{"id":1582,"date":"2017-10-12T08:08:56","date_gmt":"2017-10-12T08:08:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/batkol.info\/?p=1582"},"modified":"2017-10-12T08:08:56","modified_gmt":"2017-10-12T08:08:56","slug":"the-twenty-eighth-sunday-of-the-year","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ratisbonne.org.il\/bk\/2017\/10\/12\/the-twenty-eighth-sunday-of-the-year\/","title":{"rendered":"The Twenty-Eighth Sunday of the Year"},"content":{"rendered":"
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The Twenty-Eighth Sunday of the Year (15th October 2017)<\/p>\n

Lectionary readings: Is. 25 6-1; Ps. 22; Phil. 4 12-14, 19-20; Mt \u00a022 1-14<\/p>\n

Download<\/a><\/p>\n

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The Eschatological Banquet<\/p>\n

Most people love a banquet especially one to celebrate a wedding. In the Gospel for today Matthew draws on the banquet imagery of the Prophet Isaiah and wedding imagery used by prophetic writers to describe God\u2019s relationship with Israel. \u00a0The image of the great banquet would have resonated strongly with Jesus\u2019 audience. \u00a0The book of Isaiah was highly influential in the Second Temple period and the idea of the eschatological age as an on-going banquet was current in the first century (Long 71, 248). In today\u2019s first reading the 8th century prophet Isaiah announces a banquet inaugurating the restoration of post-exilic Israel. \u00a0All people will celebrate with excellent food and wine on Mount Zion. \u00a0The meal marks the beginning of the eschatological age.<\/p>\n

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In the third in a series of parables or mashal, a common teaching tool in the first century, Jesus compares the kingdom of heaven to a king who gave a wedding banquet for his son. When the king\u2019s servants went to call those who had been invited they refused to come, making excuses. Some murdered his slaves. \u00a0So angry was the king that he destroyed the murderers and burnt down their town. \u00a0\u00a0Unfortunately, the reaction of the king to those who refused his invitation is subject to an anti-Jewish interpretation, many identifying those who refused the invitation as the Jewish people who are then seen as rejected by God. \u00a0This interpretation goes against the teaching of the Church of God\u2019s continuing covenant with the Jewish people (Vatican, The Gifts and Calling of God are irrevocable) \u00a0<\/p>\n

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Inviting others in place of those who refused is often understood as a reference to the universal aspect of God\u2019s promises to the Gentiles. \u00a0Long ( also Stern 166), however, suggests that the replacement guests are those who have responded to Jesus\u2019 invitation to them and have been eating and drinking with him \u2013 the sinners from the fringes of Jewish society. \u00a0<\/p>\n

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Through the parable Jesus announces the coming of the kingdom of God in terms of a wedding banquet. \u00a0Ultimately, all are invited to the banquet but in the final part of the parable one guest is turned away for not wearing a wedding garment. \u00a0Stern (162) suggests that the wedding garment does not refer to clothing but to attitude and behavior. \u00a0\u00a0This guest had not repented. \u00a0All are welcomed to the banquet as long as they repent and wear the clothes of righteousness. \u00a0<\/p>\n

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The parable ends with a nimshal which is an explanatory paragraph often added to a mashal or parable (Allen 76). \u00a0Here the nimshal is, \u201cmany are called but few are chosen\u201d. \u00a0It is unclear what the nimshal is explaining; who are the \u201cmany\u201d and who are the \u201cfew\u201d? \u00a0Is the nimshal a comment on the parable we are examining today or on the series of three parables? \u00a0<\/p>\n

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The Gospel today has many aspects, God\u2019s love for Israel and for all humanity, God\u2019s love for those on the fringes of society, God\u2019s invitation to repent and to wear the garment of righteousness. \u00a0God invites us to his banquet to enjoy the food and wine of the kingdom, the same food and wine we will enjoy in the age to come.<\/p>\n

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For Reflection and Discussion: 1 Which aspect of the parable do you feel drawn to today? Spend some time reflecting on it. \u00a02. \u00a0One interpretation of \u201cMany are called but few are chosen\u201d is: God calls us all with his love. His chosen are those of us who freely say “yes” to his call of love (Allen, 76). \u00a0What do you think about this interpretation?<\/p>\n

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Bibliography: \u00a0Donald J. Allen and Clark M. Williamson, Preaching the Gospel Without Blaming the Jews: A Lectionary commentary (John Knox Press, 2004); \u00a0Philip Long, The origin of the eschatological Feast as a Wedding Banquet, (PhD Thesis, St Andrew\u2019s University, 2012); \u00a0Frank Stern, A Rabbi looks at Jesus\u2019 Parables, (Rowan and Littlefield, 2006)<\/p>\n

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This week\u2019s Sunday Gospel Commentary was prepared by<\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Clare Jardine nds, BD, MA (Jewish Studies), Rome, Italy<\/p>\n

clare@notredamedesion.org<\/p>\n

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\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0[Copyright \u00a9 2017]<\/p>\n

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PLEASE NOTE: The weekly Gospel commentaries represent the research and creative thought of their authors, and are meant to stimulate deeper thinking about the meaning of the Sunday Scriptures. While they draw upon the study methods and sources employed by the Bat Kol Institute, the views and conclusions expressed in these commentaries are solely those of their authors, and do not necessarily represent the views of Bat Kol. \u00a0Questions, comments and feedback are always welcome.<\/p>\n

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The Twenty-Eighth Sunday of the Year (15th October 2017) Lectionary readings: Is. 25 6-1; Ps. 22; Phil. 4 12-14, 19-20; Mt \u00a022 1-14 Download \u00a0\u00a0 The Eschatological Banquet Most people love a banquet especially one to celebrate a wedding. In the Gospel for today Matthew draws on the banquet imagery of the Prophet Isaiah and…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":46,"featured_media":1578,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ghostkit_customizer_options":"","ghostkit_custom_css":"","ghostkit_custom_js_head":"","ghostkit_custom_js_foot":"","ghostkit_typography":"","_coblocks_attr":"","_coblocks_dimensions":"","_coblocks_responsive_height":"","_coblocks_accordion_ie_support":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ratisbonne.org.il\/bk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1582"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ratisbonne.org.il\/bk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ratisbonne.org.il\/bk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ratisbonne.org.il\/bk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/46"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ratisbonne.org.il\/bk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1582"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.ratisbonne.org.il\/bk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1582\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ratisbonne.org.il\/bk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1578"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ratisbonne.org.il\/bk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1582"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ratisbonne.org.il\/bk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1582"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ratisbonne.org.il\/bk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1582"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}