This week Isaiah is at his most exuberant: “a feast of rich food and choice wines, for all peoples” as God “wipes away the tears from every face” and “destroys death forever”. (Isa 25:6-19a) This is followed by the caressing tranquility of Psalm 23.
But in our reading from Matthew’s gospel (Mt 24:1-14), Jesus continues to hammer at the chief priests and elders. Here the more ambivalent tone of the past few weeks continues. This is not a simple story of how everything will be wonderful. And the problems extend beyond the chief priests and elders. Even when they get written off the guest list and replaced by random outsiders, we still hear of the mysterious character without his wedding garment. He also comes to a sticky end.
What is this about the wedding garment? How can someone who has just been invited off the street be expected to be properly dressed for a wedding??
Here we have to look for an allegorical meaning. Everyone else who came in similarly from the street was apparently acceptable, but not this guy. So there was something about how he came in that set him apart as not fitting in. Yes he showed up but he wasn’t really present, wasn’t really bought into what was he was doing. Maybe he was fine with a free meal but didn’t want to participate in a wedding. Whatever the reason he was called out, he is a warning that however we get to the wedding, whether we were on the original guest list or not, when we get there we do need to accept the invitation we’ve been given. Yes God invites just anyone and everyone, but we do still need to say yes, and maybe thank you.
Then there is the “many are invited, but few are chosen”. This saying is a long running puzzle. Who are the few, and why are they chosen, and why are they only a few amongst the many? What does it mean to be invited, if then only a few of those are “chosen”? Sounds like a competition you wouldn’t want to participate in!
Given our reflections over the last few weeks and particularly the readings from Isaiah, the “many are invited” is not problematic. In fact we could go stronger and say “all are invited”. But who are the few and what are they chosen for? One traditional interpretation is that only few respond to the call, the invitation, and so only a few end up with God’s favor – what we might describe as the pessimistic view of God’s relationship with humankind. This however is completely inconsistent with what we hear from Isaiah. Neither does it tally with the rest of Jesus’ parable, where most are chosen to come to the wedding feast, good and bad.
I don’t have any special insight to bring to this challenge, but I do wonder if it makes more sense to tie the ending of the parable back to the beginning, i.e. to the challenge to the leaders. Many are invited, and not just a favored few, as they would have had it. But only a few are chosen to lead – in the nature of things. So those few had better be especially careful how they behave (right down to what they wear). Then they will indeed be shepherds of the flock. And if they fail in that role then they will get the castigation that Jesus dealt out to the leaders who failed the people of God.