The Rev. Sari Ateek preaches on Matthew 22:1-14, Jesus' Parable of the Wedding Banquet, relating it to the current conflict between Israel and Palestine.
According to Rev. Ateek, Jesus' parable says that God has prepared for us a "cosmic" banquet: "a thing of celebration... a thing of connection and joy and love-FAR from what we've seen this past week in Israel-Palestine." This banquet is Jesus' metaphor for the Kingdom of God: a reality available to us here and now "that mirrors the tranquility and the oneness and the goodness of God."
Jesus points the way to the Kingdom of God during a discussion with a religious scribe (Mark 12:28-34). The scribe comments that "‘to love [The Lord God] with all the heart, and with all the understanding, and with all the strength,’ and ‘to love one’s neighbor as oneself" ... is much more important than all whole burnt offerings and sacrifices”-to which Jesus responds, "You are not far from the kingdom of God." Accepting the invitation to God's great banquet is thus largely a matter of "how we choose to live and treat others, how we choose to see ourselves in relation to others, how we exercise our power in relation to others," says Rev. Ateek.
Rev. Ateek shared this prayer:
"Pray not for Arab or Jew, for Palestinian or Israeli, but pray rather for ourselves, so that we might not divide them in our prayers but keep them together in our hearts."
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