Matthew 22:1-14
The Parable of the Wedding Feast
And again Jesus spoke
to them in parables, saying, “The kingdom of heaven may be compared to a king
who gave a wedding feast for his son, 3 and sent his servants to call those who
were invited to the wedding feast, but they would not come. Again he sent other
servants, saying, ‘Tell those who are invited, “See, I have prepared my dinner,
my oxen and my fat calves have been slaughtered, and everything is ready. Come
to the wedding feast.”’ But they paid no attention and went off, one to his
farm, another to his business, while the rest seized his servants, treated them
shamefully, and killed them. The king was angry, and he sent his troops and
destroyed those murderers and burned their city. Then he said to his servants,
‘The wedding feast is ready, but those invited were not worthy. Go therefore to
the main roads and invite to the wedding feast as many as you find.’ And those servants went out into the roads
and gathered all whom they found, both bad and good. So the wedding hall was
filled with guests.
“But when the king
came in to look at the guests, he saw there a man who had no wedding
garment. And he said to him, ‘Friend,
how did you get in here without a wedding garment?’ And he was speechless. Then
the king said to the attendants, ‘Bind him hand and foot and cast him into the
outer darkness. In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’ For
many are called, but few are chosen.”[1]
This parable, along with the parables of the two sons and the
wicked tenants, should be understood against the background of the final events
in Christ’s ministry; Jesus is relating Israel’s shameful treatment of the
prophets God sent to call them to repentance. Christ’s hearers were well aware
that kings dispatched armies to destroy opponents and to set fire to their cities.
The emphasis in Verses 9-10 is on the
mercy God extends to all sinners. Yet each guest must have the proper clothes
(Vv. 11-140. The king himself provided the necessary garment. To refuse to wear
it is to show contempt for the host. The person who insulted the king, refusing
to sit at the banquet on the king’s terms, represents the self-righteous person
who rejects the righteousness God offers through Jesus Christ.
Anyone who thinks he does not need the garment of
righteousness Jesus secured for him must suffer the consequences.
The point of the
parable is that although everyone is welcome at God’s wedding feast, one can be
a guest there only on God’s terms. We must therefore take seriously God’s offer
of grace. The problem is that we sometimes make God’s gracious offer an excuse
for sinning. God invitees all sinners and provides them with the needed
garments of salvation.
1. God invites.
A. He doesn’t command people to come.
B. Yet many refuse the invitation.
2. God invites all.
A. He sends His messengers out again.
B. God show no partiality or prejudice.
When the respectable people refuse, He invites the lowly and the despise.
3. God invites on His own terms.
A. He provides for each guest the needed
wedding garment.
B. While letting Christ’s righteousness
cover our sins, we must be on guard lest we continue to love and practice sin.
The LORD Himself has
prepared a wedding dinner. What joy to hear “all things are ready!” to hear Him
invite you to receive from Him the beautiful garment of Christ’s righteousness.
[1] The Holy
Bible, English Standard Version. ESV® Text Edition: 2016. Copyright © 2001
by Crossway Bibles, a publishing
ministry of Good News Publishers.
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