The Wedding Party

Matthew 22
The Parable of the Wedding Banquet

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. 3He 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.’

Continue Reading Matthew 22…..

Recently I have been researching the parable of the wedding party and thought I would attempt to shed some light on it. When reading this chapter it is very important to understand the symbolism behind each of the characters. This is what I have come up with:

The Father: God
The Son: Jesus
The Bride: “The Church”
Servants That Were Sent: Prophets
The Initial Guests: Israel
The Second Guests: Gentiles

Taking into consideration the symbolism it is much easier to summarize the parable.

It was ritual in Jewish societies for the father to prepare the wedding banquet. God the father sent out his prophets to bring the initially chosen guests (Israel) to a Wedding of Jesus (salvation). The guests refused his invitation (denied Christ as messiah) and mistreated and killed the servants (Prophets are persecuted for the sake of Christ). God then sent out his prophets to bring in his second guests (the gentiles). The father would also prepare clothing for the guest so that they could wear it in honor of the father’s invitation. The guest that was not wearing his clothing showed that he did not “honor the father” by putting on the garment (garment of salvation and righteousness). For this he was cast into darkness (eternal separation from God, AKA hell).

Here are a few verses for clarification:

Romans 1:16
I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes: first for the Jew (first guests), then for the Gentile (second guests).

Romans 11:11
Again I ask: Did they stumble so as to fall beyond recovery? Not at all! Rather, because of their transgression, salvation has come to the Gentiles to make Israel envious.

Isaiah 61:10 Significance of Wedding Garment
I delight greatly in the LORD ;
my soul rejoices in my God.
For he has clothed me with garments of salvation
and arrayed me in a robe of righteousness,
as a bridegroom adorns his head like a priest,
and as a bride adorns herself with her jewels.

Questions for thought
Which group are you in based on how you have responded to God’s invitation to join the wedding feast of His Son Jesus?

What do you need to do in order to be sure you into the banquet hall?

What do you need to do in order to be allowed to stay at the wedding feast?