Matthew 22 - Parable of the Wedding Banquet

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Wedding Banquet

Jesus continues with another parabale on "what kingdom of heaven is like". This time the analogy is a wedding banquet. Wedding receptions are a big deal today. Much time and money is spent getting the perfect venue and trimming the guest list to make the wedding affordable for the bride’s dad. Lol.  Weddings were a little different in Jesus' day. 

Barclay says that when a great social event happened in the Jewish culture of that day, people were invited but without a set time. On the appropriate day, when the host was ready to receive the guests, they sent out messengers to say that all things were ready and it was time to come to the feast.

In many weddings the guest list can become a bone of contention. Who should we invite?  Family, past friends, new friends? How is it prioritized? Should uncle we haven’t heard from in 20 years be invited? Would he be offended if he were spurned?  

But one thing is for sure if someone was invited we expect for them to RSVP, so the family could invite someone else in their place, if they can’t make it.  The king in Jesus’ parable is in a similar situation. The banquet is ready, but those who have been invited have not shown up. So the king sends his servants but the invitees refuse.  The kings sends them out again, and they are even more hostile and mistreat the servants (representing the prophets who came to Israel). 

At the end of the day the king sends his servants out to the “highways and byways”. Why?  He wants his banquet hall to be full.  I.e. God wants heaven to be full. While the people we share the gospel with may refuse God’s free gift of grace in Christ, we should keep on inviting people into the kingdom. Once again we are reminded that the people we think unlikely to have a seat at the banquet will be there. 

Think of someone you view as a “big sinner”. They may be at the heavenly feast with you!   

Paying the Imperial Tax to Caesar

The Pharisees were always trying to trip up Jesus in some matter of the law or to turn public opinion against him. In this case they asked him if he would pay the tax to Caesar. If he said "yes: the would accuse him of colluding with the hated Roman empire. If he said "no" they would accuse him of being a law breaker. 

Then Jesus, the smartest man who ever lived, took the coin and pointed to the face on the coin. It was Caesar. He said the famous words, "Render unto Caesar that which is Caesar's and to God what is God's".   Jesus in effect said as a citizen it is your duty to pay the tax. 

Jesus affirmed that the government makes legitimate requests of us. We are responsible to God in all things, but we must be obedient to government in matters civil and national. - Guzik

This passage is used as a text to point out a Christian’s civic duty is to obey the laws of the land. But there is an ethical argument that has been posed throughout history.  What if the government calls you to do something contrary to God’s will?  

In Acts 5:29 Peter and the apostles are commanded to stop preaching in Jesus’ name to which he said, “We must obey God rather than man!”

Where might some areas in our world today where we might be called to obey God rather than men? 

Marriage at the Resurrection

Many of us wonder what heaven will be like. We can only imagine it through our human lenses. We ask questions like the disciples did today. Will I be married in heaven if I was on earth? Will my Christian friends be there? Will there be golf in heaven? (maybe that is just me LOL)  Jesus teaches them heaven will be so different than our reality here our earthly constructs will not do it justice. 

If it seems that life in the resurrection that Jesus spoke of here does not include some of the pleasures of life we know on earth, it is only because the enjoyments and satisfactions of heaven far surpass what we know on earth. We can’t be completely certain what life in glory beyond will be like, but we can know with certainty that no one will be disappointed with the arrangements (Revelation 22:1-5). - Guzik

One thing he does say is we will be like “angels in heaven”. What does this mean? The main job of an angel is to stand before the throne of God and praise Him morning, noon, and night. 

Think of your absolute most amazing and inspiring worship experience.  This is a foretaste of heaven. That is one of the reasons why it is so important for us to gather each week corporately for worship. Why?  Because we are ALL at choir practice for heaven. 

The Greatest Commandment

Sometimes we make the Christian life a lot more complicated than it needs to be. Jesus sums it up for the Pharisees quite simply, "Love God with all your heart, soul, strength, and mind. And love your neighbors as yourselves."

Think of how much better our world would be if we heeded the great commandment ever for just MOST of the time. We often characterize the Great Commandment as consisting of two things.  Our vertical (north/south) relationship with God, and our horizontal (east/west) relationships with others. 

When you love God it flows into how you love others. As 1 John says, "How can you say you love God and not love your brother or sister." Another way of looking at it is if you received God's unconditional love, you can't help but love others in the same. This is why it so important to fully understand how much God loves you by sending His Son to die on the cross for you.

Though this is the greatest commandment, we all fall far short of fully complying with it. In our Lutheran confession we say, "I have sinned againsst you in thought, word, and deed. By what I have done and by what I have left undone. I have not loved you with my whole heart, or my neighbors as myself."  

For Martin Luther the most important purpose of the Law is that it leads us to Christ. The Law looks into our souls and reveals the truth about us and God. The Law convicts us of our sin and reveals our need for a Savior. 

Jesus as the Messiah

There are certain aspects of Jesus' nature which can't be fully understood with human logic. I.e. How can Jesus be fully God and fully human? How can Jesus be conceivecd by an immaculate conception? Jesus tests the Pharisees on their understanding of the nature of the Messiah. He asks them, "Whose Son is he?" Of course like any Jewish they would have said, "He is the Son of David". But then Jesus quotes Psalm 110, where David describes the Messiah as his Lord. 

The Pharisees were partially right in saying that the Messiah is the Son of David. But they didn’t have a complete understanding of who the Messiah is. He is not only David’s Son (a reference to His humanity), but He is also David’s Lord (a reference to the deity of Jesus, the Messiah). - Guzik

Why do you think it is so important that Jesus is both 100% human and 100% divine? Hint: It has do with the cross and how and why we are saved!