Jesus spoke to them again in parables, saying: “The kingdom of heaven is like a king who prepared a wedding banquet for his son. He sent his servants to those who had been invited to the banquet to tell them to come, but they refused to come. “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.’ “But they paid no attention and went off—one to his field, another to his business. The rest seized his servants, mistreated them and killed them. The king was enraged. He sent his army and destroyed those murderers and burned their city. “Then he said to his servants, ‘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. “But when the king came in to see the guests, he noticed a man there who was not wearing wedding clothes. He asked, ‘How did you get in here without wedding clothes, friend?’ The man was speechless “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.’ “For many are invited, but few are chosen.”
Many times, when Jesus was speaking to the crowds, He used parables. Have you ever wondered why? His disciples even asked Him why He did this. A parable is simply a story to make a point. In a way, it is like a riddle. In this respect, an allegory and a parable are very similar. The characteristics of an allegory and a parable intertwine and overlap, and some stories could be called either one.
To understand the meaning of a parable, you must listen, and think. Both these abilities seem to be in short supply in our time. Many people seem to be very proficient in making their opinions known, but they don’t seem to be very good at listening. Jesus said, “Seek, and you will find….” You cannot find anything if you are not looking for it. You will never stumble upon the knowledge and understanding of God if you are not looking for it.
I believe we are living in a time in known history that is significantly different than any that has existed before. I say “known” history because I also believe there is so much of history that we simply do not know because it either was not recorded or if it was recorded, it was not preserved. The thing that is significantly different now is that people carry around devices (I am referring to Smart Phones primarily) through which information is fed into their minds nonstop all day. Go anywhere in public and look around. What are people doing? They are starring at their phones! They are interacting on social media, reading other’s opinions, and spouting their own. They are reading news stories, and their opinions, and perceptions of reality are influenced by what is being communicated via this platform. There has never existed before a platform through which people can be so effectively brainwashed. People do not interact with reality, they interact with lots of interpretations of reality provided by others. Their interpretation of reality is not formed by their interaction with reality, but by interpretations that have been provided for them.
Jesus compares the Kingdom of God to a king who had prepared a wedding banquet for his son. Have you ever been involved in preparing for a wedding, either your own, or someone else’s? Can you imagine what it would be like to send out 100 wedding invitations, and have no one come to the wedding? That would be a disaster, and it would probably make you both angry and sad that no one showed up. A formal wedding requires a lot of planning, a lot of work, and a lot of expense!
This king not only sent out invitations, he sent his servants to tell the invitees personally. The invitees all refused to come. Isn’t that a slap in the face? Since the beginning of time, God has been inviting people to come to Him, and know Him (the wedding invitation). Even before any Scripture was ever written, even before any prophets uttered their words, God’s glorious creation has been calling out to the mind and senses of man:
The heavens declare the glory of God;
the skies proclaim the work of his hands.
Day after day they pour forth speech;
night after night they reveal knowledge.
They have no speech, they use no words;
no sound is heard from them.
Yet their voice goes out into all the earth,
their words to the ends of the world.
(Psalm 19:1-4 NIV)
Two of the greatest lies and insults to God that have ever originated in the mind of mankind are the theories of macroevolution and the big bang theory. Please note that I am specifically referring to macroevolution, not just evolution in general, which encompasses macro and micro evolution. Microevolution, which refers to minor changes within gene frequency within a given species, certainly does occur. To put it simply, just because your grandmother has green eyes does not mean all her grandchildren will have green eyes, because there is variation in the gene pool that can manifest in many different combinations. Macroevolution on the other hand would contend that her grandchildren might change into something other than human over the course of time.
The big bang theory, or other variations of the same basic idea, contend that all the glorious Creation that unfolds before us and intoxicates our senses with delight, is the result of some unplanned, freak cosmic accident. This makes no more sense than walking into an art gallery, beholding Leonardo da Vinci’s Adoration of the Magi and proclaiming that it is simply the result of someone bumping into art supplies accidentally and spilling paint on the canvas.
In spite of man’s refusal to acknowledge God and turn to Him, He continues to call. “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.’
All throughout the course of time, God has sent prophets to proclaim His word and ways to mankind. God has anointed Scribes to record and preserve His word in the Holy Scriptures. His Word has gone out into all the world, and yet, most of mankind does not listen to it. That is why Jesus says, “Many are called, but few are chosen.” The invitation goes out to all. Only a few respond. “But they paid no attention and went off—one to his field, another to his business. The rest seized his servants, mistreated them and killed them.”
People busy themselves with everything under the sun, and listen to every voice in the world, except the one which is the most important. That is why Jesus said, “Man does not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.” Not only do men ignore the Word of God, they are hostile towards those who proclaim it. “Then they will deliver you up to oppression, and will kill you. You will be hated by all of the nations for my name’s sake.”
“The king was enraged. He sent his army and destroyed those murderers and burned their city.” This should be a somber warning to us. God is the King. The world is His. He created it. We belong to Him. He gave each of us life. He can do whatever He chooses with His creation, and we have absolutely no say so in the matter. In this particular context, this primarily refers to the nation of Israel, although, like most words of prophesy, it can be applied in a universal sense as well. The destruction of Jerusalem in A.D. 70 is the literal fulfillment of these words. Israel was the instrument through which God brought His word to the world, That privilege was taken for granted, and often abused, and as a result, was taken away from them. Israel ceased to be a nation.
“Then he said to his servants, ‘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.”
The good news for us is that the invitation has gone out to all. There is a very common misconception that is prevalent in people’s approach to and understanding of Christianity. People have the misguided idea that in order to come to God, they have to first clean up their act, do all the right things, and then God will accept them. This is generally the approach that all of the world’s religions take, but this is not the Gospel message. The Gospel message is that “All have sinned and fallen short of the Glory of God.” God already knows this. He asks us to first, admit this, and admit that, by ourselves we are powerless to ever make ourselves good enough. He asks us to confess our sin, and believe the Gospel message, that Christ has died to pay the price for our sins, and has been raised from the dead to promise us eternal life. Our salvation is not based on what we have, or have not done. It is based entirely on what Christ has done on our behalf, and how we respond to that. We either accept it or reject and deny it. There is no sin that God will not forgive, except the sin of denying what Christ has done on our behalf.
“But when the king came in to see the guests, he noticed a man there who was not wearing wedding clothes. He asked, ‘How did you get in here without wedding clothes, friend?’ The man was speechless “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.’
Here’s the last thing. You can’t fake it! You can fool people, but you can’t fool God. Only God knows a person’s heart. There are a lot of people that do a good job of fooling others. They can put on a good show. Putting on a good show can have its temporary rewards. It got him into the wedding. Maybe he enjoyed the banquet meal. But it does not last.
The King was the only one who noticed that the man was not wearing wedding clothes. The real wedding clothes are what clothes the heart, not what appears on the outside. That is why the Lord tells us to not judge others. You have no way of knowing where another person is on their spiritual journey. Many times, a person’s actions do not reflect the real condition of their heart. A person may appear to be acting very badly when God is dealing with their heart. A person may appear to be acting very well, when their heart is full of malice. Only God knows. All we have to go on is what we see on the surface, and that can be very deceiving.
To the outsider, the king’s actions may seem harsh. ‘Tie him hand and foot, and throw him outside, into the darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’ But in reality, it was the man’s own actions that brought judgement on himself. He was an imposter. He was pretending to be something that he was not. Let that sink in. You can lie to the whole world and fool them, but there are two people you cannot lie to. You cannot lie to yourself, and you cannot lie to God. You do not need for someone else to point it out to you when you are lying. You already know it. This man knew his own heart was naked. He knew he should not be at the wedding dressed as he was. The problem was that he thought no one else knew, or noticed. The King, the one who “created” the banquet, knew. The one who created your heart knows.
Danny's Stump 