tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4736427810720155529.post3688896408648474229..comments2023-08-09T07:48:53.962-04:00Comments on Bear Witness to the Light: Pour Clean Water Upon Us, LORD, And Wash Away All Our Sins.Fr. John L. Sullivanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16167510362871783781noreply@blogger.comBlogger3125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4736427810720155529.post-28071442278758418672010-08-19T14:06:18.764-04:002010-08-19T14:06:18.764-04:00Perhaps the 'friend' without a wedding gar...Perhaps the 'friend' without a wedding garment could be someone who never had a chance to live a Christian life, because they died in infancy, or something like that. They might only come to know Christ at the point of death, like the good thief. They would have a good reason for no garment. Just knowing the groom would be enough.Sarah in the tenthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13680566205364331756noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4736427810720155529.post-35711158977010147102010-08-19T10:48:19.840-04:002010-08-19T10:48:19.840-04:00Sarah, your comment that the parable of the guest ...Sarah, your comment that the parable of the guest who came to the wedding banquet and the parable of the sheep and the goats are "tied in" is on the mark. And so is your conclusion that "It's almost as though the messianic promises go into reverse and become curses."<br /><br />But the point is that these are parables: stories told by the teacher [Jesus] to the children [his disciples] reminding them to keep their wedding garment clean and ready to wear. Don't be like the bridesmaids whose lamps were out of oil when the groom arrived.Fr. John L. Sullivanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16167510362871783781noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4736427810720155529.post-81455945859850765732010-08-19T09:56:44.929-04:002010-08-19T09:56:44.929-04:00'He said to him, ‘My friend, how is it that yo...'He said to him, ‘My friend, how is it that you came in here without a wedding garment?’<br />But he was reduced to silence.<br />Then the king said to his attendants, ‘Bind his hands and feet, and cast him into the darkness outside, where there will be wailing and grinding of teeth.’<br /><br />At a wedding, the parents of the bride or groom often encounter people they do not know themselves, but who are good friends of their children. Perhaps the guest might have been able to excuse the lack of a wedding garment if he had said: 'I know your son.' The king seems to be expecting him to explain himself satisfactorily somehow, because he calls him 'my friend'.<br /><br />Maybe this would tie in with the parable of the sheep and the goats - who did not know Jesus in the needy.<br /><br />Is it significant that the unfortunate guest starts off mute, then is tied hand and foot and cast into darkness - a kind of blindness? It's almost as though the messianic promises go into reverse and become curses.Sarah in the tenthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13680566205364331756noreply@blogger.com