An invitation to a wedding is an honor extended to the invitee and a grace flowing from the one doing the inviting.
This was real life in that day of arranged marriages. Jesus chose an event this common and this important to teach about the Kingdom of God. Here is the elaborate parable: The one whose son is getting married is not some ordinary guy—he is a king. Everyone knows his name and lives in his shadow. It would follow that an invitation to the wedding of a prince would be treasured by all who were chosen.
Rejection in the Kingdom
Such was not the case. The guest list was a large one as servants hand-delivered invitations throughout the kingdom. For a reason we are not given, those invited to the wedding refused the invitation. The king sent more servants to the chosen ones with details of the royal preparations. It was time to come to the feast. They made fun of the king and went about the more important details of their self-centered lives. They even killed the king’s messengers. It is not good to reject and then insult a king and then kill his men. He sent an army to destroy both them and their city.
Highways and Hedges
Rejected by the elites in his kingdom, the king turned to strangers who happened to be on their way somewhere else, inviting them to the wedding feast. The banquet hall was filled and the king made some new friends. There was great rejoicing among the common folk who had never attended a royal banquet before. They had never eaten so well and had never been entertained as wonderfully well. The frowning faces of the king’s “friends” were soon forgotten as the king enjoyed the feasting of a whole new set of friends. With the city of those who rejected him destroyed, he was going to new leaders! He started scanning the crowd for untapped talent.
The Wedding Garment
There was one person who came unprepared, willfully insulting the king by accepting the invitation and then choosing to dress improperly. At issue was something called a wedding garment. The details of this are lost to ancient history. The king spoke kindly to the man, calling him “friend.” He asked why he had refused the king’s required garment but the man had no answer. This pushed the king too far and he dealt harshly with the unprepared man.
Our Invitation to the Feast
The application of this parable is easy to see. We have been invited to feast with heaven! Just as the Israelites ate manna in the wilderness on their way to the Promised Land, we may feast daily on manna from heaven—the Word of God and the presence of King Jesus! All are invited to this feast but many refuse the invitation. Their refusal of the divine invitation eliminates them from the fellowship of the saints. They want to enjoy the benefits of the banquet without putting on the wedding garment. What is the wedding garment for us? It is the salvation of our souls by the Lord Jesus Himself, Master of the Feast. We need the robes of righteousness only He can provide. If we depend on our goodness, we will be cast out of the feast. With the Robes of Righteousness from Jesus, we can pull up a chair!
Scriptures:
Matthew 22:1-14
And Jesus answered and spoke to them again by parables and said: “The kingdom of heaven is like a certain king who arranged a marriage for his son, and sent out his servants to call those who were invited to the wedding; and they were not willing to come. Again, he sent out other servants, saying, ‘Tell those who are invited, “See, I have prepared my dinner; my oxen and fatted cattle are killed, and all things are ready. Come to the wedding.”‘ But they made light of it and went their ways, one to his own farm, another to his business. And the rest seized his servants, treated them spitefully, and killed them. But when the king heard about it, he was furious. And he sent out his armies, destroyed those murderers, and burned up their city. Then he said to his servants, ‘The wedding is ready, but those who were invited were not worthy. Therefore go into the highways, and as many as you find, invite to the wedding.’ So those servants went out into the highways and gathered together all whom they found, both bad and good. And the wedding hall was filled with guests. “But when the king came in to see the guests, he saw a man there who did not have on a wedding garment. So he said to him, ‘Friend, how did you come in here without a wedding garment?’ And he was speechless. Then the king said to the servants, ‘Bind him hand and foot, take him away, and cast him into outer darkness; there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’ “For many are called, but few are chosen.”
Prayer:
Lord Jesus, I have received Your invitation to the Feast. I joyfully take my place at Your table today. Fill my hungry soul with delightful things from Your Word and with the sweetness of the fellowship of the saints. As the scriptures invite me, “O taste and see that the Lord is Good!” this is my plan for today. As You lead me through the highways and hedges of this life, help me extend Your invitation to those who do not know they are invited to this feast. I will tell them of the beautiful wedding garment of salvation, the only covering for their sins. Help me make new friends today—all for the feast You have prepared for us! Amen.
Song:
Come to the Feast
Words: Charles H. Gabriel; Music: W.A. Ogden
1. “All things are ready,” come to the feast!
Come, for the table now is spread;
Ye famishing, ye weary, come,
And thou shalt be richly fed.
Refrain:
Hear the invitation,
Come, “whosoever will”;
Praise God for full salvation
For “whosoever will.”
2. “All things are ready,” come to the feast!
Come, for the door is open wide;
A place of honor is reserved
For you at the Master’s side.
Refrain
3 “All things are ready,” come to the feast!
Come, while He waits to welcome thee;
Delay not while this day is thine,
Tomorrow may never be.
Refrain
4 “All things are ready,” come to the feast!
Leave ev’ry care and worldly strife;
Come, feast upon the love of God,
And drink everlasting life.
Refrain.
