This week we are
looking at an event from history where Jesus tells a parable about a wedding
invitation that reveals for us a timeless truth about the kingdom of heaven. In the midst of a
confrontation with self-righteous religious people, Jesus told a parable that
compared the kingdom of heaven to a king who gave a wedding feast for his son.
Jesus
explained that the king sent out slaves to call all of those who were invited
to the wedding feast. Now in the Jewish culture of Jesus day, during a wedding,
the bridegroom would come to pick up the bride at her parents’ house, where the
wedding feast would begin with a meal.
So what would happen
in Jesus day was that a wedding invitation would be sent to inform those
invited of the impending wedding. Then as the bridegroom began his journey to
pick up his bride, the family would send slaves to inform those who have
already been invited and who had already accepted the invitation that the time
for the wedding feast had come.
In this particular case, however, Jesus
continued by stating that those who were invited had changed their mind and
were unwilling to come. Jesus then continued the parable by revealing how the
king responded to their change of mind in Matthew 22:4-6:
"Again he sent out other slaves saying,
'Tell those who have been invited, "Behold, I have prepared my dinner; my
oxen and my fattened livestock are all
butchered and everything is ready; come to the wedding feast."' 5
"But they paid no attention and went their way, one to his own farm,
another to his business, 6 and the rest seized his slaves and
mistreated them and killed them.
Jesus explained that
the king responded to their change of mind by sending out other slaves to
remind those who he had invited about the wedding feast. You see, the reception
hall had been reserved, the caterer had been hired, all of the food had been
prepared and the bar had been stocked. The king has already made all the preparations
necessary for the feast based on the RSVP’s that he had received.
And even at this
point, although the king had already sent out slaves throughout the time
leading up to the wedding; he was still willing to send out another reminder to
those who have been invited that the feast was about to start. You see, this
second appeal revealed how much that they king had already done for the guests.
Yet, in spite of this second appeal, Jesus
explained that the king’s guests were still unwilling to come.
Now by ignoring this
second reminder, these guests were going back on their word. The guests were
disregarding and neglecting the commitment that they had previously made to the
king by rejecting the invitation. Instead of following through on their
commitment, those were invited proceeded to give a variety of excuses as to why
they were not willing to attend.
But did you notice the
common theme behind each of their excuses? You see each of their excuses
revealed the reality that they were more concerned about their own affairs than
responding to the invitation from the king. Each of the excuses demonstrated
that the invited guests had put their own selfish concerns before their
responsibility to the king. And in doing so, they demonstrated that they cared
more about themselves than the king.
Jesus then explained
that those who did not reject the invitation due to selfishness responded to
the king’s reminder by mistreating and killing the king’s messengers. Not only
did they reject the message of the invitation, they rejected the messenger as
well. Now this rejection would have been considered nothing less than a slap in
the face and a betrayal to the king by those he invited. And as Jesus continued
the parable, we see Jesus reveal the king’s response to this rejection and
betrayal in Matthew 22:7-10:
"But the king was enraged, and he sent his
armies and destroyed those murderers and set their city on fire. 8
"Then he said to his slaves, 'The wedding is ready, but those who were
invited were not worthy. 9 'Go therefore to the main highways, and
as many as you find there,
invite to the wedding feast.' 10 "Those slaves went out into
the streets and gathered together all they found, both evil and good; and the
wedding hall was filled with dinner guests.
Jesus explained that
the king was enraged by the rejection of his invitation. Now this word enraged,
literally means to be set on fire. With this word, Jesus was making it
unmistakably clear that the actions of those who had rejected the king’s invitation
ignited and provoked a response of anger. Now maybe you can relate to the king’s
emotions here? Have you ever been enraged because an invitation that you had
made to someone was rejected?
Jesus then explained
that the king responded to the rejection by doing two things. First, the king
ordered his armies to go and punish those who had rejected his invitation. But,
did you notice the reason why the king sent out his armies to punish those who
had rejected his invitation? In verse 8, the king explained to his slaves that
those who were invited were not worthy.
Now a natural question
that could arise here is “Well why were they not worthy? And why would the king
have invited them in the first place if they were not worthy?” If that question
is running through your mind, you are asking a great question.
You see, those
who were invited were not worthy because they refused to put into practice
their professed acceptance to his invitation. They originally accepted the
king’s invitation to be present at the wedding feast, but when push came to
shove, they backed away from their commitment to the king out of their own selfish
concerns and commitments. And because of their failure to practice what they
had professed, they revealed where their true allegiance was.
Second the king did
commanded his servants to go to the main highways and invite everyone that they
could find to the feast. The king responded to those who rejected his offer by
extending his offer to everyone. The king even invited those who did not seem
to have any natural status or advantages. But even though they may not have had
status or advantages, they were willing to come if invited and needed no second
invitation or reminder.
This would have been
considered a gracious offer by the king. Jesus then explained that the slaves
responded by going out and gathering together all that they could find, both
good and bad, into the wedding hall to the point that it was filled with
guests. Now once the wedding hall was filled with guests, then the feast can
begin right?
Not exactly, as we see
will see on Friday…
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