The Result of Being Unprepared. (Matthew 22: 1-14).

We’ve all had the experience; we walk into a room, and everyone is already in the middle of a conversation, and you struggle to understand exactly what they were talking about. Or maybe you’ve been in the middle of a conversation and someone else walked in the room and they totally misunderstood what was being said because they didn’t hear it from the begin. Have you ever come late to church and only caught the last half of the minister’s message. That can be problematic because if you didn’t hear the first part of the sermon you might draw a wrong conclusion. Well, what we’re going to do today, because we are going to break in on the middle of a conversation but still, I hope to be able to keep it within context and still grasp the main point.

I mentioned in yesterday’s episode that this is the last week of the Lord’s life, and he will spend it in Jerusalem and had he will have a lot of conversations with people who are ill disposed towards him. These conversations are recorded for us in the scripture, and most are with the religious leaders of the day. On Tuesday he had an encounter with the religious leaders, and it began when they asked him by what authority he did what he was doing. He had just gone in and cleared the temple courtyard and he had also preached and healed people and they wanted to know what his authority in doing this. In answering them he told them in essence that he had the same authority that John the Baptist had and talked about John had previously said that he, Jesus, was the Messiah.

Then he tells three parables, and those three parables were designed to answer the question of by what authority he was doing this. But as you look at those three parallels carefully you discover that something else is going on because he goes beyond just talking about himself and his authority. Furthermore, he not only indirectly talks about them, but he directly talks about other people that aren’t even part parcel of the conversation. He talks about people in general not being properly prepared to enter the Kingdom of God. 

What we’ve done so far is look at the first parable and the second parable and today we’re going to break in in the middle of this teaching conversation we're going to catch the last part of the conversation, so to speak, which will be done by him using a third parable as an illustration of what he wants to say. Maybe this last half of this conversation represents a climax of what he means to say and the message it contains is what we really need to hear, because there’s a lesson in this closing section that we all need to learn. With that in mind listen to me as I read for you Matthew chapter 22: 1-14, keeping in mind that this is the last third of a lengthy session of teaching that Jesus preached to the religious leaders in Jerusalem on the last Tuesday of his life on the earth.

The Parable of the Wedding Banquet

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)

This rather straightforward story in one sense, and yet there are a lot of nuances in this story. I would like to begin by suggesting that there are two basic parts to it. 

First there is the whole issue of guests being invited to a wedding feast and not coming, and then the second part of this parable has to do with people who eventually came to the banquet but were not properly dressed. Let’s begin with the wedding feast itself.

It begins by telling us that the kingdom of heaven is like if a king arranged a marriage for his son and he sent his servants to call those who were invited to the wedding, but they were not willing to come. Obviously, this is a parable and the various people in the parable are symbolic of someone groups or types of people. Most agreed that the king in this story is a symbol or a representation of God the father who is going to have a wedding for his son. So, he sends the servants out to invite people to the wedding banquet. It is also often suggested that the people he sent out are a symbol of the prophets in the Old Testament who went out and invited the people into God’s future Kingdom.

In this passage the banquet, the wedding feast, is a picture of the future Kingdom of God and that is a helpful picture. So, what happens at a wedding feast, well it is a time of celebration it is a time of great joy and that is the picture of what the future kingdom of God will be like. The Lord comes back and sets up his Kingdom. The kingdom then will be a time of celebration, a time of joy in which we make merry and be glad. The picture being painted by this parable is that the Lord is throwing a wedding feast a time of celebration and joy and he sends out servants to invite people to come. Notice it say at the end of verse 3, that some were not willing to come. The history of Israel was oftentimes one of unwillingness to follow the Lord. They were a rebellious people, so in this parable the Lord simply says they were invited but they weren’t willing to come. So, plan B: Verse four.

Again, he sent out other servants, saying, ‘Tell those who are invited, “See, I have prepared my dinner; my oxen and fatted cattle are killed, and all things are ready. Come to the wedding.”  (Matthew 22: 4)

I need to explain that this is sort of a middle eastern custom, they didn’t have refrigeration and they didn’t have telephones and they couldn’t e-mail, so the way of having a banquet was something like this. They started out about two days before the banquet they would send people out into the neighbourhood and tell everyone they we’re having a party in a couple of days, and you’re invited. At that point people would say, OK, I can come. Then on the day of the banquet they sent another invitation out and said OK everyone, all is now ready so come and celebrate with us. These guests have already been invited, they were invited two days before, now things are already so they are told to come to the wedding feast, but look at the next verses.

But they made light of it and went their ways, one to his own farm, another to his business. And the rest seized his servants, treated them spitefully, and killed them.  (Matthew 22: 5-6)

Some have suggested, and I think rightly so, that this perhaps is a picture of the fact that God invited Israel to come into the Kingdom in the era of The Old Testament, but they were unwilling. Remember after being previously invited John the Baptist had now come preaching the Kingdom of God is at hand, and Jesus also came preaching the Kingdom of God is at hand as well.   In this parable we see that the wedding banquet is now ready, and they send the servants back again and say, it’s ready, come, and this time they made excuses, and they made light of it and they went their own way considering only the things of this world like their farms and their businesses. But on top of that they seized the messengers, some have suggested that’s a reference to John the Baptist and Jesus himself and they kill them. In other words, they completely rejected what was offered.  They not only said no we want no part of it, but they also killed them. Indeed, John the Baptist was beheaded, and Jesus is about to be crucified. Please notice there is in this passage a progression, first they are unwilling, then they make light of what is offered, then finally they killed the messengers. The result of this is seen in the next few verses.

But when the king heard about it, he was furious. And he sent out his armies, destroyed those murderers, and burned up their city.  Then he said to his servants, ‘The wedding is ready, but those who were invited were not worthy. (Matthew 22: 7-8)

Virtually all who come to this passage see in it a reference to the fact that the Jews of Jesus day, or more exactly the religious leaders of Jesus’ day rejected Jesus as the Messiah, and the result of that was they perished along with the city. Jerusalem was indeed soon destroyed and almost everybody sees that as a reference to the destruction of Jerusalem in 70AD by the Romans. They rejected the offer to come into the Kingdom, and in this passage it is pictured as a wedding feast, and as a result of their rejection is they were destroyed. So, the king then issues new instructions.

Therefore, go into the highways, and as many as you find, invite to the wedding.’ So those servants went out into the highways and gathered together all whom they found, both bad and good. And the wedding hall was filled with guests. (Matthew 22: 9-10)

I have already mentioned that this is the last section of a longer passage in which Jesus told three  parables. Prior to this he said the Kingdom is going to be taken from you and given to another nation and now in this last parable he pictures those events in the form of this story in that the first people who were invited, rejected the offer and now the invitation goes out to a wider group of people. Out into the highways, outside the city, an obvious reference to the gentiles again. This wedding feast is a picture of being called to the Kingdom, and called to salvation. Jesus said elsewhere that unless someone is, “born again”, they cannot enter the Kingdom of God, so this first part of the passage is a picture of simply being invited into the kingdom of God. The king in this story is the one who provided the banquet, and he now goes out to the highways and byways said, hey guys free banquet, and that part I think is fascinating because this is also a picture of what the Bible clearly says about salvation being free. The gift of God is eternal life, but although a gift is something received for free by the recipient, that doesn't mean that somebody didn’t have to pay for it first. Jesus paid for it when he died for our sins rose from the dead, but it’s free to us, all we have to do is accept and trust in Christ and his death as the payment of our sin and we are forgiven.

I said this passage was made up of two parts, there’s the wedding feast that I think illustrates the freeness of the gospel but the second part deals with the wedding garments and as they say the plot thickens. Let’s pick up the story.

“But when the king came in to see the guests, he saw a man there who did not have on a wedding garment. So, he said to him, ‘Friend, how did you come in here without a wedding garment?’ And he was speechless. Then the king said to the servants, ‘Bind him hand and foot, take him away, and cast him into outer darkness; there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’ “For many are called, but few are chosen.” (Matthew 22: 11-14)

The scene shifts from the feast to being properly dressed for the occasion. The first question is who this is inappropriately dressed guest? 

The vast majority of Bible teachers would say that this guest represents an unbeliever. When it says he was not dressed properly it means he was not clothed with the righteousness of Christ, and because of that he was cast out of the Kingdom. Now I’m not dogmatic about this interpretation because there’s another possible way to interpret this and but it a minority view. The mainstream of evangelicalism would say it represents the unbeliever but a few think otherwise and if you hold that another view or know someone who does, do not think that the other person is absolutely wrong in all things, they have just they have reached a different conclusion on this matter. But regardless this guy doesn’t have on a wedding garment, and the way that’s usually interpreted as the wedding garment as a picture of the righteousness of Christ. When we trust Christ, we’re clothed in his righteousness and he didn’t have an appropriate wedding garment. Therefore, in my estimation he’s not a believer. The idea of putting on clothes in the New Testament is several times represented as having to do with a believer living a righteous life.

In the book of Ephesians, and in the book of Colossians as well as some other places the imagery of putting on clothes is used of living a righteous godly life. For example, in Colossians, Paul says “put off”, and that Greek word used is one that means taking off your garment or coat. We are told to put off things like wrath and anger and all those kinds of sins and put on mercy and compassionate love. So, in symbolic fashion, I believe, this is saying that as you develop a righteous life, as you do what is right, because it’s right, you develop Christ likeness as if you are weaving the garment that you will wear at the marriage supper of the lamb. But it that all this stretches to.

If we turn to the last book of the Bible, Revelation chapter 19, there we have a picture of the second coming of Jesus Christ 

 Let us be glad and rejoice and give Him glory, for the marriage of the Lamb has come, and His wife has made herself ready.” And to her it was granted to be arrayed in fine linen, clean and bright, for the fine linen is the righteous acts of the saints. (Revelation 19: 7-8)

Did you see that we’re also going to be clothed at the second coming of Christ, clothed with our righteous acts, as well as the righteousness of Christ. If that’s true, I will stand before God clothed in the righteousness of Christ because I’ve been made righteous by faith, but at the marriage supper I will see that by the way I lived my life I was constructing a garment that’s going to be called the wedding garment and that one is made-up of the righteous acts of the believers. I submit to you that this being appropriately dressed is also is a reference for the way as  Christians, we live our lives. It means that at the marriage supper of the lamb when we go to be home with the Lord, we are not going to be in a court of law standing before a judge, instead we’re in the palace of the king at a wedding feast and the garment we wear consists not only of the imputed righteousness of Christ, but also of the action that made us suitable to qualify us to participate in the King’s banquet. So, the king sys to the servants, bind him hand and foot take him away cast him into outer darkness and there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.

As the writer of this gospel saw it, the consequences of the refusal were terrible. Yet we should not forget that this passage should still remind us that the invitation of God is to a feast, a joyous wedding feast. His invitation is to joy. To think of Christianity as gloomy or depressing or just about stopping doing things or giving stuff up is false. It is to joy that the Christian is invited; and it is the joy he will miss out on if he refuses the invitation. It also reminds us that many are deaf to the invitation of Christ. One man we see was too busy with his estate: the other with his business. These guys who did not attend  did not go off on a wild party trip or an immoral adventure. They just remained focused on the everyday administering of their personal or business lives and missed the opportunity to hear God speak to them and invite them. It is very easy for us to be so busy with the things of the world so that we forget the things of eternity, to be so preoccupied with the things which are seen, that he forgets the things which are unseen. To listen only to the call of the world and miss the still small voice of the invitation of Christ. 

It also reminds us that the appeal of Christ should not just about considering how we might avoid being punished, but it is to see what we will miss if we do not take up his invite. Those who would not come were punished, but their real tragedy was that they lost the joy of the wedding feast. If we too refuse the invitation of Christ, someday our greatest pain will lie, not in how we suffer, but in the realization of the precious things we have missed. God's invitation is the invitation of grace. Those who were gathered in from the highways and the byways had no claim on the king and they could never by any stretch of imagination have expected an invitation to the wedding feast. Non in fact even deserved it. It came to them out of nothing and was gratefully embraced by some.

This final parable is a close continuation and amplification of the previous. That is the parable of the open door. It tells how the Gentiles, and the sinners would be gathered in. This parable strikes the necessary balance. It is true that the door is open to all people, but when they come, they must bring a life which seeks to fit the love which has been given to them. Grace is not only a gift; it is a responsibility. An individual cannot go on living the life they lived before they met Jesus Christ. They must be clothed in a new purity and a new holiness and a new goodness. The door is opened for us, but the door is not open for the sinner to come and remain an unrepentant sinner, but for the sinner to come and by accepting their need to leave the life of sin behind, they become a saint.

This is the permanent lesson. The way in which any of us come to anything demonstrates the spirit in which we come. This parable has nothing to do with the clothes we wear, it has everything to do with the spirit in which we go before the Lord. There are garments of the mind being talked about here, the garment of faith, the garment of reverence and these are the only garments without which we ought not ever to approach God. Too often we go before the Lord with no preparation at all. 

if every man and woman came before the Lord, prepared to worship, prepared by prayer, prepared by service, prepared by self-examination, then worship would be worship indeed. Prepared to worship in  a way which, and through which, things can happen in people’s hearts, and can happen in the life of the Church, and can happen in the affairs of the world, because they are empowered by the Spirit and the power of God.