The Kingdom of Heaven is all about the Father and His Son and the great Marriage Feast of Christ Jesus and His Bride, the Holy Christian Church.
From the Foundation of the World, from the Fall into Sin, through all the ages of the Patriarchs and Prophets, to the coming of our Lord in the Flesh, His Cross and Resurrection, even to the close of the age, the Lord provides for His people (and all His creatures); He feeds them in body and soul, for this life and the Life everlasting, and He promises a great Feast indeed.
Now, as we have depicted in our Lord’s Parable this morning, what He promised and provided for His people in the Old Testament was frequently despised, neglected, and rejected; and in response, He disciplined His people and called them to repentance — to receive the food with which He fed them, to rely upon His providential care, and to rejoice in His gracious gifts.
And in His tender mercies, long-suffering patience, and steadfast loving-kindness, He continued to preserve His people, to provide for them and feed them.
And when the time was fully come, the Father sent forth His dearly-beloved only-begotten Son into our Flesh, to call and claim His Bride and bring her Home rejoicing.
Thus did St. John the Baptist go before Him, to preach and prepare His Way, as the Best Man for the Bridegroom. He pointed the people to Christ Jesus, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world — in whom all the promises and all the sacrifices of fattened calves, goats and bulls, sheep and oxen have found their fulfillment, their meaning and significance.
To that end, the Lord Jesus Himself, the incarnate Son of God, was sacrificed once-for-all upon His Cross, in order to atone for the sins of the world, to redeem the world for God, to justify all of us poor sinners and reconcile us to His God and Father — no longer as strangers and aliens, but as His own dear Bride, a Princess indeed, a daughter of the King.
This is truly a cause for great rejoicing, now and forever — in the Marriage Feast of the Lamb in His Kingdom, which has no end. For not only is the Lamb of God sacrificed, but His own Flesh and Blood are the Meal of Salvation for His Bride and all her dear children.
But we know how lukewarm the world is — and even our own mortal flesh — how readily we forego the things of Christ and the Kingdom of God for our earthly enterprises, our farms and our business dealings, so that we ignore His summons and decline His invitation.
So, too, St. John the Baptist, Christ Jesus Himself, and almost all of His holy Apostles were not simply ignored but persecuted and put to death for their preaching of the precious Holy Gospel.
The Lord’s own chosen people, by and large, refused and rejected Him — for which reason God sent the Roman armies as the instruments of His judgment to tear down, burn, and destroy the once holy city of Jerusalem — a sobering indication that the external walls and trappings of the Church on earth will not preserve a rebellious and hard-hearted people from the Lord’s just judgment.
The King’s Feast is prepared and ready, nevertheless. The promised Christ has come, His Cross and Resurrection have been accomplished, and His Body and His Blood are given and poured out as Meat and Drink indeed for His disciples to eat and to drink in faith and with thanksgiving.
The Lord’s Supper is, indeed, already the true and real Foretaste of the Feast that is hosted and celebrated forever in Paradise. And this Holy Supper, with all that it gives and does, is the Heart and Center of the Church — on earth as it is in heaven. Not a means to some other end, it is the Kingdom of Heaven among us, the Banquet of the King’s own dear Son and His Royal Bride.
Thus, in the sending of His Apostles to make disciples of all the nations — by the preaching and catechesis of His Word and by Holy Baptism in His Name — the Lord Jesus calls and invites all people to come and enter into His Wedding Feast in the Kingdom of His God and Father.
That is the very invitation that each of you has received through the Ministry of the Word. And that is why you are here this morning, in anticipation of the Final Judgment, the Resurrection of all flesh, and the Life everlasting of body and soul in and with Christ Jesus, the heavenly Bridegroom.
So, it is good and right that you are here. And for those who are baptized and catechized in the Name of the Lord, who confess His holy Name, it is good and right that you should feast upon the Lamb of God here at His Table in His Home, in His Supper. Truly, forgiveness, life, and salvation are here freely given and bestowed upon you in the Word and Flesh of Christ Jesus.
But take heed to His warning in this Parable, that you not presume upon your gracious Host by entering upon His Feast without the wedding garment.
The ending of the Parable at hand is a call to repentance and the fear of the Lord. Not that you should rely upon yourself and your own righteousness (which is nothing), but that you should be clothed in Christ Jesus and His righteousness and holiness by grace through faith in His Word.
Just as the City and Temple of Jerusalem were no protection against the judgment of God for those who refused and rejected His beloved Son, so it is that simply being in church, sitting in the pew, hearing the Word with your ears, and receiving the Sacrament into your body will not save you apart from faith in Christ Jesus, by which alone you are justified and holy in the presence of God.
What then? Where faith and love are lacking in your heart, soul, body, mind, and spirit, what shall you do about that? If you have soiled, forgotten, or misplaced your wedding garment, how then shall you be dressed for the King’s Banquet?
Repent of your sins and avail yourself of His Word, whereby He does and accomplishes all things. Return to the significance of your Holy Baptism by contrition and repentance, confession and Absolution. The Lord who adorned you with His righteousness in those waters to be a member of His Bride, likewise cleanses you and covers you again by and with His Word of forgiveness.
It is His Word of the Gospel that renews, strengthens, and sustains your faith and life in Him, whereby He also bears good fruits in you after His own kind. Thus do you hallow His Name and honor your Bridegroom with the good works of your calling and stations, leading a good life in holy faith and holy love by His Word and Holy Spirit.
To be sure, your sins persist in this body and life, and your works are never perfect in themselves. But where you recognize your sins and weaknesses, failures and shortcomings, take to heart the grace and mercy and forgiveness of your Lord, who loves you. Fear, love, and trust in Him, not by your own reason or strength, but by faith in His Word and promises. His judgment does not fall upon those who trust in Him and partake of His Feast in the hope and confidence of His Gospel, no matter how frail and faulty your life has been. He has called you to come, that He should feed you with Himself and all the fruits and benefits of His Cross and Resurrection.
Therefore, look to Him and wait upon His mercy. And see here how He opens wide His generous hand to give you His Meat and Drink indeed. Truly does He satisfy your body and soul with His own divine Life, with His own holy Body and precious Blood. And so does He also adorn you as His own Bride with His own Righteousness, unto the Resurrection and the Life everlasting.
In the Name + of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
