The Second Coming Demythologized

The Gospel texts assigned as Sunday readings in the Common Lectionary of many churches for October and November all come from the final speech of Jesus in the Gospel of Matthew (chaps. 22–25). Most of these texts are concerned with the Second Coming, and all are difficult and uncomfortable. The parable of the great banquet, also called the marriage feast” (Matthew 22:1–14), of which the more original version is preserved in Luke 14:16–24, has been reformulated by Matthew into an allegory that condemns Israel. The reader is told that Israel did not accept the invitation to the marriage feast […]