October 11, 2026
Revised Common Lectionary
Exodus 32:1-14 or Isaiah 25:1-9
Psalm 106:1-6, 19-23 or Psalm 23
Philippians 4:1-9
Matthew 22:1-14
Lectionary for Mass (RC)
Isaiah 25:6-10a
Psalm 23:1-3a, 3b-4, 5, 6 (6cd)
Philippians 4:12-14, 19-20
Matthew 22:1-10 (11-14)
What is the kingdom of heaven like? It’s often portrayed as a place full of clouds, white robes, halos, and harps—not at all like Jesus’s characterization of the “kingdom of heaven” in the Gospel of Matthew. The teachings of Jesus suggest that the reign of God is like a tiny mustard seed, a buried treasure, a pearl of great value, a net teeming with fish, or a landowner who pays workers the same wage regardless of the number of hours that they have labored. In today’s Gospel reading, Jesus tells yet another parable of God’s reign, likening it to a wedding banquet given by a king for his son. Instead of harps, clouds, and halos, Jesus speaks of invitations, food, drink, celebration, and proper attire.
While Jesus’s earlier parables of the kingdom left much to the imagination, the story we hear today is more pointed. It is the third parable that he tells in a lengthy confrontation with the religious authorities in Jerusalem. In the two previous stories, Jesus cast these elders first as the unfaithful son who shirked his duties and then as the conniving tenants who murdered the owner’s son in an effort to take control of the vineyard.
In the parable of the wedding feast, Jesus casts the elders as the invited guests who not only violated protocol by declining a royal invitation but also committed some serious offenses by mistreating and killing the king’s emissaries. Following the king’s instructions, the servants then filled the banquet hall by going out into the streets, where they “gathered all whom they found, good and bad” (Mt 22:10).
Matthew was writing for a community dominated by Jewish Christians who were struggling with change. They were shocked by the destruction of Jerusalem by the Romans in AD 70 (see Mt 22:7). One aspect of the parable is a message of hope in the aftermath of death and destruction. By describing God’s coming reign as a wedding feast, Jesus evokes Isaiah’s vision of a future in which people of all nations will gather in a restored Jerusalem for a great feast: “On this mountain the LORD of hosts will make for all peoples a feast of rich food, a feast of well-aged wines, of rich food filled with marrow, of well-aged wines strained clear” (Is 25:6). Even death will at last be destroyed as “the Lord GOD will wipe away the tears from all faces” (Is 25:8).
Matthew’s audience was also struggling with the inclusion of non-Jews in the community of disciples. This parable proclaims the good news that the reign of God is open not only to Jews, but also to Gentiles. Just as the king’s invitation was extended to everyone, so in Christ, God’s overflowing grace—and the invitation to God’s banquet table—is given freely to all, regardless of race, nation, language, or class.
One’s place in the kingdom is determined not by lineage or status but by one’s response to the invitation. The door is open, the table is set, but we must don the wedding garment in response to God’s gift. What is that garment? While the parable doesn’t give us a definitive answer, it may relate to Paul’s teaching about putting on Christ. All those who have been baptized—male or female, Gentile or Jew, slave or free— “have clothed [themselves] with Christ” (Gal 3:27), breaking down the barriers and cast off the distinctions that separate us. The white baptismal garment used in many churches is a concrete reminder that we have “put on Christ” and have been transformed to live in an entirely new way.
Today this story is offered to us as both good news and prophetic challenge. The good news is that God’s great feast is ready and that we are on the guest list. The challenge is that we’re not alone and we don’t get to edit the roster. The invitation is extended to all, good and bad alike.
The food is ready, the wine is poured, and now the host bids us come—right now. Are you ready? The guests are pouring in, representing people of every land, race, language, social class, sexual orientation, gender identity, and political party. Can you let down the walls you’ve built to keep others at bay and share a feast with all of these people—even the ones whose food or music you don’t like or the individuals who make you uncomfortable or angry? Can you put on the wedding robe and “clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience” (Col 3:12)? The invitation is accompanied by a challenge to become like the host who opens the banquet hall to everyone.
The feast is ready. Are we?
A Hymn for Today: “I’m gonna eat at the welcome table”
This song was first published by the Hampton Institute in 1874 and was likely composed by an enslaved person. Like today’s readings from Isaiah 25 and Matthew 22, “The Welcome Table” looks forward with joyful anticipation to a feast of plenty where all are invited, welcomed, and fed. When sung during communion, it connects the table at which we gather to that hopeful vision of which the Lord’s Supper is a foretaste. Listen here.
I’m gonna eat at the welcome table;
I’m gonna eat at the welcome table one of these days.
I’m gonna eat at the welcome table;
I’m gonna eat at the welcome table one of these days.
I’m gonna eat and drink with my Jesus . . .
I’m gonna join with sisters, brothers . . .
Here all the world will find a welcome . . .
We’re gonna feast on milk and honey . . .
Text: African American spiritual, alt.
Image Credit: Parable of the Wedding Feast, A. N. Mironov, Creative Commons
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