October 19, 2026
Today's Reading: Matthew 22:1-14 or Matthew 21:33-44
Daily Lectionary: Deuteronomy 18:1-22; Matthew 14:22-36
“Then [the king] said to his servants, ‘The wedding feast is ready, but those invited were not worthy. Go therefore to the main roads and invite to the wedding feast as many as you find.’” (Matthew 22:8-9)
In the Name + of Jesus. Amen.
I wonder what was going through their minds. Wave after wave of the King’s servants came out with invitations—the King was giving a wedding feast in honor of His Son. Such a gracious invitation, spread across the kingdom! But they wouldn’t come. They paid no attention. They went about their business. Some even rose up against the King’s messengers and killed them. What was going through their minds? Did they suppose the invitation to be fake? The King wasn’t really a King, the Son wasn’t really married, the feast wasn’t really happening? Maybe they thought they’d have time to come around to the feast later, after they took care of more important things.
Parables of feasts often end up having something to do with the Lord’s Supper. At the very least, there’s usually some symbolism that makes us think about the Lord’s Supper. This one’s a little different. While we could use this parable to talk about worthy reception of the Lord’s Supper, the clearer meaning concerns the worthy reception of the invitation to the wedding feast, that is, the marriage feast of the Lamb in His kingdom which has no end.
If we’re talking about Judgment Day, then worthiness is an even more important conversation. Those who were not worthy were those who rejected the invitation. We must be on guard against this! What are the things in your life that would tempt you to reject such an invitation—or to extend such an invitation to someone else? Luther reminds us that the truest preparation for the Lord’s Supper is repentance and faith, and that’s true of preparation for the heavenly banquet hall, too.
Here’s the thing. You’re not worthy. You know it as well as I do. In your sinfulness and rebellion and rejection, you cannot do anything to merit that invitation to Christ’s wedding hall. But I suppose that’s the thing about invitations. You don’t have to earn them.
The table is set. The Lamb of God has been fattened on the sin of mankind and slaughtered for your salvation. Everything is ready. It is finished. Come to the wedding feast at the altar—and receive there a foretaste of the greater feast to come.
In the Name + of Jesus. Amen.
Jesus, source of lasting pleasure, truest Friend, and dearest Treasure, Peace beyond all understanding, joy into all life expanding: Humbly now I bow before You; Love incarnate, I adore You; Worthily let me receive You and, so favored, never leave You. (LSB 636:5)
Rev. Roger Mullet, pastor of Prince of Peace Lutheran Church, Buffalo, WY.
Where are you looking for meaning? In Lift Your Eyes: How to Live Outside Yourself author Joshua Pfeiffer charts a compelling path outward: upward to God in faith and gratitude, outward to our neighbors in love and service, and forward in joyful anticipation of resurrection.
