The Parable of the Wedding feast

1. The Parable ofthe WeddingFeast– 31st
August 2016
“The kingdomofheaven is like a kingwho prepared a weddingbanquetfor his son…”(Matthew22:2)
Jesustoldthe Parable of the WeddingFeastin Matthew22:1-14. This parable issimilarinsome waysto
the Parable of the Great Banquet (Luke 14:15-24), but the occasionis different,andithassome
importantdistinctions.Tobetterunderstandthe contextof thisstory,itisimportantto know some
basicfacts aboutweddingsinJesus’day.
In Jewishsociety,the parentsof the betrothedgenerallydrew upthe marriage contract.The bride and
groom wouldmeet,perhapsforthe firsttime,whenthiscontractwassigned.The couple was
consideredmarriedatthispoint,buttheywouldseparate until the actual time of the ceremony.The
bride wouldremainwithherparents,andthe groomwouldleave toprepare theirhome.Thiscouldtake
quite a while.Whenthe home wasready,the groomwouldreturnforhisbride withoutnotice.The
marriage ceremonywouldthentake place,andthe weddingbanquetwouldfollow. The wedding
banquetwasone of the mostjoyousoccasionsinJewishlifeandcouldlastforup to a week.
In thisparable,Jesuscomparesheaventoa weddingbanquetthata kinghad preparedforhissonas we
learnfromMatthew 22:2, “The kingdomofheaven islike a king who prepared a weddingbanquetfor
hisson…”.Many people hadbeeninvited,butwhenthe time forthe banquetcame andthe table was
set,those invitedrefusedtocome (verses4-5).Infact, the king’sservantswhobroughtthe joyful
message were mistreatedandevenkilled(verse 6).The king,enragedatthe response of those whohad
beeninvited,senthisarmytoavenge the deathof hisservants as we can learnfrom verse 7: “ The king
was enraged. He sent his army anddestroyed those murderers and burned their city.” He thensent
invitationstoanyone hisservantscouldfind,withthe resultthatthe weddinghall wasfiled.“Thenhe
saidto his servants,‘The weddingbanquetis ready, butthose I inviteddidnot deserve to come. 9
Sogo
to the street corners andinviteto the banquetanyone youfind.’10
So the servants went out intothe
streets andgathered all the peoplethey couldfind,the badas well as the good,and the weddinghall
was filledwithguests” (Matthew 22:8-10).
Duringthe feastthe kingnoticeda man “whowas notwearingwedding clothes”Whenaskedhowhe
came to be there withoutthe furnishedattire,the manhadnoanswer:“But when the kingcame in to
see the guests,he noticeda man there who was not wearingweddingclothes. 12
He asked, ‘How did
you get in here without wedding clothes,friend?’The man was speechless”(Matthew22:11-12).The
man waspromptlyejectedfromthe feast“outside,intothe darkness,where therewillbe weepingand
gnashingof teeth”(verses12-13). Jesusthenendsthe parable withthisstatement:“Formanyare
invited,but few are chosen.”(Matthew22: 14).
In the parable the kingisGod the Father,and the son whoisbeinghonoredatthe banquetisJesus
Christ,who“came to thatwhichwas Hisown,but hisowndidnot receive him“aswe can learnfrom
John1:11, “He came to that which washis own,but his owndid not receive him”.Israel heldthe
invitationtothe kingdom,butwhenthe time actuallycame forthe kingdomtoappeartheyrefusedto

2. believeit.Manyprophets whoadvise Israel,includingJohnthe Baptist,hadbeenmurdered.The king’s
reprisal againstthe murdererscanbe interpretedasaprophecyof Jerusalem’sdestructionin A.D.70 at
the handsof the Romans.More broadly,the king’svengeancespeaksof the desolationmentionedinthe
bookof Revelation.Godispatient,butHe will nottolerate wickedness.Judgmentwill come uponthose
whorejectHisofferof salvation. Inthe parable we mustnote that it isnot because the invitedguests
could not come to the weddingfeast,butthatthey refused to come.We can understandbyreading Luke
13:34, ““Jerusalem,Jerusalem,youwhokill the prophets andstone those sent to you, howoften I
have longedto gather your childrentogether, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings,and you
were not willing”.Everyone hadanexcuse.How tragic,and how indicative of humannature,tobe
offeredthe blessingsof Godandto refuse thembecause of the draw of mundane things!
To summarize the pointof the Parable of the WeddingFeast,GodsentHisSon intothe world,andthe
verypeople whoshouldhave celebratedHiscomingrejectedHim, bringingjudgmentuponthem.Asa
result,the kingdomof heavenwasopeneduptoanyone whowill setaside hisownrighteousnessandby
faithacceptthe righteousnessGodprovidesinChrist.Those whospurnthe giftof salvationandcling
insteadtotheirown“good” workswill lose outandspendeternityinhell. The Parable of the Wedding
Feastisalso a warningto us as Christians,tomake sure we are relyingonGod’sprovisionof salvation,
not onour own goodworksor religiousservice alone…!

3. The wedding invitation is extended to anyone and everyone, total strangers, both
good and bad. This refers to the gospel being taken to the Gentiles. This portion
of the parable is a foreshadowing of the Jews’ rejection of the gospel in Acts 13.
Paul and Barnabas werein Pisidian Antioch, wherethe Jewish leaders strongly
opposed them. The apostle’s words echo the king’s estimation that thoseinvited
to the wedding “did not deserve to come”: “We had to speak the word of God to
you first. Since you reject it and do not consider yourselves worthy of eternal life,
we now turn to the Gentiles” (Acts 13:46). Thegospel message, Jesus taught,
would be made available to everyone.
The matter of the wedding garmentis instructive. Itwould be a gross insultto the
king to refuseto wear the garment provided to the guests. The man who was
caught wearing his old clothing learned what an offenseit was as he was removed
fromthe celebration.
This was Jesus’ way of teaching the inadequacy of self-righteousness. Fromthe
very beginning, God has provided a “covering” for our sin. To insiston covering
ourselves is to be clad in “filthy rags” (Isaiah 64:6). Adamand Evetried to cover
their shame, but they found their fig leaves to be woefully scant. God took away
their handmade clothes and replaced them with skins of (sacrificed) animals
(Genesis 3:7, 21). In the book of Revelation, we see those in heaven wearing
“white robes” (Revelation 7:9), and welearn that the whiteness of the robes is
due to their being washed in the blood of the Lamb (verse14). Wetrustin God’s
righteousness, notour own (Philippians 3:9).
Just as the king provided wedding garments for his guests, God provides salvation
for mankind. Our wedding garmentis the righteousness of Christ, and unless we

4. have it, we will miss the wedding feast. When the religions of the world are
stripped down to their basic tenets, weeither find man working his way toward
God, or we find the cross of Christ. The cross is the only way to salvation (John
14:6).
For his crime againstthe king, the improperly attired guest is thrown out into the
darkness. For their crimes against God, there will be many who will be consigned
to “outer darkness”—existencewithoutGod for eternity. Christconcludes the
parable with the sad fact that “many are invited, but few are chosen.” In other
words, many people hear the call of God, but only a few heed it.
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