“At the Banquet”
October 11, 2026
Rev. Rebecca Migliore
Imagine you are invited to a wedding. What are you expected to do? First, you are supposed to RSVP. And then you put the date on your calendar. Maybe you go shopping for new clothes, or take a good look at your wardrobe. As the day approaches, you have to pick out a gift (a tangible blessing for the new couple). Then the day arrives, and you get yourself dressed up, you show up to enjoy time with the new couple and their families and your friends, and you expect a really good meal. What a great day!
This is a scenario that we all have experienced. And so Jesus, uses just such a story as the basis of his parable that we read today.
Did you notice that Jesus identifies this, once again, as a kin[g]dom parable? “Jesus spoke to them: ‘The kin[g]dom of heaven may be compared to a king who gave a wedding banquet for his son.” A king. A royal wedding. An important occasion. I myself (along with a few of you, I imagine) have gotten up early to see such an occasion on television. All the pomp and circumstance. All the finery. All the beautiful people gathered in one place. Who would miss such an opportunity!
And yet, the people who this king invited did not come. They ignored the slaves that the king sent to fetch them, and went about their lives, as if nothing important was happening! Remember, this is the kin[g]dom of heaven we are talking about. This is the thing that we are supposed to want more than anything else in the world. This is the manifestation of God’s reign here on earth as it is in heaven.
And this very thing is breaking into our world, right now, Jesus says. It is near. Come, be a part of it!
So, who are these people who have already received an invitation but choose to ignore it? Well, to be invited to the prince’s wedding you have to “be” someone. You have to be pretty high up in society. And who would that be in Jesus’ time? The temple elders, the scribes, the Pharisees and Sadducees—all those religious people who thought that they were above everyone else—because they kept the law to the letter, because they were there in the temple, having their prayers get to God faster, because they were somebody! Or how about the wealthy, those who were learned, those who had influence? Of course, God has invited all these to the feast. How? Through the prophets, through the stories, through the prayers. But are they listening? Jesus doesn’t think so.
So our parable king sends another set of slaves to the invited guests. Just in case, they thought that the wedding time had not yet come. I mean, weddings in those days were multi-day affairs, and maybe you didn’t have to arrive right at the beginning. So these slaves are instructed to say that the feast is ready to begin. The animals have been killed, the table is set—we are all waiting for you to show up. But now the real response comes to the surface. These people don’t want to come to the feast. Some just go on with their lives, but the rest are violent—mistreating the king’s slaves, and actually killing them.
What is Jesus talking about? Well, these invited guests, these well-to-do and connected religious people of Jesus’ day, don’t seem to be interested in God’s invitation.
Or if they pay attention to it, as they did to John’s call to a baptism of repentance, they often kill the messenger. Because it is an inconvenient message—when they are trying to play this little game of appeasing the oppressor Rome, and keeping the masses quiet enough not to get in trouble. Jesus even says (in the next chapter of Matthew) “O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the city that kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to it! How often would I have gathered your children together as a hen gathers her brood under her wings, and you were not willing.” (Matt. 23:37)
Now, before we move onto the next part of our parable, I think we need to take a minute to imagine where we fit into this story. That is what parables are all about, after all. Do we fit into that well-connected, or wealthy, or highly elevated status as people who have received this invitation from the king? We might not consider ourselves as the high and mighty—but by honor of being present here, by honor of reading our Bible, of listening to God’s Word, of singing songs and praying prayers, we are in receipt of an invitation.
Jesus wants us to remember that. What are we going to do with that invite? Are we going to put it on the “something to do later” pile? And we going to throw it in the trash? Are we going to treat it as an honor, putting it on our calendar, and looking forward to that day? The question I gave to all of us to consider this week is: Are we hurrying to the feast? Is it front of mind? Do we plan our lives around it? Or do other things get in the way?
In Jesus’ parable, these are not just inconsequential questions—because king is paying attention to those who murder the messengers. This is the king’s anger and justice. He doesn’t just kill the murderers, he burns down the city.
Hmmmmm. Seems a little off kilter. But you get the point. This invitation is nothing to trifle with—and Jesus has warned us not to get in the way of those little children who want to come to him. So, watch out!
But our parable king still has this feast, this banquet, this wedding, and not very many people are there! So, this time the king sends the slaves out to the highways and byways, to invite everyone, to invite anyone, “the good and the bad” to the feast. And finally, the wedding hall is full! Ah, now we are ready to get to the celebration.
Jesus isn’t hiding the meaning of this story behind too many layers. Haven’t we heard the religious people of Jesus’ day complaining about who Jesus is associating himself with? The tax collectors and prostitutes? The “riff-raff” (as far as those snooty important people are concerned). You can imagine that those listening to this story would see that yes, the upstanding people had been invited to the kin[g]dom of heaven first, but after they had turned their back on the invitation (and, Jesus the one offering it), then Jesus had started inviting anyone who had ears to hear, anyone who was hungry, anyone who was hurting, anyone who was left out, anyone—to this feast that God was throwing. The kin[g]dom of heaven has come near! Bring what to can to the feast, even 5 loaves and 2 fish and it will become a banquet with baskets of left-overs.
So now we can’t escape—everyone has been invited. Everyone, the good and the bad. We have been gathered up, as a net dragging the ocean floor, gathers up all kinds of fish. We are taken off the streets and transported into the wedding hall, seated at the tables in front of the king.
But now we get a wrinkle that is all Matthew. The king comes into the hall, and notices someone not in “wedding robes.” Not appropriately attired. Now he doesn’t say (as does the father in Luke’s Prodigal Son parable), “Slaves, go find a robe for this poor gentleman to put on. And find some rings and some perfume as well.” No, the king gets angry (once again). And casts the man into the outer darkness (another very Matthean image).
This doesn’t seem fair. The king’s slaves scooped up people off the streets. They weren’t expecting to come to this royal banquet. They didn’t have time to get dressed up. And here is this poor slob getting booted out into the nether world because of it! Ah, but we aren’t reading this gospel for the first time. We know that coming up in Matthew 25 are all those parables about being prepared—by being wise bridesmaids and having extra oil for our lamps, by using the talents we have been given so that we have something to show when the master returns, and by living a life that treats even the least of these, my brothers and sisters, as we would treat Jesus himself.
In other words, the kin[g]dom of heaven sometimes shows up like a thief in the night. You might not remember the invitation, you might have thought you had more time to prepare—but you need to be ready, right now. You need to have your wedding clothes on, right now. You need to be able to be “raptured” out of your mundane life, and be set right in front of the king of kings. This is the poke of warning. This is what we often call apocalyptic living. Thinking that the judgment day is any day now.
I fear that we, like many generations before us, have been lulled into a false sense of eternity. Some of us are like those initial guests, thinking that we can get to that pesky king’s invitation once we take care of the really important things in our lives. Some of us are like the people swept up off the streets. Glad for the invitation, maybe surprised by the offer, but finding ourselves at the table. Some of us may even be those slaves of the king, listening to instructions, talking about the invitation, rounding up at many as we can, maybe even losing something in the process. Some of us may be those who aren’t yet prepared. We haven’t dressed up for God. We haven’t kept ourselves prepared, by working for the kin[g]dom, or lighting as many lamps as we can, or looking out for those who no one else seems to want to see.
Jesus tells parables to allow us a glimpse into the world as he sees it—that kin[g]dom world. That world where God is the king and there is a banquet set and ready, and invitations have gone out, and it is time! The parable itself is an invitation, a calling, a prodding, and a caution. This kin[g]dom of heaven stuff is serious. God wants us at the banquet table. Are we dressed? Are we ready? Do we have work to do?
May we be excited about this invitation, and with God’s help, may we be ready and willing to take our place at the banquet. Alleluia, Amen.