The Wedding Banquet

Movie Illustration

All White 4th of July Party

Every year the CEO of Fanatics throws this elaborate party during the 4th of July weekend where you have to be an A List Celebrity

A-List guests pull up to take part in one of the most exclusive parties of the year

Celebrity concerts taking place, gourmet catering of the highest possible extent, and luxury beyond measure

This is a party that if you get invited, you’re gonna go

Nothing is withheld. Dinners are from Michelin star level chefs, music performaces sell out stadiums, and the invitation is so violently exclusive

A-List celebrities are the only invites and they spend the evening in the Hamptons preparing to celebrate and hangout together

V 1-6

The kingdom of heaven is like…

There is little else we need to start the parable. We know that this parable is meant to illustrate what it is like to experience the kingdom of God.

Jesus has just made some very powerful enemies in the chapter before this one. He flips tables in the temple court and then proceeds to tell 2 other parables about the pharisees and how their hearts are set on killing him

When he begins this parable, it is the third in this series

He opens with the story of a king throwing a feast to his son’s wedding

These weddings were not the ordinary run of the mill weddings

Multiple days, feasting, A “who’s who” of attendees

Yet to refuse an invitation was equal to rebelling directly against the one who is the king

These invitations weren’t seen as options, but rather requirements to attend

We see the first request is denied by the people who are likely to be invited

Logically speaking, why would you decline it? it’s a feast with the highest ranking member of the land

When we look at what we have been invited to partake in, there is no logical reason for us to deny it. It is too good of a gift and an opportunity for us to look at it and say “no thanks I’ll pass”

Then they ask a second time

“Tell them just how good what I’m offering is”

The messengers get sent and are murdered for their message

two specific people are mentioned who brushed it off like it didn’t matter

The good news of Christ has come to you and there will be people who brush it off and say “no thanks I’ll keep doing my own thing”

There is a level of hostility that arises within others to this invitation

They go back to “their farm” and “their business”

In their pursuit of self-sufficiency they never had a need for the Lord

They were enough themselves. They needed nothing else besides what they had in their own eyes

But a feast with the king was offered

Application: To some, the goodness of God isn’t good enough

V 7-10

The king is fed up with his guests because they’ve clearly missed the point

The king had this incredible royal feast prepared, yet those who “deserved” its attendance seemed to reject the invitation

The king sent his army to where this dwelling was and proceeded to scorch the entire place

This scorching is believed by most to be a reference to the siege of Jerusalem that took place in 70 AD

This great temple that had stood for Jewish greatness was left in ruins, yet the Early Church was growing in numbers by the day

The invitiation was then sent out and scattered to the winds

Anyone and everyone now had access to this party and this feast

“Gathered all who were not worthy”

Jesus makes specific mention that the kingdom of God is not for those who are equipped, capable, and deserving. Rather it is for the rag tag bunch that have no deserving of this feast

“Gathered all whom they found both good and bad”

make no mistake that this invitation did still extend to those who thought they were deserving and may have a case, but it no longer stopped there

There were people there who never thought within their wildest dreams they’d have an opportunity to enter the king’s palace

V 11-14

The feast is in progress and the hall is full with outsiders and commoners

Yet there appears to be a man who refuses to put on the banquet clothes

These clothes were required and participatory in the event taking place

Robes would be given to provide a uniformity amongst the guests

You could not tell whether someone was rich, poor, different, or part of culture

There was one man who refuses to put on the garments

There is a myriad of interpretations to this but the most common are that he was either too proud to put his on, or he only wanted the benefits of the feast without actually partaking in it

The king comes over and catches him and politely asks him why he is not wearing his robe

Could be a genuine misunderstanding or confusion. The king was ready to show mercy and grace

The man keeps silent. He has done what he likes and has no intention of giving the king or his son the glory needed for the party

He is cast out into utter darkness

Application: Followers of Christ can come from anywhere and everywhere, but they must participate instead of merely partaking in the good fruits of what he has for us