Matthew 22:12-13 (NRSVCE)
“The king 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.’”
Romans 5:20-21 “But law came in, with the result that the trespass multiplied; but where sin increased, grace abounded all the more, so that, just as sin exercised dominion in death, so grace might also exercise dominion through justification leading to eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord. ”
Let’s study this two, so confusion will not arise. The first verse shows that king who represents GOD, did not forgave his friend when he attended the banquet without the wedding robe, while the later verse according to St. Paul tackles about the super abounding grace of GOD, that whatever your sin is, GOD can forgive it through his grace.
In the New Testament, there are many things that GOD would not forgive:
First: If you would not forgive others. (Matthew 6:15 says, “… but if you do not forgive others, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.”)
Second: If you hold anything against anyone. (Mark 11:25 says, “Whenever you stand praying, forgive, if you have anything against anyone; so that your Father in heaven may also forgive you your trespasses.”)
Third: If they repent. (Luke 17:3 says, “Be on your guard! If another disciple sins, you must rebuke the offender, and if there is repentance, you must forgive.”)
Fourth: If you reject the Word. (John 12:48 says, “The one who rejects me and does not receive my word has a judge; on the last day the word that I have spoken will serve as judge,”)
Fifth: If you blaspheme the Holy Spirit. (Matthew 12:31-32 says, “ Therefore I tell you, people will be forgiven for every sin and blasphemy, but blasphemy
against the Spirit will not be forgiven. Whoever speaks a word against the Son of Man will be forgiven, but whoever speaks against the Holy Spirit will
not be forgiven, either in this age or in the age to come. ”)
Of all those five unambiguous situations, the one that relates to our verse today about the absence of the wedding robe is the fourth situation. The parable of ‘The Wedding Feast’ which enclosed our verse, is about a king who gave a wedding banquet for his son. But the firsts people he invited, rejected his invitation. The king told them to come and when people rejected the king, they rejected no other thing but his word. Those firsts invited, who rejected his word were judged. He destroyed them and did not give them mercy, they were not forgiven (verse 7). The next situation of non-forgiveness in the same parable is when a person accepted the invitation but attended without the wedding robe. We do not need to be theologian and generate doctrinal notes to the text to know what the wedding robe stands for. We can get it as if we read the parable as it stands, and analyze its details by how the story goes. The who one who attended without the garment was from the street, he belong to good and bad. He is not deserving to be invited together with all other guests. Their being there was an act of grace of the king who is GOD in our parable. As the story runs, we can say that the garment was provided by the king since he knew that this people in the street has no proper wedding garments as they were not prominent people. Therefore, the wedding garment is a gift, an act of grace to make this street people come in distinguished attire fit for the wedding of a king’s son. Thus, the wedding robe stands as the gift of grace. Grace is when you receive the gift or recognition which you do not deserve. Example of this is when we receive salvation even though we don’t deserve it because all of us have sinned. But through the Grace of GOD which is Jesus Christ (Titus 2:11-12), we earned it.
Now, if there are five cases in the New Testament where forgiveness is not obtainable, what is this increased in sins and super abounding grace that St. Paul is talking about? The answer is there, the sins brought by the Law in the Old Testament, the Decalogue. Romans 10:4 says, “For Christ is the end of the law so that there may be righteousness for everyone who believes.” But what we should believe? We should believe that from Jesus fullness we have all received, grace upon grace. The law indeed was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.” (John 1:16-17). If we come to the Father with repentance , we should remember that we obtained His forgiveness through His grace, Jesus Christ, as we are all sinners. If we reject those words of Jesus in our five situations, we reject Him, His words, and thus, we will not be forgiven.
Brothers and sisters, let’s submit to those five rules. We should repent, forgive those who sinned against us nor hold anything against anyone, we should not reject His words and most importantly, we should not speak anything against the Holy Spirit for this last thing is considered as eternal sin and cannot be forgiven, in this age and in the age to come. It’s clear that without forgiveness, there’s no salvation as Luke 1:77 says, “You will tell his people how to find salvation through the forgiveness of their sins.” Let’s now forgive one another and love one another and live according to the Holy Spirit, AMEN.
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