Today we are concluding our series on the parables of Christ by looking at the parable of the wedding feast. And I want to first consider the historical context in which this parable is given. This would have been Wednesday of the last week before Christ’s death. On Friday, He will be crucified. On Sunday, He will rise from the dead. For three years He has been preaching and teaching the Gospel of the kingdom. He has been presenting Himself as the Messiah, the Son of God, the Savior of the world. He has been offering an invitation into His kingdom to the people of Israel, the Jews. And now at the end of His ministry He has come into Jerusalem for the final act. He knows that the religious leadership have rejected Him as the Messiah. And in just two more days they will turn Him over to the Romans to be crucified.
On Monday, He had entered Jerusalem on a donkey to the sounds of crowds crying Hosanna! The common people expected Him to be king and to overthrow the Roman occupation and take the throne of David. But on Tuesday, instead of doing that, He went to the temple and overthrew the money changer’s tables and drove out the merchandisers from the temple. And in so doing, He sealed His fate with the High Priest, the Pharisees and the Sadducees. They wanted Him dead.
So this is Wednesday, and He has come back to the temple, and this time He comes to preach. And in His message, He gives three parables, a trilogy of kingdom of heaven parables, which prophetically forecast the rejection by the Jews and the judgment that will befall them because they failed to accept Him as their Messiah and King.
The first parable He gives in this trilogy is the Parable of Two Sons. It is found in chapter 21 vs 28. "But what do you think? A man had two sons, and he came to the first and said, 'Son, go work today in the vineyard.' And he answered, 'I will not'; but afterward he regretted it and went. "The man came to the second and said the same thing; and he answered, 'I [will,] sir'; but he did not go. Which of the two did the will of his father?" They said, "The first." Jesus said to them, "Truly I say to you that the tax collectors and prostitutes will get into the kingdom of God before you. For John came to you in the way of righteousness and you did not believe him; but the tax collectors and prostitutes did believe him; and you, seeing [this,] did not even feel remorse afterward so as to believe him.”
Jesus explains this simple parable to show that the religious Jews claimed to do the will of God, but actually did not, and thus would not enter into the kingdom of heaven, whereas the sinners who repented would enter the kingdom of heaven.
The second parable of the trilogy speaks of the judgment that will fall on those who rejected the gospel of the kingdom, which was again directed at the religious leadership of the Jews. Jesus said in vs 33 "Listen to another parable. There was a landowner who PLANTED A VINEYARD AND PUT A WALL AROUND IT AND DUG A WINE PRESS IN IT, AND BUILT A TOWER, and rented it out to vine-growers and went on a journey. When the harvest time approached, he sent his slaves to the vine-growers to receive his produce. The vine-growers took his slaves and beat one, and killed another, and stoned a third. Again he sent another group of slaves larger than the first; and they did the same thing to them. But afterward he sent his son to them, saying, 'They will respect my son.' But when the vine-growers saw the son, they said among themselves, 'This is the heir; come, let us kill him and seize his inheritance.' They took him, and threw him out of the vineyard and killed him. Therefore when the owner of the vineyard comes, what will he do to those vine-growers?" They said to Him, "He will bring those wretches to a wretched end, and will rent out the vineyard to other vine-growers who will pay him the proceeds at the [proper] seasons." Jesus said to them, "Did you never read in the Scriptures, 'THE STONE WHICH THE BUILDERS REJECTED, THIS BECAME THE CHIEF CORNER [stone;] THIS CAME ABOUT FROM THE LORD, AND IT IS MARVELOUS IN OUR EYES'? Therefore I say to you, the kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to a people, producing the fruit of it.”
Now that parable is pretty self explanatory as well. But irregardless, in expounding it, Jesus makes it clear that He is speaking it about them, the religious Jews. That the kingdom of God will be taken away from them, and they will receive the judgment of God because of their rejection. Whereas the kingdom will be given to a people who will produce spiritual fruit.
And Matthew says that the Jews did recognize that He was speaking about them. I think it’s possible that they recognized Jesus was speaking of God as the Father, and He as the Son of God, and that they would kill Him. I think it’s possible that they even knew that He was the Messiah, but He was not the kind of Messiah that they wanted. He was going to destroy their livelihood, their financial rackets, and their position of power. Look at vs 45 “When the chief priests and the Pharisees heard His parables, they understood that He was speaking about them. When they sought to seize Him, they feared the people, because they considered Him to be a prophet.” They had already planned on killing Him, but were just waiting for the right opportunity.
Now we come to the third parable in this trilogy, which we will look at in a little more detail, as Jesus gives more insight, and a different perspective on the same issue of rejection of the kingdom of God and the judgment due to those who do so. There are four parts to this parable, similar to four parts in a play. The first act we will call the invitation rejected.
The story is about the kingdom of heaven, which was the foremost topic of Jesus’s teaching. As we have repeatedly stressed, the kingdom of heaven is not speaking of what we often think of as heaven, per se, but is referring to the rule of heaven, the rule of God in the hearts of His people. It is a spiritual kingdom, where those who have been born of the Spirit have their life, their inheritance, in the realm of Christ.
Jesus says in vs 2 "The kingdom of heaven may be compared to a king who gave a wedding feast for his son. And he sent out his slaves to call those who had been invited to the wedding feast, and they were unwilling to come. Again he sent out other slaves saying, 'Tell those who have been invited, "Behold, I have prepared my dinner; my oxen and my fattened livestock are [all] butchered and everything is ready; come to the wedding feast."' But they paid no attention and went their way, one to his own farm, another to his business, and the rest seized his slaves and mistreated them and killed them.”
So the kingdom of heaven may be compared to a wedding feast given by the King for His Son. A wedding was in those days the most important social event of a person’s life. And a royal wedding would have been the most important social event of a lifetime. Imagine being invited to attend Prince Charles and Diana’s wedding back in the early 80’s when that event occurred. It was perhaps the most prestigious, most desirable social event in England of the century.
Jesus says that the kingdom of heaven can be compared to that kind of wedding. He is taking the most important, significant event of person’s spiritual life and comparing it to a situation that can be more easily comprehended by mortal man -a wedding invitation by the royal family.
In those days, the wedding was not given a specific date. The exact timing of the bridegroom was something of a surprise. The general time frame would be known, and the invitation was given out to make the people aware that it could be very soon, on a moments notice.
We know from a previous parable we studied that the bridegroom is Christ, and the bride is HIs church. Jesus is saying in this parable that the invitations to the wedding feast had gone out. And as the moment arrived for the celebration, the slaves of the king were sent to those who had been invited to attend, but they were not interested in coming. It says in vs 3, “they were unwilling to come.” This was an unthinkable thing, that the people would not want to attend the king’s wedding celebration.
But the king responds to their rejection with graciousness. He sends out his slaves again, to ask them to come to the wedding feast. This time he adds that he has prepared this grand feast, the oxen and livestock have been butchered, and everything is ready. That indicates a tremendous expense on the part of the king, which was prepared for their enjoyment.
But they paid no attention to the second summons from the slaves. They went on about their business, one to his farm and one to his place of business. Such a callous display towards the king’s invitation would have been unthinkable. The listeners of Jesus would have been shocked to hear of such disregard for the king’s invitation. The first group of people in the parable were just too busy with their own agenda to be bothered with the king’s business. What they were doing seemed more important and more enjoyable.
As bad as that was, the second group of people Jesus describes are even worse. They take the king’s slaves and beat them, and murder them. In the context of the story, this is just outrageous behavior. Why would you beat up and murder the servants who invited you to the king’s celebration? It’s unthinkable.
Now what is Jesus describing here? I think it’s pretty clear. The king is a picture of God, the king’s son is the Christ, and the wedding celebration is an invitation to be part of the kingdom of His Son. The invitation had been given to the Jews. They were the ones first invited to enter the kingdom of heaven. They were the preferred guests, the priority list. The gospel was given to the Jews first. They were the called people of God.
And the kingdom was offered to them. They were invited as the special guests who were able to enter the kingdom. But they were not interested. They had their own agenda which they were more interested in. They were busy making money, doing deals. They were so callused that they refused the invitation again and again.
And even worse, they mistreated and killed the prophets that God sent to them. Jesus said in Luke 11:47 "Woe to you! For you build the tombs of the prophets, and [it was] your fathers [who] killed them.” Vs 49 "For this reason also the wisdom of God said, 'I will send to them prophets and apostles, and [some] of them they will kill and [some] they will persecute, so that the blood of all the prophets, shed since the foundation of the world, may be charged against this generation.”
That takes us to the second act, the rejecters punished. Verse 7, "But the king was enraged, and he sent his armies and destroyed those murderers and set their city on fire.” The king’s graciousness and mercy has an end. HIs patience has run out. His wrath is poured out on the rejecters, and it is justified. They have murdered His innocent servants, rather than submit to His rule and be a part of His administration. So the wrath of God is poured out on the Jews because they have rejected His invitation.
History tells us that just as Jesus depicts in this parable God burned the city of Jerusalem with fire in AD 70. Over a million Jews were killed when the Roman general Titus surrounded the city and in the process the temple was destroyed and burned. The remaining Jews were scattered all across Asia. God’s justice was served against a people that rejected His invitation, they rejected His grace, and they rejected His Son. Because Israel as a nation rejected the Messiah, God rejected them as nation. And so the invitation is given to others who will bear the fruit of it.
That brings us to the third act, the new guests are invited. We see that in vs 8 "Then he said to his slaves, 'The wedding is ready, but those who were invited were not worthy. Go therefore to the main highways, and as many as you find [there,] invite to the wedding feast.' Those slaves went out into the streets and gathered together all they found, both evil and good; and the wedding hall was filled with dinner guests.”
The instruction from the king is to go everywhere and get everyone that will come. That’s the mandate of the church’s mission, “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to all creation.” That’s the mission. Because of the rejection of Israel, we that were not a people have become the people of God. He has sent His message into every nation to everyone. “As many as you can find, invite them all to come.”
Vs 10 "Those slaves went out into the streets and gathered together all they found, both evil and good; and the wedding hall was filled with dinner guests.” The invitation to enter the kingdom of heaven is given to whomever will come. What Jesus is indicating here is that their acceptance of the invitation is the key to entering, not their morality, not either how good of a person they are, nor how bad of a person they are. It’s not dependent upon their nationality. But simply all who accept the invitation can enter. Accepting the invitation is the criteria, accepting the grace of God, not how good of a person you may be.
And that brings us to the last act, the intruder expelled. Vs 11 "But when the king came in to look over the dinner guests, he saw a man there who was not dressed in wedding clothes, and he said to him, 'Friend, how did you come in here without wedding clothes?' And the man was speechless. Then the king said to the servants, 'Bind him hand and foot, and throw him into the outer darkness; in that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.' For many are called, but few [are] chosen."
So this great crowd of people who accepted the invitation were in the wedding hall. And there is one man who is not dressed in the wedding garment. Now we are not told exactly what this garment looked like, nor exactly how it is given, nor how this man does not have it. But what we can assume is that it correlates to the robe of righteousness which God provides to those who believe in Christ and have accepted Him as their Lord and Savior.
We find direct correlation to this robe of righteousness that all who enter must wear, in Isaiah 61:10 which says, “I will rejoice greatly in the LORD, My soul will exult in my God; For He has clothed me with garments of salvation, He has wrapped me with a robe of righteousness, As a bridegroom decks himself with a garland, And as a bride adorns herself with her jewels.”
The hymn we often sing, “The Solid Rock” has a line which speaks to this, which says, “Dressed in HIs righteousness alone, faultless to stand before the throne.” The robe of righteousness is one that we receive by faith from Christ. It’s His righteousness. Our sins are transferred to Him, and His righteousness is transferred to us. That’s what 2 Corinthians 5:21 says, “God caused Jesus, who knew no sin, to become sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.” It’s Christ’s righteousness which becomes our wedding garment, without which no one can enter the kingdom of heaven.
This man without the wedding garment is asked by the king, “Friend, how did you come in here without wedding clothes?” And the man was speechless. He had no answer. When we stand before God in all His holiness, we will be ever so aware of our own sinfulness. We will have no excuse. In our natural state, many people think that they are a pretty good person. I can’t tell you how often I hear people say that. Somehow, in spite of all that they have done wrong and all the good that they have not done in this life, they somehow think deep down inside I’m really a good person. Well, when the day comes when they stand before God and they see themselves in the light of righteousness and perfect holiness, then they will throw themselves prostrate on the ground and say as Isaiah said, “Woe is me, for I am ruined! Because I am a man of unclean lips, And I live among a people of unclean lips; For my eyes have seen the King, the LORD of hosts.”
I want you to notice that the garment which the guests received was provided by the King. It was given to them. They did not already have it, they could not earn it, but when they accepted the invitation it was given to them. That gift is called grace. Eph.2:8,9 “For by grace are you saved through faith, and that not of yourselves, it’s a gift of God, not of works, lest any man should boast.”
So this man who rejected the garment is in effect no better than the Jews who rejected their Messiah. He is indifferent. He doesn’t value the garment which the King provided. He wants the benefits of the kingdom perhaps, but He doesn’t think that the means by which he is granted an invitation is important. He thinks he can do it his own way.
I think one of the most tragic songs I have ever heard is the song by Frank Sinatra, “I did it my way.” I remember after he passed away a few years ago, and hearing all these tributes about him on the radio, and they all seemed to want to play that song. And I just couldn’t help but wonder where he was at that moment, and if living life his way, according to his agenda and his set of standards, was good enough to enter the kingdom of heaven. I don’t know the state of his soul, but I know the standard for heaven, and it’s not doing it your way. It’s not entered according to how you think God should be, or based on your own merits. But entrance is only admitted through Jesus Christ.
I know that when I stand at the gate of Paradise, and perhaps some angel says to me, “Friend, what are you doing here?” My only plea will be, “I am with Him. Jesus Christ invited me to come, and He has provided the garment of righteousness required to enter.”
Well, this man had no answer. He was speechless. And so the king said “bind him up and throw him into outer darkness. in that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.”
Listen, the Bible says hell was prepared for the devil and his angels. Hell wasn’t made for you and me. Paradise was made for you and me. God has prepared a place beyond our imagination for those that love Him. But when we reject Jesus, we reject Paradise and choose to listen to the enemy, and as such they that do so will suffer the same fate as he who they chose to obey.
Jesus closes this parable with a very simple statement, “For many are called, but few are chosen.” The call has gone out to the world, but only a few are chosen. The gospel invitation is sent out everywhere to everyone. Some are indifferent. Some are hostile. Some try to crash the wedding party on their own terms. But few are chosen. And with the word “chosen,” we’re introduced to the sovereignty of God in salvation. I think we can parse this word from a lot of different perspectives, but the one perspective I want to focus on is the sovereign act of God in granting salvation, granting righteousness to those who believe. You believe, and God grants you the kingdom. He graciously bestows upon you an inheritance in the kingdom. He makes you His child and gives you all the benefits of an heir.
But the great emphasis that Jesus gives in this parable is not on the election of God, but the acceptance of the invitation by man. He has extended to you that invitation today, to join HIs kingdom, to receive the righteousness of Jesus Christ and become a child of God. The question is, will you come to Him and bow to Him and believe in Him, that you may be dressed in the robe of righteousness by which you may enter? Come to Him today. The invitation is given to you.
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