The Wedding Feast (Matthew 22:1-14)

SCRIPTURE

Matthew 22:1-14
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, 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.”

LANGUAGE

Vs 14  called - invited, appointed
Vs 14  chosen - select, favorite, chosen

COMMENT

Longer passage than usual, and a lot of things that could be focused on, but I want to deal with the main idea of repentance, a theme that I believe goes through all of the gospel of Matthew and Jesus's teachings.

Consider the first group, those who were invited to a wedding feast, but did not come. Why? As invitees, were they not acquainted with the groom's family, the king? But that did not matter to them. They just refused the invitation. The second time they were invited, they were shown all of the lavish preparations that had taken place, yet some went about their own business while others treated the messengers roughly, even killing some. It appears that their level of respect towards the king was zero.

But the wedding feast was ready! The king determined that those invited were not worthy. Why? Because by rejecting the offer, they were rejecting the king. A great feast had been prepared for them, and they snubbed it. Not worthy because they did not want to take time out of what they were doing and come. Not worthy because their level of respect for the king was zero. Perhaps they even hated and despised the king. So others were invited, both good and bad, and the feast went on as planned, just with different guests.

One man was spotted without a wedding garment. Being invited off the street to a wedding, of course the guests were not dressed for a wedding. No need, as custom dictated that appropriate wedding attire be provided. Yet one man decided that he was okay as is. Quite a slap in the face to the king, a complete lack of respect. How did he even manage to get in? The parable does not say, but it does say that once approached about his lack of wedding attire, the man had no response, he  was speechless. The king had him bound and thrown out to a place of punishment.

Then come the words that we do not want to hear, "For many are called, but few are chosen." Regardless of what you feel about predestination, these words indicate that the number of those who attain heaven is far smaller than the number of those who desire heaven. In the parable, only one man is singled out to leave. But how many others of those invited were not able to sneak in without wedding clothes? And he that did, must have tuck out like a sore thumb. What does this say about our easy-believe-ism of today? We tell people to say a prayer or even get baptized so that they can be saved. We hand them the wedding garments, but do they put them on? (Romans 13:14) Do they crucify themselves with Christ? Do they put on Jesus? Or do they just go back about their lives, tucking the wedding garment away in a closet, to be pulled out in case of emergency?