Which one sounds like the God you may know?

We are looking at two passages this week: both relate to the same scene but are vastly different. Both speak of the Kingdom of God, but one represents God as one that murders and vanquishes, the other has no punishment from God. What a dilemma. Which one sounds like the God you may know?

Luke 14: 15-24: When one of those at the table with him heard this, he said to Jesus, “Blessed is the one who will eat at the feast in the kingdom of God.” Jesus replied: “A certain man was preparing a great banquet and invited many guests. At the time of the banquet he sent his servant to tell those who had been invited, ‘Come, for everything is now ready.’“But they all alike began to make excuses. The first said, ‘I have just bought a field, and I must go and see it. Please excuse me.’ “Another said, ‘I have just bought five yoke of oxen, and I’m on my way to try them out. Please excuse me.’ “Still another said, ‘I just got married, so I can’t come.’ “The servant came back and reported this to his master. Then the owner of the house became angry and ordered his servant, ‘Go out quickly into the streets and alleys of the town and bring in the poor, the crippled, the blind and the lame.’ “‘Sir,’ the servant said, ‘what you ordered has been done, but there is still room.’  “Then the master told his servant, ‘Go out to the roads and country lanes and compel them to come in, so that my house will be full.  I tell you, not one of those who were invited will get a taste of my banquet.’”

Matthew 22: 1-14: Jesus spoke to them again in parables, saying:  “The kingdom of heaven is like a king who prepared a wedding banquet for his son. He sent his servants to those who had been invited to the banquet to tell them to come, but they refused to come.“Then he sent some more servants and said, ‘Tell those who have been invited that I have prepared my dinner: My oxen and fattened cattle have been butchered, and everything is ready. Come to the wedding banquet.’  “But they paid no attention and went off—one to his field, another to his business.  The rest seized his servants, mistreated them and killed them.  The king was enraged. He sent his army and destroyed those murderers and burned their city.“Then he said to his servants, ‘The wedding banquet is ready, but those I invited did not deserve to come.  So go to the street corners and invite to the banquet anyone you find.’  So the servants went out into the streets and gathered all the people they could find, the bad as well as the good, and 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 wedding clothes. He asked, ‘How did you get in here without wedding clothes, friend?’ The man was speechless.“Then the king told the attendants, ‘Tie him hand and foot, and throw him outside, into the darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’“For many are invited, but few are chosen.”

What?

In Matthew’s Gospel this is the third of three parables. First one was related to two sons and focussed upon John the Baptist, the second about a landowner and a vineyard, with the focus upon Jesus who is killed; and here we have a King’s Banquet, the ultimate harvest festival…

Traditionally we might see God as the King, but really with all that anger, murder, killing? We may see the son as Jesus, albeit he only gets one mention; we might see the first slaves as the Hebrew prophets; the second ones as Christian missionaries. But there is that last passage about gnashing of teeth – hell?

Context?

Matthew was writing to a community who were very much in the minority, who were persecuted by the ruling Roman overlords. Please take a seat in that community for a while – see this story from their perspective.

The King may be seen as the Roman Imperial tyrant, with seemingly ultimate power and control. What he wants he gets, and if he doesn’t hear the correct response, murder is the next step. The minority community refuse their invitations – a brave step in such circumstances, but it is a story, trying to make a point.

Eventually all are invited, the good and the bad. A fortnight ago we had the statement that even a corrupt tax collector and a prostitute would enter heaven before the Pharisees – now it is everyone.

We could see this parable as one that shows us that it is not what we wear that matters but our willingness to just show up. We need not presume salvation for it is a gift. This wedding feast is not a depiction of the church but of the age to come (our next chapter). It’s that if we don’t do the work we are refusing the kingdom of God here on Earth. If we pay mere lip service, it’s akin to showing up in the wrong clothes. 

and with Luke’s?

But let’s look at this parable from a different context: Luke 14: 15-24. Here, we have a banquet, where there are invitations sent out to many, for everything is now ready – sounds a lot like communion.

Oh but there are excuses: I’ve bought a field, I’ve bought oxen, I’ve just got married. The owner is angry, so the invitation goes out to the poor, the crippled, the blind and the lame – but there is still room! “My house shall be full!” is the cry heard. No gnashing of teeth, nor people attending underdressed. There is grace.

Matthew includes the line that servants are killed, so the enraged King sends out the army to murder the killers and burn their city. Those underdressed are thrown out.

One is a story seeking to resonate with the minority Christian followers, linking to the persecution from the Romans in Jerusalem. One is a story to gentile followers, a few years later. One speaks of the terror from an earthly king, one speaks of God offering love to all.

Which one sounds like the God you may know?