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 The Parable of the Wedding Banquet
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.”

 Today's parable is about a king who threw a wedding banquet for his son.  The list of invites were made and the invitations were sent out.  The wedding banquet was all prepared for his son, but there was only one problem.  No one came, much to the king's chagrin.  So the king sent his servants on a mission to bring those invited to the wedding.  He even motivated them by a hearty menu of beef, and lots of it.  Not only did those invited refuse to come, they even beat the king's servants.  The king was furious and his retribution swift and final. 

 Undeterred by the rejection of the original invitees, the king told his servants to go out and bring as many in as they could find.  He wanted the banquet hall full regardless of the types of characters who might wander in.  The good and the bad filled the hall in anticipation of a great feast.  But there was one man not wearing any wedding clothes.  Now comes the challenging part.  We don't know what the wedding clothes were or why there was an expectation that he should be wearing them.  Regardless of his intentions, the king was once again furious.  So furious in fact that he threw him out into the darkness where there was weeping and gnashing of teeth.  The idea is one of deep regret for missing out on something that was so readily available but you denied. 

 So what does it mean that the man forgot to or intentionally did not wear wedding clothes? Commentators think that guests were given wedding attire as part of their invitation as was the custom in Jewish culture. So for the man not to wear wedding clothes was a blatant "diss" to the king.  There was obviously something serious he did wrong.   Even more challenging is the last line of the parable, "Many are invited but few are chosen."  Would this mean that even though the man was invited he was not chosen?  And did this have something to do with his not having the right wedding clothes on?

 I wish I had all the answers to these questions but we can come up with a few conclusions/hypotheses:

 1. God wants his wedding banquet (heaven) full.
2. Though God originally sent invitations to his people (the Jews) they rejected His Son.
3. God sent his servants (the apostles) to invite all people (Gentiles) to the wedding banquet.
4. The wedding clothes represent the robes of righteousness (grace)we receive through Christ by faith. 
5.  To reject the gift of grace (the free wedding garment) is to reject the invitation to the banquet, which in essence of rejecting the son.

 Ok these answers are probably not perfect but I think it gets us closer to what Jesus was teaching.  The main thing is God has invited all people to come to Him through His Son. God wants all people to be at the wedding banquet in heaven.  Though he desires all people to be saved, some reject his free gift and will end up in darkness forever wishing they would have responded to the great inviation to the great banquet! Have you accepted the invitation?  Are you coming wearing the right clothes?  Assuming there are still some spots are you inviting your friends to come with you?


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