Matthew 22:1-14
1 Jesus spoke to them again in
parables, saying, 2 “The kingdom of heaven may be
compared to a king who gave a wedding feast for his son. 3 “And
he sent out his slaves to call those who had been invited to the wedding feast,
and they were unwilling to come. 4 “Again
he sent out other slaves saying, ‘Tell those who have been invited, “Behold, I
have prepared my dinner; my oxen and my fattened livestock are all butchered
and everything is ready; come to the wedding feast.”’ 5 “But
they paid no attention and went their way, one to his own farm, another to his
business, 6 and the rest seized his slaves and
mistreated them and killed them. 7 “But
the king was enraged, and he sent his armies and destroyed those murderers and
set their city on fire. 8 “Then he said to his slaves, ‘The
wedding is ready, but those who were invited were not worthy. 9 ‘Go
therefore to the main highways, and as many as you find there, invite
to the wedding feast.’ 10 “Those slaves went out into the
streets and gathered together all they found, both evil and good; and the
wedding hall was filled with dinner guests.
11 “But when the king came in to look
over the dinner guests, he saw a man there who was not dressed in wedding
clothes, 12 and he said to him, ‘Friend, how
did you come in here without wedding clothes?’ And the man was
speechless. 13 “Then the king said to the
servants, ‘Bind him hand and foot, and throw him into the outer darkness; in
that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’ 14 “For
many are called, but few are chosen.”
Jesus continues to teach in parables about the kingdom and
those who will participate in it. He
turns from the vineyard illustration to that of a wedding feast. God is preparing a marvelous wedding between
the Son and His bride. He desires for this
wedding to be filled with those who celebrate and worship Him. It is a wonderful thing to be invited to the
wedding of the ages. It is an even more
wonderful thing to be invited to be the bride at that wedding. This parable describes how different people
respond to this glorious invitation. God
is on mission to fill this wedding with those who will rejoice and worship in
the love of the Son. This is God’s
priority in the world. Our priority must
be to make sure that we have responded correctly to His loving invitation and then
be intentional about inviting others to come and participate with us in this glorious
celebration.
ISRAEL REJECTS THE GOSPEL: The wedding feast is God’s
invitation to a relationship with Him through His Son. God’s plan was to offer this gift of
salvation through the nation of Israel and then from them to all the nations of
the world. This is what God revealed to
Abraham. However, though they had been
invited with ample time, when the date came, they refused to come. There were several reactions. Some simply ignored the invitation and went
about their business. Others mistreated
the messengers who invited them to come.
Still others, killed those messengers.
Many in Israel were not necessarily antagonistic towards Christ, they
simply did not believe. However, there
were some who outright rejected and hated Jesus to the point of killing Him and
those who were sent to call others to Him.
These same reactions will occur today.
As we seek to share Christ with people, some will ignore, others will argue
and debate, while some will become violent.
It is hard to understand how such a wonderful invitation to enjoy such a
glorious relationship could be ignored much less inspire violence. But man’s hart that is prone to self-idolatry
will often lead men to reject any call to worship God.
GENTILES RECEIVE THE GOSPEL: When the original guests rejected
their invitation to the feat, he sends his servants to the highways and byways
to invite whomsoever was found that was willing to come. God is determined to fill heaven with those
who will worship Him for eternity. The
rejection by many of the nation of Israel will not thwart His mission of having
people from all nations worshiping Him.
He has called His ministers to go into all the world and make disciples
of all nations. This glorious feast will
be full of people no matter what their age, social status, ethnicity or gender. He invites all people everywhere to come to
this glorious place He has prepared for us to spend eternity. By His grace and because of His kind
invitation, many receive the Gospel by placing their faith in Christ and mercifully
find themselves with the joy of a relationship with Him. None of us deserve to be saved, it is only by
His grace. His love for us is so great
and His desire to see us rejoicing in a relationship with Him is so strong that
He insists that all men everywhere be given this glorious invitation. We how have received this invitation ought to
be actively involved in the Mission of inviting others.
MANY REFUSE THE GOSPEL: Lest there be some misunderstanding
about the Gospel, Jesus tells of a person who came to the wedding feast without
the proper clothing. It is my
understanding that in this culture the host provided the clothing for the guests. Apparently, this guest refused the clothing
provided by the host, considering that his clothing was either sufficient or
superior. There are those who believe
that they can come into fellowship with the Father in their own
righteousness. There is no one who has
this ability all men are only saved by faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. Apart from Him there is no covering for sin
and no forgiveness. Those who attempt to
come to God in their own righteousness have refused the Gospel that has been
offered to them and will be eternally lost.
The Father’s invitation is to come into relationship with Him through
faith in His Son who was sent as our sacrifice for sin. This is the invitation we are called to
proclaim so that all who believe might enjoy the wedding with us.
APPLICATION: Guard our hearts from self-importance that will
draw us away from intimacy with God.
Faithfully proclaim the Gospel to others who need to hear the glorious
Gospel of Jesus. Never trust in our own merits
for any kind of standing before the Lord.
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