In most parts of the world, a wedding is just about the biggest, most lavish event most people will ever attend. In the villages of India, for example, the marriage rites and festivities last for three days. Preparations of food and decorations begin weeks ahead. Bride and groom alike are dressed head to toe in sumptuous fabrics of silk and brocade, gold jewelry set with precious stones, garlands of flowers around their necks the most beautiful clothes they will ever wear. The groom may ride into the village on a white horse to meet his bride. Everyone in the village, from the youngest to the oldest, from the richest to the poorest, is invited, and the bride's family personally feeds those who come to beg. No one would think of refusing the invitation, and even the poor people scrape together some bits of finery to wear. The bride and groom are almost incidental to the scene, which has a glamour and excitement of its own as people sparkle in their finery, eat and drink and make music. For a time, work is set aside, the daily grind of poverty and deprivation is forgotten, distinctions of wealth and rank are blurred. For a time, life seems full of love, joy and harmony.

And Jesus said, "The kingdom of heaven may be compared to a king who gave a wedding banquet for his son." Parties in general, and weddings in particular, figure prominently in the Biblical vision of salvation. The prophet Isaiah speaks of the day of redemption as the day when "the Lord will make for all peoples a feast of rich food, a feast of well-aged wines" on God's holy mountain (Isa. 25:6). This is the great messianic banquet when all creation is healed and God and humanity feast together. In today's text, the prophet sees the people of God as brides and grooms decked out in the garments of salvation.