1 Jesus spoke to them again in parables, saying: 2 “The kingdom of heaven is like a king who prepared a wedding banquet for his son. 3 He sent his servants to those who had been invited to the banquet to tell them to come, but they refused to come.
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.’
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. 7 The king was enraged. He sent his army and destroyed those murderers and burned their city.
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.’ 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.
11 “But when the king came in to see the guests, he noticed a man there who was not wearing wedding clothes. 12 He asked, ‘How did you get in here without wedding clothes, friend?’ The man was speechless.
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.’
14 “For many are invited, but few are chosen.”
Read Matthew 22:1-14 in context and/or in other translations on BibleGateway.com!
During one of Jesus’ famous parables near the end of His earthly ministry, He shares about a banquet feast that a king prepared and invited His friends to. However, all those who He thought were His friends ended up either rejecting the invitation because either they claimed to have more “important” things to do, or they were outright hostile towards the king’s messengers.
When the servants returned and told the king what had happened, the king responded to his servants by saying “The wedding banquet is ready, but those I invited did not deserve to come. So go to the street corners and invite to the banquet anyone you find.’ 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.” (v. 8-10)
As I read this portion of the passage, I am amazed by the broad, unrestricted invitation that was shared. While the original invitation was given to a select group of people, this second round of inviting has no limits. Matthew tells us in verse 10 that Jesus’ illustration has the king gathering “all the people they could find, the bad as well as the good,” in order to fill His wedding hall.
In this parable, I believe the king represents God, and if this is the case, God’s invitation has no restrictions; God’s invitation is unconditional. The only criteria we can see present in this second round of invitation is simply the willingness to accept the invitation. Past performance is irrelevant when the invitation comes our way; our current habits, projects, and lifestyle are also irrelevant, provided that these things don’t interfere with us choosing to accept God’s invitation.
The only thing that matters in the framework of eternity is whether we will be willing to accept God’s invitation when He returns to invite us home!
This thought was inspired by studying the Walking With Jesus “Reflective Bible Study” package. To discover insights like this in your own study time, click here and give Reflective Bible Study a try today!
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