Parable of the Wedding Banquet - Matthew 22:1-14
22 Jesus spoke to them again in parables, saying: 2 “The kingdom of heaven is like a king who prepared a wedding banquet for his son. 3 He sent his servants to those who had been invited to the banquet to tell them to come, but they refused to come. 4 “Then he sent some more servants and said, ‘Tell those who have been invited that I have prepared my dinner: My oxen and fattened cattle have been butchered, and everything is ready. Come to the wedding banquet.’ 5 “But they paid no attention and went off—one to his field, another to his business. 6 The rest seized his servants, mistreated them and killed them. 7 The king was enraged. He sent his army and destroyed those murderers and burned their city. 8 “Then he said to his servants, ‘The wedding banquet is ready, but those I invited did not deserve to come. 9 So go to the street corners and invite to the banquet anyone you find.’ 10 So the servants went out into the streets and gathered all the people they could find, the bad as well as the good, and the wedding hall was filled with guests. 11 “But when the king came in to see the guests, he noticed a man there who was not wearing wedding clothes. 12 He asked, ‘How did you get in here without wedding clothes, friend?’ The man was speechless. 13 “Then the king told the attendants, ‘Tie him hand and foot, and throw him outside, into the darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’ 14 “For many are invited, but few are chosen.”
Reflection: As Jesus prepares for his departure, he gives yet another parable of what the kingdom of heaven is like. As he gets closer to his destination, the cross, the intensity of what he is teaching ramps up, as well as the urgency to respond to the invitation to the kingdom. The best word to describe this parable is God's invitation to us to be at the wedding feast. As they are today, wedding feasts were a day of joy and celebration and plenty to eat. But in this parable though many guests were on the list, they either refused to come because they had better things to do, or they were outright hostile to the invitation. Another way of showing how the Jews treated the prophets God sent them. But the other important theme is the desire for the King, who represents God, to have the wedding hall full.
Since the invited guests either refused or were violent toward those who invited them, the King told His servants to go to the highways and byways to "compel" them to come in. When both the "good and the bad came in", representing the Gentiles, who were invited in after the Jews rejected Jesus, there is one final twist. There was a man who was there who was not, "wearing his wedding clothes"! What does this mean? There is a concept called the visible and invisible church. There are true believers in the body of Christ, and there are those who are Christian in name only. Of course only God knows and only God will judge some day, but for now we fill up the banquet hall together.
Importantly this is not about doing more things to try and prove you are a Christian. You will notice the parable is about wearing the proper attire. To not wear the proper attire in those days was an offense to the host, in this case the King. It is an attitude of I will wear what I want and go anyways. And as we have studied before Jesus says, "I am the way, the truth and the life no one comes to the Father except by me." Just like the King today says you come to my banquet in the attire that has been provided for all those who are invited. And by application we might say we are to come properly attired, being clothed by Christ.
As Colossians 3:12 states, "Therefore, as God's chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience." These are the virtues that come by abiding in Christ by His grace and through the power of the Holy Spirit setting us apart. These are the clothes of those called by Christ and the proper attire for His wedding feast.
Jesus you have called us to the great wedding feast that has no end. And you clothed us with your robe of righteousness. Help us to keep putting on the clothes you have given us so we might be prepared for the day you return to start the feast. Amen.
Reflection: As Jesus prepares for his departure, he gives yet another parable of what the kingdom of heaven is like. As he gets closer to his destination, the cross, the intensity of what he is teaching ramps up, as well as the urgency to respond to the invitation to the kingdom. The best word to describe this parable is God's invitation to us to be at the wedding feast. As they are today, wedding feasts were a day of joy and celebration and plenty to eat. But in this parable though many guests were on the list, they either refused to come because they had better things to do, or they were outright hostile to the invitation. Another way of showing how the Jews treated the prophets God sent them. But the other important theme is the desire for the King, who represents God, to have the wedding hall full.
Since the invited guests either refused or were violent toward those who invited them, the King told His servants to go to the highways and byways to "compel" them to come in. When both the "good and the bad came in", representing the Gentiles, who were invited in after the Jews rejected Jesus, there is one final twist. There was a man who was there who was not, "wearing his wedding clothes"! What does this mean? There is a concept called the visible and invisible church. There are true believers in the body of Christ, and there are those who are Christian in name only. Of course only God knows and only God will judge some day, but for now we fill up the banquet hall together.
Importantly this is not about doing more things to try and prove you are a Christian. You will notice the parable is about wearing the proper attire. To not wear the proper attire in those days was an offense to the host, in this case the King. It is an attitude of I will wear what I want and go anyways. And as we have studied before Jesus says, "I am the way, the truth and the life no one comes to the Father except by me." Just like the King today says you come to my banquet in the attire that has been provided for all those who are invited. And by application we might say we are to come properly attired, being clothed by Christ.
As Colossians 3:12 states, "Therefore, as God's chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience." These are the virtues that come by abiding in Christ by His grace and through the power of the Holy Spirit setting us apart. These are the clothes of those called by Christ and the proper attire for His wedding feast.
Jesus you have called us to the great wedding feast that has no end. And you clothed us with your robe of righteousness. Help us to keep putting on the clothes you have given us so we might be prepared for the day you return to start the feast. Amen.
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