Why Did The King Throw A Party?

Do you ever hear something that you've heard many times before, but for some reason you hear something in it that you hadn't heard before?  That happened to me the other day when I was reading in the Gospel of Matthew.  In chapter 22 Jesus is telling a story in which he compares God the Father to a king who throws a feast in his son's honor.  The nation of Israel is compared to people the king invited to the feast, but who refused to come (caring instead for their own concerns).  We Gentiles, in this story, are the rag tag bunch who end up attending the feast.

Now, one of the rules of proper biblical interpretation I learned early on was that parables typically have one or two main ideas, and that one shouldn't try to allegorize each element of the parable too closely.  I've always understood the main point of this parable to be the story of how God first chose Israel to be his people, but that when they rejected him he rejected them as well and chose for himself a different people from all the peoples of the world - and I think that this is the right way to read this passage.


However when I re-read this passage the other day it was something else that struck me.  It wasn't so much the main text of the story, but the context of the story.  It hit me hard that there is something that is assumed by this story that we cannot assume in our day.  


What I'm talking about is the theme of this party.  Why did the king throw a feast for his son?  What was his purpose, his motivation?  Why was he so angry with those who ignored his invitation that "he sent his troops and destroyed those murderers and burned their city"?  Why was it so important to have the feast full of celebrants that he had his servants go out and gather anyone and everyone they could find from the highways and the byways to come to the feast?  Why, when the king found one hapless fellow at the feast without proper wedding attire did he have his servants "'bind him hand and foot and cast him into the outer darkness.’"


You see, we hardly know how to answer these questions today.  Because we've been taught - and we love hearing it - that the feast was for us!  That God went out looking for us because he wanted us at his party.  That those mean old ungrateful Jews weren't worthy to be God's people, but we were.  That there was no way God could enjoy a party without his favorite peeps (you guessed it) - US.


And THAT'S what hit me right between the eyes.  The passionate purpose behind the party was that the King was deadly earnest about seeing his SON honored!  This was so important to the king that those who thumbed their noses at the invitation were rewarded with the death penalty.  When the king sent his servants out to gather anyone they could find to attend the feast, it was because it would have been a travesty for the son of the king to show up to his own feast and find no one there to celebrate him.


What's sad about this, to me, is that many in the church today are like the guy at the feast in his swimming trunks and Hawaiian shirt thinking the party is for him because the king thinks he's a great guy and is just so pleased that he would honor his majesty by showing up and gracing him with his presence.  You remember what happened to that guy, right?

Then the king said to the attendants, ‘Bind him hand and foot and cast him into the outer darkness. In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’(Matthew 22:13 ESV)