28th Sunday of Ordinary Time
Though today's Old Testament often is used during funeral liturgies, it actually has nothing to do with the afterlife. The prophet spoke these words almost 600 years before a belief in heaven emerged among the Jews.
Isaiah simply is painting a picture of the glorious age on earth which every ancient Israelite anticipated. "On that day," Mt. Zion (the hill on which the Jerusalem temple was built) will no longer be a place just for Jewish pilgrimages or the offering of Jewish sacrifices. It will supply experiences all people desire.
Not only will hunger be abolished, God will "wipe away the tears from every face." And once and for all, God will "destroy the veil that veils all people, the web that is covering all nations." Isaiah is saying here that when "that day" arrives, even Gentiles will believe in Yahweh.
In some ways, Isaiah's ideal state runs parallel to the parable of Jesus concerning the king's wedding banquet. Each describes an event for which all Jews are waiting.
We are dealing with two distinct parables in this gospel extract: the parable of the wedding feast and the parable of the wedding garment. As straightforward stories they make little sense. In fact, if we take the stories at face value, they are filled with internal contradiction. Those who were invited to the banquet were the only ones who could possibly have been prepared for it. When they refuse the invitation, the king sends out an indiscriminate invitation. He invites those who, by definition, are not prepared. When the king arrives, he is shocked to find an individual who came unprepared, who hadn't on the wedding garment. Now in the circumstances, he should have been shocked to find any of them prepared, to find even one with a wedding garment. If we insist on reading the story in this way, the King comes across as a cranky, irrational old fuss-pot who should really be left to dine on his own!
Obviously, that is a wrong reading of the story. These stories will only work as allegories or fables. The king represents God; the big feast was the popular Jewish image for the joy of the life to come. As I pointed out already, our first reading will give us some hint of the centrality of the banquet in Jewish lore and culture. Throughout the bible, God is the generous host who knows how to throw a good party.
When the wedding feast is prepared, the King sends his servants to inform those already invited that the feast in now ready. These servants represent the prophets of Israel. The invited guests who refuse to come represent the chosen people of Israel. The king sends out a second set of servants to plead with his guests to honour the invitation. These servants represent the first apostles and their mission to Israel. The original invitation speaks of God's gracious call to his chosen people. The second invitation underlines the patience of God, even when the food is going cold, he still hopes there will be a change of heart.
But when the original guests persisted in their refusal, the servants search through the highways and byways in search of more willing guests. The banquet hall was full, we are told. The meaning of this is clear enough: when the intended guests refused (i.e. the Jewish people) the early apostles turned to the gentiles. In this way the early church was founded and the Word of God had a universal audience. Your continuing presence at the banquet will depend, not upon your place of birth but upon your behaviour and your attitude towards your fellow guests or, as the gospel writer colourfully puts it, your presence will depend upon you donning the wedding garment. This was a common image used for those who adopted the Christian way. In fact we still retain the imagery in our baptism ceremonies to this day. The baptism gown or shawl is a central element in our baptismal liturgy today. "See in this white garment the outer sign of your Christian dignity. With you family and friends to help you by word and example, bring that dignity unstained into the everlasting life of heaven." At one particular point in the ceremony the child is clothed in the wedding garment. All of this imagery is best understood in the context of Paul's writings: He writes as follows to the Corinthians: "You are God's chosen race, his saints. He loves you and you should be clothed in sincere compassion, in kindness and humility, gentleness and patience...Over all these clothes, to keep them together and complete them, put on love. And may the peace of Christ reign in your hearts." The wedding garment mentioned in the gospel then is a way of life, not a mode of dress.