WWUTT 2077 The Parable of the Wedding Feast (Matthew 22:1-14)

We've been reading a trilogy of parables and we get to the third parable today, the parable of the wedding feast, that we may see how one enters the kingdom of God and what disqualifies a person from the kingdom when we understand the text.

This is when we understand the text studying God's word to reach all the riches of full assurance in Christ.

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Pastor Gabe Hughes. Thank you, Becky. In our study of the gospel of Matthew, we're up to chapter 22 and we're looking today at the third of a trilogy of parables that continues from what we read yesterday.

We saw the two parables at the end of chapter 21. Today we look at the parable of the wedding feast in chapter 22 verses 1 through 14.

I'm reading from the Legacy Standard Bible. Hear the word of the Lord. And Jesus answered and spoke to them again in parables saying, the kingdom of heaven may be compared to a king who gave a wedding feast for his son.

And he sent out his slaves to call those who had been called to the wedding feast and they were unwilling to come.

Again he sent out other slaves saying, tell those who have been called, behold, I have prepared my dinner.

My oxen and my fattened livestock are all butchered and everything is ready. Come to the wedding feast.

But they paid no attention and went their way, one to his own farm, another to his business and the rest seized his slaves and mistreated them and killed them.

But the king was enraged and he sent his armies and destroyed those murderers and set their city on fire.

Then he said to his slaves, the wedding is ready but those who were called were not worthy.

Go therefore to the main highways and as many as you find there call to the wedding feast. And those slaves went out into the streets and gathered together all they found, both evil and good, and the wedding hall was filled with dinner guests.

But when the king came in to look over the dinner guests, he saw a man there who was not dressed in wedding clothes and he said to him, friend, how did you come in here without wedding clothes?

And the man was speechless. Then the king said to his servants, bind him hand and foot and throw him into the outer darkness.

In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth for many are called but few are chosen.

Now with the previous two parables, the parable of the two sons and the parable of the vine growers,

Jesus demonstrated to the Pharisees who were there that the promises they thought they were going to receive as being heirs in the line of Abraham, they weren't going to get.

Those promises will be taken from them and will be given to others instead. The others will be the

Gentiles and that's being demonstrated by this parable, the parable of the wedding feast. But even among the

Gentiles, there will be those who will be hypocrites, just like the Pharisees were hypocrites. There will even be hypocrites among the

Gentiles. There will be those that look like they are part of the family of God, but inside their hearts are really far from God.

Just as has been the case with the Pharisees, as Jesus quoted Isaiah to them, these people acknowledge me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me.

So we will find the same in the church today. There will be those who will, they'll put on the choir robe, they'll dance the dance, they'll sing the songs, they'll know the words, they'll speak

Christian ease, but their hearts are far from God. So let's come back to the start of this parable here.

It's really given to us in three parts. We have, first of all, the King calling those who are originally called, but they don't come.

In fact, they even beat the slaves that the King sends to them to call them to the wedding feast.

So the King has their cities burned. Then he tells his slaves, go into the rest of the land and call all of them to the wedding feast.

So that's part two. And then the third part is really this exchange that the King has with the one man at the wedding feast that got in somehow, but he's not wearing wedding clothes and what happens to him.

So those are the three parts of this particular parable. You have the ones who were originally called, then the next guests who were called, and then the confrontation that the

King has with the one guest. So we start in chapter 22, verse one, Jesus answered and spoke to them again in parables saying, now recall that all of this is happening according to the way that Matthew is laying this out.

This is happening on the Tuesday of the week that Jesus is going to go to the cross. He came into Jerusalem on Sunday and the triumphal entry.

He cleansed the temple on Monday. Mark specifies it was on Monday. Matthew doesn't, but here on Tuesday is where we see most of Jesus teaching in the temple.

And it's going to finish with the seven woes in chapter 23. And then you have the Olivet discourse on the

Mount of Olives as Jesus is departing Jerusalem. And that will be in chapters 24 and 25.

So here, this is more teaching that Jesus is giving on that particular Tuesday. And he gives this parable in verse two, the kingdom of heaven may be compared to a

King who gave a wedding feast for his son. Now that sets the stage for the rest of this parable.

That's what this is about. The King giving a wedding feast for his son. And we know the direct connection to this is the father who is giving the wedding feast for his son, who is

Christ. We read in revelation that this feast is called the wedding feast of the lamb, when we will all be gathered with Christ at table and celebrate the consummation of Christ and his bride, the church.

And the church is made up of Jews and Gentiles. Those who believe together in the

Lord Jesus Christ by faith, they are justified and are dressed in the righteousness of Christ.

That's important. That's going to come up here in the parable. So in verse three, he sent out his slaves to call those who had been called to the wedding feast.

So those who were originally invited, now it's time for the feast. He's going to send his slaves out to call them to the feast.

And they were unwilling to come. So verse four, again, he sent out other slaves saying, tell those who have been called, behold,

I've prepared, I've prepared my dinner, my oxen, my fat and livestock, they're all butchered and everything is ready.

Come to the wedding feast. But they paid no attention. They went on their way. One to his own farm, another to his business.

They're going about their works, right? Believing they are justified by their works and doing the works that they do not unto the glory of God, but unto the glory of themselves.

And so verse six, the rest seized his slaves and mistreated them and killed them.

And this goes back to what we had seen previously in the other two parables, specifically the parable of the wine growers.

When you had the landowner who planted a vineyard, he rented it out to vine growers and he went on a journey.

He sends his slaves to the vine growers to receive the fruit, but the vine growers beat all the slaves.

And that was emblematic of the the the prophets who had been put to death in the past.

Even the landowner's own son, he sent to them and they killed his son. And that, of course, demonstrating how they were going to kill

Christ later on that week. He was going to be put to death. He was going to die on the cross. And all of this in fulfillment of the father's will.

But the parable was told to show that you who believe you are going to receive the kingdom, it's being torn from you and it's being given to others.

And that's also demonstrated in this particular parable. So here you have, once again, those who are called, they beat the slaves and they kill them.

And the king is enraged. And he sent his armies and destroyed those murderers and set their city on fire.

Now, it might be tempting to say here that that could be prophetic regarding the

Romans coming against Jerusalem 40 years from this time, 40 years from the time that Jesus is telling this parable, then the

Romans are going to come against Jerusalem and they're going to destroy it and they're going to destroy the temple. And of course, we know that the armies of Rome were in God's hands.

They did what God had driven them to do, just as we've been reading about in Isaiah, that God used the

Assyrians, he used the Babylonians, he used the Medes and the Persians to fulfill the purpose that he had intended, not just to bring punishment against Israel, but even punishment that they bring against other nations.

It is said in Isaiah that they are like a hammer in the hand of the workmen. And God is the one who uses that tool to do what he intends.

So it would be tempting to say here that the armies destroyed those murderers and set fire to their city.

That is foreshadowing what the Romans are going to do for decades from now.

I don't know that the connection is necessarily that direct. However, I think it's more along the lines of these will be cast out into the place of fiery torment, just as we have at the end of the parable, that those who get into the wedding feast without a wedding garment, they will be dressed hand and foot or sorry, bound hand and foot.

You know, they'll wear something of another kind. It won't be a wedding garment, but they will. They will wear their bindings and they will be cast into the outer darkness.

So it appears setting the city on fire is more like that. The king will send his armies against them, will burn their city just as he will cast them into the hell of fire.

So then in verse eight, the king said to his slaves, the wedding is ready. But those who were called were not worthy.

Once again, just like we saw in the previous parable, that which had been previously promised to the descendants of Abraham is taken from them and given to others.

And those who have faith in Christ, Galatians three is clear, our children of Abraham.

And so we are fellow heirs with Christ as sons and daughters of Abraham by faith in Jesus.

And so here we have in the next part of this parable, others that are being called to the wedding feast.

And this is demonstrating the message of the gospel going out to the Gentiles.

Now it was not understood how God was going to bring the Gentiles into his kingdom.

It was thought, you know, just as the promise was given to Abraham, I will bless those who bless you and those who curse you,

I will curse. So it was thought among the Israelites that, uh, that if Gentiles are going to be included in this thing, it's going to be those who bless us.

Then they're going to get in. Or if they, if they curse us, then they're going to be cast out.

That's how the Gentiles are going to get into the kingdom. But our entrance into the kingdom of God is not through Israel.

It is through Christ. There are plenty of people in the world today who will side with Israel.

You see it happen every time there is a conflict in Israel. And I'm not issuing some sort of an opinion about the present conflict that is happening in Israel.

They have any and all right to defend themselves. But nonetheless, every time there's some sort of conflict in Israel, there are plenty of people who are not believers.

They are not followers of Jesus who will say that they support Israel. The majority of America, it seems like would say that they are behind Israel.

They support them. They will stand side by side with them, but it doesn't matter. They will not inherit the kingdom of God because they defended

Israel. Theologically, there are some people that think that they will, they think that, well,

God loves me. I'm going to receive heaven because I loved Israel. That's not going to get someone into the kingdom of God.

How you get into the kingdom of heaven is by grace through faith in Jesus Christ alone. And that's it.

That's how you get into the kingdom. But Israel, if you look at the nation today, they are every bit as wicked as the

United States of America. Just because they are Israel does not mean that they get into the kingdom.

The only way a person gets into the kingdom of God is by faith in Jesus Christ. That is the only way,

Jew or Gentile. This is how we receive the kingdom. This is how we get into the wedding feast and we'll be a part of the wedding feast of the lamb on that day.

So the king says, go therefore to the main highways and as many as you find there, call to the wedding feast.

And those slaves went out into the streets and gathered together all they found both evil and good.

And the wedding hall was filled with dinner guests. Now evil and good don't read too deeply into that.

It just merely means those that you would have thought would be really, really bad. There's no way they can get into the wedding feast.

Nope. They get called to. And then others that by the perception of man might be considered to be good persons.

They're also called into the wedding feast. So by way of eye service, according to the measure of a man is how they are determined evil and good according to this parable.

Then in verse 11, but when the king came in to look over the dinner guests, so now we've gone from inviting all these other guests into the wedding to now the king is going to have this confrontation with one guest.

He saw a man there who was not dressed in wedding clothes. And he said to him, friend, how did you come in here without wedding clothes?

And the man was speechless. Now what's being talked about here? What are these wedding clothes that he's supposed to have on?

He's supposed to be wearing the righteousness of Christ. That's the only way any of us truly become part of that wedding.

That we will sit down at the table and enjoy the wedding feast of the lamb. We get in not on our own merits, but by the righteousness of Christ.

This man has gotten into the wedding, but he's not wearing the wedding clothes. He doesn't have on the righteousness of Christ.

And as I said in the beginning, this is representative of those who even in the church, though they are called, though the invitation is now gone out to others to come to the wedding feast.

There are going to be when there, there will be many that look like they belong there. They play the religion card.

They know the Christian ease. They know the language. They know the deep theological answers, but their hearts are far from God.

And they live in the passions of their flesh rather than in the righteousness of Christ. They may demonstrate themselves one way in public, but their hearts are far from God.

Just like the Pharisees were. And so likewise them, though Gentiles will be invited into the feast as well.

There will be some who don't really belong there because their hearts are not really for Christ.

And the king will say to the servants, bind him hand and foot and throw him into the outer darkness, just like the cities that were burned earlier.

So this man who is not there on the merits of Christ is going to be bound hand and foot and thrown into the outer darkness.

And in that place, there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. There will be those who will be in sorrow forever.

And there are those who will be in eternal anger forever, gnashing the teeth, weeping and gnashing the teeth.

Some will be in mourning because they will mourn forever that they should have known and didn't, didn't believe how they should have believed.

There are others who will think of themselves as deserving the kingdom. And so forever, for all eternity, they will perish in their anger against God, gnashing their teeth.

And so Jesus concludes the parable saying, many are called, but few are chosen.

Matthew Henry says, many are called to the wedding feast that is to salvation. But few have the wedding garment, the righteousness of Christ, the sanctification of the spirit.

Then let us examine ourselves, whether we are in the faith and seek to be approved by the

King. Now as Providence would have it, the very same week that I am looking at this particular parable, there was a clip that I saw, it was

Protestia online that had posted this clip of a sermon delivered by Victor Aloio, the president of Columbia Theological Seminary.

This is in Georgia. And Aloio happened to be preaching on this particular parable.

What he said was absolutely astonishing, but it clearly demonstrates that he just does not understand the scriptures, nor does he belong at the wedding feast if he does not repent.

Listen to some of the words that he shared in this particular sermon. If what we hear in today's gospel is really what the kingdom of heaven is like, friends, then

I am not interested. No doubt this is a disturbing story found in the gospel of Matthew.

It is inflammatory even. In reading, interpreting, and preparing the message for this morning,

I am mystified by the behavior of the characters in this bizarre little story.

Now he's talking about this parable, and he's saying that if this parable is a picture of the kingdom of God, then

I don't want to have anything to do with it. God help this man, because he's going to be among those who didn't get in with a wedding garment and will be bound hand and foot and thrown into the outer darkness where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.

Let's continue on. Does today's gospel fit your image of the kingdom of heaven? Is that what you are seeking every time you come to church?

Is the way Jesus describes the kingdom what you have in mind when you pray, Thy kingdom come,

Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven? And if it is, who are you praying that it be done to?

You or someone else? Friends, this is a complex and painful text. There are too many contradictions and inconsistencies to take it at face value.

Why is the narrative so tortured in twists and plots? The king sends messengers to tell those who had been invited, dinner is ready.

Come on, let's get this party started. But those who had been invited refused to come. They mistreated and killed the messengers, and then the king sent his army to destroy those who had been invited and burned their city to the ground.

How about that for an image of the kingdom? Yeah, that's exactly what's going to happen. Has he read the rest of the

Bible? Does he not know Revelation 19, which says that Jesus returns with a sharp sword, and with it, he will strike down the nations.

He will rule them with a rod of iron, and he treads the winepress of the wrath of the rage of God the

Almighty. That's Christ at his return. And guess what? That description of Christ in Revelation 19, verses 11 through 19, that's right after.

That's immediately after the description of the wedding supper of the

Lamb. Revelation 19, 7, let us rejoice and be glad, and give the glory to him, for the marriage of the

Lamb has come, and his bride has made herself ready. And it was given to her to clothe herself in fine linen, bright and clean, for the fine linen is the righteous acts of the saints.

It's the righteousness of Christ that we have been clothed in, and the righteous deeds that we do show that we belong to Christ.

And then verses 9 and 10, he said to me, write, blessed are those who are invited to the marriage supper of the

Lamb. And he said to me, these are true words of God, the exchange between the angel and John.

And then right after that, verse 11, I saw heaven open, and behold, a white horse, and he who sits on it is called faithful and true, and in righteousness he judges and wages war.

And that is a God that President Victor Aloio of Columbia Theological Seminary can't worship.

Let's continue on. Is that your experience of God? Are we going back to an eye for an eye?

Is that what you want to teach your children and grandchildren about God? Is that what you are praying for when you pray the

Lord's prayer? And if that is the kingdom, then what do we do with thou shalt not murder, turn the other cheek, love your enemies?

Or Isaiah telling us that the Lord will swallow up death forever and wipe away the tears from all faces?

There's got to be more to the story, friends. Yeah, there is more to the story, and he doesn't know it.

Yes, this is exactly what I teach my children. My children know about hell. My kids know that the only way to be saved from the wrath of God is to believe in the

Lord Jesus Christ. And for those who believe in Christ, death is swallowed up forever. For those who are saved, we will live forever with God.

But for those who are not in Christ, they will perish forever, be punished forever in the hell of fire.

We continue on with the party in full swing. The king enters the banquet hall and moves among the guests.

So his dismay, he finds one of them is not dressed properly. Friend, he says, how did you get in here without a wedding robe?

He calls him a Tyree, which is translated as friend. But as Stanley Saunders notes in preaching the gospel of Matthew within the context of Matthew's gospel, it is an ironic or even hostile greeting and receiving no satisfactory answer.

He has the poor guy bound and thrown out, not just outside the hall, but into the outer darkness where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.

With friends like that, friends who needs enemies. Oh, man, I tremble for that guy. Judgment is not going to go well for him.

If he does not repent, if this is the way that he is interpreting the scriptures, indeed, everyone who is not in Christ is an enemy of God.

Scripture says that plainly of us. Romans 510, for if while we were enemies, we were reconciled to God through the death of his son, much more having been reconciled, we shall be saved by his life.

But that's those who are in Christ. Those who are not in Christ, they're still enemies of God and he will destroy his enemies.

Now, it's true what he said about the word friend and the way that it's used in Matthew coming up a little bit later on.

Jesus calls Judas friend, even though Judas is betraying him. And that's to demonstrate that Jesus treated him as a friend.

But Judas betrays him. And so it is the case here. The king treated this man as a friend.

He showed kindness and compassion to him, bringing him to the feast. But the man was not willing to follow the dress code.

He tried to get in on his own merit instead of wearing the righteousness of Christ. So we continue.

Again, we find credulity strained to the breaking point. Of course, the guy isn't dressed properly.

He was pulled in off the street, a war -torn street at the last minute.

But again, allegory, not realism is calling the shots here. But I need to ask myself again and wrestle is, is there really a dress code for the kingdom?

Yep. Yes. The righteousness of Christ, once again, quoted it straight from Romans 19.

It's earlier at the start, sorry, not Romans 19, Revelation 19. It's earlier at the start of Revelation where Jesus is addressing the churches and he says to the church at Laodicea, buy garments from me to clothe your nakedness.

And that's the righteousness of Christ. They're trying to do that. They think that they're good and they don't need anything.

No, you need Christ's righteousness in order to enter the kingdom of God. Is that what you believe the kingdom is like?

And why didn't the king give the poor guy a wedding robe? After all, didn't Jesus say something about welcoming the stranger and clothing the naked?

So which is it? Welcome and clothe the stranger or kick her or him out because they're not properly dressed.

Jesus does welcome the stranger and he does clothe us. But to those who don't receive his righteousness, they are like the man who is bound and cast out.

They are that they're the hypocrites. This man is a hypocrite. Victor Aloio, in irony, doesn't realize he's the man at this feast who is not properly dressed.

He's wearing a robe in the video that I'm watching here. He's wearing a robe and a sash. Looks like he belongs there.

I look like the president of this seminary. I look like a pastor standing up here at the podium. But his heart is far from God and he is exactly that man in this parable who will be cast out.

Friends, you see the complexities of today's gospel reading. Now see there again, a fit of irony.

He addressed the audience's friend, but he's not a friend. This man is a false teacher.

He is leading people to hell. He is not your friend. He is repeating the doctrines of demons.

Today's gospel is a collage of contradictions and inconsistencies, a wedding banquet and a bloodbath.

The messengers of good news and truth and killers of those messengers and enraged king that sends troops to destroy his own citizens and open invitation to all and the exclusion of one who accepts the invitation.

I hope there's more to the kingdom than that, don't you? Because today's gospel sounds more like headline news than good news.

Wow. The gospel sounds more like headline news than good news.

I hope this man repents before the day of judgment because it will not go well with him. But my friends, we must all take to heart.

We must all examine and test ourselves just as Matthew Henry said, just as Paul says in 2nd

Corinthians 13, examine yourselves to see that you were in the faith. When you enter the kingdom of God, are you getting in because you are clothed in the righteousness of Christ?

Or do you just look like you play the part, but your heart is really far from God and you're going after the passions of your flesh.

You're enticed by the world. You're ensnared by the schemes of Satan. Repent and turn to the

Lord Jesus Christ. Do as Jesus said to the church at Laodicea, come to him to be clothed in his righteousness that your shame and your nakedness would not be seen.

Heavenly father, as we have finished this parable today, I pray that you convict our hearts and lead us in righteousness for your name's sake.

May the righteousness of Christ be seen in our lives. And if we sin, we come before God as said in 1st

John 1, 9, seeking forgiveness. And if we ask forgiveness, you are faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

Let our orientation be in the righteousness of Christ and not in the schemes of the devil.

Deliver us in Jesus name we pray, amen. For more about our ministry, visit us online at www .utt