Jesus spoke to them again in parables, saying: “The kingdom of heaven is like a king who prepared a wedding banquet for his son. He sent his servants to those who had been invited to the banquet to tell them to come, but they refused to come.
“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.’
“But they paid no attention and went off—one to his field, another to his business. The rest seized his servants, mistreated them and killed them. The king was enraged. He sent his army and destroyed those murderers and burned their city.
“Then he said to his servants, ‘The wedding banquet is ready, but those I invited did not deserve to come. So go to the street corners and invite to the banquet anyone you find.’ 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 when the king came in to see the guests, he noticed a man there who was not wearing wedding clothes. He asked, ‘How did you get in here without wedding clothes, friend?’ The man was speechless.
“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.’
“For many are invited, but few are chosen.” (Matthew 22:1-14 NIV)
I read an article recently about a wedding planner. Not your average wedding planner. This lady plans weddings for wealthy families in New York City. The question isn’t how many thousands of dollars the wedding will cost. It’s how many millions. Not, “How many invitations should we send out?” It’s, “How much real gold trim should we put on the invitations?” Not, “We’ll go to Broadway for a play the night before.” It’s, “We’ll hire a whole Broadway cast to perform just for us.” Not, “We’ll rent a nice venue for the night.” It’s, “We’ll buy a property and build our own venue for the week.” Not, “the dress.” It’s, “the dresses.” Like, lots of them. Not, “the main course.” It’s, “the main courses.” Like, all of them. Why? Why would families spend so much money? It’s simple: “A wedding is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. Nobody wants to miss out.”
Would you want to go? You wouldn’t want to miss it! Imagine your wealthy aunt in New York City sent you a gold-plated invitation to her son’s wedding. An all-expenses paid trip. Not for a weekend. For a month. Complete with all travel costs and food and drinks, and even money for the nicest clothes for you to wear. Would you just shrug your shoulders? “Nah. Not interested.” I don’t think so! You would be a fool not to go. That wedding would be a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity at no cost to you. You’d circle that date and not miss it for the world.
Well, it’s really happening. That wedding is really happening. And you’re invited. Do you realize that? Actually, the wedding is even bigger and better than all we just said. It’s not in New York City. It’s in heaven. Prepared by the best wedding planner of all. Do you know who that is? God! We heard in Isaiah: “On this mountain the Lord Almighty will prepare a feast of rich food for all peoples, a banquet of aged wine—the best of meats and the finest of wines” (Isaiah 25:6). God is the best wedding planner. The whole Bible is a love story whose grand conclusion is a wedding banquet. All expenses paid by God himself. God wants you to be at his wedding feast.
So Jesus told another parable: “The kingdom of heaven is like a king who prepared a wedding banquet for his son.” It’s not hard for us to understand what this is talking about. It’s God preparing a banquet for his Son—Jesus. God, of course, pulls out all the stops. He goes all out. He sent out invitations—like through the prophet Isaiah. “Save the date to God’s wedding feast!”
When the day came, the king “sent his servants to those who had been invited to the banquet to tell them to come.” It’s like a personal limo service. Imagine a huge Cadillac limo pulled up to each house, ready to whisk the guests away to the party. Except, how did they respond? Like this. (Shoulder shrug). “They refused to come.” Isn’t that crazy? They were fools to miss this!
But this king was patient. Remember that from last week? God is so patient. So persistent. The king “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.” More servants. Another limo. This time, he makes sure they know what to expect: “My oxen and fattened cattle have been butchered…” How many people could you feed with multiple oxen? Cattle? This was going to be a big party! “Come to the wedding banquet.”
How did they respond? Like this. (Shoulder shrug again). “They paid no attention and went off—one to his field, another to his business. The rest seized his servants, mistreated them and killed them.” Rejecting God doesn’t make any sense. Despite all that the king did for them, “they paid no attention.” There were two different ways to “pay no attention.” Some people were too busy, too distracted by other things like field work and business. The fancy word for that is “apathy.” They were “apathetic.” They didn’t care. Others were downright hostile. They “seized his servants, mistreated them and killed them.” They were in open rebellion against their king.
So, finally, the king’s patience ran out. “The king was enraged.” I think we can understand that. He had been so good to them, but they rejected him. So, what did he do? “He sent his army and destroyed those murderers and burned their city.” Do you know that really happened? Jesus is talking to the Jewish leaders who rejected him. There was a consequence for that. In 70 A.D., God allowed the Romans to destroy Jerusalem, just like Jesus had prophesied. More than a million people died. The city was burned to the ground. That was the end of the Jewish nation.
Here is one very important and practical teaching from the Bible: The modern nation of Israel is not the people of God. With the war going on in Israel, I hear lots of Christians talking about defending God’s people. That directly contradicts the Scriptures. The Israelites were God’s chosen people in the Old Testament. They were the nation of the promised Savior. But when Jesus came, what did the Jews do? Some went like this. (Shrug shoulders.) Others seized him and killed him. So God allowed the nation of Israel to be destroyed. God’s people aren’t a political nation. God’s people are those who believe in Jesus as their Savior. Understand?
This parable warns us. When you hear God’s invitation, “Come to the wedding banquet,” how do you respond? I’m thankful that you don’t openly reject Jesus. But I know I’m guilty of the other thing: Apathy. Apathy about God’s grace. How often do we hear Jesus’ invitation and shrug our shoulders? “I’m too busy right now. The game is on. And then there’s another game. And after that there’s another game. Then maybe I’ll have time…” “I’ve got this to do. The kids have that to do. Too much traffic. Too much work. I’m too busy.” Know what I’m talking about? That’s apathy. There’s so much that catches our attention that we often don’t pay attention to Christ.
Is that really a big deal? Notice something: In the parable, some guests were apathetic. Others seized and killed the king’s servants. Which was worse in the king’s eyes? Both. Both rejected the king’s invitation. If you say to God, “Maybe later,” and another person says to God, “No!”, you’re both saying the same thing. You’re both rejecting God. What’s the result? What do we deserve? The wrath of God. Destruction. Hell. This parable warns us. If you and I reject—by open rebellion or just by apathy—the invitation of our King, there’s only one other option: Hell.
But the King wasn’t done. He had prepared a huge party. If you prepare a huge party, what do you want? People to come! God does too! “Then he said to his servants, ‘The wedding banquet is ready, but those I invited did not deserve to come. So go to the street corners and invite to the banquet anyone you find.’ 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.” This is God’s grace. Is heaven going to be full? Yes! Why? Because God’s invitation goes out to all. To the bad and the good. This parable also shows us God’s grace! “Come to the wedding banquet.”
Even though the Jews rejected Jesus, God preached his salvation to the ends of the earth. Listen to these Bible passages: Jesus is the “Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world” (John 1:29). “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life” (John 3:16). “Jesus Christ is the atoning sacrifice for our sins, and not only for ours but also for the sins of the whole world” (1 John 2:2). Whom did Jesus come for? All. Whom did Jesus die for? All. Whom does God’s gracious invitation go out to? All. Are you part of “all”? Yes! Grace is for you. “The wedding hall was filled with guests.”
A happy ending, right? Not quite. Jesus had more to say. “When the king came in to see the guests, he noticed a man there who was not wearing wedding clothes. He asked, ‘How did you get in here without wedding clothes, friend?’ The man was speechless. 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.” Somebody showed up at the king’s wedding feast without wedding clothes. The king immediately noticed. What happened to the man? He was thrown out.
What does this mean? Some people suggest that at ancient weddings, kings would give wedding clothes to the guests to wear. So this man must have refused to wear the wedding clothes he’d been given. That makes perfect sense! There’s just one problem: Jesus doesn’t say that. Instead, what Jesus makes clear is that not having wedding clothes was this man’s way of rejecting the king and his son. He refused to honor them. He refused to enter the wedding the way they asked. So what was the result? He was thrown “into the darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.” What’s Jesus talking about? Hell. Weeping and gnashing of teeth. Hell’s real.
That makes this all so important. What we’re talking about today impacts where we will spend eternity. Jesus ended his parable with a little phrase, “For many are invited, but few are chosen.” The invitation to heaven goes out to a lot of people. How many actually make it into heaven? Just a few. Why? If you miss out on God’s wedding feast, whose fault is it? Look at the people who rejected the invitation. Whose fault was it? Their own fault. 100% their own fault. But if you make it to heaven, how will you get there? Look at the people who entered the feast. How did they get there? By the grace of God. 100% by the grace of God. Can you see how the parable teaches this? “Many are invited, but few are chosen.” Hell? My fault. Heaven? By God’s grace!
Here’s what I want you to leave knowing today: God’s grace is for you. When God talks about marriage in the Bible, one of the things he says is this: “Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her to make her holy, cleansing her by the washing with water through the word, and to present her to himself as a radiant church, without stain or wrinkle or any other blemish, but holy and blameless” (Ephesians 5:25-27). Do you understand what that’s saying? Who is Jesus’ bride, whom he has died for and forgiven and made holy and blameless and beautiful? You are. How can you know you’re invited to God’s wedding feast? Because you’re the bride. It’s your wedding. Christ loved you and gave himself up for you.
Don’t you want to go? Jesus wants you to be with him in heaven. Can you see that? He sent you his invitation through the Word of God. Jesus died on the cross to make you holy. He washed you in baptism and clothed you with his righteousness. God is the best wedding planner. Don’t be too busy for God’s invitation. Don’t think you can get in on your own. No, it’s by grace. All by God’s grace. We’d be fools to miss out, wouldn’t we? God is the best wedding planner!
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