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THE PARABLE OF THE WEDDING BANQUET

Question

THE PARABLE OF THE WEDDING BANQUET

 

Matthew 22:1-22

Key Verses: 22:1,2

 

    "Jesus spoke to them again in parables, saying: `The

     kingdom of heaven is like a king who prepared a wedding

     banquet for his son.'"

 

STUDY QUESTIONS

 

1. According to this parable, what is the kingdom of heaven like? Who

   is the King? The Son? Read also Revelation 7:17; 21:1,2,4;

   5:8-10,12; 3:20. What do these verses add to the Biblical picture of

   the kingdom of heaven?

 

2. Read verses 3-6. What was the first response of the invited guests

   to the king's invitation? What do the king's actions teach about

   God? (4) What does the second response of the invited guests tell us

   about sinful man? What did the king do? (7)

 

3.  Read verses 8-10. How did the king fill the wedding hall? Who do

   these guests represent? What does this teach us about God's shepherd

   heart? What can we learn from this parable about the work of

   servants?

 

4.  Read verses 11-13. Who does the man without wedding clothes

   represent? How can we prepare wedding clothes for the heavenly

   banquet? What does it mean to make a commitment to Jesus? (See Col

   2:6,7; Eph 3:16,17; Php 3:10) What does verse 14 mean?

 

5.  Read verses 15-22. How did the Pharisees try to trap Jesus? How did

   Jesus answer? What does he teach us about our responsibility to our

   nation and God? Think about the meaning of responsibility and

   commitment.

 

 

 

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Message

THE PARABLE OF THE WEDDING BANQUET

 

Matthew 22:1-22

Key Verses: 22:1,2

 

    "Jesus spoke to them again in parables, saying: `The

     kingdom of heaven is like a king who prepared a wedding

     banquet for his son.'"

 

     In the last passage, through the parable of the tenants, we

learned that we must be careful when we obtain God's blessing so that

we may maintain God's blessing properly. If we don't maintain God's

blessing properly, we fall into the illusion that the vineyard is not

God's, but it is ours. We can say, "My children are not God's children

given to me as gifts, but they are mine. This one is mine and that one

is mine. All my children are mine. My life is mine." Those in this

illusion abandon God; finally they become godless and candidates for

the kingdom of the devil. Today we study about how God wants to bring

his children to his glorious kingdom, the kingdom of God through the

parable of the wedding banquet.  Let's learn the importance of having a

living hope in the kingdom of God.

 

First, the kingdom of God (1-2). Look at verse 2. "The kingdom of

heaven is like a king who prepared a wedding banquet for his son." This

verse tells us that the kingdom of God is like a king who prepared a

wedding banquet for his son. The kingdom of God is the place of

happiness and joy and is full of blessing.

 

     People who live in this world suffer much, but they suffer most

because of their sorrow. One pianist almost mastered her piano

performance. In order to concentrate only on piano practice, win a

contest, and be a piano soloist known around the world, she divorced

her husband. As soon as she divorced and began to live by herself,

contrary to her wishes, her right hand began to suffer from rheumatism.

Instead of practicing piano, she had to suffer from unbearable pain.

After two months her right leg was also invaded by rheumatism and she

could not practice piano at all. In addition, after divorce she

suffered from loneliness. So she gained weight remarkably. Suffering

from rheumatism was nothing compared to her loneliness. Now she is

slightly more than middle-aged; her hope of becoming a world famous

pianist left during her time of suffering from rheumatism and

loneliness. In short, she is a very sorrowful woman, caused by her

human ambition. There are many gorgeous looking young men and women.

But during the time of Bible study with them we find that their hearts

were broken when their parents broke up. They could not overcome their

sorrow, and they cry endlessly. When they don't cry in sorrow, they

engage in outrageous behavior toward others. America is a rich country.

But America may be number one in the world in having sorrowful people.

Two sisters who are very sincere are always sorrowful because their

parents are quarreling every night without any obvious reason. They are

sorrowful because their parents quarrel over very trivial matters. They

study so well, but they are not happy; they are sorrowful.  Because of

this, Jesus Christ came to this world and became a man of sorrows and

was rejected and despised in order to wipe the tears from our eyes.

Revelation 7:17 says, "For the Lamb at the center of the throne will be

their shepherd; he will lead them to springs of living water. And God

will wipe away every tear from their eyes." Here the phrase, "And God

will wipe away every tear from their eyes," means there is no sorrow in

the kingdom of God. In the kingdom of God there is only happiness and

joy and peace. Again, Revelation 21:4 says, "He will wipe every tear

from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or

pain, for the old order of things has passed away." At the beginning of

this verse, "He will wipe every tear from their eyes," means that there

is no one who sheds tears due to sorrow in the kingdom of God. There

are so many people who are pretty much aged. They are crying because of

the premonition of their miserable deaths. But in the kingdom of God

there is no death. There is only eternal life and eternal beauty in the

likeness of our Lord Jesus Christ. In short, there is no sorrow in the

kingdom of God.  The kingdom of God is ruled by love and peace.

Revelation 5:9,10 say, "And they sang a new song: You are worthy to

take the scroll and to open its seals, because you were slain, and with

your blood you purchased men for God from every tribe and language and

people and nation. You have made them to be a kingdom and priests to

serve our God, and they will reign on the earth." Again, Revelation

5:12 says, "In a loud voice they sang: Worthy is the Lamb, who was

slain, to receive power and wealth and wisdom and strength and honor

and glory and praise!'" This verse tells us that our Lord Jesus Christ

is worthy to be the eternal Ruler of the kingdom of God, because as the

Lamb of God he was slain for our sorrows and sins. The kingdom of God

is not like a worldly apartment unit. The kingdom of God is indeed

beautiful. Revelation 21:1-2 say, "Then I saw a new heaven and a new

earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and

there was no longer any sea. I saw the Holy City, the new Jerusalem,

coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride beautifully

dressed for her husband." The kingdom of God is like a wedding banquet.

Most people live to eat well and sleep well. Eating seems to be

nothing. But eating is very important. Revelation 3:20 says, "Here I

am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens

the door, I will come in and eat with him, and he with me." The kingdom

of God is the place where we can eat with our Lord Jesus Christ, who

was slain for our sins. We know how beautiful it is when a boyfriend

and a girlfriend, who grew up purely and nobly, are going to marry.

They have a final date right before the marriage and go to a very

expensive restaurant. They eat and look at each other and smile, and

sometimes the woman's face flushes in shyness and joy. The kingdom of

God is like this. The kingdom of God is where Jesus, who was slain, is.

There are no tears in the kingdom of God. There is no sorrow in the

kingdom of God. The kingdom of God is where our Lord Jesus Christ, who

was slain for our sins, rules together with us. The kingdom of God is

so beautiful that pen and tongue cannot describe it. It is partially

described by John who was on the island of Patmos. In short, there are

no tears or sorrow in the kingdom of God.

 

Second, the inimicality of the invited people (3-7). Look at verse 3.

"He sent his servants to those who had been invited to the banquet to

tell them to come, but they refused to come." The last part of this

sentence says, "...but they refused to come." They refused to come

because they were blind to the spiritual reality.

 

     Look at verse 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.'" In this verse, "he" refers to God. God really

wanted to bring his suffering people back to his kingdom. As we know

well, people's pride is very easily hurt. When people refused his

invitation, God could have punished them. But in his great mercy, he

invited them again. He even widely advertised through channels two,

five, seven and eleven. The contents of the advertisement were as

follows: "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 and rejoice and be happy."

 

     Look at verses 5-6. "But they paid no attention and went offone to

his field, another to his business. The rest seized his servants,

mistreated them and killed them." We can understand why they rejected

the invitation. In the past, a young and very ambitious servant of God,

who had a dream of world conquest, thought that a senior pastor who

talked a lot about the kingdom of God was too sentimental, mainly

because of his old age. The young servant of God thought that it would

be good to impute the idea of modernization and world conquest, and

that always talking about the kingdom of God makes people gloomy and is

impractical. Like that young servant of God, many Christians these days

do not have the slightest idea about the kingdom of God. Many young

people only want to achieve something. Some want to enjoy the fleeting

pleasures of sin. Some want to pick up a boyfriend. Some want to

establish future security, when there is no security in this world. But

they are very indifferent about the kingdom of God. When we study

Matthew's Gospel, we find 54 times the story about the kingdom of God

or the kingdom of heaven. And in Matthew's Gospel there are many

parables which make some of us very sleepy. These parables mainly talk

about the kingdom of God. Today's passage, "The Parable of the Wedding

Banquet," describes how God wants to bring his children back to his

kingdom so that they may be happy. But they have no idea about the

kingdom of God because their heads are buried in the earth and they

have no spiritual reality.

 

     The kingdom of God gives us a living hope. But the people of the

world want to make some achievements and want to be men and women of

fame. One of our shepherdesses was once a feminist, simply because she

wanted to be the President of the United States of America. There was a

young American who became old during his Ph.D. program. Even after

sixteen years had elapsed, he could not pass his prelim, not to mention

getting a Ph.D. So he shot his advisor and he also shot himself in the

head. Some want to solve their security problem. As soon as they finish

undergraduate study they get a proper job and try to marry and

establish their future security. These kinds of people only lose all

their hair and later become couch potatoes. They have not at all the

idea of obtaining the kingdom of God.

 

     Matthew 5:10 says, "Blessed are those who are persecuted because

of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven." This is the

reason Jesus went throughout Galilee, teaching in their synagogues,

preaching the good news of the kingdom (Mt 4:23). Matthew 13:38 says,

"The field is the world, and the good seed stands for the sons of the

kingdom. The weeds are the sons of the evil one...." These verses

explain that those who do not have hope in the kingdom of God are like

evil men or weeds.

 

     As we have seen, people of the world are very busy. Both husband

and wife work to make their future security. One woman worked three

full-time jobs for fifteen years, then lost all the money she had

earned through gambling. The most serious problem is that men do not

know who they are. They think that if they have money, they can live in

this world happily and forever. But God made a life span for each

person. It is appointed when they are born, and they will die and go to

eternity according to God's sovereign will. We cannot live in this

world forever.  Those who try to do so are earthbound and only

interested in the things of the world.  The feel bothered by the

invitation to the kingdom. So some of them even killed God's servants.

This is the reason our one-to-one Bible teachers are rejected again and

again, until sometimes they think they are born to be rejected or they

lose the sense of their holy mission. But we should not think so. We

must follow the footsteps of Jesus. Jesus was rejected again and again,

until he was crucified on the cross and shed much blood from his

wounds. Therefore, inviting people to the heavenly banquet is not a

happy job, but it is a glorious and holy mission given to us.

 

Third, God's broken shepherd heart. Look at verses 8-9. "Then he said

to his servants, The wedding banquet is ready, but those I invited did

not deserve to come. Go to the street corners and invite to the banquet

anyone you find.'" In these verses we can see God's broken heart to

invite his suffering people in the world to his heavenly banquet. Look

at verses 9-10. "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, both good and bad, and the

wedding hall was filled with guests." God wanted to invite his

suffering people in the world, without missing one. Finally God invited

all kinds of people and filled the banquet hall. In this way the

wedding hall was filled with guests. God's broken shepherd heart always

wants to invite anybody and everybody, and any kind of people. There is

no discrimination in God in inviting people to his kingdom.

 

Fourth, wedding garments. Look at verses 11-12. "But when the king came

in to see the guests, he noticed a man there who was not wearing

wedding clothes. Friend,' he asked, how did you get in here without

wedding clothes?' The man was speechless." Here "wedding garment" is

comparable to Jesus himself. Many think that when they say they believe

in Jesus, they can go to the kingdom of God, because God is love. But

it is mere hallucination. We need a wedding garment to attend the

heavenly banquet for the crown prince. We have to prepare wedding

garments as a matter of first importance. Ephesians 3:16,17 says, "I

pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power

through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in

your hearts through faith.  And I pray that you (may be) rooted and

established in love...." In short, these verses tell us that our inner

man must grow when we accept Jesus Christ. Even if one believed for

forty years, if he did not grow, his inner man is like a little infant.

So he cannot know who Jesus really is. Again, Colossians 2:6,7 says,

"So then, just as you received Christ Jesus as Lord, continue to live

in him, rooted and built up in him, strengthened in the faith as you

were taught, and overflowing with thankfulness." In short, these verses

tell us that as the children of God we must commit ourselves in Jesus

and build ourselves up as mature children of God, and finally we must

have a personal relationship with Jesus Christ. In order to do this, we

need a decision of faith. One pretty young girl said, "I believe in

Jesus, but I didn't accept Jesus as my personal Savior." This girl is

very pretty.  But one of her legs is in the kingdom of Satan and the

other leg is in the kingdom of God. So her inner person is in the

torment of Satan most of the time; sometimes she is happy when she

hears the word of God. These verses tell us that we must make a

personal commitment to Jesus. But these days the word "commitment" is

taboo in this country. It is because commitment requires

responsibility, and people cannot indulge their personal privacy. There

are many lesbians, homosexuals, and uncontested divorces in this

country because people don't want to be responsible for anything. How

can one commit to his wife? How can people commit to their jobs or to

God's mission? It is impossible. But it is possible. When one commits

to our Lord Jesus Christ, he can commit to his wife, and to his

children, and to his country, and to God's holy mission, and his reward

will be great. He will be great and he will be a blessing.

 

     We must pray that this country may be rich with those who have

committed their lives and futures in Jesus and the kingdom of God, and

be poor in uncommitted people. St. Paul cried out in Philippians 3:10,

"I want to know Christ and the power of his resurrection and the

fellowship of sharing in his sufferings, becoming like him in his

death...." Everybody knows that St. Paul was the best philosopher in

the West and the East and the best theologian, who completed the

framework of Christianity by writing Romans. But he had never been

satisfied with his knowledge of Jesus. So he cried out, "I want to know

Christ." After a few minutes, he cried out again, "I want to know

Christ." In his dream he cried out again and again, "I want to know

Christ." When he woke up, he again cried out, "I want to know Christ."

Those who are shallow in learning have the motto: "I know what you are

saying." If somebody says something he doesn't know, he answers, "Yeah,

I knew that too." But practically, he doesn't know the answer. Such

people never want to know something.  They become very habitual, like

Chicago squirrels. How can we prepare wedding clothes? There is only

one way: We must commit in Jesus our lives and futures and learn of him

day and night. Then we will be accepted into the kingdom of God and be

happy forever.

 

     Those who have no inner man's growth in Jesus will have an

especially hard time. Look at verse 13. "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.'" Many

worldly Christians think that they can go to heaven because God is

love. God is love, and at the same time he is righteous. So those who

are not committed in Jesus will be tied up hand and foot and thrown

outside into the darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of

teeth forever.

 

     Look at verse 14. "For many are invited, but few are chosen." This

verse sounds not so meaningful. But this verse is a sorrowful

lamentation of our Lord Jesus Christ. Jesus wanted to invite all people

to his kingdom. This is the reason he came to this world and was born

in a stable of animals and laid in a manger. He was despised and

rejected and finally crucified to open the way to the kingdom of God so

that he might invite them all. He diligently invited them to the

kingdom of God through his preaching and healing. Jesus invited so

many. But few are chosen to enter the kingdom of God.

 

Fifth, the Pharisees' intrigue to kill Jesus through a taxation matter

(15-22). After hearing Jesus' words that the kingdom of God is like a

wedding banquet, they felt Jesus was telling this parable to them. They

were very upset. So they planned to trap Jesus in his words to kill

him. They made a very clever question. They said, "Teacher, we know you

are a man of integrity and that you teach the way of God in accordance

with the truth.  You aren't swayed by men, because you pay no attention

to who they are.  Tell us then, what is your opinion? Is it right to

pay taxes to Caesar or not?" This was a very tricky question. At that

time, the people of Israel were outraged to pay tax to Caesar, the

Roman Emperor. They had a fixed idea that they must pay only the temple

tax as the expression of worshiping God. Jesus knew their evil intent

and hypocrisy. He said, "Show me the coin used for paying the tax"

(19). "Whose portrait is this? And whose inscription?" "`Caesar's,'

they replied. Then Jesus said to them, `Give to Caesar what is

Caesar's, and to God what is God's'" (21). Jesus' answer is very

difficult to understand. When we think simply about this answer, we

realize that he is saying that we must fulfill our obligation to our

country and at the same time we must fulfill our obligation to God.

Human beings are human beings because we have small and large

responsibilities. Those who have no sense of responsibility are not

noble people; they are sub-human beings.  They are those who should not

exist in the United States of America. We must fulfill our

responsibility for our families, and for our children, and for our

country. Most of all, we must fulfill our responsibility to our God

Almighty. God wants us to pray that God will make America a kingdom of

priests and a holy nation.

 

     Today we learned that our main goal in Bible study should be the

kingdom of God. And while on earth we should be men and women of

responsibility to our nation and to our God.

 

 

 

 

 

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