Gospel in Art: Tell those who are invited, 'See, I have prepared a dinner'

The invitation to King George III's Coronation, Depicting the coronation of King George III and Queen Charlotte on 22 September 1761, the oldest surviving invite in the British monarchy's history © Royal Archives, Buckingham Palace

Source: Christian Art

Gospel of 11 October 2026
Matthew 22:1-10

At that time: Jesus again spoke to the chief priests and the elders of the people, in parables, saying, 'The kingdom of heaven may be compared to a king who gave a wedding feast for his son, and sent his servants to call those who were invited to the wedding feast, but they would not come. Again he sent other servants, saying, "Tell those who are invited, 'See, I have prepared my dinner, my oxen and my fat calves have been slaughtered, and everything is ready. Come to the wedding feast.' " But they paid no attention and went off, one to his farm, another to his business, while the rest seized his servants, treated them shamefully, and killed them. The king was angry, and he sent his troops and destroyed those murderers and burned their city. Then he said to his servants, "The wedding feast is ready, but those invited were not worthy. Go therefore to the main roads and invite to the wedding feast as many as you find." And those servants went out into the roads and gathered all whom they found, both bad and good. So the wedding hall was filled with guests.'

Reflection on the Invitation Card

There is an important difference between an invitation and a command. A command tells us what we must do; an invitation leaves us free to respond. Throughout our lives we receive countless invitations. Some we accept with enthusiasm, others we politely decline, and quite a few we simply ignore. And perhaps that is a helpful way of thinking about how God approaches us. God gives us both. God certainly gives us commandments, but so much of our relationship with him begins with an invitation: Come. Follow me. Remain in me. Come to the feast.

That is at the heart of the parable Jesus tells us today. A king prepares a wedding banquet for his son and sends out his invitations. Yet astonishingly, those who have been invited refuse to come. But the king does not cancel the banquet. The tables remain prepared. The feast is still waiting. Instead, he sends his servants out again, this time into the streets, inviting others to come. There is something beautiful here about the persistence of God. When we ignore Him, God does not simply give up on us. He calls again. He reaches out again. He invites again. His desire is that his house should be full and that as many as possible should share in the feast of his life and love.

Today's artwork shows an invitation to a rather extraordinary banquet! This is the oldest surviving coronation invitation in the history of the British monarchy, produced for the coronation of King George III and Queen Charlotte at Westminster Abbey on 22 September 1761. It is a wonderfully elaborate object. At its centre we see the young royal couple seated side by side, surrounded by the splendour of the Abbey, while angels hover above them and the assembled guests look on. George and Charlotte appear remarkably comfortable together, even holding the orb and cross between them. You might imagine a couple who had known one another for years.

The reality was rather different. George III was only twenty-two and had become king the previous year. His bride, Charlotte of Mecklenburg-Strelitz, was a seventeen-year-old German princess whom he had never met. A marriage had been arranged, Charlotte travelled to England, and remarkably the couple were married only hours after meeting for the first time, just two weeks before their coronation. Yet what particularly interests us today is the object itself: an invitation. To receive such an invitation in 1761 must have been an extraordinary honour. But the Gospel places before us an infinitely greater invitation! We are not being invited to witness the coronation of an earthly king; we are being invited by the King of Heaven himself to His banquet.

LINKS

Christian Art: www.christian.art
Today's Reading: https://christian.art/daily-gospel-reading/matthew-22-1-10-2026/