Matthew 22:1-14
Jesus spoke to them again in parables, saying, 2 “The kingdom of heaven is like a king who held a wedding feast for his son. 3 And he sent his slaves to call those who had been invited to the wedding feast, and they were unwilling to come. 4 Again he sent other slaves, saying, ‘Tell those who have been invited, “Behold, I have prepared my dinner; my oxen and my fattened cattle are all butchered and everything is ready. Come to the wedding feast!”’ 5 But they paid no attention and went their separate ways, one to his own farm, another to his business, 6 and the rest seized his slaves and treated them abusively, and then killed them. 7 Now the king was angry, and he sent his armies and destroyed those murderers and set their city on fire. 8 Then he said to his slaves, ‘The wedding feast is ready, but those who were invited were not worthy. 9 So go to the main roads, and invite whomever you find there to the wedding feast.’ 10 Those slaves went out into the streets and gathered together all whom they found, both bad and good; and the wedding hall was filled with dinner guests.
11 “But when the king came in to look over the dinner guests, he saw a man there who was not dressed in wedding clothes, 12 and he *said to him, ‘Friend, how did you get in here without wedding clothes?’ And the man was speechless. 13 Then the king said to the servants, ‘Tie his hands and feet, and throw him into the outer darkness; there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth in that place.’ 14 For many are called, but few are chosen.”
Last night our discussion on this passage focused on the final verse. I am wrestling with our discussion. The discussion ended with the idea that many(perhaps the Semitic usage of “many” meaning “all”) are invited to be a part of God’s kingdom but few choose to be a part of that kingdom. There were more thoughts swirling around my head that I am not quite settled on.
This parable seems to be talking about how Jesus time has come. Israel, God’s chosen people were first called. The prophets predicted it and yet most of the Jews rejected Jesus. Jesus came first to the Jews then to the Gentiles.
I feel like if the last verse was reversed, it would be easier to grasp. If the last verse would have said the same thing but reversed the order it was said, “Few are chosen, for many are called.” God chose only a few for His purposes. The nation of Israel was chosen. The prophets were chosen. Even Egypt, Babylon and Assyria were chosen for God’s purposes. But all are called, all are invited to come to the banquet. What does it mean to be called? What does it mean to be chosen? He ends the parable with the idea that just being called and showing up is not enough. There is a transformation that needs to take place. A role that one is called to play. When that doesn’t happen, you can’t stay. Jesus makes it a point to say that the stark difference of living in the presence of God among His people(the banquet) and then returning to the darkness( life outside the banquet), is tragic.
When God rescued His people out of Israel, before they entered the promised land it was made known to them that God chose them.
“For you [Israel] are a people holy to the Lord your God. The Lord your God has chosen you out of all the peoples on the face of the earth to be his people, his treasured possession. (Deuteronomy 7:6)
Peter later tells the church:
9 But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for God’s own possession, so that you may proclaim the excellencies of Him who has called you out of darkness into His marvelous light; (1Peter 2:9)
So there is the idea that we are “called” to be God’s “chosen” people. It is easy for me and probably most people to read this and jump to the conclusion that God calls all of us but then God chooses only a few of us to remain. The idea that God would reject many by choosing only a few is incongruent with the nature of God as seen in the life of Jesus.
So perhaps I can compare it to a play. There is a casting call, many come for the casting call, looking for those who are a good fit for the chosen role. There is a role that needs to be played and the actor/actress cannot write their own lines and change the story or wear whatever costume they want to wear. The director is looking for those that will play the part as it is written to tell the story that the audience needs to hear. In God’s kingdom, we are called to play a role, if we are not willing to play that role, we don’t belong. We have been called for a chosen part of God’s story and it is up to us to live into it. Giving up who we are and taking on who we need to be to play the part. It is the role that makes us chosen, and nothing that we ourselves bring to God.
The Israelites were chosen to be God’s people so the rest of the world would see the image of God reflected in humanity. As Christians we are called to that same chosen role, to be God’s people, to reflect Jesus fulfillment of Christ in the world.
Israel was the chosen nation. But not because of their virtuous qualities,(perhaps in spite of), but rather because they were the best fit for God’s purposes to play the part in the story God is telling us.
When Peter tells us that we are a chosen people, it is not because of our virtuous qualities that we are chosen, even though the role we are to take on requires that we grow in virtuous qualities. We are a people, called for a chosen part.
A final thought about this is perhaps to think of “called” vs “chosen” as “arbitrary” vs “specific”. Who is part of the kingdom of God and how they got there seems absolutely arbitrary, but who they are, and are becoming, and where they are oriented from is not arbitrary, there is a specific or chosen design to it.