Part 1 – Are We Dressed for the Great Wedding Feast?

There is a parable told by Jesus, He tells us how many people are called to a wedding feast by a king but the people refuse to come.  Let us dive into the scriptures and see what Jesus wants to tell us.

In Matthew 22:2-3 He said, 2 “The Kingdom of Heaven can be illustrated by the story of a king who prepared a great wedding feast for his son. 3 When the banquet was ready, he sent his servants to notify those who were invited. But they all refused to come!”

I see this as God giving the great wedding feast for His Son Jesus, sending Jesus himself to do the inviting to the greatest wedding feast ever, where we as Jews and Gentiles get grafted into God’s family forever.  But as the past has taught us people have rejected the invitation.

Matthew 22:4-6  4“So he sent other servants to tell them, ‘The feast has been prepared. The bulls and fattened cattle have been killed, and everything is ready. Come to the banquet!’ 5 But the guests he had invited ignored them and went their own way, one to his farm, another to his business. 6 Others seized his messengers and insulted them and killed them.”

This second wave of servants go out and this is a representation of all of Christ’s followers going out into this world to spread the Good News, planting seeds, and doing the will of their Father.  Which is to spread the gospel message so that the people will repent and turn from their sins.  And what do we see happen?  The people still reject the invitation and turn violent against the servant/messengers of the King, going as far as to even kill some, representing Christian persecution which we see the rejecting of God’s word all over the world even as we speak.

Matthew 22:7-9  7 “The king was furious, and he sent out his army to destroy the murderers and burn their town. 8 And he said to his servants, ‘the wedding feast is ready, and the guests I invited aren’t worthy of the honor. 9 Now go out to the street corners and invite everyone you see.’”

The sad part of this parable is that this is a reality.  We as Christians, the true believers, are out doing our due diligence answering the call that God has presented us, spreading the word, and yet there are those who are serving the devil.  They are listening to his lies and rejecting the truth.  What is sad about this is they will one day be destroyed just as in the parable, the king did to those murderers of his servants, destroying them and their towns.  This is all the more reason we need to be out doing the Lord’s will, spreading the gospel so that the ones out there that are ready to answer the call can actually answer it.

Matthew 22:10-13  10 “So the servants brought in everyone they could find, good and bad alike, and the banquet hall was filled with guests. 11 “But when the king came in to meet the guests, he noticed a man who wasn’t wearing the proper clothes for a wedding. 12 ‘Friend,’ he asked, ‘how is it that you are here without wedding clothes?’ But the man had no reply. 13 Then the king said to his aides, ‘Bind his hands and feet and throw him into the outer darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’”

To me, this is the representation of judgment day, when all come to stand before our King, good and bad alike.  God will be fair and just and if we are not clothed in the righteousness of Christ, having accepted Him as our Savior, and repenting of our sins.  We will be bound and tossed out into a life of torment.  Jesus is telling us that indeed there will be many, many, many, of us that are called, but only a few shall actually answer it and act on it.  Don’t be in the crowd that rejects and ignores God and his invitation, for His desire is for us to spend eternity with Him and to love us unconditionally.  But again, He is a fair and just God and we will be judged accordingly.  So today cloth yourselves in the righteousness of Christ and be dressed properly for the Great Wedding Banquet

“For many are called, but few are chosen.” Matthew 22:14