Reading ourselves reading the Bible

For more commentary on this week's readings, see the Reflections on the Lectionary page, which includes Saunders's current Living by the Word column as well as past magazine and blog content. For full-text access to all articles, subscribe to the Century.

The hyperbole, violence, and abrupt scene changes in Matthew’s parable of the wedding feast have driven most interpreters to treat the story allegorically—thereby turning it from a dangerous puzzle to a reassuring message in code.

The most pernicious aspects of this allegorizing turn on the identification of those first invited to the feast, who not only ignore and reject the invitations but turn violent toward the king’s slaves, and then suffer destruction and the reduction of their city to ashes. These images are widely understood to refer to the plight of the Jewish people who reject Jesus and to the destruction of Jerusalem by the Romans in 70 CE. In turn, the second round of invitees, who are drawn from the streets of the city and include both good and bad, are thought to represent the (Gentile) church.