A Royal Wedding Invitation

Matthew 22:1-14

Imagine that back in 2011 you had received an invitation by special messenger to attend the wedding of Prince William to Catherine Middleton, one of the most special weddings in recent times.  Most people would not turn down such an invitation, especially if something special would be provided for you to wear.  Our Gospel passage this week tells of another parable that Jesus told of a royal wedding, invitations sent out, and the response received.

Jesus begins His parable by telling of a king who was preparing a great wedding feast for his son.  In the culture of that day when someone was giving a special grand banquet or feast, such as this royal wedding banquet, two invitations were sent out.  The first one was to specifically invite the guests.  The second was sent out right before to say that all was ready, and for the guests to start to come.  This wedding banquet was for the king’s son.  To be invited was an extreme honor, just as today to be invited to a royal wedding would be, so as we read in verses 3, 5, and 6 of the guests response it seems shocking.  They didn’t want to come, preferring instead to go to work.  Who would choose to go to work rather than attend the wedding of the year?  Some of the invited guests even beat up the messengers.

The king then sent his servants out to invite other people to the wedding feast.  The wedding of his son is important and special, and he wants the wedding hall to be full.

While mingling with the wedding guests the king sees one who is not dressed appropriately in the garments provided (vs. 11-13), and he has that guest thrown out.  Another cultural tradition of that time was for the wedding host to provide special garments to wear to the wedding.  To refuse, and instead wear what we want, something of our own, was a grave insult to the host.

This parable of Jesus speaks of the wedding feast of God’s Son.  God has sent out invitations to all of mankind, over and over again.  So many have outright rejected this invitation, and many more have just ignored it.  God is patient, even to those who spurn His repeated invitations, and calls for more people to come to Him (vs. 9).

The second half of this parable focuses on one specific guest, one who is not dressed in the garments provided by the host (vs. 11-13).  The wedding garments that were provided and the ones the guest were wearing symbolize the need to be clothed in the righteousness that Jesus Christ gives us.  When we come to God we can only come and be accepted by Him if we are only clothed in Jesus’s righteousness, not our own.  We cannot enter heaven if we are coming to Him with our own righteousness.

The man not attired in the provided wedding garments represents those who identify and call themselves Christians, might even belong to a physical church, but have never made a true salvation decision, and are not truly saved.  They are coming to God in their own righteousness, not that of Christ’s.  Just like the man at the wedding, coming dressed in his own clothes, was thrown out, so, too, anyone coming to God clothed in their own righteousness will not be allowed into heaven, but will be thrown out into outer darkness (vs. 13).

We see the phrase “weeping and gnashing of teeth” in verse 13.  That is a phrase that Jesus used several times in the Gospels to describe hell.  Hell is real, a place of inconsolable grief and unremitting torment.  There are some who don’t like the idea of there being a hell, and say that it doesn’t exist.  They like the idea of a heaven, and accept that, but not that of hell.  Jesus makes it very clear there is such a place as hell.  Many hear the call of God, but few respond (vs. 14).  Those who have heard the call, but refused and rejected the invitation, then exclusion to the Kingdom is totally just and right.

So what should us believers be doing?  We are to share the Gospel with everyone.  We don’t know who will respond.  Sometimes the most unlikely people get saved, so we need to witness to all.  We must be ready and clothed in the correct garments, that of the righteousness of Jesus Christ alone.  The invitations are ready and open for all, so come to the wedding feast of God’s Son, come clothed in His righteousness alone, and sit at His banquet table.