kings, ostentatious and incognito

 

Annas (or, Ananus) son of Seth was high priest in Jerusalem 6-15 CE. Back in the day, being high priest had been a job for life, but the Romans liked to demonstrate that they were in control by deposing high priests and appointing successors. Several influential priestly families vied for the position, but Annas remained the power behind the throne: five of his sons, and (more successfully) his son-in-law Caiaphas, all served as high priest: Eleazar (16-17 CE), Caiaphas (18-36 CE), Jonathan (36-37 CE), Theophilus (37-41 CE), Mathias (43 CE), Jonathan again (44 CE), and Ananus the Younger (63 CE—assassinated for supporting peace with Rome).

In his Gospel, or theological biography of Jesus, Matthew records Jesus teaching in Solomon’s portico in the temple complex, a space somewhat akin to Speaker’s Corner in Hyde Park. The chief priests and temple authorities come to him and ask on whose authority he is speaking: what are his credentials, and his alliances? Jesus responds in parables, or coded stories, including the one found in the Lectionary today. This is a ‘kingdom parable,’ that is, a description of the nature of the rule and reign of God on earth. Some of Jesus’ kingdom parables begin, ‘the kingdom of heaven is like...’ which is to say, this image conveys something of what God is like. Others begin, ‘the kingdom of heaven can be compared to...’ which highlights the gap between how things are and how God intends them to be. This is one of those.

A king gives a banquet for his son. The invited guests refuse to come. There is violence, from both directions. The king insists that the hall be filled. Among those present, one is not dressed according to expectations; instead his posture is perceived as an insult. The man is questioned, but remains silent. The man is dragged outside to a place of weeping and despair.

As additional background, Matthew has already recounted events of a king—Herod Antipas—throwing a party (an actual party, not a parable or fictionalised story) at which John the Baptist—a prophet sent by God—is beheaded, his disciples taking his body out for burial. This is the kind of behaviour earthly kings engage or find themselves caught up in.

After Jesus tells this parable, the temple authorities gather at the home of Caiaphas, the high priest, and decide to do away with Jesus. He is arrested and brought before them, and interrogated. Asked direct questions by Caiaphas, he remains silent. When he is compelled to answer, he is taken judged to be an offender, and taken out to die.

All of this, we need to know to understand the parable. The king is Annas, the king’s son is Caiaphas, whom Annas demands be recognised. The guests who decline the invitation are the members of the various competing priestly families, who put up their own candidates, each also engaging in skulduggery to achieve their aims. Those brought in are the crowd of pilgrims gathered within the temple, with Jesus—the one teaching there without the endorsed credentials—being the guest who was not wearing a wedding robe, the guest who will be interrogated, found guilty, and taken away to the place of weeping. The one who will be taken out, beyond the city wall, and executed.

You will always find Jesus hiding in plain sight in every parable. And in the parable that highlight the distance between how things are on earth and how God wills things to be, Jesus will always be the character who goes against the flow.

The point that Jesus is making, for which he will become a marked man—and the point that Matthew is making in how he shapes his account of Jesus—is a rejection of Annas and Caiaphas as legitimate rulers. They claim—and, indeed, ought—to represent God, to exercise and minister and reveal something of God’s sovereignty; and yet their actions are opposed to the kingdom of heaven. Indeed—as always with earthly power—they will kill to secure their position, recognising that there are many claimants but seeking to ensure that only their candidate can win (many are called, but few are chosen).

To understand this, you need to know history. But to recognise it, you need to be aware of current affairs. To be aware of the claims of Christian nationalism, whose proponents, in England and America, in Russia and Hungary, and wherever else, claim to speak for God but speak and act in stark contrast to the nature of God revealed by and through Jesus.

Jesus is the good news. And he calls us to reject the ways of earthly power.

Matthew 22.1-14

‘Once more Jesus spoke to them in parables, saying:

‘The kingdom of heaven may be compared to a king who gave a wedding banquet for his son. He sent his slaves to call those who had been invited to the wedding banquet, but they would not come. Again he sent other slaves, saying, “Tell those who have been invited: Look, I have prepared my dinner, my oxen and my fat calves have been slaughtered, and everything is ready; come to the wedding banquet.” But they made light of it and went away, one to his farm, another to his business, while the rest seized his slaves, maltreated them, and killed them.

‘The king was enraged. He sent his troops, destroyed those murderers, and burned their city. Then he said to his slaves, “The wedding is ready, but those invited were not worthy. Go therefore into the main streets, and invite everyone you find to the wedding banquet.” Those slaves went out into the streets and gathered all whom they found, both good and bad; so the wedding hall was filled with guests.

‘But when the king came in to see the guests, he noticed a man there who was not wearing a wedding robe, and he said to him, “Friend, how did you get in here without a wedding robe?” And he was speechless. Then the king said to the attendants, “Bind him hand and foot, and throw him into the outer darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.” For many are called, but few are chosen.’