199 Attending a Royal Wedding Matthew 22 A

In this episode of ReDiscovering God Matthew includes the story Jesus told of the Wedding Banquet. Jesus is clear that everyone is invited to the wedding banquet and in the end only those who didn't really want to be there were not there. It seems evident that the man who was there without the wedding garment was perhaps feeling as he looked around at the people who were in attendance were nor his kind of people and so insisted on not wearing the wedding garment that was provided.

CLICK BELOW FOR THE PDF DOCUMENT.

SHOW NOTES

Mattthew 22 Weddings, Taxes and a Good Samaritan

The Parable of the Wedding Banquet

Jesus spoke to them again in parables, saying:

Parables.

1. A parable that is decoded correctly by Adventist and others is Luke 16:19-31, the story of the rich man and Lazarus. This parable does not teach consciousness after death but the perverseness of the sinful heart which will not repent even if one returns from the dead.

2. Isaiah 28:10 NLT

He tells us everything over and over—one line at a time, one line at a time,

a little here, and a little there!”

This statement is not encouraging proof texting but pointing out that Israel would not listen and they would be have to be taught by their oppressors in a foreign language a little at a time.

3. In Hebrew culture and writing, as in our culture we often use irony, that is, we say the opposite of what we mean. It is like Rodney Dangerfield saying; “I went to watch a fight and a hockey game broke out.”

Galatians 4:9 NLT So now that you know God (or should I say, now that God knows

you), why do you want to go back again and become slaves once more to the weak and

useless spiritual principles of this world?

4. The context of the wedding parable assures us the truth is: All are invited but few chose to wear the wedding clothes or in plain language to attend.

Romans 11:32 (NIV) For God has bound all men over to disobedience so that he may

have mercy on them all.

Everyone, good and bad, was invited to the wedding feast. Many refused to come, and some of those who came, refused to have the changes made which would fit them for heaven.

Hell is the consequence of refusal, at all levels, to the grace of God (Podcasts #41-44).

Salvation is not partly of God and partly of your-self. It is all of God. It is like having a brain

tumour removed. You make no contribution to the process.

When we arrive on the other shore, what shall we say? “Jesus paid the deposit and I made the payments?” “It was difficult, but God helped me, and I did it?”

No! No! No! There will be only one response, “Jesus paid it all, all to him I owe.”

“I surely have been saved by grace through the gift of faith and nothing is of myself!

”2 “The kingdom of heaven is like a king who prepared a wedding banquet for his son.

This is a royal wedding with pageantry, the best food, the best wine and the company of the movers and shakers. Think about William, Kate and Westminster Abbey. There were the coveted royal invitations and the RSVP’s with the royal seal so the palace would know who was planning to attend. Every RSVP had to be returned. The wedding list was completed. The king knew who was coming.

3 He sent his servants to those who had been invited to the banquet to tell them to come,

but they refused to come.

For security reasons the exact date and time was not announced beforehand but it was to be in the spring. Finally, the palace footmen were sent out one evening after dark to inform the invitees that the wedding was at 10 a.m. the next day. Their seating in the Abbey and at the reception was confirmed.

No one anticipated the antipathy, the avoidance, the aversion to the wedding which was revealed. It is unbelievable that those who had agreed to come would now refuse to do so. Why would they refuse to come? What deep seated reason was there that they did not want to be with the king, his son and the bride at this momentous time in the kingdom?

Parables, like jokes, are stories which have one main point, the punch line on which the narrative is focussed.

The point in this parable is that the guests refused to come, and this point is elaborated with the progress of the parable. They had accepted the invitation but refused to attend the event.

4 “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.’

There is an urgency in the invitation as “everything is ready.” The king is persistent, and the invitation is urgent. The food will spoil, the flowers will wilt in a matter of hours. The musicians are there. The servants will tire. Royal Police Officers are tasked with getting the urgent message delivered in person.

5 “But they paid no attention and went off—one to his field, another to his business. 6 The

rest seized his servants, mistreated them and killed them.

Apathy, a lack of interest or emotion. It is to be preoccupied with one’s own interests. It is to have no time for the king or his son. “I am too busy.” “I have a prior engagement.” These reasonsare still in vogue for the apathetic. The real message is, “The royal invitation does not matter to me.”

Here is the progression of rejection: refusal, lack of interest, mistreatment of the servants,

execution of the servants. It is not that the guests are ignorant, or misinformed or misunderstood the invitation, they are hostile towards the “king.”

7 The king was enraged. He sent his army and destroyed those murderers and burned

their city.

Jesus uses the expected reaction of the day so as not to detract from the parable he is telling.

How is it that they killed the police officers? What would make you kill a police officer who was confirming the urgency of attending a royal wedding?

There must be some terrible anger against the king and his son that caused this horrible hostility.

How can the invitees become murders? We have studied long term incarcerated people and in most cases they were terribly shamed in the past. Some feel so much shame that they would prefer to be dead and confront police officers hoping they will be killed. They are emotionally and spiritually dead and long for physical death. They have thought of death so often that they now translate their thoughts into action.

We use the euphemistic, statement: “You must accept salvation!” When the problem is that we refuse what God has given us.

Suppose Susan sends you a wedding invitation. It is to be held at the Banff Springs hotel. Your hotel room will be paid for two days and this includes meals. Tell me, tell me true! If you do not go is that not rejection of Susan’s love for you? Can we call a spade a spade.

But it’s worse! Susan sent her sister to give you the accommodation coupon from the hotel and you ran her down purposefully with your SUV.

Jesus is projecting the future of those who refused to fellowship with the Son (John 5:39).

Jerusalem would be destroyed by the Romans in 70 C.E. because Judah refused the teachings of the Son. This world will be destroyed in the future because it refuses to attend the wedding banquet and be safe. God wept over the city. This is a parable!!

8 “Then he said to his servants, ‘The wedding banquet is ready, but those I invited did not

deserve to come. 9 So go to the street corners and invite to the banquet anyone you find.’

Those in covenant relation with God, those who the prophets confirmed their invitation to the wedding banquet, like the older son in Luke 15, refused to come in to celebrate.

The gospel is now clearly stated. “Anyone you find!” Salvation is not just for those who received and accepted the invitation. Salvation is not just for those who live in North America. Salvation is not just for Christians. Now other people are virtually compelled to come in

.10 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 king has a great heart, and he does not want to waste the food, the decorations and the entertainment which has been arranged. His servants gather up anyone they could find who were not hostile to the king.

Repeatedly Jesus makes similar statement in His parables. There are good fish and bad fish caught in the net. There are weeds and wheat in the field. The separation is at the harvest. The Kingdom allows all, good and bad, to come to the banquet of the great King. The Kingdom is a hospital for sinners. It is not a showcase for saints.

11 “But when the king came in to see the guests, he noticed a man there who was not

wearing wedding clothes

Everyone was given wedding clothes. Clothes play the role of helping the recipients to feel good about themselves at the banquet. One does not want to feel underdressed. The guest without wedding clothes had refused to wear what the king had sent him. He is perhaps not hostile but self-sufficient. Perhaps he wanted to look better than the others.

Since these guests were off the street, they were not wearing wedding clothes. This was a royal wedding banquet with formal dress. Appropriate clothes were provided so that none of the guests would be embarrassed in their jeans and t-shirts. One could not get in without formal attire. The guest without “wedding clothes” must have had his jeans and t-shirt in a plastic bag with him and had slipped out to the washroom and changed back into his more familiar garb. He did not fancy the clothes provided by the king and his son.

Clothes feature prominently in the Bible:

Genesis 3:7 (NIV) Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they realised that they

were naked; so they sewed fig leaves together and made coverings for themselves.

Isaiah 64:6 (NIV) All of us have become like one who is unclean, and all our righteous

acts are like filthy rags; we all shrivel up like a leaf, and like the wind our sins sweep us

away.

Zechariah 3:1 (NIV) Then he showed me Joshua the high priest standing before the angel

of the LORD, and Satan standing at his right side to accuse him. 2 The LORD said to

Satan, "The LORD rebuke you, Satan! The LORD, who has chosen Jerusalem, rebuke

you! Is not this man a burning stick snatched from the fire?" 3 Now Joshua was dressed

in filthy clothes as he stood before the angel. 4 The angel said to those who were

standing before him, "Take off his filthy clothes." Then he said to Joshua, "See, I have

taken away your sin, and I will put rich garments on you." 5 Then I said, "Put a clean

turban on his head." So they put a clean turban on his head and clothed him, while the

angel of the LORD stood by.

Revelation 3:5 (NIV) He who overcomes will, like them, be dressed in white. I will never

blot out his name from the book of life but will acknowledge his name before my Father

and his angels.

Revelation 3:18 (NIV) I counsel you to buy from me gold refined in the fire, so that you

can become rich; and white clothes to wear, so that you can cover your shameful

nakedness; and salve to put on your eyes, so that you can see.

It is a terrible embarrassment to be in the presence of purity itself. To be in the presence of the King who is love, is a terrible embarrassment for selfish, vindictive, angry sinners.

Without being clothed with the righteousness Jesus has earned for us, coming to the banquet of the King is problematic. We are naked in our dysfunctions, guilty in our self-centeredness and shamed by our self-image. We do not feel comfortable with the mind or righteousness of Jesus Christ.

Some think that because they are sincere Christians they have no need of a daily Saviour. The quickest way to test for this attitude is to ask if I am critical or envious of fellow Christians. If I am, then I do not have the wedding clothes on. The wedding clothes are symbolic of our great value in the king’s eyes. The wedding garments give us the confidence to reflect the glory or the mercy and compassion of God to others.

Examples of clothing in the Bible.

God: brilliant light (1 Timothy 6:16)

Lucifer: bright stones and light>darkness (Isaiah 14:12; Ezekiel 28:13; Luke 10:18; 2

Corinthians 11:14)

Adam and Eve: Innocence > nakedness and shame (Fig leaf covering Genesis 3:7) >

God’s covering of skins (Genesis 3:21)

Joseph: coat of many colours>Pharaoh’s robe

High Priest’s robes

Elijah: powerful mantle (1 Kings 19:11-13; 2 Kings 2:1-18)

Job: sackcloth (Job 1:20; 1 Kings 21:27-29)

Bathsheba’s lack of clothes

David wants to be covered by God’s wings (Psalms 61:4).

Compare Jesus’ metaphor of hen covering chicks (Matthew 23:37)

Finery of Israel’s women’s pride (Isaiah 3:18-26)

Garments of splendor (Isaiah 52:1)

Garments of salvation and a robe of righteousness (Isaiah 61:10)

Rich robes for filthy garments (Zechariah 3:1-5)

Camel’s hair cloak for John the Baptist (

Best Robe, ring and sandals for the prodigal (Luke 15:20-24)

Wedding garment (Matthew 22:9-14)

Touching Jesus garment (Mark 5:24-34; Luke 8:43-48)

Jesus takes off his outer garment (John 13:1-16)

Rending his robe (Matthew 26:59-68)

Scarlet robe and crown of thorns (Matthew 27:27-29)

Naked in the cross (John 19:23-24; Psalm 22:18)

Clothed with Christ (Galatians 3:26-29)

Take off your old self and put on your new self (Ephesians 4:22-24; Colossians 3:9-10)

clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience

(Colossians 3:12)

Fine linen, bright and clean, was given her (bride of Christ) to wear. [Fine linen stands for

the righteous acts of the saints.] (Revelation 19:8)

Legalists immediately conclude that God gives us good deeds to do. Believers remember that the robe of Christ’s righteous, his perfect obedience is given to them.

12 He asked, ‘How did you get in here without wedding clothes, friend?’ The man was

speechless.

The man knew he had no excuse. He could not give any reason for not having the wedding clothes on. He had taken them off, he had refused to wear them. Why did he not wear the wedding clothes provided? There is only one reason. He wanted to keep the clothes he had on.He did not see the necessity of letting God give him wedding clothes. He was happy and satisfied with what he had on. He had no need for anything else.

This guest was at the banquet and had so many things right. He is in the right place, at the right time, with the right king, and the right fellow guests. Only one thing was wrong. He was right in himself. Jesus was talking about pride. Pride may be about the way we dress, and drive and display but it is more about our hearts than any externals. It is the most dangerous virus, the incubus of all sin and suffering.

Rev 3:17 (NIV) You say, “I am rich; I have acquired wealth and do not need a thing.” But

you do not realise that you are wretched, pitiful, poor, blind and naked. 18 I counsel you

to buy from me gold refined in the fire, so that you can become rich; and white clothes to

wear, so that you can cover your shameful nakedness; and salve to put on your eyes, so

that you can see.

“The proud heart strives to earn salvation; but both our title to heaven and our fitness for it are found in the righteousness of Christ. The Lord can do nothing toward the recovery of man until, convinced of his own weakness, and stripped of all self-sufficiency, he yields himself to the control of God. Then he can receive the gift that God is waiting to bestow. From the soul that feels his need, nothing is withheld.

“He has unrestricted access to Him in whom all fullness dwells. ‘For thus saith the high and lofty One that inhabiteth eternity, whose name is Holy; I dwell in the high and holy place, with him also that is of a contrite and humble spirit, to revive the spirit of the humble, and to revive the heart of the contrite ones.’" Isa. 57:15. (DA 300)

13 “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.’

There are different endings to Jesus’ parables. Some end in fire, some in darkness, some in torture. Jesus is using one of the idioms of the day so as not to distract from the punchline.

14 “For many are invited, but few are chosen.”

This is the hyperbole of Jesus otherwise we have a direct contradiction “many invited” and “few chosen.” The king invited all eventually. It is the guests who chose not to be there. They parallel the older son in the parable of the prodigal son. There is also a parallel between the guests chosen in the OT (Israel) and those who were too busy to attend the wedding banquet. When they refused to go in then those on the street (Gentiles) were welcomed in.

What Jesus was saying for those who had ears was, “many are invited but few chose to

attend.” This is the punchline. It is a tragic line that Jesus had to confront in the apparent failure of his own life. His followers experience the same in their witness much of the time. It illustrates the powerful seduction sin carries. No wonder Jesus prayer for his Father, “Hallowed be thyname.” means “May your charactered be so admired that we overcome the allure of wickedness in our hearts.”

Ian Hartley, March 2025