Parable of The Wedding Party

Matthew 22:1–14
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This parable is not to be confused with the parable of the great supper (Luke 14:16-24). The period described here must be after Jesus’ resurrection and ascension and the coming of the Holy Spirit.  The Father is still inviting the people of Israel to come, in spite of what they did to His Son. The king in this parable had made plans for a wedding banquet for his son (vv. 1-2). He sent his servants to tell all of those who had been invited that it was time for the banquet, but the invitation was ignored and the guests refused to come (vv. 3-5). In fact the offer was not only ignored but the servants were mistreated and killed (v. 6). At this point the king was angry and he sent his army and destroyed the people and burned their city (v. 7).

Since those who were first invited had rejected the invitation, opportunity was then given to any who would come to the feast (vv. 8-10). As the King arrived at the banquet he noticed that one of the guests was without a wedding garment (v. 11). Evidently this special garment was provided by the host for everyone to put on when they arrived and this guest had failed to put it on. When the king questioned him about this he had no answer (v. 12). At that point the king instructed his aids to bind him and throw him into outer darkness (v. 13). He simply refused to come on the kings terms (v. 14). God instructs us to share the gospel with anyone who will listen. Since we do not know who will respond, often the most unlikely candidates come to Christ when we share it with the “many.”

Application

I need to make sure that I have time for the Lord in my life and never be too busy with the things I want to do. I never want to be too devoted to what’s temporary to make time for what’s eternal.