All Commentaries on Matthew 22:14 Go To Matthew 22
John Chrysostom
AD 407
Hom. lxix: Forasmuch as He had said, And it shall be given to a nation bringing forth the fruits thereof,” He now proceeds to show what nation that is.
Otherwise; When the resurrection of the saints shall be, then the life, which is Christ, shall revive man, swallowing up his mortality in its own immortality. For now we receive the Holy Spirit as a pledge of the future union, but then we shall have Christ Himself more fully in us.
When the servants were sent to call them, they must have been invited before. Men have been invited from the time of Abraham, to whom was promised Christ's incarnation.
whom He sent when He said unto them, “Go not into the way of the Gentiles, but rather go to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.” .
When therefore the Lord bade the Apostles, “Go ye and preach, saying, The kingdom of heaven is at hand,” it was the same message as is here given, “I have prepared my dinner;” i. e. I have set out the table of Scripture out of the Law and the Prophets.
That He says, “And all things are now ready,” means, that all that is required to salvation is already filled up in the Scriptures; there the ignorant may find instruction; the self-willed may read of terrors; he who is in difficulty may there find promises to rouse him to activity.
non occ. sed vid. Gloss. Ord.: Or He says, “All things are now ready” which belong to the mystery of the Lord's Passion, and our redemption. He says, “Come to the marriage,” not with your feet, but with faith, and good conduct. “But they made light of it;” why they did so He shows when He adds, “And they went their way, one to his farm, another to his merchandize.”.
Or otherwise; When we work with the labour of our hands, for example, cultivating our field or our vineyard, or any manufacture of wood or iron, we seem to be occupied with our “farm;” any other mode of getting money unattended with manual labour is here called “merchandize.” O most miserable world! and miserable ye that follow it! The pursuits of this world have ever shut men out of life.
Or, by the business of a farm, He denotes the Jewish populace, whom the delights of this world separated from Christ; by the excuse of merchandize, the Priests and other ministers of the Temple, who, coming to the service of the Law and the Temple through greediness of gain, have been shut out of the faith by covetousness. Of these He said not ‘They were filled with envy,’ but “They made light of it.” For they who through hate and spite crucified Christ, are they who were filled with envy; but they who being entangled in business did not believe on Him, are not said to have been filled with envy, but to have made light of it.
The Roman army is called God’s army; because “The earth is the Lord’s, and thefulness thereof;” nor would the Romans have come to Jerusalem, had not the Lord stirred them thither.
Or; The streets are all the professions of this world, as philosophy, soldiery, and the like. And therefore He says, “Go out into the crossings of the streets,” that they may call to the faith men of every condition. Moreover, as chastity is the way that leads to God, so fornication is the way that leads to the Devil; and so it is in the other virtues and vices. Thus He bids them invite to the faith men of every profession or condition.
“The King came in to see the guests;” not as though there was any place where He is not; but where He will look to give judgment, there He is said to be present; where He will not, there He seems to be absent. The day of His coming to behold is the day of judgment, when He will visit Christians seated at the board of the Scriptures.
Or, it points to the difference of punishment inflicted on sinners. Outer darkness being the deepest, inward darkness the lesser, as it were the out-skirts of the place.
Or otherwise; Whenever God will try His Church, He enters into it that He may see the guests; and if He finds any one not having on the wedding garment, He enquires of him, How then were you made a Christian, if you neglect these works? Such a one Christ gives over to His ministers, that is, to seducing leaders, who bind his hands, that is, his works, and his feet, that is, the motions of his mind, and cast him into darkness, that is, into the errors of the Gentiles or the Jews, or into heresy. The nigher darkness is that of the Gentiles, for they have never heard the truth which they despise; the outer darkness is that of the Jews, who have heard but do not believe; the outermost is that of the heretics, who have heard and have learned.
