The initial setting in this parable is rather nondescript. Jesus, the author, mentions a king (Matt 22:2), which evokes images of a palace and/or a throne room. As the author does not offer much more information beyond this, it is best not to read too much into this setting, but we can make a few observations. In the Old Testament, there are a number of stories wherein a king gives orders to his servants from his throne room. Pharaoh gives Joseph charge of his kingdom in his throne room (Gen 41:14-40). Saul orders his servants to find a harpist for him from his throne room (1 Sam 16:14-23). Esther seeks favor from Xerxes while in his throne room (Esth 5:1-8). In each of these places, the king acts with authority, and his location in
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When we are in the throne room, we expect that the king will act with authority, but, inasmuch as the guests are not speaking with the king directly, their location away from the throne room creates a supposed space between them and the king’s authority. The king is out-of-sight and out-of-mind, so the guests feel free to reject his request. The author skips back and forth between these settings by mentioning the location of the guests (Matt 22:3, 5) and then informing us of the king’s reactions (Matt 22:4, 7), and we are left to wonder which side will have its way. However, the distance between the two locations proves to make little difference – the guests were not actually removed from the king’s authority – and their city, which may have been their setting, is destroyed. At this point in the story, the author signals a change in time by inserting a temporal remark: “Then the king said…” (Matt 22:8). This change in time suggests that the king has dealt with his initial problem and that that episode in the story is now finished. Yet, as we are still dealing with the king, and as the author has not noted a change in setting, we may assume that we are still in the palace and/or throne room. We are still in the king’s realm of authority, which leads to a new set of commands to his …show more content…
The king commands his servants to throw the man that is dressed in common clothes outside, but the story ends before the event takes place. Nevertheless, the king uses striking language to describe this location, which becomes significant in tying the parable to its greater context. First, the king describes outside as a place of darkness. This may suggest that the celebration was held at night, but he goes on to call outside a place of weeping and gnashing of teeth. These further qualifications lead us to believe that the outside is not simply the space outside of the wedding hall. Had it only been nighttime, the outside would signify the man’s separation from the fellowship and community of the celebration, but the weeping and gnashing of teeth suggest more regret, pain, anguish, and perhaps even anger. We may also note that the book of Matthew records this phrase five other times, and the book of Luke includes it once (Matt 8:12; 13:42, 50; 24:51; 25:30; Lk 13:28). In each of these places, Jesus is the person to use the phrase, and he always uses it in relation to judgment for wickedness. With these references as a background, we may conclude that the final setting in the story, outside the wedding hall, represents judgment for the man in common clothes. In this way, the author suggests that, even though the king is willing to invite people that we would not normally expect to
When we are in the throne room, we expect that the king will act with authority, but, inasmuch as the guests are not speaking with the king directly, their location away from the throne room creates a supposed space between them and the king’s authority. The king is out-of-sight and out-of-mind, so the guests feel free to reject his request. The author skips back and forth between these settings by mentioning the location of the guests (Matt 22:3, 5) and then informing us of the king’s reactions (Matt 22:4, 7), and we are left to wonder which side will have its way. However, the distance between the two locations proves to make little difference – the guests were not actually removed from the king’s authority – and their city, which may have been their setting, is destroyed. At this point in the story, the author signals a change in time by inserting a temporal remark: “Then the king said…” (Matt 22:8). This change in time suggests that the king has dealt with his initial problem and that that episode in the story is now finished. Yet, as we are still dealing with the king, and as the author has not noted a change in setting, we may assume that we are still in the palace and/or throne room. We are still in the king’s realm of authority, which leads to a new set of commands to his …show more content…
The king commands his servants to throw the man that is dressed in common clothes outside, but the story ends before the event takes place. Nevertheless, the king uses striking language to describe this location, which becomes significant in tying the parable to its greater context. First, the king describes outside as a place of darkness. This may suggest that the celebration was held at night, but he goes on to call outside a place of weeping and gnashing of teeth. These further qualifications lead us to believe that the outside is not simply the space outside of the wedding hall. Had it only been nighttime, the outside would signify the man’s separation from the fellowship and community of the celebration, but the weeping and gnashing of teeth suggest more regret, pain, anguish, and perhaps even anger. We may also note that the book of Matthew records this phrase five other times, and the book of Luke includes it once (Matt 8:12; 13:42, 50; 24:51; 25:30; Lk 13:28). In each of these places, Jesus is the person to use the phrase, and he always uses it in relation to judgment for wickedness. With these references as a background, we may conclude that the final setting in the story, outside the wedding hall, represents judgment for the man in common clothes. In this way, the author suggests that, even though the king is willing to invite people that we would not normally expect to