Livin’ La Vida Nueva - A Reflection on Matthew 22:1-14

 


Once more Jesus spoke to them in parables, saying: “The kingdom of heaven may be compared to a king who gave a wedding banquet for his son. He sent his slaves to call those who had been invited to the wedding banquet, but they would not come. Again he sent other slaves, saying, ‘Tell those who have been invited: Look, I have prepared my dinner, my oxen and my fat calves have been slaughtered, and everything is ready; come to the wedding banquet.’ But they made light of it and went away, one to his farm, another to his business, while the rest seized his slaves, mistreated them, and killed them. The king was enraged. He sent his troops, destroyed those murderers, and burned their city. Then he said to his slaves, ‘The wedding is ready, but those invited were not worthy. Go therefore into the main streets, and invite everyone you find to the wedding banquet.’ Those slaves went out into the streets and gathered all whom they found, both good and bad; so the wedding hall was filled with guests.

“But when the king came in to see the guests, he noticed a man there who was not wearing a wedding robe, and he said to him, ‘Friend, how did you get in here without a wedding robe?’ And he was speechless. Then the king said to the attendants, ‘Bind him hand and foot, and throw him into the outer darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’ For many are called, but few are chosen.”

This is a parable that is loaded with symbolism. We reflected upon this a few days ago (see Party Time - https://youtu.be/z2XmavUdMrE) so if you wanna know what each element of the story represents, please watch that reflection. I will quickly summarize them. The king is representational of God. The Son is Jesus. The wedding feast is the banquet of heaven. The invitation to the banquet is first extended to the Jews; however, they reject Christ. So the invitation is opened to everybody else. That’s us. We are the beneficiaries of a very unexpected invitation.

Now, all of us who are baptized in Christ Jesus have entered the wedding hall, which is synonymous with heaven. Nothing we do can gain us entry into heaven. Some of us believe that good deeds will get us in, but the prophet Isaiah put it very bluntly when he said, “All of us have become like one who is unclean, and all our righteous acts are like filthy rags” (Isaiah 64:6). Please notice how he says that our “righteous acts” not our “sinful acts” are like filthy rags before God. So how do we gain admission then? Only through faith.

As Paul declares, “For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith —and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God—not by works, so that no one can boast” (Ephesians 2:8-9). It is our faith in Jesus, expressed through repentance and baptism that gets us into heaven (see Acts 2:38). This is universally acknowledged by all Christians, regardless of denomination. At the door, we are given a robe of righteousness. This is not our own righteousness; it is the righteousness of Christ. Paul wrote: “God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God” (2 Corinthians 5:21).

But, now, here is the thing. Once we have been admitted into heaven, we have to live like citizens of heaven, no? Our lives have to reflect our being born again in Christ Jesus. We have to keep wearing the robe that we have been given. We cannot say we have “new life” and continue to live the “old life”. In his letter to the Galatians, Paul speaks about the acts of the old life: sexual immorality, idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, factions, drunkenness, etc. etc. And then he says in no uncertain terms: “I warn you, as I did before, that those who live like this will not inherit the kingdom of God” (Galatians 5:21).

Who was he talking to? Not pagans, but baptized believers, which means that salvation, once attained, can be lost. Just like a garment, once worn, can be taken off. Which is what led James to say, “What good is it, my brothers and sisters, if someone claims to have faith but has no deeds? Can such faith save them?” This, contrasted, with Pauls words to the Ephesians, has resulted in a lot of disagreement among believers, but the statements are not contradictory. We are saved through faith, but our life has to reflect our salvation. And the strangest thing is that every major Christian denomination holds this to be a universal truth.

So, I don’t know what we are fighting about. Let’s stop fighting and, to borrow a phrase from Ricky Martin, start livin’ la vida nueva!

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Let’s Get Healed - A Reflection on Matthew 18:21-19:1

Image
  Then Peter came and said to him, “Lord, if another member of the church sins against me, how often should I forgive? As many as seven times?” Jesus said to him, “Not seven times, but, I tell you, seventy-seven times. “For this reason the kingdom of heaven may be compared to a king who wished to settle accounts with his slaves. When he began the reckoning, one who owed him ten thousand talents was brought to him; and, as he could not pay, his lord ordered him to be sold, together with his wife and children and all his possessions, and payment to be made. So the slave fell on his knees before him, saying, ‘Have patience with me, and I will pay you everything.’ And out of pity for him, the lord of that slave released him and forgave him the debt. But that same slave, as he went out, came upon one of his fellow slaves who owed him a hundred denarii; and seizing him by the throat, he said, ‘Pay what you owe.’ Then his fellow slave fell down and pleaded with him, ‘Have patience with me, an
Read more

Patience - A Reflection on Luke 2:33-35.

Image
  And the child’s father and mother were amazed at what was being said about him. Then Simeon blessed them and said to his mother Mary, “This child is destined for the falling and the rising of many in Israel, and to be a sign that will be opposed so that the inner thoughts of many will be revealed—and a sword will pierce your own soul too.”   This is probably the shortest passage that we have reflected upon this year. In it, we find a man named Simeon making a prophecy about three things. One, about Jesus. Two, about the people of Israel. And three, about the pain that Jesus’ mother Mary would go through. We have seen all his prophecies came true. But who is Simeon? And what can we learn from him? Ok. On the 40th day of his birth, Jesus is taken by Mary and Joseph to the temple to be officially inducted into the Jewish faith. When they were there, a man named Simeon came in to see them.   He is described as “righteous and devout, looking forward to the consolation of Israel, and the H
Read more

Dying and Killing

  The Jews took up stones again to stone him. Jesus replied, “I have shown you many good works from the Father. For which of these are you going to stone me?” The Jews answered, “It is not for a good work that we are going to stone you, but for blasphemy, because you, though only a human being, are making yourself God.” Jesus answered, “Is it not written in your law, ‘I said, you are gods’? If those to whom the word of God came were called ‘gods’—and the scripture cannot be annulled— can you say that the one whom the Father has sanctified and sent into the world is blaspheming because I said, ‘I am God’s Son’? If I am not doing the works of my Father, then do not believe me. But if I do them, even though you do not believe me, believe the works, so that you may know and understand that the Father is in me and I am in the Father.” Then they tried to arrest him again, but he escaped from their hands. He went away again across the Jordan to the place where John had been baptizing earlier,
Read more