The Wedding Banquet is a hymn written by American Medical Mission Sister Miriam Therese Winter, based on the parable of the wedding banquet from Matthew 22. The song is about the invitation to join Jesus at a banquet where God’s love is poured out. The lyrics are copyrighted and cannot be reproduced here. The song begins with the chorus: “I cannot come to the banquet, don’t trouble me now.” The chorus then proceeds to describe the man who has married a wife, bought a cow, and had fields and commitments that cost a pretty sum. The song ends with the chorus reciting the phrase “I cannot come to the banquet,” which is a parable from Mathew 22:1-14.
The song is sung by Sue and Erin of the One Hand, One Heart Puppet/Drama Team and is accompanied by the chorus. The song encourages listeners to be part of this banquet where God’s love is poured out. The lyrics also mention the importance of discipleship and the need to gather the blind and lame for the banquet.
In summary, The Wedding Banquet is a hymn about discipleship and the invitation to join Jesus at a banquet where God’s love is poured out. The lyrics are copyrighted and can be found on various websites.
📹 I Cannot Come with Lyrics
📹 I cannot come to the banquet song with lyrics
I remember this from church as a child. We’d end up with a joyous, happy, clapping repeat of the catchy chorus, on and on. What I recall most is the oft-overlooked fact that the chorus is actually the chorus of the damned, of people who REJECT the marriage supper of the Lamb! And yet we sang it in a praising, dancing, tambourine-shaking way! My devout mother herself pointed out that absurdity even back then!
I just went over the Parable of the Wedding Feast with my daughters for home Sunday School today. Every time I hear about this parable, I think of the song, “I cannot come.” Today was the first day I tried to look it up, and there it is. So many memories! The parable itself is kind of odd – the Matthew version has some odd violent elements that don’t quite make sense, the Luke version is more reasonable. I am curious about the non-canonical Gospel of Thomas version. In any event, the parable did make for a good fun children’s choir song.
I was writing my weekly Stewardship column for our parish bulletin and basing it on the Sunday readings. The gospel is the story of the wedding feast that this song is based on. As I read the gospel, immediately, I started singing the words of this song that I had not heard in 50 years. I remembered every word of the chorus. Amazing how music can do that! Thank you for posting!
I’m finding it hilarious reading through the comments here, realizing how many other people (past and present, worldwide) did the same thing my best friend and I did so long ago, replacing the line which came out “I have bought me a wife, I have married a cow!!!” 😛 LOL. OMG! Weren’t we all just terrible?! Hehe.
Chorus: I cannot come to the banquet, I cannot come to the banquet, don’t trouble me now. I have married a wife; I have bought me a cow. I have fields and commitments that cost a pretty sum. Pray, hold me excused, I cannot come. A certain man held a feast on his fine estate in town. He laid a festive table and wore a wedding gown. He sent invitations to his neighbours far and wide but when the meal was ready, each of them replied: The master rose up in anger, called his servant by name, said: “Go into the town, fetch the blind and the lame, fetch the peasant and the pauper, for this I have willed, my banquet seem so crowded, and my table must be filled. When all the poor had assembled, there was still room to spare, so the master demanded: “Go search every where, to the highways and the byways and force them to come in. My table must be filled before the banquet can begin. Now God has written a lesson for the rest of the mankind; If we’re slow a responding, he may leave us behind. He’s preparing a banquet for that great and glorious day when the Lord and Master calls us, be certain not to say:
Very catchy tune and petticoat junction kinda sexy But should this song not be sung by a group of viking men Seems more appropriate than a group of women that got married baught land and a cow. Or is that why the ladies could not come to the banquet? I think I should begin work on a Viking mens version of this song.
As an aside, all of the excuses were bogus. What man cannot attend a banquet because he bought as cow? What man’s pretty new wife would not want to attend a wedding banquet with him? Why would the ownership of fields keep a person from attending a festive party? None of the excuses are valid. I guess our excuses are considered invalid by God.
For the record, this was sung by the Benedictine Sisters of Erie, Pa., directed by Sister Agnes Jean (who I believe was also the composer). This was sung on the Ed Sullivan show in the 60s, and the audio might be from that. I remember seeing this show. They also sang “Kumbaya” on the same show, and the episode with that song just showed up on Decades. However, I haven’t seen “I Cannot Come to the Banquet” on any of the Sullivan compilations.