Matthew 22:1-14 The Wedding Feast

Jesus spoke to them again in parables, saying, "The kingdom of heaven may be compared to a king who gave a wedding feast for his son.  And he sent out his slaves to call those who had been invited to the wedding feast, and they were unwilling to come.  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."'  But they paid no attention and went their way, one to his own farm, another to his business,  and the rest seized his slaves and mistreated them and killed them.  But the king was enraged, and he sent his armies and destroyed those murderers and set their city on fire.  Then he said to his slaves, 'The wedding is ready, but those who were invited were not worthy.  Go therefore to the main highways, and as many as you find there, invite to the wedding feast.'  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.   "But when the king came in to look over the dinner guests, he saw a man there who was not dressed in wedding clothes,  and he said to him, 'Friend, how did you come in here without wedding clothes?' And the man was speechless.  Then the king said to the servants, 'Bind him hand and foot, and throw him into the outer darkness; in that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.'  For many are called, but few are chosen." [Matthew 22:1‭-‬14 NASB]

A little over a year ago, Prince Harry married Meghan Markle. It was the event of the year in England, and was even televised throughout the United States. The invitees to the wedding were the great and noble, the rich and famous. People flew from around the world to attend, because of the honor and prestige of being invited to a princes wedding.

A princes wedding feast would have been just as prestigious in Jesus' day as is today. Receiving an invitation would have been a great honor, and would have been of great benefit to the attendees socially and in business. To refuse such an invitation makes no sense. And that's the point.

Jesus is still speaking to the priests and elders of Israel. They are the ones invited to the feast, God is the king, and Jesus is the Son. Through His parable, Jesus is prophesying that Israel will reject the Messiah, and be destroyed, and that God's favor would turn elsewhere.

God extends His grace to everyone, including those whom society deem good or evil. All are invited equally.

This parable exposes three types of people who will not attend the wedding feast (enter the kingdom of heaven). First there are those who ignore the invitation. They go back to their farms or back to their business. The most common response to the gospel is to ignore it. "That's just religious talk. Let me get back to my ball game." They think that if they ignore it, it will go away.

The second group are those who mistreated and killed the kings slaves. They represent the people who are antagonistic to the gospel. In many countries around the world, Christians endure tremendous persecution. They are beaten, tortured and killed because of their faith in Jesus. Here in America, things aren't that bad. But there are powerful groups who would strip away our rights to worship freely. There are articles almost daily about the antagonism directed at Chick-fil-A because the owner is a Christian who believes in the Biblical definition of marriage. That is only one example of the attacks that are coming at Christians in America. It's not outright persecution. Yet.

The third group really messes with the minds of some theologians. In the parable, he heard and accepted the invitation, and was ushered into the banquet hall. Then he was found unworthy. There is a pithy Christian expression, "Once saved, always saved." Some people believe that once they have accepted the invitation to make Jesus their Lord, they can then live their life as they see fit. It's like they have a free pass. But Hebrews makes it very clear that this is not the case. "For in the case of those who have once been enlightened and have tasted of the heavenly gift and have been made partakers of the Holy Spirit, and have tasted the good word of God and the powers of the age to come, and then have fallen away, it is impossible to renew them again to repentance, since they again crucify to themselves the Son of God and put Him to open shame." [Hebrews 6:4-6 NASB]

Jesus said, "For many are called, but few are chosen." The invitation has been issued to everyone. The chosen are those who accept His invitation and live their lives for Him.