Come to the feast

Introduction

The day of the Lord Jesus Christ’s crucifixion is approaching quickly. Yesterday the Lord came riding into Jerusalem on a donkey and the people were crying “Hosanna in the highest”, He entered the temple and chased out the money changers.

Today he has returned to Jerusalem and is now sitting in the temple teaching the people.

The chief priests and elders come to him and demand to know by what authority he is doing these things.

The Lord Jesus then asks them a question that they refuse to answer, he then proceeds to tell them three parables that all contain a message of warning and rebuke aimed at the religious leaders.

This evening we will be looking at the third parable, which we have just read together.

A parable to put it simply is an earthly story with a heavenly meaning. The Lord often taught in parables, he used natural and normal examples to explain and teach spiritual truths.

We see this in v.2 when Jesus begins the parable with the words “The Kingdom of heaven is like...”

As we think about this parable that was told by the Lord Jesus Christ, we can picture it in our minds.

A king prepares a wedding for his beloved son. The king sends his servants to tell those who are invited to come to the feast.

However, the people refused to come. Some of them showed disinterest. Others showed hatred towards the king and his son by killing the servants.

By this time the kings wrath is kindled, he got very angry and we can understand why.

The king sends his armies and destroys thise murderers and burns uo their city.

Now the feast is ready but those invited were not worthy to partake of it. The king sends other servants out to gather in people from off the streets, all that they can find.

Now the wedding is full. The king comes in to see everyone. But the kings anger is stirred up yet again.

This time some one has come to the wedding feast with out clean clothes. This is an insult to the king.

The king commands this man to be tied up and thrown out into outer darkness...

This parable told by the Lord Jesus has alot of action. But what is the meaning of it? What did it mean for the religious leaders? what does it mean for us today?

As we tackle these questions I think it will be helpful for us to look at this parable in three parts. The first part we will call “The invitation is rejected.” this is found in verses 2-7.

I. The invitation is rejected

As we think about this parable its important that we remember its purpose is to teach spiritual truths. The Lord Jesus starts by setting the scene, he does this as we have seen by describing a king preparing a feast for his son.

Based on the context of this parable and other verses in the Bible it is certain that the king referred to is God and his Son is the Lord Jesus Christ.

People would generally beliebe that the wedding feast is symbollic of heaven.

The servants mentioned in v.3,4,5 are God’s prophets, the messengers of God who have come to God’s people down through the ages.

Those who were first invited but refused were the people of Israel, but more specifically the religious leaders.

We see in verse 3 that the servants were sent by the king to call those who were already invited. This shows that the people had received a preliminary invitation and accepted but later they refused to come.

This, no doubt, refers to God’s numerous messages sent through the prophets down the years to the people of Israel which found its culmination in John the Baptist who they refused as well.

So, the feast is set.

The oxen were killed and the fatted cttle were made ready. But there were no guests. The people who had been invited refused to come.

They had better and more important things to do.

Some wanted to tend their farm, others had business that seemed to be more important.

Yet others showed their hatred towards the king and his son by murdering the servants that were sent to them.

This would have been seen as treason and even a rebellious uprising against the sovereign of the land.

This would have been a shocking turn of events.

The point the Lord Jesus is making to his listeners in this part of the parable is, How much more then, does this show the Israelite peoples disrespect for ther God of heaven?

This was exactly what the people of Israel had done.

They had killed the prophets who were sent to them down through the ages and now they were rejectiong the Lord Jeuss Christ the one whom the prophets said was coming.

Jesus highlights this point in the next chapter.

O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the one who kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to her! How often I wanted to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, but you were not willing!

Not only did they kill the prophets but even more than that they crucifed the Lord Jesus Christ, the perfect Son of God.

They had been invited, God’s covenant was with them, but they refused to come, their rejected their Saviour Jesus Christ, God’s Son.

In the Parable the kings wrath was kindled and he sent forth his armies and killed them and burned their city.

This symbolizes God’s rejection of the Jewish people. They rejected God, so God rejected them.

Many commentators suggest that the city being burned with fire referred to the future destruction of Jerusalem that took place in AD 70 by the Roman Emperor Titus. This is likely the case.

In the Lord Jesus fortells of the destruction of Jerusalem.

The first part then illustrates for us the Jewish peoples rejection of God and His Son Jesus Christ and God’s subsequent rejection fo them.

God was merciful to this people. He was patient and long suffering with them. But, they refused to obey him.

In God says “My Spirit shall not always strive with man...” There comes a time when God says enough is enough anf thats what this part of the parable is highlighting.

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This should be a warning for each of us here. Are you hardening your heart against God? Are you like these people who were invited but refused to come?

Maybe you have heard the Gospel many times, you have heard the call to come, to turn from your sin and believe in Jesus Christ but you haven’t. Are you rejecting the Lord Jesus Christ?

Why not rather learn from the mistakes of those in our parable and obey the invitation of God to come to the wedding feast, which symbolises the kingdom of heaven. Come to Jesus Christ and be saved.

Illustration

The first part closes with the people being punished for their treason.

The rebels were dealt with but still there is a problem. The wedding is empty.

This would have been seen as a great dishonour to the kings son and so something drastic must be done.

With this we move to the second part of the parable.

This part is called “The invitation is extended.” this part is verse 8-10.

II. The invitation is extended

The king, seeing that the feast is empty, sends out other servants into the highways to gather as many people as they can find to come to the feast.

This is exactly what the servants did. They gathered as many as they could, in v.10 we read they gathered both bad and good people. In the same verse we reas that the wedding was filled with guests.

So what does this part of the parable represent?

What spiritual truths do we discover here?

It is clear that the people who are gathered here are not those who were originally invited. The nation of Israel had rejected God and his Son. In v.8 it says “those who were invited were not worthy.”

So God calls people who were not first called. This is the Gospel call.

It is not just for the harlots and the publicans who the religous leaders would have refused but it was also for the gentiles, people who were not part of the nation of Israel.

All people are to be called.

This call is universal. It is for all people.

After the Lord Jesus had risen from the dead he commanded his disciples to “Go into all the world and preach the Gospel to every creature.” .

The Lord Jesus Christ in this part of the parable is telling the religious leaders that because they have rejected God’s invitation, the invitation is now extended to the gentiles.

In other words all the people in the world are now invited to take part of this feast.

That means that you are invited too.

The Gospel is for you as well.

The Gospel call is the call to turn from your sin and believe in Jesus Christ.

Although you have sinned against God, he sent his Son to pay for your sin on the cross and on the third day he rose again from the dead victorious.

Now all who come in true repentance and true faith are freely forgiven by God because of what Christ has done.

This Gospel call is for you to come and believe.

The wedding feast symbolises the God’s kingdom and the Gospel calls you to come and be part of that kigdom by turning from your sin and giving your life to Jesus Christ.

If you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in you heart that God has raised him from the dead you shall be saved.

This is the picture that is presented in this parable, this Gospel call is universal and everyone has the oppurtunity to get right with God.

We are assured by v.10 that many people will respond to the Gospel and be saved. V.10 says that the wedding was filled with guests.

God’s kigdom will we a full kingdom.

The question is, will you be part of it?

Will you obey the Gospel call to turn from your sin and believe in Jesus Christ for forgiveness?

The second part ends with the king coming in to view the wedding feast, the scene ends with enjoyment for many people.

The third and final part covers the final verses of this parable, V.11-14. This part is called “The invitation is conditional.”

III. The invitation is conditional

The king comes in to the feast to view all of the guests. He sees that the feast is full and this must have made him feel glad and even a sense of relief.

However, as he looks over the guests he is overcome with suprise and anger. There is a man who had the nerve to come to the wedding with outa wedding garment .

This would have been a great disrespect to the king.

The king approaches the man to question him and says “Friend, how did you come in here without a wedding garment?’

It is thought that maybe the king provided wedding garments for everyone to wear, but somehow this man came to the wedding with out one.

He was quesioned about it and the man was speechless.

The New King James Version. (1982). (). Nashville: Thomas Nelson.

The king gives the command to his servants to bind him hand and foot and take him away, and cast him into outer darkness.

This man had accepted the invitation, but had come wearing dirty clothes and not the ones provided. He was then thrown out.

What is the Lord Jesus teaching in this final part of the parable?

We get an idea what the Lord means when we read the words of the prophet Isaiah. “

I will greatly rejoice in the LORD,

My soul shall be joyful in my God;

For He has clothed me with the garments of salvation,

He has covered me with the robe of righteousness,

Or when you read some verses in revelation. -14“

13 Then one of the elders answered, saying to me, “Who are these arrayed in white robes, and where did they come from?”

14 And I said to him, “Sir, you know.”

So he said to me, “These are the ones who come out of the great tribulation, and washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb.

The New King James Version. (1982). (). Nashville: Thomas Nelson.

The wedding garment in the parable is referring to the perfect righteousness of Jesus that is given to all who believe.

Jesus doesnt just take away our sin but he also gives us his perfect righteousness.

“For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.”

The New King James Version. (1982). (). Nashville: Thomas Nelson.

The New King James Version. (1982). (). Nashville: Thomas Nelson.

The only way a person can enter God’s kingdom is if they are clothed with the perfect righteousness of Christ, they must be made righteous before God which is only possible through what Jesus Christ has done in his death and resurrection.

The New King James Version. (1982). (). Nashville: Thomas Nelson.

If a person tries to enter God’s kingdom with their own righteousness, they will face God’s eternal punishment.

This man turned up in his own clothes and was cast out into outter darkness.

If a person thinks that they are good enough as they are and they do not need Jesus Christ in order to be accepted by God then they will have a shock like this man in the parable who was speechless and then tied up and thrown out.

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I wonder do you have the perfect righteousness of Jesus Christ?

Have you been declared righteous before God?

The only way for this to happen is to repent and believe.

turn from you sin and turn to JEsus Christ. Put you trust in him and his death and resurrection to take away your sin.

Confess Christ as Saviour and Lord this is the only way that a person receives the robe of Christ’s righteousness, this is the only way to be saved.

Is this something that you have done?

If not is this somehting that you will do ?

If yes then when?

So after the man is thrown out, the Lord Jesus finishes his parable with a kind of summary statement.

In v.14 he says “For many are called, but few are chosen.”

Here the Lord is saying yes many are called many invited, but not every one is chosen. Not everyone will find themselves in God’s kingdom in the end.

Not everyone who is called by the Gospel is elect.

The New King James Version. (1982). (). Nashville: Thomas Nelson.

How can you know if you are one of the chosenthat the Lord Jesus speaks about?

that the Lord Jesus speaks about?

You will know when you repent and believe in Jesus Christ.

If you havent done that yet, will you do it this evening?

Conclusion

So to summarise, what does the Lord Jesus teach by this parable?

Many have been invited to the feast of God’s kingdom, known in the scriptures as the marriage supper of the lamb, those who have rejected the invitation will be eternally punished. Those thinking that they can enter because of their own goodness and righteousness will be thrown out, only those who come to God in repentance, turning from sin and believing in Jesus Christ, only they will be accepted by God and will be partakers of the kingdom of God.

As this parable shows this call to come extends to all. If you have not done so already will you respond to the call of God and believe in Jesus Christ?

I will end by reading a few verses from the end of the book of revelation.

Revelation 19:6–9 NKJV

And I heard, as it were, the voice of a great multitude, as the sound of many waters and as the sound of mighty thunderings, saying, “Alleluia! For the Lord God Omnipotent reigns! Let us be glad and rejoice and give Him glory, for the marriage of the Lamb has come, and His wife has made herself ready.” And to her it was granted to be arrayed in fine linen, clean and bright, for the fine linen is the righteous acts of the saints. Then he said to me, “Write: ‘Blessed are those who are called to the marriage supper of the Lamb!’ ” And he said to me, “These are the true sayings of God.”

let us pray