Sermon for October 11, 2020 17 Minutes

This morning I'll be reading Matthew chapter 22 verses 1 through 14

And I'll be reading from the Holman Christian Standard Bible.

Matthew 22:1-14

These scriptures are called the parable of the wedding banquet. Jesus gives us a look at the way that those in the Kingdom of God will be chosen and it isn't the way that the religious leaders would have chosen them.

Matthew 22:1–14

The Parable of the Wedding Banquet

1 Once more Jesus spoke to them in parables: 2 “The kingdom of heaven may be compared to a king who gave a wedding banquet for his son. 3 He sent out his slaves to summon those invited to the banquet, but they didn’t want to come. 4 Again, he sent out other slaves, and said, ‘Tell those who are invited: Look, I’ve prepared my dinner; my oxen and fattened cattle have been slaughtered, and everything is ready. Come to the wedding banquet.’ 5 “But they paid no attention and went away, one to his own farm, another to his business. 6 And the others seized his slaves, treated them outrageously and killed them. 7 The king was enraged, so he sent out his troops, destroyed those murderers, and burned down their city. 8 “Then he told his slaves, ‘The banquet is ready, but those who were invited were not worthy. 9 Therefore go to where the roads exit the city and invite everyone you find to the banquet.’ 10 So those slaves went out on the roads and gathered everyone they found, both evil and good. The wedding banquet was filled with guests. 11 But when the king came in to view the guests, he saw a man there who was not dressed for a wedding. 12 So he said to him, ‘Friend, how did you get in here without wedding clothes?’ The man was speechless. 13 “Then the king told the attendants, ‘Tie him up hand and foot, and throw him into the outer darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’ 14 “For many are invited, but few are chosen.”

God bless the reading and the hearing of your word this morning.

Let us pray:

Dear Lord,,, as we begin this morning,,, with everyone here today and all that are listening and watching by video,,, we ask that you open our ears to hear and our hearts and minds to receive the message that you have for us today,,, In Jesus' name I pray,,, Amen.

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This is one of the parables that Jesus told and it was intended for the religious leaders that were listening,,, it goes along with the other two parables just before this one.

But,,, the scriptures are intended for us now today,,, as we read and study them.

It's up to us to answer this ourselves now.

Hopefully after looking at these verses this morning we will know if we have answered them correctly.

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Beginning in verse 1 and reading through verse 3,,, it says: 1 Once more Jesus spoke to them in parables: 2 “The kingdom of heaven may be compared to a king who gave a wedding banquet for his son. 3 He sent out his slaves to summon those invited to the banquet, but they didn’t want to come.

The king in this parable had made plans for a wedding banquet for his son.

His servants had told those invited that it was time for the banquet,,, but the invitation was ignored and the guests refused to come.

Now,,, what would you think,,, usually happens,,, when a king gives a banquet?

You would think that there would be excitement and anticipation,,, but as we will see,,, that's not the case.

Even though this parable is directed at the unbelieving religious leaders and other unbelieving Jews,,, my Faithlife Study Bible says that this parable could be referring to the great end-times feast that Jesus mentioned in Matthew 8:11,,, where God’s people will enjoy fellowship with the Messiah in His fully inaugurated kingdom,,, and you can also read about the marriage supper,,, which would be similar,,, in Revelation 19:6-10.

It also says,,, that this parable,,, could be seen as an example of the end of time when "we" are called,,, but "we" could be distracted by the things going on in the world.

Which is what seems to be the case for some of the people invited to this banquet by the king.

Lets continue on in verse 4.

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Verses 4 and 5 say: 4 Again, he sent out other slaves, and said, ‘Tell those who are invited: Look, I’ve prepared my dinner; my oxen and fattened cattle have been slaughtered, and everything is ready. Come to the wedding banquet.’ 5 “But they paid no attention and went away, one to his own farm, another to his business.

Again the king has sent out other slaves to tell those invited guest that everything is prepared and for them to come.

So,,, even though he put forth another invitation,,, the same thing happened.

My Word Studies in the New Testament says,,, "this was according to the Oriental custom of sending a messenger,,, after the invitations have been issued,,, to notify the invited guests that the entertainment is prepared.

And that this would have been similar to the time when Esther invites Haman to a banquet the next day,,, and, at the actual time,,, the chamberlain comes to bring him to the feast found in Esther 5:8; 6:14.

As I said,,, this was also something that he has done twice now,,, and the ones invited have again ignored his invitation and as we see in the next verses,,, they are going to make a terrible mistake.

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Verses 6 and 7 say: 6 And the others seized his slaves, treated them outrageously and killed them. 7 The king was enraged, so he sent out his troops, destroyed those murderers, and burned down their city.

Here we see that,,, not only was his second invitation ignored,,, they seized his slaves,,, treated them outrageously,,, and killed them.

Since they did this,,, we see that the king gets mad,,, rightfully so I think,,, and he sends out soldiers to destroy those that murdered his slaves and the soldiers also burned down their city.

My Bible Knowledge Commentary says,,, that Jesus might have been thinking of the nation’s rejection of Him.

God had made plans for His Son’s millennial reign and the invitation had been extended.

But the preaching of John the Baptist,,, Jesus,,, and the disciples had,,, for the most part,,, been ignored.

It says,,, the nation would even kill those extending the offer.

Of course we know that finally,,, in A.D. 70,,, the Roman army would come,,, kill most of the Jews living in Jerusalem,,, and destroy the temple.

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Verses 8 and 9 say: 8 “Then he told his slaves, ‘The banquet is ready, but those who were invited were not worthy. 9 Therefore go to where the roads exit the city and invite everyone you find to the banquet.’

The wedding banquet,,, was prepared.

But,,, since those who were first invited had rejected the invitation,,, invitations then were given to a broader group of people.

The king told them that since the ones invited were not worthy,,, to go to where the roads exit the city,,, and invite everyone you find to the banquet.

Most of these,,, and probably all of these,,, would have been those that they didn't know at all,,, since they went outside the city.

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Verse 10 says: 10 So those slaves went out on the roads and gathered everyone they found, both evil and good. The wedding banquet was filled with guests.

The slaves were successful this time with their invitations and they filled the banquet hall with guest.

Even though the invitation was given to the good and bad,,, individual preparation was still necessary.

As we will see in the next few verses,,, if you don't prepare properly,,, there are consequences,,, even when you have been invited!

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Verses 11 and 12 say: 11 But when the king came in to view the guests, he saw a man there who was not dressed for a wedding. 12 So he said to him, ‘Friend, how did you get in here without wedding clothes?’ The man was speechless.

We get to a part that might need some explaining.

You might have heard of this before,,, but in case you haven't,,, I'll go over it again.

The king has come in to view his guest and he sees a man that isn't dressed for the wedding.

Well,,, the reason that this is mentioned is that during this wedding banquet,,, the guest are given certain clothes that they are supposed to wear.

And apparently for whatever reason,,, this man has decided not to wear his,,, which is considered a direct insult to the king.

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Verses 13 and 14 say: 13 “Then the king told the attendants, ‘Tie him up hand and foot, and throw him into the outer darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’ 14 “For many are invited, but few are chosen.”

Since this guest didn't dress appropriately,,, even though the clothes were given to him,,, the king tells the attendants to "Tie him up hand and foot, and throw him into the outer darkness.

It says that here there will be "weeping and gnashing of teeth." because,,, many are invited, but "few" are chosen.”

According to my Bible Knowledge Commentary,,, the lesson is clear to the religious leaders.

The Jews were the invited guests.

Because they refused to come to the messianic banquet,,, the Gentiles and despised sinners,,, would be welcomed into the kingdom of God.

This parable,,, like the previous two parables,,, is one of warning of judgment.

The point of these last 4 verses,,, seems to be a warning against assuming that all Gentiles and sinners will be saved.

It's saying that,,, only those who have on the garments of Christ’s righteousness,,, may participate in the marriage supper of the Lamb,,, again a reference in Revelation 19:9.

These verses with which this paragraph closes,,, fits the parable very appropriately,,, but the theological implication conveyed here,,, should not be missed.

The ones who were not chosen suffered loss,,, not because they weren't called,,, but because they didn't choose,,, to accept the call.

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As we finish up with these verses,,, I want to cover just a few points about this parable.

Even though Jesus was using this as another warning to the religious leaders,,, it also serves as a warning to us today.

After Israel rejected Jesus,,, the disciples began to spread the gospel out into the Gentile people,,, and the point that Jesus makes here,,, is that even though many are invited,,, few are chosen,,, because they must be willing to put on the righteousness of Christ.

You see,,, we must accept what Christ offers and then wear it.

We cannot continue to wear our old sinful clothes that we had before.

Christ is offering us a cloak of righteousness that we must put forth a little bit of effort and,,, put it on,,, or we will be thrown into the lake of fire,,, in other words,,, thrown into hell!

So,,, even though it says that all are invited,,, both evil and good,,, only those who are willing to put on the garments are allowed to stay.

That means that once you accept Jesus Christ as your Savior,,, there should be a change.

You don't continue on with the same type of sin in your life anymore.

Now,,, that doesn't mean that you don't struggle with that sin anymore,,, because Satan will be after you very hard once you accept Jesus as your Savior.

That's where a church family becomes important,,, somewhere that everyone will see that you do the best that you can to stay on the right path and resist those urges to return to your old ways.

The main point is,,, that there is definitely change in your life.

Just like the wedding guest changing their clothes,,, when we answer Christ's call,,, we must change as well!

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