Fellow-Redeemed in Christ,
Some years ago, my dad and I stopped at a restaurant for dinner. They would not seat or serve us because we were not wearing a coat and tie. If you know the movie, As Good As It Gets, you remember a similar scene. We all have seen signs in the window or door, No Shirt, no Shoes, no Service.
Appropriate attire is necessary. We of course do not require a certain attire to worship although we want to wear our best for the Lord whatever that might be. In Jesus day, the guests had to put a special garment over their clothes when they attended a wedding feast. Jesus used this custom as the basis for this parable Tuesday before his death on the cross.
This parable was for the Pharisees’ benefit. Our Savior wanted them to see they were not wearing appropriate attire, the garment of their own righteousness, in order to take a seat in the kingdom of God. As a result, they would face the same judgment as the wedding guest who refused to put on the wedding garment the king provided in the parable.
We look today at Appropriate Attire for the Wedding Feast. The king welcomes all dressed in the right garment. The king throws all not dressed out into the darkness.
It is a joy to receive an invitation to a wedding and reception even today! It would be a special honor for a king to invite you. That is exactly what the Lord of the universe does in the gospel. “Many are called.” God wants all people to be saved so Jesus paid for the sins of the world. The Father invites us all into the kingdom of God through the message of Jesus’ cross and resurrection. Jesus makes this point in the first part of our gospel lesson.
In these verses, Jesus points out that the king welcomes all dressed in the right garment. As I mentioned earlier, the groom provided wedding garments for the guests to put on over their clothes. These usually were linen. They were white and similar to the groom’s clothes. This meant that the guests shared the joy and excitement of the groom.
It is impossible for us or anyone to be in the kingdom of God dressed in the rags of our own failed attempts at righteousness. Therefore, God the Holy Spirit called us to faith and clothed us in Christ’s righteousness under the law. He covered us with Christ’s blood in Holy Baptism. He put on us the garments of salvation, white in the purity of Jesus active obedience. Paul wrote to the Galatians, “For all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ.” The prophet Isaiah wrote, “For he has clothed me with the garments of salvation and arrayed me in a robe of righteousness, as a bridegroom adorns his head like a priest, and as a bride adorns herself with jewels.”
When the Spirit dresses us in Jesus’ blood and righteousness, he dresses us with appropriate attire for the wedding feast, the kingdom of God. Do not be like the man in the parable who refused the wedding garment. He was “speechless” that such a requirement would be made of him.
That is such a good picture of failure to heed the call to repentance. “Few are chosen.” There are so many who are similarly speechless that God would ask such a thing of us as confessing our sins and trusting only in Jesus Christ for forgiveness. We must continue to hear God’s Word, law and gospel, and take that Word to heart so that does not become our reaction.
Jesus continued with the results of such impenitence and unbelief. The king throws all not dressed out into the darkness.
The king in Jesus’ parable would not abide the man who thought he could celebrate without a wedding garment. This is impossible especially in the kingdom of God. God will cast all without Christ out of not only the kingdom of grace but also the kingdom of glory.
The man in Jesus’ parable had to spend the celebration outside in the darkness. No doubt, he was frustrated and grieving over his rejection of the wedding garment. Weeping and gnashing, or grinding, of teeth is a sign of that frustration, and sorrow. It will be this way among those God casts into the outer darkness of hell in the final judgment.
God offers us the appropriate attire for the wedding banquet of his Son, Jesus Christ. Those who refuse to wear it will face judgment dressed in their own failed righteousness. God will cast them into outer darkness.
We speak often of God’s grace in our lives. It is God’s grace that he has dressed us in appropriate attire for the wedding feast. He called us and chose us to be seated. He dressed us in the garments of his Son so we can share in the celebration of forgiveness and salvation. Dressed in this attire, we also radiate his grace in the beauty of our thankful obedience to his will in our sanctification.
For those wearing appropriate attire for the wedding feast, Jesus’ message is loud and clear. It will not be, Get out. It will be, Come in, sit down, and enjoy. Amen. <SDG>