The parable of the Wedding Feast is similar to the Parable of the Tenants in that those who should have been enjoying the blessings of the good that God had provided had rejected it to go their own way. There is a warning here for us as God’s people today even as Jesus speaks a word of judgment on the Pharisees and Sadducees.
The parable of the Wedding Feast begins with a king giving a feast for his son’s wedding. Remember that back in Matthew 9:15 Jesus referred to himself as the bridegroom. So the kingdom of heaven is a celebration that revolves around the uniting of Jesus and his bride, the church – all those who believe in him. The King, God the Father, sends out his servants (the prophets of old, but today this would be us) to invite the guests to come, but they refuse to join him in the celebration.
A word of explanation: Wedding banquets then were not like today. They were huge celebrations without precisely set times. People waited for the bridegroom to come to sweep his bride away. Forerunners would announce the coming of the bridegroom, and the celebration would begin. Depending on how rich the family was, the celebration would be even more ornate, including giving gifts such as wedding clothes for the guests to wear at the party. Refusing an invitation to such an event could be a great offense!
Since those who were originally invited refused, and the king in his anger had destroyed them (remember they seized his servants, treated them shamefully and killed them), the invitation is extended to others. Yet even they are supposed to wear the wedding garments the King has prepared.
The judgment on Israel was that God had sent the prophets, John the Baptist, and even the Son, Jesus himself and they had seized, mistreated and killed them. Therefore God extended his invitation to yet more people – people like us. Yet when we enter this wedding feast there is a dress code. In the kingdom of heaven we must wear the righteousness – everything that was good and right and holy about Jesus which he gave us when he died in our place – which the Father has provided. The only way to enter God’s eternal celebration is through faith in Jesus as our crucified and risen Lord, and then he covers us with his holiness so that we can enter the Father’s presence.
That was the judgment, now the warning.
Is it not possible that even as Israel, who had once received God’s invitation and rejoiced in it, rejected this invitation, that we too might mistreat God’s messengers and try to enter the “wedding banquet” in our own clothes? Sadly, both of these things do happen.
I have seen and heard of churches that tear up their pastors and church workers. They do not support them sufficiently in their physical lives, nor do they support their work to spread the Word. They only want to serve themselves, and do not hear the call to take the Gospel to the streets.
More common is when people try to enter the feast in their own clothes, so to speak. We must rely only on Jesus’ righteousness. Isaiah says that our good deeds are like filthy rags. We cannot rely on the our own goodness to enter God’s kingdom. We can only enter through Jesus’ sacrificial life, death and resurrection.
Thanks be to God that we were invited. Thanks be to God that we’ve been given Jesus’ holiness and that he covers our sins. Welcome to the banquet. Celebrate what God has done for you.
Father, thank you! Thank you for including me in your celebration of Jesus. I admit that I have sometimes thought that I could be good enough to enter your presence on my own, yet Jesus’ “wedding clothes” even covers that foolish sinful pride! Help me to rejoice in what you’ve done. Fill me with joy to celebrate Jesus’ salvation. Then send me as one of your servants to find others to join in the celebration. Amen.
The parable of the Wedding Feast begins with a king giving a feast for his son’s wedding. Remember that back in Matthew 9:15 Jesus referred to himself as the bridegroom. So the kingdom of heaven is a celebration that revolves around the uniting of Jesus and his bride, the church – all those who believe in him. The King, God the Father, sends out his servants (the prophets of old, but today this would be us) to invite the guests to come, but they refuse to join him in the celebration.
A word of explanation: Wedding banquets then were not like today. They were huge celebrations without precisely set times. People waited for the bridegroom to come to sweep his bride away. Forerunners would announce the coming of the bridegroom, and the celebration would begin. Depending on how rich the family was, the celebration would be even more ornate, including giving gifts such as wedding clothes for the guests to wear at the party. Refusing an invitation to such an event could be a great offense!
Since those who were originally invited refused, and the king in his anger had destroyed them (remember they seized his servants, treated them shamefully and killed them), the invitation is extended to others. Yet even they are supposed to wear the wedding garments the King has prepared.
The judgment on Israel was that God had sent the prophets, John the Baptist, and even the Son, Jesus himself and they had seized, mistreated and killed them. Therefore God extended his invitation to yet more people – people like us. Yet when we enter this wedding feast there is a dress code. In the kingdom of heaven we must wear the righteousness – everything that was good and right and holy about Jesus which he gave us when he died in our place – which the Father has provided. The only way to enter God’s eternal celebration is through faith in Jesus as our crucified and risen Lord, and then he covers us with his holiness so that we can enter the Father’s presence.
That was the judgment, now the warning.
Is it not possible that even as Israel, who had once received God’s invitation and rejoiced in it, rejected this invitation, that we too might mistreat God’s messengers and try to enter the “wedding banquet” in our own clothes? Sadly, both of these things do happen.
I have seen and heard of churches that tear up their pastors and church workers. They do not support them sufficiently in their physical lives, nor do they support their work to spread the Word. They only want to serve themselves, and do not hear the call to take the Gospel to the streets.
More common is when people try to enter the feast in their own clothes, so to speak. We must rely only on Jesus’ righteousness. Isaiah says that our good deeds are like filthy rags. We cannot rely on the our own goodness to enter God’s kingdom. We can only enter through Jesus’ sacrificial life, death and resurrection.
Thanks be to God that we were invited. Thanks be to God that we’ve been given Jesus’ holiness and that he covers our sins. Welcome to the banquet. Celebrate what God has done for you.
Father, thank you! Thank you for including me in your celebration of Jesus. I admit that I have sometimes thought that I could be good enough to enter your presence on my own, yet Jesus’ “wedding clothes” even covers that foolish sinful pride! Help me to rejoice in what you’ve done. Fill me with joy to celebrate Jesus’ salvation. Then send me as one of your servants to find others to join in the celebration. Amen.
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