WEBVTT 00:00:01.550 --> 00:00:03.850 In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and 00:00:03.850 --> 00:00:07.710 of the Holy Spirit, amen. Glory be to Jesus Christ. 00:00:09.730 --> 00:00:13.949 Today's parable of the marriage feast is one 00:00:13.949 --> 00:00:18.550 of the richest in symbolism of all of our Lord's 00:00:18.550 --> 00:00:23.710 parables. It's rich because it admits of several 00:00:23.710 --> 00:00:30.219 equally valid explanations. of what this parable 00:00:30.219 --> 00:00:34.500 means. So we'll look at this morning, first, 00:00:34.640 --> 00:00:39.039 what is this marriage feast? And then secondly, 00:00:39.320 --> 00:00:44.640 that peculiar conclusion about a wedding garment. 00:00:46.340 --> 00:00:50.399 What is the marriage feast? Probably in olden 00:00:50.399 --> 00:00:54.560 times and today, a marriage banquet is the most 00:00:54.560 --> 00:00:59.820 elaborate party, get -together, that any family 00:00:59.820 --> 00:01:04.120 has or any church has, the joy of a marriage. 00:01:05.840 --> 00:01:14.200 So the wedding feast is the church, the Eucharist, 00:01:14.200 --> 00:01:18.159 and the kingdom of heaven. Most fundamentally, 00:01:18.159 --> 00:01:25.579 it is exactly at the primary level that the gospel 00:01:25.579 --> 00:01:33.540 passage about this parable means. It says the 00:01:33.540 --> 00:01:39.819 marriage feast and invitation to that, to the 00:01:39.819 --> 00:01:43.200 kingdom of heaven. This is what the kingdom of 00:01:43.200 --> 00:01:46.719 heaven is likened to, Jesus says, a marriage 00:01:46.719 --> 00:01:52.459 feast. And at that primary level, it is God the 00:01:52.459 --> 00:01:57.269 Father calling the Jewish people to participate 00:01:57.269 --> 00:02:02.049 in the messianic kingdom, the kingdom of the 00:02:02.049 --> 00:02:08.330 Messiah. And then as the story unfolds, not everybody 00:02:08.330 --> 00:02:12.669 was listening, was interested in participating 00:02:12.669 --> 00:02:18.469 in this. So the father who's running the marriage 00:02:18.469 --> 00:02:22.849 feast tells his servants, go out everywhere and 00:02:22.849 --> 00:02:27.080 invite everyone you find. And this, of course, 00:02:27.159 --> 00:02:32.879 refers to the calling of the Gentiles, that the 00:02:32.879 --> 00:02:36.580 Gentiles as well as the Jewish people will inherit 00:02:36.580 --> 00:02:41.080 this messianic kingdom, the kingdom of the Messiah. 00:02:42.919 --> 00:02:48.439 Where does this kingdom begin? It begins first 00:02:48.439 --> 00:02:53.819 and foremost in the church here on earth. and 00:02:53.819 --> 00:02:58.039 at the church's most celebrated and intimate 00:02:58.039 --> 00:03:02.460 worship service, which is the Holy Eucharist, 00:03:02.460 --> 00:03:09.699 this sacred supper. The book of Revelation, which, 00:03:09.800 --> 00:03:12.560 by the way, we're beginning to study again in 00:03:12.560 --> 00:03:17.840 our Thursday evening Bible classes, but the book 00:03:17.840 --> 00:03:21.099 of Revelation, towards the end in the eschatological 00:03:21.099 --> 00:03:25.620 section, There's a very interesting sentence 00:03:25.620 --> 00:03:30.620 that St. John says that an angel says, write 00:03:30.620 --> 00:03:35.379 this, blessed are those who are called to the 00:03:35.379 --> 00:03:39.780 marriage supper of the Lamb. Marriage feast, 00:03:40.099 --> 00:03:43.240 supper, the Lamb, of course, is Jesus Christ. 00:03:43.620 --> 00:03:48.919 Called to participate in this feast in the church. 00:03:49.520 --> 00:03:53.500 in the Eucharist, and then its ultimate fulfillment 00:03:53.500 --> 00:03:58.300 in the kingdom of heaven. So the marriage feast 00:03:58.300 --> 00:04:03.960 has three levels of interpretation. The messianic 00:04:03.960 --> 00:04:09.099 kingdom, the church, and the Holy Eucharist. 00:04:11.639 --> 00:04:19.730 Then that wedding garment. What is that? Everybody 00:04:19.730 --> 00:04:23.110 probably puts on their best clothes traditionally 00:04:23.110 --> 00:04:28.829 when they go to participate in a wedding feast. 00:04:29.449 --> 00:04:33.290 And the wedding garment is something special. 00:04:33.649 --> 00:04:39.250 Here we are with the show and tell. Mark didn't 00:04:39.250 --> 00:04:46.230 miss his cue. The wedding garment is baptism. 00:04:48.170 --> 00:04:51.089 We know this very well because this church very 00:04:51.089 --> 00:04:54.790 appropriately, the newly baptized catechumens, 00:04:54.829 --> 00:05:00.410 put on this wedding garment after their baptism 00:05:00.410 --> 00:05:04.029 and they wore it for a whole week. Okay, that's 00:05:04.029 --> 00:05:10.470 good. Now, the priest, that is the first garment 00:05:10.470 --> 00:05:13.670 that the priest puts on because before he puts 00:05:13.670 --> 00:05:20.120 on, his priestly garments, he puts on the baptismal 00:05:20.120 --> 00:05:24.199 garment, the primary sacrament of the membership 00:05:24.199 --> 00:05:29.279 in the church. And the altar boys, sticarians, 00:05:29.439 --> 00:05:37.899 that you see here, they're simply fancy, multicolored, 00:05:37.920 --> 00:05:42.019 embroidered baptism garments, not just white. 00:05:42.649 --> 00:05:45.370 How the church came to that, you know, I don't 00:05:45.370 --> 00:05:50.810 really know, but I think it's a logical elaboration 00:05:50.810 --> 00:05:57.949 of baptism garment. So, the wedding garment symbolizes 00:05:57.949 --> 00:06:04.129 our baptism, our membership in the church. But 00:06:04.129 --> 00:06:09.009 it is more than that. Not only baptism, but we 00:06:09.009 --> 00:06:14.660 must preserve the purity of our baptism. That 00:06:14.660 --> 00:06:18.439 is why this garment is traditionally white, a 00:06:18.439 --> 00:06:23.000 sign of purity. So it's a purity of baptism. 00:06:23.459 --> 00:06:29.500 The wedding garment also means faith. The wedding 00:06:29.500 --> 00:06:34.199 garment also means good works. So in order to 00:06:34.199 --> 00:06:39.839 enter into the kingdom of heaven, baptism and 00:06:39.839 --> 00:06:45.220 have faith and show this faith demonstrated by 00:06:45.220 --> 00:06:49.360 our good works, our works of love and consideration 00:06:49.360 --> 00:06:56.699 for one another. So this is this rich feast that 00:06:56.699 --> 00:07:01.459 we who are called to are blessed to be called 00:07:01.459 --> 00:07:06.980 to this messianic feast, this messianic banquet, 00:07:07.339 --> 00:07:11.670 which we are about to participate in. when we 00:07:11.670 --> 00:07:15.930 receive the Holy Eucharist, Holy Communion, the 00:07:15.930 --> 00:07:19.769 consecrated body and blood of Jesus, the wine 00:07:19.769 --> 00:07:23.370 that has been consecrated and becomes the body 00:07:23.370 --> 00:07:28.029 and blood of Christ. So let us pray then that 00:07:28.029 --> 00:07:31.829 we do our best throughout our lives to maintain 00:07:31.829 --> 00:07:37.750 the holiness and the purity that was ours when 00:07:37.750 --> 00:07:41.579 we were baptized. And let us demonstrate this 00:07:41.579 --> 00:07:47.600 by our faith and by our good works. Amen.