Matthew 22:1-14
Dear RTB’ers,
The parable of the king and the wedding feast. Two sentences stand out. First, the king speaking, “Go therefore to the main roads and invite to the wedding feast as many as you find.” And those servants went out into the roads and gathered all whom they found, both bad and good. (vv. 9-10a) Having seen rejections from his first two lists of invitees, the king now opens his hall to anyone his servants can find, no prior selection or invitation needed. I keep thinking about those first two lists of invitees, especially those people on the first list. They must have been important to the king to be on the list, yet they decline his invitation. Then the second list, similar people, same outcome. I suspect that Jesus had in mind those Jewish leaders who were constantly challenging Him, from the very highest to simple synagogue officials. They were summarily rejecting His offer to attend what will become the greatest wedding feast of all time. But no. No, thank you.
But then, the second sentence, the bottom line, For many are called, but few are chosen. (v. 14) Yes, we saw many called from the first two sets of invitees, who self-chose to skip the wedding. But now we’re at the wedding and one guest shows up improperly clothed and gets thrown out. In the house, at the feast, actively attending – and then BAM! It’s all over. That’s the hard part.
Jesus isn’t talking about weddings here. He’s talking about Himself, about His own invitation for us to join Him in all that He says and does. He asks only that we be properly clothed. So now I ask you – what is this proper clothing that Jesus asks us to be wearing? It would be good to hear from a number of you! What is Jesus asking of us?
Blessings.
Fred