Read: Matthew 22:1-14
The kingdom of heaven may be compared to a king who gave a wedding feast. (v. 2)
Several New Testament passages make little sense until we understand what Jesus means by “heaven.” If we think heaven is “the place good people go when they die,” what do we make of today’s Bible reading? In it, undeserving guests are offered a place at a heavenly banquet. So far so good. Then, to our shock, the host expels a guest for wearing the wrong outfit. Wait, what? You can get kicked out of heaven?
This would be profoundly distressing if Jesus was talking about the afterlife. However, Jesus teaches about heaven not as a future reality, but an inbreaking, current reality. Life with Jesus occurs at the intersection of heaven and earth, and the “wedding feast” of the parable is not the afterlife. It’s the church! The church is the earthly expression of the feast of heaven. Jesus continually invites more and more undeserving guests. Anyone can experience the goodness of heaven in the life of the church. However, there is a dress code—the way of Jesus. As Paul explains in Galatians 3:27, “For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ.”
What does this mean for us? First, our place at the banquet is secure—it was bought by the blood of Jesus. Second, we who are already “seated” in the church must make space for more. Third, we must continually “put on Christ,” the only appropriate outfit for sharing in the celebration.
As you pray, ask for appropriate dress, and more guests, at the feast.
Ben Van Arragon is an ordained minister in the Christian Reformed Church in North America. After twenty years of congregational ministry, he now serves his denomination as a pastor wellbeing consultant in Grand Rapids, Michigan.
