Breaking the Word

 Jesus again in reply spoke to them in parables, saying, "The kingdom of heaven may be likened to a king who gave a wedding feast for his son. He dispatched his servants to summon the invited guests to the feast, but they refused to come. A second time he sent other servants, saying, 'Tell those invited: "Behold, I have prepared my banquet, my calves and fattened cattle are killed, and everything is ready; come to the feast."'…

 Then he said to his servants, 'The feast is ready, but those who were invited were not worthy to come. Go out, therefore, into the main roads and invite to the feast whomever you find.' …

Then the king said to his attendants, 'Bind his hands and feet, and cast him into the darkness outside, where there will be wailing and grinding of teeth.'  Many are invited, but few are chosen." (Mt 22:1-14)

This parable is interesting. We have similar stories in this gospel (tenants) and in the other Gospels. Yes Jesus was saying many stories of this type while he was preaching on the kingdom.  Some times the stories were joined together to communicate a message and other times stories were broken into two etc. Here probably two separate stories were joined together. (vv 11-13 probably was a separate story. Because the workers went into the streets and gathered whomever they found)

One of the lessons in this story is that actions have consequences. Moral choices that we make do matter. God’s forgiveness does not mean one can do whatever he wants and God will set right everything. God wants us to take responsibility for what we do. God is not a sooth saying prophet who lets go anything and everything.

The ‘originally invited’ were not part of the guests. Wedding hall gets filled up. Who were they? In Matthew’s gospel they were the tax-collectors, the prostitutes, the marginalized etc. Because they were invited  (now) did not mean they were alright in the sight of Jesus. They had the need of a wedding garment. The blind man was not alright because he was blind he had to be made well. (There is no saying ‘ I am what I am or I will be what I will be etc). God (Jesus) loved them as they were but he refused to let them go as they were. God’s love wants them to be changed. They need the wedding clothes.      

"The kingdom of heaven is like a landowner who went out at dawn to hire laborers for his vineyard. After agreeing with them for the usual daily wage, he sent them into his vineyard. Going out about nine o'clock, he saw others standing idle in the marketplace, and he said to them, 'You too go into my vineyard, and I will give you what is just.' So they went off. (And) he went out again around noon, and around three o'clock, and did likewise. Going out about five o'clock, he found others standing around, and said to them, 'Why do you stand here idle all day?'…

 'These last ones worked only one hour, and you have made them equal to us, who bore the day's burden and the heat.'  He said to one of them in reply, 'My friend, I am not cheating you. Did you not agree with me for the usual daily wage?  Take what is yours and go. What if I wish to give this last one the same as you?  (Or) am I not free to do as I wish with my own money? Are you envious because I am generous?' Thus, the last will be first, and the first will be last." (Mt 20:1-16)

The landowner when he went first did not find all of them. He found them as he went a second time and a third. Probably these labourers were not wanted by anyone. No one wanted to hire them. So among the people there were different types of labourers. Workers were of different types: some worked hard and through the period of work. There were others who worked very little.

Here the landowner is God himself as in most of the parables. And the labourers are the Israelites. God’s purpose of going out looking for labourers is that they should work. He was not worried about the duration of work or even the quantity of work. But they should work.

This story also does not speak about justice or even God’s justice rather it speaks about the generosity of God. God’s generosity does not take in to account the work done etc. His generosity is independent of human calculations. What they receive from God is not the wages for their work but graces from God. God’s grace cannot be bargained. It is not a reward for our effort but rather God’s grace is the out pouring of his nature: generosity.