God of Old Testiment Versus the New

It’s a common misconception and a widely held belief that the God of the Old Testament (OT) is different than the God of the New Testament (NT). That the God of the OT is a God of wrath, violence, and judgement and the God of the NT is a God of mercy, grace, and love. And then we encounter our gospel lesson for this Sunday–a red-letter passage (i.e., in Jesus’ own words), which portrays God as the King who invites guests to a wedding feast for His son and when those invited refuse to come, the King (aka God) is enraged and kills them and burns their city (Matt 22:7)–all reminiscent of many scenes in the OT. Then later, after the banquet hall is filled with the city’s riffraff, the King (aka God) notices a man “not wearing a wedding robe” and instead of being merciful and forgiving like the NT God we know and love so much, the King (aka God) has him bond hand and foot and thrown “into the outer darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth” (Matt 22:13). How do we reconcile these various images of God? I don’t know yet, but hopefully by this Sunday’s sermon I’ll have something figured out. Join us at 11:00 in person or Live on FB.

Matt 22:14: “For many are called, but few are chosen.”