Wedding Feast Matt 22:1-14

[mindlight]

The passage says:

22 Jesus spoke to them again in parables, saying: 2 “The kingdom of heaven is like a king who prepared a wedding banquet for his son. 3 He sent his servants to those who had been invited to the banquet to tell them to come, but they refused to come.

4 “Then he sent some more servants and said, ‘Tell those who have been invited that I have prepared my dinner: My oxen and fattened cattle have been butchered, and everything is ready. Come to the wedding banquet.’

5 “But they paid no attention and went off—one to his field, another to his business. 6 The rest seized his servants, mistreated them and killed them. 7 The king was enraged. He sent his army and destroyed those murderers and burned their city.

8 “Then he said to his servants, ‘The wedding banquet is ready, but those I invited did not deserve to come. 9 So go to the street corners and invite to the banquet anyone you find.’ 10 So the servants went out into the streets and gathered all the people they could find, the bad as well as the good, and the wedding hall was filled with guests.

11 “But when the king came in to see the guests, he noticed a man there who was not wearing wedding clothes. 12 He asked, ‘How did you get in here without wedding clothes, friend?’ The man was speechless.

13 “Then the king told the attendants, ‘Tie him hand and foot, and throw him outside, into the darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’

14 “For many are invited, but few are chosen.”

What do you think?

 

[mindlight]

The passage says:

22 Jesus spoke to them again in parables, saying: 2 “The kingdom of heaven is like a king who prepared a wedding banquet for his son. 3 He sent his servants to those who had been invited to the banquet to tell them to come, but they refused to come.

The king is God and the son Jesus. The reference seems to be a prophetic one anticipating the Messianic banquet in which case the bride is the church. The invited guests are probably the Jewish people many of whom had rejected Jesus.

4 “Then he sent some more servants and said, ‘Tell those who have been invited that I have prepared my dinner: My oxen and fattened cattle have been butchered, and everything is ready. Come to the wedding banquet.’

God repeats his request that the Jews come join him for this party and time of rejoicing. Everything is ready and all they need to do is come.

5 “But they paid no attention and went off—one to his field, another to his business. 6 The rest seized his servants, mistreated them and killed them. 7 The king was enraged. He sent his army and destroyed those murderers and burned their city.

Distracted by the normal business of their lives they refused to come. None of them seemed to understand the significance of the event or the authority of the King who was calling them to attend. They even killed those evangelists sent by the king to preach the good news of the coming marriage of the Lamb and his bride the church.

This verse is highly prophetic and is exactly what happened in the coming years. The Jews in Jerusalem remained stubbornly opposed to the gospel and even killed James the leader of the church. God sent an angel calling the church to leave and go to Pellah. After they did the Jews declared independence of Rome and a war ensued. Finally 4 legions under Titus, Vespasians son destroyed Jerusalem and levelled the temple to the ground. These people were massacred, sold into slavery or put into gladiatorial combat to die before a baying mob.

8 “Then he said to his servants, ‘The wedding banquet is ready, but those I invited did not deserve to come. 9 So go to the street corners and invite to the banquet anyone you find.’ 10 So the servants went out into the streets and gathered all the people they could find, the bad as well as the good, and the wedding hall was filled with guests.

But the rejection of the Jews is good news for the rest of us, since God has sent us invites to the wedding. We are lucky to be so invited and whatever our background he has welcomed us to the party.

11 “But when the king came in to see the guests, he noticed a man there who was not wearing wedding clothes. 12 He asked, ‘How did you get in here without wedding clothes, friend?’ The man was speechless.

Must admit I wonder how this man got into the party? It seems he was not there to celebrate the wedding and showed no respect for the proceedings by dressing appropriately. I am not sure what this man represents and would be interested in any insights people have on this.

13 “Then the king told the attendants, ‘Tie him hand and foot, and throw him outside, into the darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’

14 “For many are invited, but few are chosen.”

This man is thrown outside of the party and into the darkness. It is an image of exclusion from the festivities forcibly executed. It implies that the rest of the people outside the party are also in the same darkness.

How would you focus a sermon on this passage? Who was the man who got into the party inappropriately dressed and how did he manage that? What is the main point of this passage?

 

[Tony B]

11 “But when the king came in to see the guests, he noticed a man there who was not wearing wedding clothes. 12 He asked, ‘How did you get in here without wedding clothes, friend?’ The man was speechless.

13 “Then the king told the attendants, ‘Tie him hand and foot, and throw him outside, into the darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’

14 “For many are invited, but few are chosen.”

I’ve always wondered who/what condition, Jesus was implying regarding ‘not wearing wedding clothes’. My thoughts are that these are the people that rely on their application of the law of rituals and religious observances for their sanctification, and/or people that have faith in Jesus, but have not allowed The Holy Spirit to transform their character into a law abiding Christlike one.

Your thoughts?

 

[Andrewn]

Must admit I wonder how this man got into the party? It seems he was not there to celebrate the wedding and showed no respect for the proceedings by dressing appropriately. I am not sure what this man represents and would be interested in any insights people have on this.

Who was the man who got into the party inappropriately dressed and how did he manage that? What is the main point of this passage?

My thoughts are that these are the people that rely on their application of the law of rituals and religious observances for their sanctification, and/or people that have faith in Jesus, but have not allowed The Holy Spirit to transform their character into a law abiding Christlike one. Your thoughts?

I agree. In the parable, a few people rejected the message about the wedding. Others accepted it. I often heard that wedding guests in that culture were given white cloaks upon entry. One person did not take the white cloak.

Contrary to the people who rejected the message / gospel, I think this one person is a nominal Christian who thought he belonged in the wedding. He thought he could enter wearing his own righteousness, instead of the cloak provided by the bridegroom. In my mind, the following verses are relevant to this:

Mat 7:21-23 “Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord!’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven. Many will say to Me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, didn’t we prophesy in Your name, and drive out demons in Your name, and perform many miracles in Your name?’ Then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you. Get away from Me, you workers of lawlessness!’”

Rev 7:9 After these things I looked, and behold, a vast multitude that no one could count—from every nation and all tribes and peoples and tongues—was standing before the throne and before the Lamb. They were clothed in white robes, with palm branches in their hands 14 Then he said to me, “These are the ones coming out of the great tribulation. They have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb.

Rev 19:7-8 Let us rejoice and be glad and give him glory! For the wedding of the Lamb has come, and his bride has made herself ready. Fine linen, bright and clean, was given her to wear.”

 

[mindlight]

I’ve always wondered who/what condition, Jesus was implying regarding ‘not wearing wedding clothes’. My thoughts are that these are the people that rely on their application of the law of rituals and religious observances for their sanctification, and/or people that have faith in Jesus, but have not allowed The Holy Spirit to transform their character into a law abiding Christlike one.

Your thoughts?

It seems there is no general agreement on this. Could be that the guys dress code reflects an inner worldliness, a lack of holy living, faith or love or simply expresses a refusal to get into the party spirit like he did not want to be there at all. But clearly being thrown out into the darkness is worse and not sure he wanted that either. So could even be a rebuke of the negative voters who just want to avoid hell or the lukewarm who do not really care for Christ but turned up for the party anyway.

 

[mindlight]

I agree. In the parable, a few people rejected the message about the wedding. Others accepted it. I often heard that wedding guests in that culture were given white cloaks upon entry. One person did not take the white cloak.

Contrary to the people who rejected the message / gospel, I think this one person is a nominal Christian who thought he belonged in the wedding. He thought he could enter wearing his own righteousness, instead of the cloak provided by the bridegroom. In my mind, the following verses are relevant to this:

Mat 7:21-23 “Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord!’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven. Many will say to Me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, didn’t we prophesy in Your name, and drive out demons in Your name, and perform many miracles in Your name?’ Then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you. Get away from Me, you workers of lawlessness!’”

Rev 7:9 After these things I looked, and behold, a vast multitude that no one could count—from every nation and all tribes and peoples and tongues—was standing before the throne and before the Lamb. They were clothed in white robes, with palm branches in their hands 14 Then he said to me, “These are the ones coming out of the great tribulation. They have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb.

Rev 19:7-8 Let us rejoice and be glad and give him glory! For the wedding of the Lamb has come, and his bride has made herself ready. Fine linen, bright and clean, was given her to wear.”

Actually that fits very well. He wore his own selfrighteousness to the wedding but rigteousness is imputed it is a gift like special clothes provided to poor people who cannot afford their own. The host provides the outfits and the quality is so far superior to our own efforts that only a fool or an imposter would refuse such a gift.