April 15, 2013
SCRIPTURE: Matthew 22:1-14
The exciting reality of God’s kingdom on earth is available to all. The problem is that some people do not care, others do not want it. Still others accept it but only halfheartedly (not changing for it).
There’s a second message. The first invitees are the Jews, the ‘anyone you can find’ are non-Jews. But both groups, in other words all people, must meet the same criteria: embrace it with their whole heart. The man without the wedding clothes represents someone who did not care either.
Those who refuse, those who do not embrace God’s kingdom reality, will one day find themselves regretting it (sobbing, grinding teeth). Not because God rejected them, but because they refused God.
The line about the king destroying the city seems shocking, but this is actually what happened when people insulted a king, or a Caesar. Jesus is anticipating the destruction of Jerusalem in 70AD by the Romans. Jesus is showing (using a brutal, real life story) that rejecting the king has huge consequences. You can’t spit in God’s face and expect that everything will be OK.
The line ”many are invited but few are chosen” has often been used to show that God decides who is saved (the doctrine of election). But here the story clearly says that it was the refusal of the people, not God, that kept them out of the wedding. This line at least seems to say that God chooses those that choose Him.
OBSERVATIONS
What do you notice in this passage?
APPLICATION
The message of the kingdom, God’s better world revealed through Jesus, is open and available to all. It is like an exciting celebration, something wonderful and beautiful. Who wouldn’t want it? A life of love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control… isn’t this what we all are looking for?
Apparently not.
It seems this life is too costly, too demanding. Especially when it cuts into my life or comfort or ambition or pleasure. Like Esau, we prefer a pot of stew over a lifetime blessing. Like Judas, we sacrifice the treasure of God for 30 gold coins.
Do I long for, and embrace this kingdom life? Do I live for it, change for it? Or is my heart lukewarm towards it, am I more concerned about my pot of stew and gold coins?
Do I experience life with God and Jesus as a celebration, as a party? A blessing, a joy, something worth embracing?
What do you sense the Lord saying to you?
PRAYER
Lord, thank You for reaching out to me and inviting me to be a part of the celebration. May I reach out to You to receive it, to embrace it with all my heart.
Jesus follower
trying to find His way
Preparing for the great wedding party takes some commitment. The first commitment is to agree to come to the party. It is interesting to note that the secondary invitation was sent to all that could be found, both good and bad. There is not qualification that we need to accomplish in order to be invited to the wedding. Please come to the wedding. Oh, and dress up a little bit, because it is a formal affair. So our response is to show up to the wedding. The first people went about their business as usual, not even acknowledging the wedding. As we used to sing “I have married a wife, I have bought me a cow…”
I wonder a bit about the guy who showed up to the wedding without wedding clothes. Were the wedding clothes supplied to the guests? If so, then there is a secondary lesson to be learned in this parable. First lesson is that everyone who is invited, and the servants were instructed to invite everyone they saw, is welcome to come. The second lesson is that if the servants happen to miss you, or you skipped the line where the wedding clothes where handed out, you are not welcome. I noticed that this man was addressed as “friend”. It makes me think that he could have still asked about how to get the wedding clothes. In any case, it is like he is trying to get in without qualifying. And yet the qualifying seems to be an open welcome. I don’t quite get it.
Many are invited, few are chosen. Are we predispositioned to accept God’s call? Or to reject God’s call? I pray that I may heed the call, and come to the feast. I do love a good party, and I love to eat.