Jesus often made unusual and uncomfortable comparisons in his parables to challenge the assumptions of his listeners. We are as confused, and surprised by this story, as those who first heard it. We don’t know what to do with those scriptures which reverse the rules as we know them, especially challenging our conceptions about who is in and who is out. The temptation is to ignore them, or explain them away. We get the connection between the kingdom and people being invited in from the streets, but then there is the unexpected and extreme behavior of the king toward one of the guests.