Sermon Tone Analysis

Basic Rules for Reading a Parable:

1. Read it as a whole, not in parts.

(Unlike an allegory where every part of the story means something, parables are best understood as a whole and not by its parts)

2. There are usually two people or groups that are contrasted or opposed to one another.

(The tension between these two is central to the point of the parable)

3. The emphasis is on the end, not the beginning

4.

There is one main point to the parable

(The point of a parable is directly related to its context, and aimed at those who are hearing it.)

With those rules in mind let’s read through our parable:

Matthew 22:1–14 (ESV)

And again Jesus spoke to them in parables, saying, 2 “The kingdom of heaven may be compared to a king who gave a wedding feast for his son, 3 and sent his servants to call those who were invited to the wedding feast, but they would not come.

4 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.”

’ 5 But they paid no attention and went off, one to his farm, another to his business, 6 while the rest seized his servants, treated them shamefully, and killed them.

7 The king was angry, and he sent his troops and destroyed those murderers and burned their city.

8 Then he said to his servants, ‘The wedding feast is ready, but those invited were not worthy.

9 Go therefore to the main roads and invite to the wedding feast as many as you find.’ 10 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.

11 “But when the king came in to look at the guests, he saw there a man who had no wedding garment.

12 And he said to him, ‘Friend, how did you get in here without a wedding garment?’

And he was speechless.

13 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.’

14 For many are called, but few are chosen.”

Based on the rules for reading a parable this last moment between the King and the guest who wasn’t dressed properly is our focus.

The entire parable builds to this exchange, and the last line of this parable clarifies Jesus intent in telling the story.

The title of our sermon is:

The Garment of God’s Grace

The man who attended the wedding feast without wearing the garments provided by the king is like the fig tree that didn’t have any fruit.

He is like the leaders of the Jews who reject Christ.

He is standing at the wedding feast in his own garments rather than the ones given to those who were supposed to be there.

He is like those Jesus mentions in Matthew 7:15–23 (ESV),

15 “Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing but inwardly are ravenous wolves.

16 You will recognize them by their fruits.

Are grapes gathered from thornbushes, or figs from thistles?

17 So, every healthy tree bears good fruit, but the diseased tree bears bad fruit.

18 A healthy tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a diseased tree bear good fruit.

19 Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.

20 Thus you will recognize them by their fruits.

21 “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven.

22 On that day many will say to me, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name?’ 23 And then will I declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness.’

His garments are like the works that those in Matthew 7:22 said they did in the name of the Father.

The one who does the will of the Father is the one who obeys by faith, not the one who hopes obedience will gain them grace.

This man in the last portion of our parable represents those who the kingdom is being taken away from.

In Matthew 21:43 (ESV) Jesus said, “43 Therefore I tell you, the kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to a people producing its fruits.”

Jesus made that statement to the Chief Priests and the elders of the people of God.

He told two parables that make the point that God will judge Israel for rejecting the Messiah, Jesus told them that the kingdom of God will be taken away from them and given to someone else.

Jesus claims the kingdom of God will be give to those who’s faith is expressed in belief and obedience to Him.

The Jewish leaders had expanded God’s law and required more than God of people.

They had put a burden on the people of God that Christ came to deliver them from.

The Jews had moved from depending on God to depending on their keeping of the law, or their own righteousness.

They looked down on those who were ceremonially unclean, outcasts because of their sin, or unclean because they were Gentiles.

The Jewish leaders taught that to be acceptable in the Kingdom of God you had to keep the law.

But, Jesus’ ministry and message were contradictory to the teaching of the Pharisees.

In fact, the entire gospel of Matthew reveals the truth that…

The kingdom of God is made up of those who have faith in Jesus Christ.

This truth is made by contrasting the faith of those the Jewish leaders deemed unclean or outcasts with the lack of faith of the Pharisees, Sadducees, Scribes, Chief Priests, and elders of Jerusalem.

Jesus heals, restores, and calls the unclean and outcasts because of their faith, while rebuking the leaders of the Jews for their lack of faith in Him.

In Matthew 8 Jesus heals an unclean leper, then He heals the servant of a Roman Centurion (Gentile).

When speaking of the Gentile soldier Jesus said that, “He has not found such great faith with anyone in Israel.”

The declaration of the faith of the enemy of the people of God was a scandalous claim to the ears of those who believed their efforts earned them a standing before God.

Again in Matthew 8 Jesus went into a graveyard and cast demons from Gentiles who were possessed.

In Matthew 9 Jesus healed a paralytic (whom people presumed was that way because of sin), and He publicly forgave him of his sins.

Again in Matthew 9 Jesus calls a tax collector to be his disciple.

Wax collectors were outcasts for siding with the Romans and taking money from their own people.

In this instance the outcast tax collector was Matthew, the writer of this gospel.

Later in Matthew 9 Jesus is on His way to heal the daughter of a synagogue official.

But, when an unclean woman touches his robe and is healed Jesus stops.

He turns to the woman and says to her, “Take courage; your faith has made you well.”

After his exchange with the unclean woman a servant comes and tells the official that his daughter has died.

Undeterred by this news Jesus goes to the house and brings her back to life and tells them to get her some food because she is hungry!

In Matthew 12 Jesus healed a man with a withered hand in the synagogue, and in the same moment made a man well and broke one of the manmade laws of the Pharisees.

Later in 12 Jesus casts a demon from a man who was born blind and mute.

These are all examples of how Matthew reveals the truth that the kingdom of God is made up of those who are unworthy and undeserving of the honor.

Like the guests who actually attended the wedding feast in the parable, the Kingdom of God is being taken away from one group and given to those who are producing the fruit of faith.

There is no other way into the kingdom of God than by grace through faith in Jesus Christ.

The last line of the parable says, “For many are called, but few are chosen.”

To help you see that this isn’t the way it read in one translation:

The KJV and NASB read exactly like the ESV.

The NIV and CSB read, “For many are invited, but few are chosen.”

I want to point out that the way an English word is used in one passage is not the way it is used every other time it shows up in the Bible.

The word “calling” is used in multiple ways in the Bible, in particular in the NT.

The same word can be used for the general call or invitation of God and also for the particular call to an individual that results in salvation.

This parable teaches us that the kingdom of God is characterized by grace and comprised of those who have faith in Jesus Christ.

1. Everyone in the kingdom is there by the grace of God

No human being deserves to enter into the kingdom of God.

There isn’t enough good for you to do in this lifetime to make up for or cover over the stain of your sin.

When the king in the parable gives everyone who comes a garment to wear he equalizes the guests lists.

Regardless of what you wore to the feast, it is covered up with the garment that he gave to everyone else who was there.

The only one who stood out in the crowd was the one who wasn’t wearing the garment of the king.

This is in stark contrast to the way that the world works.

In the world, and unfortunately in too many churches people stand out because we value what they bring to the table more than we value the table we have come too.

When we come to the table of God our focus is to be on the one who invited us, not on what each of us brought to the party.

The only people who enter into the kingdom of God are those who enter by God’s grace and not works.

He covers our garments with His grace as we enter so that He is the one who is glorified and everyone focuses on Him.

2. Everyone in the kingdom is there through faith in Jesus Christ

No one enters into the kingdom of God through any other means than by faith in Jesus Christ.

No one is there against their will, which means everyone is there according to his or her will, but only because of their dependence on Jesus Christ.

According to His grace God grants the righteousness of Christ to all who have faith in Him.

The Bible speaks of those who are saved being clothed in the righteousness of Christ.