When Jesus came he spent all his time proclaiming his message to his own people. There are very few instances in the Gospel where Jesus deals with non-Jews. The proclamation of the Gospel message is compared today to a king who organised a wedding feast for his son. The people invited to the wedding are clearly God's Chosen People. But, when the invitations are sent out, one after another they send excuses why they cannot come to the wedding banquet.

Not only that, some of them even attacked and killed the servants carrying the invitation. The king then became very angry, killed the murderers and burnt down their city. Those listening could clearly understand that Jesus was referring to the destruction of the city of Jerusalem which had taken place by the time this gospel was written. The invitation is then extended to as many people as could be found, good and bad alike, until the wedding hall is filled. But when the king goes into the wedding hall, he finds a man not wearing a wedding garment and he is expelled.

The message is a clear description of how many of the Chosen People rejected the call to follow Jesus and how that invitation was extended to 'outsiders'. But, even with them, it is not enough to be 'at the banquet'; they must be fully part of the wedding celebration. We have been called, we are members of the community but are we living the call of the Kingdom?