Matt 22 1-15- The great Invitation

Jesus has already brought us a parable last week which looked at the rejection of his Son, but this parable moves us forward, to a point of no return. Just look at the rich language of v13 to get a measure of what Jesus is saying.

Like all parables they are pictures of theology more than pure theology, therefore we shouldn’t try and fit the parables exactly at every point unless we are guided by the Holy Spirit.  The basic truths that come out of this chapter are in themselves, incredible.

In this parable the King invites a special group of people, a select group, through invitation only to a great feast.

It is a picture of truly a great feast for three reasons

1-      He is the king and therefore it naturally will be special.

2-      It was no ordinary occasion- it was for a marriage celebration

3-      It was for no ordinary person- it was for the crowned Prince

The invitations had gone out as was customary in those days and the guest would await the day and hour when the feast would be ready, giving themselves time to get ready for the occasion, after all they were meeting with the sovereign of that moment and the future king of their nation.

At the request of the king of the realm, the servants of the king went and announced that the wedding was prepared and that the festivities were about to commence. “Come for all is ready”.

But one by one, the invited, privileged and special guests made their excuses and declined his offer. Some stayed back at home on their farm, others went to work, but all ignored the servants.

As a result the king was furious that he had been rejected by his own subjects and sent out his army to destroy them.

The question has to be asked why?

PART ONE

This first part of the parable is seemingly harsh for someone who did not want to go to a wedding.

But the depths of its meaning are much more than this.

On one hand, if you were a royalist and were invited to William and Kate’s wedding you would be a fool to not go, you would move almost everything just to get a chance to get a seat in St Paul’s or Westminster Abbey  so that you could see the ceremony and then afterwards to be able to dine with the Queen of England and the royals and all their A list guests at some great eating joint, possibly Buck palace, eating the finest of foods and enjoying the finest of wines available to man. (these guests would really be “A” list guests)

In some way this goes to explain the massive mistake that these guests made, but that in itself was only a part of what Jesus was referring to.

For some this kind of indulgence is just not “their cup of tea”, especially for those who dislike pomp and ceremony

But this parable was more about rejecting the King than it was not going to an event.

If you are invited to a royal wedding and to some degree any wedding, it is the fact that you have been particularly chosen to something for some merit. You are family, you are royalty, you are famous or you are friend of the family or you have been apart of their upbringing or life in some part.

In this parable it doesn’t say why certain people were chosen but by using the context of where this chapter is in the bible, it is certainly to the Jewish people, to Israel as a nation. These were the special people of God, chosen as a people and called to be a nation of God.

As a whole they were special because God had given his name to them, but as individuals, they were nothing special.

God had called these people who were nobody’s and made them into a special people and when the time came to show their loyalty, they said no and ignored the king’s servants. The original word in v3 which is translated “refused” means to make light of something and therefore not to bother.

They saw the generosity of the king to a people who did not deserve it, something less important than there own everyday lives. They just didn’t get what all the fuss what about. Who is the King in this parable it is the KING of Heaven who is calling?

When Herod called a few years earlier for the people to go to their own birth town to register, they all went, even though there was nothing of benefit or interest or religious significance for the people, in fact it would cost many a lot of money in travel, innkeeper fees and loss of earnings, to carry this out.

This king would announce it is all free, come and dine with me and celebrate with my son.

There is a stronger thought implied in this parable, which I believe Jesus is saying.

In eastern times the king would invite only the closest of family to the wedding supper, to the great feast, there may have been other feast for the other guests.

Therefore when Jesus invited the guests to come it was the Bride herself who refused to come

Now you start to get the thrust of the wrath of the king.

His son is betrothed (promised to by her family) and when the time comes, she says, no sorry, not doing it now.

The awkwardness and discomfort that this can cause in a western wedding is bad enough, but in an Eastern Wedding, betrothal is part one of two parts of a ceremony. It is a promise of marriage, with no backing out. To back out is to divorce.

This is the seriousness of the situation, now you can see why the view of the king seems out of proportion.

Spiritually this is significant and to Israel as a nation the beginning of their real troubles.

1-      God gave them the law and the prophets, God the Father spoke to the people, but they rejected the law and the prophets and as a result they rejected the Father.

2-      God sent his Son and it was going to be less than a week before they rejected him, they crucified him on a Roman Cross.

3-      Then at Pentecost, Jesus was looking forward -God sent his Spirit, they would also reject him.

Later Stephen says these words "You stubborn people! You are heathen at heart and deaf to the truth. Must you forever resist the Holy Spirit? That's what your ancestors did, and so do you! Name one prophet your ancestors didn't persecute! They even killed the ones who predicted the coming of the Righteous One—the Messiah whom you betrayed and murdered. You deliberately disobeyed God's law, even though you received it from the hands of angels." Acts 7:51-53

By rejecting this offer there was noting more that God could do, there was no other way back to him,

"Anyone who isn't with me opposes me, and anyone who isn't working with me is actually working against me.

"Every sin and blasphemy can be forgiven—except blasphemy against the Holy Spirit, which will never be forgiven. Anyone who speaks against the Son of Man can be forgiven, but anyone who speaks against the Holy Spirit will never be forgiven, either in this world or in the world to come. Matt 12:30-32

In this parable the invite of the king was the third and final opportunity for the chosen guests to come to the wedding. The rejection of the Holy Spirit was the third and final opportunity for the people to come.

The rejection led to the guests been destroyed.

In AD70 the start of the troubles of the nation of Israel as a people of God, who had rejected their King commenced. Jerusalem their spiritual centre and capital was taken from them and destroyed. God had warned them and warned them and warned them and they refused to listen. V6 is significant- many of the early church God’s messengers were destroyed not initially by Rome, but by fanatical Jews who rejected the claims of a risen Christ and the coming of the Holy Spirit.

PART TWO

The second part of the parable is about a new people, the first were deemed unworthy, they refused to show honour to the king and as a result were unworthy of their calling.

The servants of God were ordered to find anyone and bring them into the wedding. They had no honour themselves there was nothing special about them, many were not nobles and rich and from a certain standing in the community.

If they were in the street corners (v9) they were more than likely commoners, every day people, going about their everyday lives.

They could never dream of been invited to the Kings special feast. The king was inviting them to share in the marriage supper of his Son, unheard of and almost unbelievable.

Robbers, thieves, respectable traders, not so respectable ones, diseased, those rejected by society, the poor the unmarried, the ones that had not found love, the ones that had no hope or future, the ones everyone else hated. Tax collectors, fishermen, shepherds, prostitutes, not just the ones who followed after a certain religion or idea.  The popular and the unpopular, those that wore clothes with pride, those that struggled to get clothes to fit. Anyone and everyone. Foreigners, asylum seekers, child abusers, you name it, would have been in the crowd if it were today.

They were all invited, they were all given a call, an invitation.

If it was today, some would have had a text, an email, a phone call, a letter, an announcement on local radio, even in the press, on the TV. The servants were not asked to be fussy.

Anyone they saw, invite them, bring them in, now as they are.

The wonderful grace shown here is that for the vast majority, even though they were all different, and some would have felt more worthy than others, and some would have felt totally unworthy, they were all in unity.

The king had provided wedding clothes for everyone. Everyone who accepted could change into the clothes of the king.

The poor could take off their rags, the rich could take off their designer clothes, no matter what they had before they were all totally inferior because the only clothes that mattered were the kings clothes.

Ask the one who refused to put on the kings clothes, he thought he was better than everyone else, he thought he could come to the king anyway he wanted, or even that his clothing was already good enough, wrong. This is the king, he has the best of everything and his kingdom cannot be measured by anything that anyone else can bring.

Why did he throw away something so beautiful to keep the inferior that he already had

The question has to be asked why?  The man had no reply, how could he this is the king.

Righteousness of God- our clothing

Personal- are we coming before God in his clothing or in our own.

We are all infected and impure with sin. When we display our righteous deeds, they are nothing but filthy rags.

Like autumn leaves, we wither and fall, and our sins sweep us away like the wind. Isa 64:6 

Outreach- lets not judge those outside when Christ will accept anyone who comes in his name and is willing to put on his clothing.

The bride of heaven (the church) is not made up of special people, but made up of people that God has made extraordinarily special in that he is prepared to share his Son with us. The bridegroom is coming, he is calling be ready.