Mat 22:1And Jesus answered and spoke to them again by parables and said:
Mat 22:2"The kingdom of heaven is like a certain king who arranged a marriage for his son,
Mat 22:3and sent out his servants to call those who were invited to the wedding; and they were not willing to come.
Mat 22:4Again, he sent out other servants, saying, 'Tell those who are invited, "See, I have prepared my dinner; my oxen and fatted cattle are killed, and all things are ready. Come to the wedding." '
Mat 22:5But they made light of it and went their ways, one to his own farm, another to his business.
Mat 22:6And the rest seized his servants, treated them spitefully, and killed them.
Mat 22:7But when the king heard about it, he was furious. And he sent out his armies, destroyed those murderers, and burned up their city.
Mat 22:8Then he said to his servants, 'The wedding is ready, but those who were invited were not worthy.
Mat 22:9Therefore go into the highways, and as many as you find, invite to the wedding.'
Mat 22:10So those servants went out into the highways and gathered together all whom they found, both bad and good. And the wedding hall was filled with guests.
Mat 22:11But when the king came in to see the guests, he saw a man there who did not have on a wedding garment.
Mat 22:12So he said to him, 'Friend, how did you come in here without a wedding garment?' And he was speechless.
Mat 22:13Then the king said to the servants, 'Bind him hand and foot, take him away, and cast him into outer darkness; there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.'
Mat 22:14For many are called, but few are chosen."
Jesus spoke this parable in succession to that of the wicked tenant. He was still dealing with the conscience of the Chief priest, Pharisees and religious leaders who were there listening to him. (You see this when you read from Matthew 21:45 into Matthew 22:1).
Again, this parable talks about how the Kingdom of God is like a king who prepared a wedding banquet or feast for son and invited guests to attend.
Something I would like to point out quickly is that some people were previously invited ahead of time. Just like it is today, if you have a wedding party, you would have sent invitations and invited certain people ahead of the main day of the event. You don’t wait till the day of the party before sending out invites.
The King sent his servants to those who had been invited to the banquet to tell them to come.
Mat 22:3-4He 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… (NIV)
We clearly see here that the servants were sent to those who had been previously called but none of them showed up on the day of the ceremony, necessitating the King to send his servants to go and call them (perhaps they forgot). Still, they refused to come. He sent more servants to them and they ignored with some even going to the extent of killing the servants. The king got angry and sent his army to destroy the murderers and burn their city.
Since the feast has already been prepared, He then sent his servants to just go into the streets and call anyone and everyone they see irrespective of the status of the person whether they be good or bad (thieves, adulterers, drunks, etc.). He invited everyone to partake of the feast, even those that were unqualified.
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Just like in the Parable of the great feast (Luke 14:16-24), the people of Israel/Jews represented the priorly invited guests but they constantly ignored the invitation of God right from the time of the law to the prophets to John the Baptist and to Jesus.
Jer 7:25Since the day that your fathers came out of the land of Egypt until this day, I have even sent to you all My servants the prophets, daily rising up early and sending them.
The invitation of everyone and anyone found by the servants shows the openness of the Kingdom of God to everyone (both good and bad). Come as you are. This is the ultimate message here. Remember Jesus started off the parable saying “The Kingdom of heaven is like…”. The primary essence of this parable is to let all those listening know that at the end of the day, there would be access for all to come into the kingdom.
Mat 22:9Therefore go into the highways, and as many as you find, invite to the wedding.'
As many as can come, there is room for you in the kingdom of heaven. It is not only for some selected guests; the door has been opened to all. All you need to do is honor the invitation.
As at that time, the Jews believed Salvation was theirs but Jesus through this parable, is saying No. You have constantly ignored God’s invitation and now, God has made an open invitation for everyone and anyone to partake of his kingdom irrespective of whether they are Jews or gentiles. Irrespective of tribe, race, qualifications or moral stand, there is an open invitation to partake in the kingdom.
Now something striking happens in verse 11 when the king came into the hall and saw a man not wearing the wedding garment.
Mat 22:11-13But when the king came in to see the guests, he saw a man there who did not have on a wedding garment. So he said to him, 'Friend, how did you come in here without a wedding garment?' And he was speechless.Then the king said to the servants, 'Bind him hand and foot, take him away, and cast him into outer darkness; there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.'
What does this signify?
A lot of people have preached that this particular man was perhaps too poor to afford one. But wouldn’t that make the king unfair when he is the one that asked the servants to invite anyone they found? Why should he punish the man for being poor when he was the one that invited him to come? This clearly cannot be the case because that would make God unjust.
Some others had preached that we need to be prepared and ready for the invitation of God and that this man was not prepared so he didn’t have time to go and dress properly. This again is wrong teaching as far as this parable is concerned. None of the invited guests were prepared before they got called. As a matter of fact, when he was asked why he wasn’t wearing the wedding garment, he didn’t have any excuse. If he was too poor to afford one, he would have said so. Similarly, if he wasn’t ready for the wedding, he would have said so because the call was impromptu and he wasn’t expected to be prepared.
So what exactly is the situation with this man and what is the spiritual implication?
The answer is that in ancient Jewish tradition, the bridegroom provides the wedding garment. All you need to do is to pick one and wear it into the hall. The garment was provided already. This man just refused to wear it. That’s why he had no excuse when asked why.
So what does this represent? The garment symbolizes the justification and qualification needed to be a partaker of the Kingdom. That was the only thing that counted against this man. The king called all kinds of people (some homeless, some with rags, some with dirty clothes, etc.). The wedding garment was the only thing that covered and qualified them all. This wedding garment represents the “Righteousness of God” given freely to man. This is what qualifies us as believers and partakers of the Kingdom. See bible verses below:
Isa 61:10I delight greatly in the LORD; my soul rejoices in my God. For he has clothed me with garments of salvation and arrayed me in a robe of righteousness, as a bridegroom adorns his head like a priest, and as a bride adorns herself with her jewels.
Rev 19:7-8Let us rejoice and be glad and give him glory! For the wedding of the Lamb has come, and his bride has made herself ready. Fine linen, bright and clean, was given to her to wear." (Fine linen stands for the righteous acts of the saints.)
This man, despite being provided a garment according to the tradition, refused to wear it without any reason. He probably believed what he wore was good enough.
Again, this goes out to those who trust in their good deeds and perceived righteous acts. The bible clearly tells us in Rev 19:8 that the fine linen given to wear at the wedding stands for righteous acts. Jesus is the bridegroom who has provided us with his own garment of righteousness through his death on the cross. Those who believe in their own personal righteous acts and good deeds (their own garment) rather than that provided by God are those the man in the parable represents. The fact that Jesus told several parables that points to this shows how important it is that we rely on Grace and the gift of righteousness that comes from God rather than relying on Law and our own works.
Isa 64:6All of us have become like one who is unclean, and all our righteous acts are like filthy rags;
What the man was seeing as a garment clean enough for the wedding was actually filthy rags in the sight of the King and so he was condemned.
In conclusion, Jesus is saying… The kingdom of heaven is open to everyone and anyone, whoever you are (good or bad), come as you are. And when you come, you need not do any work or worry about whether you are qualified and clean enough. Everything has been provided for your salvation and qualification. A new garment that qualifies you for the kingdom has been provided for you through his death on the cross. It’s not by the works of your hands or your self-righteousness. That’s why both the good and bad were invited because it won’t matter who they were anymore once they wear the garment (clothed with the righteousness of God) and are in.
Jesus used this parable to debunk the belief the Jews and the Pharisees had that salvation was for them alone with the Pharisees relying on their own good works (self-righteousness garment) as what qualifies them above anyone else. There are many like this man today who trust in their good deeds and never really accepted the finished work of Jesus on the cross. Being born into a Christian family and doing good deeds is not enough to be saved. That’s what the Pharisees believed. You must denounce your own works and cling to what Jesus did on the cross. Accept Jesus as your lord and savior, be truly born again and he will cloth you with his own righteousness.
