without a wedding garment, a man who decided his own stinky, smelly, unwashed clothes were just fine. He figured he didn’t need the king’s gift, so he refused it. But he miscalculated. Badly.

The king addresses this man, “Friend,” and this isn’t the normal word for ‘friend,’ so we could almost translate it, “Buster, how did you get in here without a wedding garment?” This king had provided everything that was needed. Everything was free. And the man has no excuse because there is none. So, the king has the man bound and tossed out – not just out of the party – out into the darkness where there is weeping and gnashing of teeth.

The parable ends there, but based on what the king has done so far in the story, what do you suppose he does after this rascal is thrown out? I would imagine he simply goes back to the wedding feast, back to the party, the food, the drink, the dancing, and the merry making. The king wanted his feast, so why wouldn’t he let the feast go on?

Seriously, what kind of king is this? Remember, according to Jesus, this is a parable about the kingdom of heaven. The King is God Himself. And this parable mirrors what you see and experience.

In this world, almost everywhere you look, people despise God, the true King. And it isn’t just His invitation they despise. People despise everything God has said. There is little or no respect for God or the authorities He has established – parents, police, leaders, etc. And the people in those positions of authority, who have been placed there by God (Ro. 13:1), don’t seem to deserve authority. You turn on the news, and you see killing, looting, riots, and stealing. Nations are at war. Terrorists are mercilessly attacking women and children. In our estimation, it looks like God doesn’t seem to care about the sin and wickedness that runs rampant throughout the kingdom of His creation. But our understanding of the situation is not correct.

In our Old Testament reading (Is. 55:1-9), we heard what God desires, “Come, everyone who thirsts, come to the waters; and he who has no money, come, buy and eat! Come, buy wine and milk without money and without price. Why do you spend your money for that which is not bread, and your labor for that which does not satisfy? Listen diligently to me, and eat what is good, and delight yourselves in rich food.” God desires that everyone would be His guest at His table; He desires that all would be saved and at His banquet (1 Tim. 2:4).

When we look at the state of this world, we are tempted to think that God doesn’t care, or that He can’t or won’t do anything about it. We are wrong. Whenever God delays judgment on the wicked, any time we imagine that He is overlooking sin, it is a display of His mercy and grace. God delays His judgment because He wants His banquet filled. God wants to clothe all sinners in the robe of Christ’s righteousness won on the cross. You don’t know better than God. Your ways are not better than His ways. Your thoughts are not higher than His thoughts (Is. 55:8-9).

God is King. He rules and reigns over all things. He isn’t ignoring the sin and wickedness in this world. No. God’s being patient. He wants as many as possible at His feast; He wants His banquet to be filled. To us, His promises seem to be slow, and even forgotten. But they aren’t. He wishes all to reach repentance and faith (2 Pet. 3:9). He is merciful and gracious, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness (Ex. 34:6).

Dear saints, the banquet is prepared. The King has invited you and clothed you in Christ’s righteousness. The garment-giving King has given you a seat at His feast. His patience in judgment is for your good and for the good of others. In His timing, everything that is wrong will be put to right. Stand in the garment of righteousness that you have been given, and be patient. The feast will begin soon. Amen.

The peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Amen.