If it were up to me, I'd draw a thick black line underneath Matthew 22:10 and just end this parable right there. If I were allowed to edit the sacred text, I'd grab my little bottle of White-Out and paint over verses 11-14. Because up to that point this had been a fairly lovely parable of grace. Had the story concluded with verse 10, we'd be left with the happy portrait of a succulent feast being punctuated by the chatter of the guests and the clank of flatware against china. That's not how it ends, however. Instead Matthew leaves us with the bitter image of bouncers tossing someone out on his ear. We're left to hear not the clank, clatter, and chatter of a fun dinner party but the sound of wailing and gnashing of teeth.

If it were up to me, I would have cut the story off a few verses earlier. And I'm not alone: that is exactly what Luke did when he relayed this story in his gospel. So I rather like Luke's version better. But despite what the Jesus Seminar thinks, it's not up to us to decide what Jesus said and so concoct a Bible more in line with our preferences. Jesus has something to say to us in Matthew 22.