Matthew 22:1-14, 22 Jesus spoke to them again in parables, saying: 2 “The kingdom of heaven is like a king who prepared a wedding banquet for his son. 3 He sent his servants to those who had been invited to the banquet to tell them to come, but they refused to come.
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.’
5 “But they paid no attention and went off—one to his field, another to his business. 6 The rest seized his servants, mistreated them and killed them. 7 The king was enraged. He sent his army and destroyed those murderers and burned their city.
8 “Then he said to his servants, ‘The wedding banquet is ready, but those I invited did not deserve to come. 9 So go to the street corners and invite to the banquet anyone you find.’ 10 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.
11 “But when the king came in to see the guests, he noticed a man there who was not wearing wedding clothes. 12 He asked, ‘How did you get in here without wedding clothes, friend?’ The man was speechless.
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.’
14 “For many are invited, but few are chosen.”
This parable is one of the many parables that speaks about the Kingdom of Heaven. We can believe that the king in the above said parable is our Heavenly Father and the son is our Lord Jesus Christ. Dear children of God we are all invited to the wedding banquet of the son by the king. In this parable Jesus says that those who were invited did not come. One man went to his field and the other man went to his business. Everyone was busy in their own matters to pay any attention to the invite. Out situation is no different from them. We too live completely ensnared in the magic of this materialistic world. Luke 21:34, 34 “Be careful, or your hearts will be weighed down with carousing, drunkenness and the anxieties of life, and that day will close on you suddenly like a trap. the kind hearted king sent his servants again to invite his guests. The people not only refused to attend the banquet but also insulted the servants and later killed them. Even today there is no change in the hearts of man. If we look at people today it would seem that they are going to live eternally on earth in this consumerist and materialistic world, drowned in the traps of the luxuries of life. Man keeps wandering in search of more luxuries. Let us see what the Bible says about this:
1 John 2:17,17 The world and its desires pass away, but whoever does the will of God lives forever.
Matthew 16:26-27, 26 What good will it be for someone to gain the whole world, yet forfeit their soul? Or what can anyone give in exchange for their soul? 27 For the Son of Man is going to come in his Father’s glory with his angels, and then he will reward each person according to what they have done.
Our Saviour Jesus Christ who sacrificed Himself for our sins has said that He will come again. During Noah’s time it was unexpected to have the Great Flood. They too lived like us today, seeped completely in sins and greed. God repented creating humans on seeing them.
Matthew 24: 37-39, 37 As it was in the days of Noah, so it will be at the coming of the Son of Man. 38 For in the days before the flood, people were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, up to the day Noah entered the ark; 39 and they knew nothing about what would happen until the flood came and took them all away. That is how it will be at the coming of the Son of Man.
Today what would our Heavenly Father be thinking about us, His children???? There were many prophets before the birth of Jesus. They received visions from Yahweh. They were persecuted and killed for their prophetic visions and for telling the truth as declared by the Lord. Today we do not have any prophets. Today we have the Good News in our hands which is our Father’s letters to us and this collection of letters is the Bible. These letters teach and advise us how to live in this world and to prepare ourselves for the life in heaven. Let us got back to the Words of God.
The king got enraged. He persecuted all those who refused his invite to the banquet. He sent his servants to invite anyone they find, even from the streets. The banquet hall was full of people who were invited by the servants. The king came to see the invited guests. There was only one person who was not wearing the wedding dress provided by the king. Seeing him the king asked in anger how did you enter the banquet without wearing the wedding linen. The man was without any answer.
We all have attended several weddings and will be attending some later. It is important that we introspect into the preparations we make for the wedding and the dress we wear. How much do we fuss about our look and dress for a wedding/event that would take place for only few hours on this earth!!!! Think, how would you react to the invite by the Heavenly Father!!!.
We need to understand what Jesus meant to say about the person who came without dressing in the wedding finery. We need to observe that the king does not ignore the person who is not dressed properly for the wedding. The man evaluated himself and held himself in high esteem, hence he entered the banquet without the wedding finery. He was tied and thrown out into darkness. Only those who prepare themselves and dress in the wedding dress provided by the Heavenly Father can enter the Kingdom of Heaven.
Matthew 22:14, 14 “For many are invited, but few are chosen.”
This verse teaches us that if we do not prepare ourselves or dress properly as said by Father, we too would be thrown out of Heaven into darkness. We should not wear clothes that are for the moment only like our first parents, Adam and Eve. Genesis 3: 7, 7 Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they realized they were naked; so they sewed fig leaves together and made coverings for themselves.
The Lord says that since those who were invited refused to attend the banquet, anyone who was found was invited to the banquet. Matthew 21: 32, 32 For John came to you to show you the way of righteousness, and you did not believe him, but the tax collectors and the prostitutes did. And even after you saw this, you did not repent and believe him. Dear children of God, isn’t it time for each one of us to remove the clothes colored by sin and wear the wedding dress/ finery given to us by our Father??? The way to this is taught in the Bible in Colossians 3:5-14,
5 Put to death, therefore, whatever belongs to your earthly nature: sexual immorality, impurity, lust, evil desires and greed, which is idolatry. 6 Because of these, the wrath of God is coming. 7 You used to walk in these ways, in the life you once lived. 8 But now you must also rid yourselves of all such things as these: anger, rage, malice, slander, and filthy language from your lips. 9 Do not lie to each other, since you have taken off your old self with its practices 10 and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge in the image of its Creator. 11 Here there is no Gentile or Jew, circumcised or uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave or free, but Christ is all, and is in all.
12 Therefore, as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience. 13 Bear with each other and forgive one another if any of you has a grievance against someone. Forgive as the Lord forgave you. 14 And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity.
Ephesians 6:11-18, 11 Put on the full armor of God, so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes. 12 For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. 13 Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand. 14 Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, 15 and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. 16 In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. 17 Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.
18 And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the Lord’s people.
What is the message we hear and see from our surrounding??? Have you paused to think??? Think… Act…Dear children of God may we not be without answers when faced with our Father in Heaven.
Jehovah Roi 