Trinity 20 – 2026

And again Jesus spoke to them in parables, saying, “The kingdom of heaven may be compared to a king who gave a wedding feast for his son, and sent his servants to call those who were invited to the wedding feast, but they would not come. “Again he sent other servants, saying, ‘Tell those who are invited, See, I have prepared my dinner, my oxen and my fat calves have been slaughtered, and everything is ready. Come to the wedding feast.’ “But they paid no attention and went off, one to his farm, another to his business, while the rest seized his servants, treated them shamefully, and killed them. The king was angry, and he sent his troops and destroyed those murderers and burned their city. “Then he 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.’ And those servants went out into the roads and gathered all whom they found, both bad and good. So the wedding hall was filled with guests. “But when the king came in to look at the guests, he saw there a man who had no wedding garment. And he said to him, ‘Friend, how did you get in here without a wedding garment?’ And he was speechless. “Then the king said to the attendants, ‘Bind him hand and foot and cast him into the outer darkness. In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’ For many are called, but few are chosen.” ^(ESV)

Prayer: Heavenly Father, send Your Holy Spirit to work through Your Word this morning, that we may be led to a sincere sorrow over our sin and yet maintain a confident trust in our salvation, through Your Son, Jesus Christ, who has robed us with the wedding garment needed to enjoy the feast of heaven. Amen!

Dear Fellow Redeemed,

If you have ever worn the wrong outfit to an event, you know how embarrassing and uncomfortable it can be. It’s a well-known social faux pas to be dressed in the wrong attire for an event—like showing up in pajamas or flipflops to a wedding. It’s so ingrained in us that people have dreams or nightmares about wearing the wrong clothes. Of course, it would be embarrassing for this to happen to us. However, that’s all it would be—embarrassing. So, when we hear about what happens to the man who doesn’t have a wedding garment, it is shocking. The king binds him hand and foot and casts him into outer darkness. Clearly, with this extreme example Jesus is trying to get our attention and teach us something. He is teaching us about the kingdom of heaven. But what is the lesson? Before, we explain the king’s seemingly harsh judgement on his guest, let’s understand the context of this parable.

This is the last of three parables that Jesus spoke to the Pharisees who were questioning his authority. In the first parable, Jesus tells of a father who told both of his sons to go and work in the vineyard. The first said “no,” but then later changed his mind and went. The second son said he would help, but then he did not go. Jesus explains that the tax-collectors and sinners were like the first son, because while they disobeyed the Father initially, they later repented and did the Father’s will and believed in Jesus. The Pharisees on the other hand, outwardly appeared to do the Father’s will, but did not believe in his Son. In the second parable, Jesus tells of a landowner who built a vineyard and put tenants in it to manage the vineyard. At the time of harvest, he sent servants to get the fruit from the tenants, but the tenants beat one, killed another, and stoned another. Finally, the master of the house sent his son, thinking they would listen to him, but they killed him as well. Therefore, Jesus said, when the master comes, “He will put those wretches to a miserable death and let out the vineyard to other tenants who will give him the fruits in their seasons.”

Then comes our parable. A king prepares a feast and invites everyone to it, but when the servants invite the guests, they all give different excuses—one went to his farm, one to his business, and others treated his servants shamefully. Since they rejected the king’s invitation, they were all destroyed. What do these three parables have in common? Jesus is inviting, calling people to his kingdom, but the Pharisees would not listen. The Jews ignored the Lord’s prophets and even killed them. Jesus is showing that if you reject the king’s messengers, you will be rejected by the king. God wants you to believe in him, trust in him, and be saved. However, if you reject his message, you will be rejected by him.

So, the first three are very similar, but the third parable adds a new element when it speaks of the man who did not have a wedding garment. He represents one who heard the first three the parables and was moved by them, one who was invited and came to the feast. Yet, the man wasn’t wearing the wedding garment and so he was thrown out. But why didn’t he have a wedding garment? The man came to the wedding, but he did not want to change. The man was a hypocrite.

In the first three parables, Jesus is warning those who reject his message outrightly—like the Pharisees and scribes, the moralists, who think that they can participate in their salvation, and therefore, ignore their need for Jesus. In this second part of the third parable, Jesus isn’t talking to the Pharisees. He is warning those who are in his church—those who have believed his message and come to the feast.

If you came to church this morning, I probably don’t need to convince you that Jesus is your Lord and Savior. You know that he is the way, the truth, and the life. So, we aren’t the first group of crass hypocrites Jesus is addressing. However, we do have hearts torn in two directions. God’s invitation has done its work on us, but we are tempted to keep on our old clothes when we come to the banquet. We’d prefer to keep parts of our old lives that should rather be left behind when we become Christians. We cannot keep a little anger or a little lust or be a Christian all week except on Friday nights. The man at the end of the parable came to the feast, but he didn’t want to change. He didn’t want a wedding garment. Our culture would applaud him for being true to himself. But he couldn’t rejoice at the feast since he didn’t have a wedding garment.

Jesus said, “Many will say to Me in that day, ‘Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name, cast out demons in Your name, and done many wonders in Your name?’ And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness!’” (Matthew 7:22–23). Jesus warns us against hypocrisy because he doesn’t want to say these words to us. A hypocrite is someone who says they believe one thing, but then does another. We are tempted to hypocrisy in many ways. A person could say they believe that Jesus died for the sins of all and that anyone can be saved through him, but then outwardly act as if others, who they don’t like for social or political reasons, could not be saved. That’s a hypocrite because they are holding to their idea of who can be saved, rather than what God says. A person might say they are saved by grace alone, but then act as if their faithfulness or pious life choices are what separates them from the rest. On the other extreme, a person might confess they will seek to live a Christian life as Christ calls us to live but then act in such a way as if their living does not matter—whether that be excessive and careless drinking or holding on to grudges. Scripture says, “Whoever says ‘I know him’ but does not keep his commandments is a liar, and the truth is not in him” (I John 2:4).

Jesus doesn’t want you to pretend. He wants you to be saved. The most dangerous sin is the one we don’t think is a sin. This is why Paul says in our Epistle lesson, “Look carefully then how you walk, not as unwise but as wise.” And so, Jesus warns us not to let sin fester. Repent of it. Confess it. Go to your Pastor and talk to him. There is no sin Jesus won’t forgive. There is no sin so evil that he cannot wash away. “The blood of Jesus Christ, [God’s] Son, cleanses us from all sin.”

There are two ditches for a Christian to fall into. The one is hypocrisy and pride—thinking that we don’t need to repent, that we are sufficient in ourselves. This is what we want to avoid. Scripture says, “If we go on sinning deliberately after receiving the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins” (Hebrews 10:26). We will then be like the man who didn’t have a wedding garment. The other ditch we can fall into is despair—thinking that because of our sin, our continual failing, we are beyond help. A Christian who knows what is right and wrong, who is informed by the Word of God, can have a guilty conscience and say, “I know this is wrong, but I am still struggling with this. What’s wrong with me!? I know I shouldn’t get so angry, I know I should do this or think that, what’s wrong with me?” A person might see how their actions are so contrary to what they believe that they wonder if they are even a Christian.

Does this describe you? Then listen here. If you are struggling with a sin and trying to fight against it, this is proof you are a Christian. An unbeliever would not care. What’s more, you are not the first Christian to go through this. Paul laments, “For the good that I will to do, I do not do; but the evil I will not to do, that I practice… O wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death? I thank God—through Jesus Christ our Lord!” Paul knew that his only hope was in Jesus, but in Jesus there is nothing but hope! Scripture says, “There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus” (Romans 8:1).

Jesus has invited you to the wedding feast of heaven. He has prepared the banquet. Everything is ready. He wants you to come! What’s more, he has a wedding garment for you. You don’t have to bring your own or purchase the right one—it was purchased for you by the blood of Jesus Christ shed on the cross. He wants you to have it, which is why he gave it to you in the waters of holy baptism, where he robed you with the righteousness of Christ. Scripture declares, “For you are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus. For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ” (Galatians 3:26–27). By faith, Christ’s righteousness is yours and it is the garment needed to rejoice in the kingdom of heaven.

How do we ensure that we are wearing our wedding garment? It’s by confessing sins and trusting in Jesus. This is what Paul describes in Ephesians 4, taking off the old self through repentance and putting on the new self by trusting in Jesus, which gives you his righteousness and holiness. Your wedding garment remains clean and pressed through your hearing of the Gospel, the proclamation of forgiveness, and receiving the body and blood of Christ for the remission of all your sins. It’s through these means that Holy Spirit strengthens our faith and helps us keep our garment ready.

In our parable, Jesus gives extreme examples. When someone rejects the invitation or fails to wear a wedding garment, they are destroyed. This is beyond the usual customs of any wedding party. But through it, Jesus is making a very clear point. Believe the invitation. Come to the feast—not with hearts divided, but in confident trust in your Savior.

Our Lord Jesus has won for you eternal life in Paradise. He earned it through his blood, sweat, and tears shed on the cross. He did it willingly so that you would not be condemned in hell. He wants you with him forever. He doesn’t want anything to get in between you and him—whether that be pride, despair, hypocrisy, or fear. He warns us because he loves us.

In this life, our hearts are tempted to be divided between love for God and love for this world. To encourage us to hold to him, Jesus paints a beautiful picture of the life to come. It’s a glorious feast. It is like a joyous wedding where all sorrow is taken away. Isaiah foretold, “He will swallow up death forever; and the Lord God will wipe away tears from all faces, and the reproach of his people he will take away from all the earth, for the Lord has spoken. It will be said on that day, ‘Behold, this is our God; we have waited for him, that he might save us. This is the Lord; we have waited for him; let us be glad and rejoice in his salvation.’”

You have much to look forward to. Paradise. A heavenly feast. This joy no one can take away from you. Amen.