Today and Lord willing, next week, we will give some consideration to what is typically referred to as the Parable of the Wedding Feast. Jesus liked to teach using parables. In verse 2 of our text, Jesus says, “The kingdom of heaven may be compared to.” In other parables He says, “The kingdom of heaven is like…” (see Mt. 20:1). Jesus is taking a concept that is well understood and using it to make a spiritual concept more relatable. We often say that a parable is an earthly story that has a spiritual truth.
The Gospel of Matthew, and parables themselves, give us great insight into the kingdom of God. Take a moment and read what Jesus says about His kingdom in Matthew 22:1-14.
THE REJECTED INVITATION (22:1-7)
The story that Jesus tells is about a king who is providing a wedding feast for his son. It is important to note that this is not just any wedding. This is the wedding of a king’s son, a royal wedding. You could imagine the magnitude or grandeur of such a festivity. To be invited to an occasion like this would be very special, a true privilege.
So the king sends out his servants to extend invitations to this great feast, but astonishingly, those who were chosen refused to come. It’s not that a few refused to come, but they, all of those invited, refused.
So the king sends out his servants again with a stronger plea. Who would have guessed that would have been even necessary? Such a rejection would be a very strong insult to the king. The message of the servants in verse 4 as they go out this time is: “See, I have prepared my dinner, my oxen and my fat calves have been slaughtered, and everything is ready. Come to the wedding feast.” Preparation has been made. Everything is ready except those who have been invited are not present.
Amazingly, they had other things to do. They carried on with life as usual. They had farming and business to take care of. Well, some actually took hold of the servants who invited them, treated them disrespectfully and even killed them. And when news of this arrives back to the king, now he is furious and sends his army to burn and destroy their city.
As we begin working through the spiritual parallel between this wedding feast and the kingdom of God, remember to focus on what Jesus is seeking to teach. He is not teaching that His kingdom is like a wedding feast in every respect. A little care and a little context goes a long way in interpreting a parable.
First, let’s very briefly look back to the previous parable (usually referred to as the Parable of the Tenants) in Matthew 21:33-45. The parable is about a master who planted a vineyard, leased it to tenants and then sent servants to get its fruit while he was away. However, the tenants beat and killed the servants. Then the master sent his son, and they killed him. In verse 42 Jesus relates this to the fulfilling of prophecy in Psalms 118:22-23 where the prophet wrote: “The stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone; this was the Lord’s doing, and it is marvelous in our eyes’?”
Now please also note with me verses 43-45 in Matthew 21 where Matthew records:
“Therefore I tell you, the kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to a people producing its fruits. 44 And the one who falls on this stone will be broken to pieces; and when it falls on anyone, it will crush him. When the chief priests and the Pharisees heard his parables, they perceived that he was speaking about them.”
This is all pretty clear, even to the hard-hearted Pharisees. The master is the Father in heaven. The servants He sent are the prophets. The son is Jesus. And the tenants are the chief priests and Pharisees.
Well, the Parable of the Wedding Feast seems remarkably similar, right? Who is the king? The Father. Who is the son? Christ. Who are the servants? The messengers of the kingdom. What is the wedding feast? The blessedness of the kingdom. Who is it that rejected the invitation to the wedding feast? The unbelieving Jews.
The Jews were God’s special people chosen to bring Christ into this world, and they got tripped up over Jesus! They rejected the feast, and they would be held accountable.
Note what the king does in verse 7: “The king was angry, and he sent his troops and destroyed those murderers and burned their city.” What was their city? The city of the Jews was Jerusalem. What happened in A.D. 70? The Romans destroyed the city of Jerusalem including the temple. (See Mt. 24:1-2.) This marked a decisive end to the temple and the Jewish system.
Next week we will notice where the parable goes from here, and then consider some applications.
Daren Schroeder
