Matthew 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.”
Big Idea: Showing up is a big deal!
This parable, like the previous one, was directed at the priests and elders. However, here Christ, begins to address the rest of the crowd still standing around, letting them know that the invitation is open to everyone, not just the elite. The requirement for getting in? To accept the invitation from the king’s servants.
Those that rejected it, mostly rejected it simply because they didn’t care. They didn’t see what was in it for them. They were busy, they were successful, and they didn’t like being inconvenienced with obligation. Some of them even reacted violently.
So the king punished those who murdered his servants and then sent his servants out to invite anyone they could find. All that person had to do was show up. They didn’t deserve to be there. The king invited the good and the bad, the successful and the lazy, the democrats and the republicans 😉 All they had to do was show up.
But they couldn’t get there on their own. They had to have been invited and clothed. No one gets in without an invitation.
Application: While this parable is a condemnation of the religious elite, it is also a continuation of Christ’s teachings on his authority. His authority comes from the Father. His servants who care his message and invitation have been granted authority to share the truth, by the Father. It is on believers, to share this simple message: All you have to do is accept! But like most simple messages, it is easily taken for granted or ignored. It is so easy to accept, that people feel like there ought to be more to it than that.
As messengers of the king, we have already been accepted. We will be at the wedding feast, our invitation is secure. But our duty and obligation is to go everywhere, to everyone to share this invitation. For our loved ones and friends who have rejected the invitation, it is our privilege duty to show up, every day, for as long as the invitation still stands and share with them. Where would we be if someone hadn’t been willing to do that for us?
