This is an allegorical parable which appears both in Matthew and Luke, with only slight differences between them. The main purpose of the story? God’s reign is like a banquet, to which all are invited. Some alas, choose to ignore the invitation; but others are quite surprised to be so honoured.

The choice of the metaphor is interesting, because very few of us would compare heaven to a non-stop wedding feast. (Matthew says so explicitly, Luke implies as much.) And yet, weddings are one social event almost all mankind can comprehend, both as a symbol of closeness – a wedding brings even strangers together – and as a symbol of festivity.

In Luke’s narrative, the invitations go out from the host, but the guests “began one and all to excuse themselves”. The servant – a tacit reference to Jesus himself ? – returns to the master disappointed. Angry, the master of the house sends him out again, “into the streets and alleys of the town, and bring me the poor, the crippled, the blind and the lame.” This is done, and still there is space. “Go out into the highways and the country lanes, and make them come in,” says the master. “I want my house to be full.”

The unstated premise of the story is the proclamation and the rejection of Jesus’s message. It is the theme of all the Gospels: “he came unto his own, and his own did not receive him.” Jesus, the Servant of Yahweh, announces the ‘good news’ -- that God’s love is lavished upon men and women everywhere. It is first announced to Israel, for they are the children of the promise. But full of themselves, the Jews disdain the invitation, as they have their own ideas about God’s gifts.

So the invitation goes out to ‘the undeserving’ pagans, those who have earlier been ‘blind’ to God’s teachings, or ‘deaf’ to his inspirations. God holds nothing against such people, but generously invites them to the ‘banquet’ of his salvation. “I want my house to be full!” he says. Men and women may quibble endlessly about ‘who is worthy’ and who is not, but God wants all mankind to share in the riches of his goodness and love.

Once again, the parable stands the conventional wisdom on its head. Why do we keep certain people out of the church? Why do we judge each other and judge ourselves about who can approach the Lord? Why does our pride keeps us away from God’s boundless mercies ?

It takes a long time to understand that “God’s ways are not our ways”.