Matthew 22:1-14

Introduction

Open your Bibles to Matthew 22

And as you find your way there, remember that Jesus is in Jerusalem in the final days of His earthly ministry.

And He is currently focusing His time on calling out the religious leaders of Israel who refuse to believe in Him.

worse than that, they are actively working against Him and leading the people away from the salvation He is bringing.

So today Jesus will continue His warnings to these religious leaders so that they would also believe, repent, and be saved.

Text

Matthew 22:1 ESV

And again Jesus spoke to them in parables, saying,

Again, a parable is a short, fictional story that compares God’s kingdom to our life on earth.

And usually the characters and elements of a parable have a parallel in real life.

So I will leave this list of characters up for us to reference throughout the parable.

Parable Characters

1. King - God the Father

2. Son - Jesus

3. Bride - The Church

4. Wedding - The Last Day

5. Guests - Israel / Leaders

Matthew 22:2–3 ESV

“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.

So, first of all, the King is of the Father. And His son, is Jesus.

And there is a mention of a wedding, but Jesus was never married. So what could that mean?

Well, Jesus is often called the bridegroom, and His bride is the Church. Not literally, it’s a metaphor.

And this wedding feast of Christ and His people, that’s when Jesus comes back to judge the living and the dead. That day when He raises the dead and brings His people into Heaven forever, that moment is the consummation of Jesus and His people, the church.

So, long story short, The father has prepared this beautiful and extravagant feast, this everlasting life, this resurrection life forever through His son. And He has invited many people.

But when the people are invited, they could not care less!

These invited guests represent the people of Israel and their leaders. These are the people Jesus has been speaking to, inviting into the kingdom, and warning concerning their lack of faith.

But the King, the father, he wants there to be many people at the feast. So He sends more servants.

Parable Characters

First Servants - The OT Prophets

Second Servants - The Church

City - Jerusalem

Garments - Faith and Repentance

Matthew 22:4–6 ESV

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.

Notice how the father makes multiple attempts to invite these guests? He does so with the greatest kindness and humility. He does so by offering the most enticing things.

This is the best invitation anyone will ever receive. Not only is this a premium, high class party, but you are also being invited by the KING. it is only a pleasure to attend, but the highest privilege.

But for some odd reason, the guests are not interested. But then they do something odd.

Rather than just turning down the invitation, they punish the father for inviting them! they go to His house, His business and destroy those, and they round up His servants and kill them.

This is what happened when God sent His prophets to His people, calling them over and over to be His. But they did not care, and they even killed the messengers, most notably, John the Baptist, the greatest prophet.

But even later, after Jesus is raised again, they still would not listen, and they killed the Apostles that Jesus sent.

Again, this is completely irrational, unjustified behavior. Why would they do this?

And at this point, the gracious and kind King has has enough:

Matthew 22:7–8 ESV

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.

Here’s the thing, the guests were invited, not because they had worth of their own, but because the King was kind and gracious, sharing His abundance freely.

All they had to do was show up humbly and enjoy themselves.

But instead, they mocked the King and abused Him, they killed His prophets They will even go on to kill Jesus for extending this same invitation.

And this rejection and abuse towards God, His Servants, and His Son, led to Israel and it’s leaders being judged and punished.

This parable has a prophecy in it.

And if you read closely, you can see that these religious leaders and the unbelieving people of Israel, they will be judged, condemned, and destroyed for their arrogance and abuse, for their unbelief and lack of repentance.

and this judgment will come about 40 years after Jesus tells this story, when Jerusalem is destroyed in 70AD, including the temple.

But in the meantime, even though the first round of guests is out, The King still has a mission:

Matthew 22:9–10 ESV

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.

No matter how many people reject the King and His son, one thing remains:

The King has an unswerving desire to have many many people attend this banquet.

He wants it to be the biggest and best celebration for all people for all of time.

And so He invites and invites and invites and invites.

And people showed up, but remember, this is not a casual backyard party

this is the wedding feast of the royal prince. So no one should accept this invitation spitefully or carelessly. Guests should show up thankful, honored, and humble.

But one guest did not.

Matthew 22:11–12 ESV

“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.

This guest was not wearing a wedding garment. Imagine someone showed up to your wedding in a t-shirt and flip flops. Or even worse, one of those t-shirts with a tuxedo printed on it….

It would be clear that they did not respect the occasion, or the host, or the bride or groom.

So this man, it is clear, has not come with love and respect for the King or the Son or the occasion.

So what does the wedding garment represent? The same thing Jesus has been telling us about: Faith and repentance!

Our gracious God has invited all people to join in the feast, to receive His grace, and life forever in His Kingdom.

But not everyone who is invited will be worthy of attending.

So how does one become worthy of God’s Kingdom? Through Faith in Jesus Christ and repenting of your sins.

That’s it. We are not worthy by anything we do. Because of our sin, we have no worthiness before God.

Thankfully, Jesus Christ died and rose again to overcome our sin, so all who believe in Him would be worthy.

But here’s the important thing, when we have faith, we don’t become worthy ourselves, but Jesus’ worthiness in placed upon us.

So Here we are, the unworthy recipients of God’s Kingdom, who have been invited, but also humbly showed up, believing in the Son and repenting of our sins. God has promised that we will forever have a seat at His feast.

But those who are invited but do not humble themselves, believe, and repent, they still have no place at the feast because they still disrespect the King, and His son, and the feast. No one who shows up with spite or arrogance will be worthy or welcome.

And so, they are cast out:

Matthew 22:13–14 ESV

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.”

This is the harsh reality for those who reject Jesus.

It is impossible to be saved when you reject the savior. So what awaits them is eternal death.

Verse 14 says many are called, but few are chosen. But the better translation would be

“all are called, but not all are chosen” Because God wants many to be invited and chosen. and they will be, but sadly, not all of them due to their own stubbornness and rejection.

Again, this is a harsh word that Jesus has for the religious leaders and the people who reject Him.

Application

And, if we are being honest, this harsh warning makes us uncomfortable

The idea that some are rejected by God, who will not share in what we have forever.

It can ruin your day just thinking about it. Because these are not just random people. these are our friends and family, our neighbors and coworkers. These are the people we love. We want them to have what we have!

And so does God. which is why He has always made every effort to invite and encourage His people to return to Him. To believe in the one He sent, and to live lives of faith and repentance, trusting in Jesus.

Some of you hearing this today are the original guests, rejecting the invitation. Some of you may be the man without the wedding garment,

and If that’s you, I want to urge you with the same message: Turn to God, Believe in the savior, repent of your sins, and receive eternal life in the Kingdom of God, with a seat at His royal table! It is not too late, and this invitation is for you because God loves you and wants you back with Him.

But many of you hearing this will be the servants whom God sends out to invite the world to the wedding Feast of Christ and His bride.

We, as the Christian people, are called to love everyone, tell them of what Jesus has done, baptize them, and teach them all Jesus has commanded, so that they would also live lives of faith and repentance.

And remember, the King invites Generously. He extends His invitation to all people.

And so, we will go, with the Father’s generosity, inviting everyone. Because it is not our place to judge or evaluate who is worthy. We only need to know who is invited, and that’s easy. Because, again, everyone is invited!

And then we let Him decide at the feast who is worthy and who is not.

But my encouragement to all of us is that you would have the same passion, the same desire, that our father does about having many people at the feast when the time comes.

So I want you to think of just one person in your life that you’ve never spoken to about Jesus, and I want to encourage you, go and tell them. Extend the invitation into the Kingdom! Whether it is easy or difficult, your job is the same.

But you have the help of the church and your pastor, so use them as you prepare to share the good news!

In conclusion, as we await for the great wedding feast of Christ and His bride, We not only live lives of faith and repentance ourselves, but we also invite everyone we know to the feast that our father has graciously prepared for all who believe!

Reading

Matthew 22:1–14 ESV

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.”

Transition Slowly for the camera

Confession