Are You Attending or Declining the Wedding Feast or the Great Banquet?

Thank you so much for tuning in and Welcome everyone ? Hope you?re well!  I?m your host, Ben Lively, and you?re listening to ?Shaken Awake? ? Episode #63!  

 

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So, without further delay, let?s get ready to invite God in with us, right here, right now and allow Him to speak directly to your heart and minds.   

 

So, today?s topic is on ?Are You Attending or Declining the Wedding Feast or the Great Banquet??

We?re going to cover both parables today.  Let?s start with the Wedding Feast:

 

Matthew 22:1?14 (ESV): 22 And again Jesus spoke to them in parables, saying, 2 ?The kingdom of heaven may be compared to a king who gave a wedding feast for his son, 3 and sent his servants to call those who were invited to the wedding feast, but they would not come. 4 Again he sent other servants, saying, ?Tell those who are invited, ?See, I have prepared my dinner, my oxen and my fat calves have been slaughtered, and everything is ready. Come to the wedding feast.? ? 5 But they paid no attention and went off, one to his farm, another to his business, 6 while the rest seized his servants, treated them shamefully, and killed them. 7 The king was angry, and he sent his troops and destroyed those murderers and burned their city. 8 Then he said to his servants, ?The wedding feast is ready, but those invited were not worthy. 9 Go therefore to the main roads and invite to the wedding feast as many as you find.? 10 And those servants went out into the roads and gathered all whom they found, both bad and good. So the wedding hall was filled with guests. 

11 ?But when the king came in to look at the guests, he saw there a man who had no wedding garment. 12 And he said to him, ?Friend, how did you get in here without a wedding garment?? And he was speechless. 13 Then the king said to the attendants, ?Bind him hand and foot and cast him into the outer darkness. In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.? 14 For many are called, but few are chosen.?

 

Jesus told the Parable of the Wedding Feast in Matthew 22:1-14. This parable is similar in some ways to the Parable of the Great Banquet (Luke 14:15-24), but the occasion is different, and it has some important differences. To better understand the context of this story, it is important to know some basic facts about weddings in Jesus? day.

In Jewish society, the parents of the engaged generally drew up the marriage contract. The bride and groom would meet, perhaps for the first time, when this contract was signed. The couple was considered married at this point, but they would separate until the actual time of the ceremony. The bride would remain with her parents, and the groom would leave to prepare their home. This could take quite a while. When the home was all was ready, the groom would return for his bride without notice. The marriage ceremony would then take place, and the wedding banquet would follow.

The wedding banquet was one of the most joyous events in Jewish life and could last for up to a week. In His parable, Jesus compares heaven to a wedding banquet that a king had prepared for his son (Matthew 22:2). Many people had been invited, but when the time for the banquet came and the table was set, those invited refused to come (verses 4-5). In fact, the king?s servants who brought the joyful message were mistreated and even killed (verse 6).

The king, furious at the response of those who had been invited, sent his army to avenge the death of his servants (verse 7). He then sent invitations to anyone his servants could find, with the result that the wedding hall was filled (verses 8-10).

During the feast the king noticed a man ?who was not wearing wedding clothes? (verse 11). When asked how he came to be there without the furnished attire, the man had no answer and was promptly ejected from the feast ?outside, into the darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth? (verses 12-13). Jesus then ends the parable with this statement: ?For many are invited, but few are chosen? (that?s verse 14).  And in saying that, it?s meaning is that many people hear the call of God coming through His revelation of Himself through creation and the preaching of the Word. But only the ?few? will respond because they are the ones who are truly hearing. Jesus said many times, ?He who has ears to hear, let him hear? (Matthew 11:15; Mark 4:9; Luke 8:8, 14:35). The point is that everyone has ears, but only a few are listening and responding. Not everyone who hears the gospel receives it but only the ?few? who have ears to hear. The ?many? hear, but there is no interest or there is outright opposition toward God. Many are called or invited into the kingdom, but none are able to come on their own. God must draw the hearts of those who come; otherwise, they will not (John 6:44).

2 Corinthians 5:17 says, ?Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come.? God creates life, grants repentance, and gives faith. Man is totally unable, by himself, to do these things which are absolutely necessary to enter the kingdom of heaven. Ephesians 1:4-6: ?For he chose us in him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight. In love he predestined us to be adopted as his sons through Jesus Christ, in accordance with his pleasure and will?to the praise of his glorious grace, which he has freely given us in the One he loves.? Salvation is by God?s will and pleasure for His glory. John 6:37-39, 44-45: ?All that the Father gives me will come to me, and whoever comes to me I will never drive away. For I have come down from heaven not to do my will but to do the will of him who sent me. And this is the will of him who sent me, that I shall lose none of all that he has given me but raise them up at the last day?No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him, and I will raise him up at the last day. It is written in the Prophets: ?They will all be taught by God.? Everyone who listens to the Father and learns from him comes to me.?

So, all of God?s ?chosen? will be saved without exception; they will hear and respond because they have spiritual ears to hear the truth. God?s power makes this certain. Romans 8:28-30: ?And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose. For those God foreknew (loved) he also predestined to be conformed to the likeness of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brothers. And those he predestined, he also called; those he called, he also justified; those he justified, he also glorified.?

How do we know if we are among the few that have ears to hear? By responding to the call. Assurance of this certain call, this chosen call, is from the Holy Spirit. Consider Philippians 1:6, which says, ?Being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.? ?Therefore, my dear friends, as you have always obeyed?not only in my presence, but now much more in my absence?continue to work out your salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you to will and to act according to his good purpose? (Philippians 2:12-13.) If we listen with our spiritual ears and respond to the invitation, there will be fear and trembling in our souls as we recognize that it was God?s work in us that caused our salvation.

So, let?s now move to the parable of the Great Banquet, which is found in Luke 14:15-24. It is similar to the Parable of the Wedding Feast ), but with some significant differences.   

 

Luke 14:15?24 (ESV): 15 When one of those who reclined at table with him heard these things, he said to him, ?Blessed is everyone who will eat bread in the kingdom of God!? 16 But he said to him, ?A man once gave a great banquet and invited many. 17 And at the time for the banquet he sent his servant to say to those who had been invited, ?Come, for everything is now ready.? 18 But they all alike began to make excuses. The first said to him, ?I have bought a field, and I must go out and see it. Please have me excused.? 19 And another said, ?I have bought five yoke of oxen, and I go to examine them. Please have me excused.? 20 And another said, ?I have married a wife, and therefore I cannot come.? 21 So the servant came and reported these things to his master. Then the master of the house became angry and said to his servant, ?Go out quickly to the streets and lanes of the city, and bring in the poor and crippled and blind and lame.? 22 And the servant said, ?Sir, what you commanded has been done, and still there is room.? 23 And the master said to the servant, ?Go out to the highways and hedges and compel people to come in, that my house may be filled. 24 For I tell you, none of those men who were invited shall taste my banquet.??

 

The king is God the Father, and the son who is being honored at the banquet is Jesus Christ, who ?came to that which was his own, but his own did not receive him? (John 1:11). Israel held the invitation to the kingdom, but when the time actually came for the kingdom to appear (referenced in Matthew 3:1), they refused to believe it. Many prophets, including John the Baptist, had been murdered (Matthew 14:10). The king?s retaliation against the murderers can be inferred as a prophecy of Jerusalem?s destruction in A.D. 70 at the hands of the Romans (Luke 21:5). More approximately, the king?s revenge speaks of the desolation mentioned in the book of Revelation. God is patient, but He will not tolerate wickedness forever (Obadiah 1:15). His judgment will come upon those who reject His offer of salvation. Considering what that salvation cost Jesus, is not this judgment well deserved (see Hebrews 10:29-31)?

Note that it is not because the invited guests could not come to the wedding feast, but that they would not come (see Luke 13:34). Everyone had an excuse. How tragic, and how indicative of human nature, to be offered the blessings of God and to refuse them because of the draw of mundane things!

The wedding invitation is extended to anyone and everyone, total strangers, both good and bad. This refers to the gospel being taken to the Gentiles. This portion of the parable is a foreshadowing of the Jews? rejection of the gospel in Acts 13. Paul and Barnabas were in Pisidian Antioch, where the Jewish leaders strongly opposed them. The apostle?s words echo the king?s estimation that those invited to the wedding ?did not deserve to come?: ?We had to speak the word of God to you first. Since you reject it and do not consider yourselves worthy of eternal life, we now turn to the Gentiles? (Acts 13:46). The gospel message, Jesus taught, would be made available to everyone.

The matter of the wedding garment is instructive. It would be a gross insult to the king to refuse to wear the garment provided to the guests. The man who was caught wearing his old clothing learned what an offense it was as he was removed from the celebration.

This was Jesus? way of teaching the failure of self-righteousness. From the very beginning, God has provided a ?covering? for our sin. To insist on covering ourselves is to be dressed in ?filthy rags? (Isaiah 64:6). Adam and Eve tried to cover their shame, but they found their fig leaves to be woefully scant. God took away their handmade clothes and replaced them with skins of (sacrificed) animals (Genesis 3:7, 21). In the book of Revelation, we see those in heaven wearing ?white robes? (Revelation 7:9), and we learn that the whiteness of the robes is due to their being washed in the blood of the Lamb (verse 14). We trust in God?s righteousness, not our own (Philippians 3:9).

Just as the king provided wedding garments for his guests, God provides salvation for mankind. Our wedding garment is the righteousness of Christ, and unless we have it, we will miss the wedding feast. When the religions of the world are stripped down to their basic doctrines or beliefs, we either find man working his way toward God, or we find the cross of Christ. The cross is the only way to salvation (John 14:6).

For his crime against the king, the improperly attired guest is thrown out into the darkness. For their crimes against God, there will be many who will be condemned to ?outer darkness?? existence without God for eternity. Christ ends the parable with the sad fact that ?many are invited, but few are chosen.? In other words, many people hear the call of God, but only a few follow it.

To summarize the point of the Parable of the Wedding Feast, God sent His Son into the world, and the very people who should have celebrated His coming rejected Him, bringing judgment upon themselves. As a result, the kingdom of heaven was opened up to anyone who will set aside his own righteousness and by faith accept the righteousness God provides in Christ. Those who spurn the gift of salvation and cling instead to their own ?good? works will spend eternity in hell.

The self-righteous Pharisees who heard this parable did not miss Jesus? point. In the very next verse, ?the Pharisees went out and laid plans to trap him in his words? (Matthew 22:15). The Parable of the Wedding Feast is also a warning to us, to make sure we are relying on God?s provision of salvation, not on our own good works or religious service.

 

This parable was told at a dinner that Jesus attended. Jesus had just healed a man with dropsy and taught a brief lesson on serving others. Jesus then says that those who serve others ?will be repaid at the resurrection of the righteous? (Luke 14:14). At the mention of the resurrection, someone at the table with Jesus said, ?Blessed is the man who will eat at the feast in the kingdom of God? (verse 15). In reply, Jesus tells the Parable of the Great Banquet.

In the parable, the excuses are the same then as they are today, do you understand and recognize that???? One after another, the guests made excuses for not coming. One had just bought a piece of land and said he had to go see it (verse 18). Another had purchased some oxen and said he was on the way to yoke them up and try them out (verse 19). Another gave the excuse that he was newly married and therefore could not come (verse 20).

When the master of the house heard these weak excuses, he was angry. He told his servant to forget the guest list and go into the back streets and alleys of the town and invite ?the poor, the crippled, the blind and the lame? (verse 21). The servant had already brought in the homeless townspeople, and still there was room in the banquet hall. So the master sent his servant on a bigger search: ?Go out to the roads and country lanes and make them come in, so that my house will be full? (verses 22-23).  Some of those are you and I ? do you understand that?  Amazing Grace?that saved a wretch like ME?..and YOU!

Jesus ends the parable by relating the master?s determination that ?not one of those men who were invited will get a taste of my banquet? (verse 24).

The statement that prompted the parable is key. The man who, in verse 15, looks forward to dining in the Messianic kingdom probably believed the popular perception that only Jews would be part of that kingdom. The parable Jesus tells is aimed at discrediting that notion, as the following explanation makes crystal clear:

The master of the house is God, and the great banquet is the kingdom, a metaphor that was suggested by the speaker at the table. The invited guests picture the Jewish nation. The kingdom was prepared for them, but when Jesus came preaching that ?the kingdom of heaven is near? (Matthew 4:17), He was rejected. ?He came to that which was his own, but his own did not receive him? (John 1:11).

The excuses for skipping the banquet are pathetically poor. No one buys land without seeing it first, and the same can be said for buying oxen. And what, exactly, would keep a newly married couple from attending a social event? All three excuses in the parable reveal the insincerity on the part of those invited. The interpretation is that the Jews of Jesus? day had no valid excuse for rejecting Jesus? message; in fact, they had every reason to accept Him as their Messiah.

The detail that the invitation is opened up to society?s damaged and broken is important. These were the types of people that the Pharisees considered ?unclean? and under God?s curse (John 9:1-2, 34). Jesus, however, taught that the kingdom was available even to those considered ?unclean? (Acts 10). His association with tax collectors and sinners brought condemnation from the Pharisees, yet it showed the extent of God?s grace (Matthew 9:10-11). The fact that the master in the parable sends the servant far abroad to persuade everyone to come indicates that the offer of salvation would be extended to the Gentiles and ?to the ends of the earth? (Acts 1:8). ?Rejoice, O Gentiles, with his people? (Romans 15:10).

The master is not satisfied with a partially full banquet hall; he wants every place at the table to be filled. John MacArthur?s comment on this fact is that ?God is more willing to save sinners than sinners are to be saved.?

Those who ignored the invitation to the banquet chose their own punishment?they missed out. The master respects their choice by making it permanent: they would not ?taste of my banquet.? So it will be with God?s judgment on those who choose to reject Christ: they will have their choice confirmed, and they will never taste the joys of heaven.

The basic message of the Parable of the Great Banquet could be stated this way: ?The tragedy of the Jewish rejection of Christ has opened the door of salvation to the Gentiles. The blessings of the kingdom are available to all who will come to Christ by faith.?

The addition of the Gentiles is a fulfillment of Hosea 2:23, ?I will say to those called ?Not my people,? ?You are my people?; and they will say, ?You are my God.?? God is ?not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance? (2 Peter 3:9), and ?Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved? (Romans 10:13).

Before we wrap up ? I want to encourage you all to reflect on both of these parables.  Read them and reflect on them ? use the Bible as a mirror.  What can you learn from these two parables in particular that will become a steppingstone for your life and for living a life worth living for Him?  He leaves these in your hands to take seriously and obey ? after all, one day, He only says ?Well done, My good and faithful servant,? to those who actually were.

So, before we end today?s show, I just want to thank you all again for tuning in and I HOPE you were touched by today?s message and scripture.  If you?d like to reach out to me, please call me directly at 4074933208, email me at ben@shaken-awake.com, or check out the show at shaken-awake.com.

 

Until next time, take great care of yourself and each other, and God Bless You ALL.