Matth. 22, 1-14.
And Jesus answered and spake unto them again in parables, saying, The kingdom of heaven is like unto a king that made a marriage for his son: and he sent forth his servants to call the guests to the marriage: and they would not come. Again he sent out other servants, saying, Tell the guests, Behold, my supper is prepared, my oxen and my fatlings are slain, and all things are ready; come to the marriage. But they despised this and went away, one to his field, the other to his handiwork. And some of them took his servants, and mocked them, and slew them. When the king heard this, he was angry and sent out his armies and killed these murderers and set their city on fire. Then he said to his servants: The wedding is ready, but the guests are not worthy. Therefore go out into the streets and invite to the wedding whomever you find. And the servants went out into the streets, and gathered together whom they found, both evil and good. And the tables were all filled. Then the king went in to see the guests, and saw a man there who had no wedding garment on, and said to him, "Friend, how did you come in and have no wedding garment on? But he fell silent. Then said the king unto his servants, Bind him hand and foot, and cast him out into outer darkness; there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth: for many are called, but few are chosen. **)
(1) This gospel sets before us a likeness of the marriage; therefore it compels us to understand it otherwise than it outwardly sounds and appears. Therefore let us hear what is meant spiritually by this similitude, and then see how they have torn and spoiled the text.
2. first, the King who makes the wedding is the heavenly Father. But the bridegroom is His Son, our Lord Jesus Christ. The bride is the Christian Church, we and all the world, as far as we believe, as we will hear afterwards.
3 God first sent his servants, that is, his prophets, to invite people to the wedding, that is, to preach faith in Christ alone. But those invited did not want to come; these were the Jews to whom the prophets were sent, who did not want to hear or accept them. On the other hand, he sent other servants, the
**Marginal gloss to v. 11: "The wedding garment is faith, for this gospel rejects the works of the saints and accepts the faithful.
are the apostles and martyrs who should come to call us, and say to the guests, "Behold, my supper I have prepared, my oxen and my fatlings are slain; come to the wedding."
(4) In these words we have a fine illustration of how the lives of the saints are to be used and honored, namely, to bring them into the temple to confirm the doctrine of the gospel, that we may the more by example and life draw near to Christ, and, as on fat oxen and fatlings, feed and be fed on him. That is why he calls them fatlings. Take an example: Paul to the Romans Cap. 3:23 ff. teaches how the bride is full of sin and must be poured out with the blood of Christ alone to make her clean, otherwise she will remain unclean, that is, she alone must believe that the blood of Christ was poured out for our sin, otherwise there will be no more salvation. Then he finely introduces the example of Abraham and confirms the doctrine of faith by faith and by the life of Abraham, and says Cap. 4:3: "Abraham believed God, and this was counted to him for righteousness." This is a right ox, slaughtered in the right way, which feeds us, so that through the example and faith of Abraham we may believe in God.
are also founded and strengthened in this way. Soon after this, Paul presents us with a fine example when he refers to the prophet David, and proves from him that God does not justify us by works, but by faith, as he says in v. 6, 7, 8.According to which David also says that blessedness is only of the man to whom God imputes righteousness without works, saying (Ps. 32:1, 2): Blessed are they whose iniquity is forgiven, and whose sin is covered; blessed is the man to whom God imputes no sin." Behold, this fattens and feeds rightly, if one thus, to confirm the doctrine and faith, needs the examples and teachings of the pious saints. And this is also the right honor that can be done to the saints. Now continue in the Gospel:
5) "But those who were invited did not want to come to the wedding, and they went away, one to the field, the other to his farm; the third captured the servants, mocked them, and mocked them, and killed them. These are the three obstacles that prevent us from getting married. First, the field, that is, honor: this is a great hindrance to our not trusting and believing in Christ, fearing that we will suffer shame and be dishonored, not trusting that God will protect us from disgrace and keep us in honor. The others go in for the bargain, that is, they fall with their hearts on temporal goods, on avarice, and worry, where they have clung to the word, that they must perish and that their bellies will pine away; they do not trust that God will be able to nourish them. The third are the worst, those who are high, wise and prudent, the high spirits, who not only despise them, but beat them to death and strangle them, so that they may keep their name, their honor, their prize, so that they may be something. For the gospel can do nothing but condemn their wisdom and righteousness, and malign their own presumption. This then they cannot endure; wherefore they go and smite to death the servants that preach the feast and the marriage. Now these have been
The Pharisees and scribes have both killed Christ and the apostles, as their parents did the prophets before them. They are much worse than the first and the second, who, though they despise and spurn them, go away afterward, neither condemning nor strangling.
6 The Gospel says: "When the king heard this, he was angry, and sent out his army, and slew the murderers, and burned their city afterwards. This was done to the Jews by the Romans, Titum and Vespasianum, who burned Jerusalem to the ground. Although I would rather have it understood spiritually, since the whole Gospel is interpreted spiritually, that it happened when God destroyed and burned the synagogue at Jerusalem to the ground, completely abandoned the faith, scattered the people to and fro so that nothing remained with one another, and deprived them both of the priesthood and the kingdom; so that now there is no poorer, more miserable, more desolate people on earth than the very Jews. This is what happens to the despisers of God's word.
7th Now follow, "Then the king said to the servants: The wedding is ready, but the guests are not worthy. This is what happened, for the Jews did not want to know anything about Christ; they killed him and all the prophets and apostles, and have not been worthy to hear a word about him since that time.
8 Then he said to them, "Go out into the streets and invite to the wedding whoever you find. Then they went out into the streets, that is, to us Gentiles, and gathered us together from the ends of the earth into one church; in it are good and bad.
009 Then the king went in to see the guests. This will happen at the last judgment, when the king will be seen.
010 There shall he find one, that is, not a single person, but a whole company, not clothed with the wedding garment, that is, with faith. These are still pious people, much better than the previous ones; for you must take them for those who have the
They have heard and understood the Gospel, but have hung on in one work or another, and have not fully entered into Christ; like the mad virgins who lacked oil, that is, faith.
011 To them he shall say, Bind their hands and feet, and cast them into outer darkness: that is, he shall condemn their work, that it shall be no more: for the hands signify the work, and the feet the change: and after that he shall cast them into outer darkness.
Now, the outermost darknesses are held against the inward light, since faith alone must see in the heart: our light, our reason, must there be turned to and cease, and faith alone must shine there. For if one wants to follow reason and open it, there is nothing more than death, hell and sin before one's eyes. Then it looks at itself to death; it still finds no help in any creature, everything is desolate and dark. Therefore reason must be closed, otherwise it would have to despair, and must give itself up to the light of faith alone. This same light then sees that it has God in heaven, who looks after us, who cares for us, on whom the heart then turns, closes all reason and looks at no creature; then it is preserved. Now this is the meaning of it, that those who are thus thrown into utter darkness are deprived of faith, and thus rejected, because they do not only cling to God's mercy through faith, that they must also despair and be condemned.
Now let us see a little what is indicated in this marriage. First of all, this wedding is a union of divine nature with human nature. And what kind of love Christ bears for us is presented to us most sweetly in the image of the wedding. For there are many loves; but none is so ardent and heated as the bridal love, which has a new bride for the bridegroom, and in turn the bridegroom for the bride. Love does not look at enjoyment, not at gifts, not at riches, not at golden rings and the like; it looks only at the bridegroom. And even if he gave her everything,
that would be there, nor would she look at any of them; but says, I will have you alone. And if he again had nothing at all, neither would she regard him, but would have him all the same. This is what is called true bridal love. But where one looks at pleasure, that is whore love, which looks not at him but at the bag; therefore this love also does not last long.
(14) Such a true bridal love has been presented to us by God in Christ, who became man for us and united him with human nature, so that we might feel and recognize his friendly will toward us. Now, as the bride loves the bridegroom, so Christ also loves us; and we in turn, if we believe and are the right bride. Though he give us heaven, and the wisdom of all the prophets, and the glory of all the saints and angels, yet we esteem him not, but he giveth himself to us. The bride is not satisfied with any thing, is insatiable, wants only the bridegroom himself; as she says in the Song of Solomon, Cap. 2, 16: "My friend is mine and I am his." She cannot rest unless she has the bridegroom herself. So again Christ is against me: he wants to have me alone and nothing else. And even if I gave him all that I could do, it would be of no use to him; he would not look at it if I put on the caps of all the monks. He wants to have my heart; for the outward thing, as, outward virtues, are maids alone, he wants to have the woman herself. He wants me to say from the bottom of my heart: I am yours. But the connection and marriage happens through the faith that I freely rely on him, he is mine; if I now have him, what more do I want?
Now, what do we give him? An impudent bride, a nasty, old, wrinkled hag. But he is the eternal wisdom, the eternal truth, the eternal light, especially a beautiful youth. What does he give us? Himself, completely; does not cut me off a piece or give me a partken, but the whole fountain of eternal wisdom, not a little brook. If then I am his and he is mine, I have eternal wisdom.
Life, righteousness, and all that is in him. Therefore I am righteous, blessed, so that neither death, sin, hell, nor devils can harm me. If he alone would give me a piece of his wisdom, righteousness and life, I would say, "It is of no avail, but I will have you, without whom nothing is true. If he gives me his servants, his prophets, he alone has given a piece and a part; the gifts are the concubines alone, among whom only one is the right bride. Therefore distinguish them thus: There are many souls to whom gifts are given, as, wisdom, love and the like: but these are not the right brides; for they do not say, Thou art mine; but court on the side of the bag, for they love the gifts. But the right bride saith, Thee only will I have, thou art mine; and not the ring, nor thy jewel, nor the gift. This is what is said of love.
Now, what do we bring to him? Nothing but all heartache, all misfortune, sin, sorrow and misery. He is eternal light, we are eternal darkness; he is life, we are death; he is righteousness, we are sin. This is an unequal marriage. But what does the bridegroom do? He is so disgusted and does not want to sleep with her, but he adorns her beforehand in the very best way. How does this happen? The apostle Paul teaches this, saying Titus 3:5, 6: "He gave for her his tender body, and watered her with his holy blood, and cleansed her with the bath of regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit." He has prepared a bath; the bath is baptism, with which he washes her. Over this he has given her his word; in this she believes, and by faith she becomes a bride. The bridegroom comes with all goodness, but I come with all sins, with all sorrow and heartache. Since this is a marriage and union, so that they become one flesh, Gen. 2:24, Matt. 19:5, and leave their father and mother, and cleave one to the other, it soon follows that one takes care of the other and does not reject it, even though one is a little sick and clumsy; for what one takes care of, the other must also bear.
17 Therefore, if the bride says: I am
thine, thou must have me; he then must take all my misfortunes upon himself. So then my sins are eternal righteousness, my death is eternal life, my hell is heaven; for these two, sin and righteousness, cannot stand together, neither can heaven and hell. Now if we are to come together, one must consume and merge the other, so that we can come together. Now his righteousness is incomparably stronger than my sin, and his life immeasurably stronger than my death; for he is life itself, since all life must set itself on fire. Therefore my death disappears in his life, my sin in his righteousness and my condemnation in his blessedness; there my sin gets stuck in the door, corrupts and perishes. Now that my sin and my condemnation are gone, he must adorn and clothe me with his everlasting righteousness and with all his graces until I become beautiful, for I am his bride. So then I accept all his goods, as he accepted mine; as the prophet Ezekiel Cap. 16, 6. ff. says: "I passed over before thee, and thou wast naked, and thy breasts were puffed up unto thee, and thou wast manly: then I spread my garment upon thee, and covered thy shame, and gave thee my word, and put on thee beautiful red shoes." There he tells of the many benefits he did for her, and then he laments in v. 15 how she became a harlot. He says all this because he clothes us with his goods and we have nothing of our own. Whoever does not believe that he has nothing of himself, but only Christ's goods, and cannot say without doubt, "You are mine," is not yet a Christian.
(18) For Christ is mine, and I am his: if death thrust in, I have Christ, who is my life; if sin thrust in, I have Christ, who is my righteousness; if hell and damnation thrust in, I have Christ, who is my salvation. So, come what may, I have Christ, whom I can turn away, so that nothing can harm me. And this union of the divine nature with the human nature is a
in the wedding image, and the high love that God has for us in the love of the bride.
19 Now the wedding garment is Christ Himself, whom we put on by faith, as the apostle says Rom. 13:14: "Put on the Lord Jesus. After this, the garment gives a luster of itself, that is, the faith in Christ gives fruit of itself, that is, the love that works through faith in Christ. These are the good works that shine from faith and are done in vain, only for the benefit of the neighbor; otherwise they are pagan works, if they do not flow from faith; they are then subsequently destroyed and condemned, and thrown into utter darkness.
20 This means here that his hands and feet are bound. The hands, as I said, are the works, the feet the walk, in which he trusted, and therefore did not hang on Christ alone. For he is blamed for not having put on the wedding garment, that is, Christ: therefore he must perish with the works; for they did not shine from faith, from the garment. Therefore, if thou wilt do good works, believe first; if thou wilt bear fruit, become a tree first; and afterward it shall come forth by itself.
(21) The error is to be noted here also, that they have perverted the gospel, saying, Though the pope and his company be evil, yet he must be heard, and be the head of Christendom; he doeth what he doeth, yet he cannot err; and though he have not the wedding garment, yet he is in the church. But they are not so good that they should be compared to this one who has no wedding garment: they are the evil-doers and murderers who kill the king's servants; and even if they were to be compared to this one, the gospel here in the parable does not show that one should follow them, but that one should throw them out and beware of them. For he that hath not the wedding garment is not of the church; he is an unclean thing, as the snot, and the pus, and the boil in the body: it is in the body, but it is not a part of the body. Pennies are also among the florins, but they are not florins; chaff is among the grain, but it is not grain. So they are also among Christianity, but they are not Christians. That is enough of this gospel, let us ask God for mercy that we do not come to such a delicious and honest wedding without a wedding garment.