You are invited to the Wedding Feast

Matthew 22:1-7

It has been given the title of “The parable of the Wedding Feast” and rightly so, it is a story Jesus is sharing with the crowd and in that crowd were Pharisees and chief priests and scribes, plus the twelve disciples, and guys and gals much like you and me.  These are the words of Jesus as recorded by Matthew, “The kingdom of heaven may be compared to a king who gave a wedding feast for his son, and sent his servants to call those who were invited to the wedding feast, but they would not come. 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.”’ But they paid no attention and went off, one to his farm, another to his business, while the rest seized his servants, treated them shamefully, and killed them.  The king was angry, and he sent his troops and destroyed those murderers and burned their city.”  The Holman Study Bible on page 1655 gives this insight into the allegory of Israel’s history.  “The king represents God; the son, Jesus, the slaves, the prophets and possibly Jesus’ disciples; and the wedding banquet symbolized the great messianic feast that Jews expected to share with Messiah at the beginning of His rule.  Those who rejected, persecuted, and murdered the slaves represent OT Israel and their rejection of the prophets.  The destruction of the city represents God’s judgment on those who refuse to honor His Son.  The destruction, like the penalty described in verse 13, portrays eternal punishment but may also hint at the destruction of Jerusalem in A.D. 70.”

We who have this record would be wise to learn from these words of Jesus as He entered into the City, and both gospels, Luke and Matthew’s record the words of Jesus speaking to the people.  In the gospel of Luke 13:34, “O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the city that kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to it! How often would I have gathered your children together as a hen gathers her brood under her wings, and you were not willing!”  We also have this account of Jesus weeping over Jerusalem as He drew near it and saw the city. “Would that you, even you, had known on this day the things that make for peace! But now they are hidden from your eyes. For the days will come upon you, when your enemies will set up a barricade around you and surround you and hem you in on every side and tear you down to the ground, you and your children within you. And they will not leave one stone upon another in you, because you did not know the time of your visitation.” (Luke 19 42-44)

We the followers of Jesus Christ do not need a seven step program, we do not require more Bible studies, what we need is to let Jesus live His life in and through us, so that the world will see Jesus and desire to attend the Wedding feast.

From the Back Porch,

Bob Rice