Wedding Garment

Biblical Text

The wedding garment appears at the end of the Parable of the Wedding Feast in Matthew 22:1–14. A king prepares a marriage feast for his son, but those first invited do not come. His servants then gather everyone they meet in the highways, "both bad and good," until the wedding is furnished with guests (Matthew 22:10). Seeing among the guests a man without a wedding garment, the king asks, "Friend, how camest thou in hither not having a wedding garment?" The man is speechless, and the king has him bound hand and foot and cast into outer darkness (Matthew 22:11–13). The parable closes with the words "For many are called, but few are chosen" (Matthew 22:14). A similar feast parable appears in Luke 14:15–24, but the episode of the wedding garment is found only in Matthew.

Background

The original Greek expression means "garment of the wedding." A commonly repeated explanation holds that the host of the feast distributed garments to the guests, so that failing to wear one was an inexcusable offense. Passages such as 2 Kings 10:22, in which vestments are brought out for an occasion, are sometimes cited in support. However, there is no firm evidence that such a custom existed at first-century Jewish wedding feasts, and the text itself does not say that the king provided the garment.

Significance in the Wider Bible

In Scripture, clothing frequently serves as a symbol of a person's condition or status. Isaiah 61:10 likens salvation and righteousness to garments, and in Zechariah 3 the filthy garments of Joshua the high priest are taken away and he is clothed in fine new apparel. The New Testament carries this symbolism forward in expressions such as "have put on Christ" (Galatians 3:26–29) and "put on the new man" (Ephesians 4:22–24; Colossians 3:10). Speaking of the marriage supper of the Lamb, Revelation 19 explains that the fine linen worn by the bride "is the righteousness of saints" (Revelation 19:8).

Interpretations and Issues

• The righteousness of Christ: In the Lutheran and Reformed traditions, the garment is often read as the righteousness of Christ, with which God freely clothes the believer. This interpretation is closely connected to the doctrine of justification.
• A holy life: Augustine is reported to have interpreted the garment as love. John Wesley is said to have explained it as holiness in his sermon on the wedding garment, a reading consistent with the emphasis on sanctification in Wesleyan theology. The Catholic tradition likewise generally understands it as a life lived in grace.
• A combined view: Many interpreters hold that the garment signifies both freely received righteousness and the life that follows from it.

The final verse (Matthew 22:14) is also frequently cited in discussions of predestination that address the relationship between calling and election. The scene of the man's expulsion is sometimes read in connection with the Last Judgment.

In the Korean Church

In Korean church preaching, the wedding garment is commonly explained as "the garment that the saved must wear." The passage is frequently used as a warning that merely being inside the church is not enough, or as an exhortation to live a life worthy of the salvation received by grace.