The Great Feast

Matthew 22.1-14 is a mess. It looks like an adaptation of Luke 14.15ff, with a bit of eschatological condemnation tacked on to the end for good measure. The original meaning seems to have been that no-one is excluded from God’s kingdom except by having chosen to go elsewhere, but Matthew adds the worrying spectacle of a latecomer being punished for ignoring the dress code. If nothing else, it’s a useful reminder that the Bible should not always be taken literally. If there’s a meaning in this for us, we need to find it by working on the metaphor.