You can see that food (and drink) play a part in all three readings today. Our first reading describes God preparing a special mountaintop banquet to celebrate his victory, and thereby also our victory through him, over one of our greatest enemies, death. Our Bible tells us that death was never God’s original purpose for us. It came as a result of man’s sin. Most people fear death, with its connotations of separation from loved ones, plunging into the unknown, fear of spending eternity in hell, etc. The book of Hebrews tells us that it was precisely for this reason that Jesus Christ, Son of God, allowed himself to “taste death for everyone”, and that by conquering death by his resurrection, he was able to both “destroy the one who has the power of death, that is the devil” and also “free those who all their lives were held in slavery by the fear of death” (Hebrews 2: 9, 14-15). Because of our faith in Christ, and in his resurrection, we no longer have to fear death in the same way as we did before, because now we know God’s destiny for us is heaven, not hell, and death is no longer a plunging into the darkness of the unknown, but a bringing into our heavenly home, to meet up again with all our loved ones who have gone before us. This means that we can exclaim, in the words of St Paul in his first letter to the Corinthians: “Death has been swallowed up in victory”, “Where, O death, is your victory? Where, O death is your sting” … “Thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ” (1 Corinthians 15: 54-57).
And so, the prophet Isaiah can look forward to the time of the resurrection of the dead and see it as the occasion of a victory banquet, full of choice meats, and vintage wines. This rich, vivid imagery is deliberately designed, to, as it were, “wet” our appetite for that time, and make us look forward to it with desire and impatience.
Our responsorial psalm, in its second part, again picks up the theme of God playing the host inviting us to a meal with him, in heaven, with our greatest enemy, the devil, and his weapons of sin, death and hell, as it were, looking on with envy and frustrated fury, because the devil is no longer able to lure us away from God and into hell. Under the care of the Good Shepherd, Jesus, we have been led through “the valley of the shadow of death and evil”, safe home to dwell with God in his house for all eternity. These are true riches, what St Paul describes, in our second reading today, as God’s “riches in glory in Christ Jesus”. And, if we can keep our focus on the glory to come for us, and not be obsessed only with making sure we have all we need in this life on earth to make us nicely comfortable, then we can have that peace which Paul describes in last week’s second reading, as a peace which “surpasses understanding”, no matter whether we are well-fed or not, have plenty to live on, or not. You might thank that Paul is doing ok while he is writing these words. We might picture him as sitting at ease before the fire, cozy in his armchair, smoking his pipe and cradling his glass of wine. But, in fact, he is in a Roman prison, not knowing from moment to moment whether the next person to come through his jail door, might not be a soldier sent to chop his head off. “I can do all things”, he says, “through him who strengthens me”. Bravo Paul, please teach me the secret of so trusting in God that I am not afraid of death, or any kind of lack in this life, but can rest content in all circumstances, knowing this life is temporary and leads, if we follow closely the Good Shepherd, Jesus, to the glorious pastureland of heaven.
And so, to our gospel, and, once again, it is a parable, a story, this time about a wedding feast given by a king for his son. A few things to know about Jewish banquets, to clear up any misunderstandings about what is going on here. To begin with, every Jew knew that a story about a wedding banquet was an image of life in the kingdom of heaven, where God would throw a wonderful celebration for his people. It was something to look forward to, as one would look forward to any invitation to eating and drinking. The guests would have been invited to the nuptial celebration well ahead of time and should have kept their diaries open so that when the time came, they would be ready. To ensure their presence, the host would send his slaves to escort the guests to the banquet. So, these people in the parable have no excuse for turning down the invitation, or for treating their host, who also, by the way, happens to be the king, with such disrespect as to mistreat his slaves. The king expected the guests to attend and not make flimsy excuses for not being able to.
What about the man who attends without a proper wedding garment? Surely it is not his fault if he does not have the money or the opportunity, to obtain his robe beforehand? But, when we know, that the host of the banquet, had robes specially made ready to give to his guests, as a sign of his honoring them, then we can understand the king’s anger at this guest refusing to wear the garment specially made for him. It is an insult to the king, his host, just as much as those who refused to come to the wedding feast also were treating the king with contempt.
Thus the story, now the application that Jesus makes of it. The wedding banquet thrown by the king for his son, depicts life in the kingdom of heaven to which God, as king, invites you and me as special honored guests of his Son, Jesus, (bride). Where does this special relationship with Jesus begin for us? our baptism. The king’s entry into the banquet hall, depicts the end of time, when God comes to judge the world. The people who reject the king’s invitation to the banquet represent those who want nothing to do with God, or his Son, Jesus, or with heaven. The man who refuses to wear his special robe represents those who, though baptized, reject their baptism and choose to live their life as if God is unimportant to them, and can be treated with contempt, despite the fact that God has invited them as honored guests through their baptism, to share eternal life with him in heaven.
Where do we stand, brothers and sisters, with regard to these readings? Do we live our lives focused on what are true riches, and with desire for heaven, and a determination to make ourselves worthy to be an honored guest of Jesus? In other words, do good works follow on from our baptismal commitment and do we try to keep our baptismal garment, as it were, unstained by the sin of this world? Or are we only bothered about making our lives here on earth as comfortable as possible, having decided that this world is all there is, and anything over and above that is pure fantasy for those poor idiots who need something like that to make up for their miserable lives? In other words, do you only care about having sausages on earth, or do you hunger for sausages in heaven also?