1And Jesus answered and spoke to them again by parables and said: 2"The kingdom of heaven is like a certain king who arranged a marriage for his son, 3and sent out his servants to call those who were invited to the wedding; and they were not willing to come. 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."' 5But they made light of it and went their ways, one to his own farm, another to his business. 6And the rest seized his servants, treated them spitefully, and killed them. 7But when the king heard about it, he was furious. And he sent out his armies, destroyed those murderers, and burned up their city. 8Then he said to his servants, "The wedding is ready, but those who were invited were not worthy. 9Therefore go into the highways, and as many as you find, invite to the wedding.' 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.
11"But when the king came in to see the guests, he saw a man there who did not have on a wedding garment. 12So he said to him, "Friend, how did you come in here without a wedding garment?' And he was speechless. 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.'
14"For many are called, but few are chosen."
This parable starts with calling those who were invited. Many were invited but none chose to come. Surprisingly, the king didn’t give up on the first rejection. Instead he tells them more of the great things in store for them if they but come to the wedding, and everything is ready for them now.
But they made light of it? They weren’t impressed with what was made ready for them? They had other priorities: some to their own farm, some to their own business. Boy, doesn’t that sound familiar!
But the rest seized the servants, treated them spitefully, and killed them. Why would they do that? Why would they be spiteful? I looked up spite in my dictionary. It means malicious ill will prompting an urge to hurt or humiliate. Was their spite against the servants or against the king. It sounds like they were not only not interested in the wedding, but they were very much against it. They were holding a grudge but we don’t know why.
The interesting thing is that even those who were very much against the wedding, or had this awful grudge against the king or servants, had even been invited to the wedding! The king simply called all who had been invited, and they had apparently been invited regardless of their attitudes toward the king.
The king was furious when his servants were killed, and he had those murderers killed. In fact, he destroyed the city of the murderers. I wonder if here it is implying that not only those who did the actual act of murder were killed, but also those of like mind, living in the same community as the murderers.
Those who were invited were not worthy. Those who were invited either did not appreciate what was being offered to them, or in their own stubbornness and spitefulness, tried to destroy what was offered to them.
But the king had a wedding feast that he wanted to share. So he invited all, from all places, from all backgrounds, rather than just those who were originally set aside as the appropriate invitation list. And many came. The halls were filled with those who wanted to take part in the marriage feast.
But was it enough to simply come? The king saw one who did not have on a wedding garment. The man did not prepare himself for the wedding feast. He just came with no preparation. It is interesting that the king calmly addresses him as “Friend”. He waited for an explanation before casting him out from the celebration. Was the man not wearing a wedding garment because he could not afford one, or because he was coming on his own terms, refusing to bother to dress appropriately for the wedding feast? But the man was speechless. The man had no good explanation for the king for why he hadn’t readied himself for the celebration. And because of that, the man was cast outside.
You kind of feel sorry for this king, who planned this grand celebration, and those who were invited refused to come. But this is a celebration that was going to happen regardless of what those who were invited were going to do. So he invited all to come and what happened? They all came, but many did not bother to prepare themselves. It sounds like this king didn’t receive much respect from the people. The people followed their own desires.
This parable sounds so typical of today’s attitudes. God invites all to His celebration. God doesn’t give up on us easily. He tries many times to convince you to accept the invitation. He tells you of the wonders in store for you at the celebration. But many are too busy with their own desires. They ignore the invitation and go about their business, or they may even go directly against the invitation, do what is wrong in spite of what they know is right. None of these are worthy of the invitation, but they had all been invited anyway. But the celebration is going to happen anyway, regardless of who accepts or rejects the invitation. God opens up the invitation to all. And there are many who try to accept the invitation on their own terms. But God still expects you to prepare yourself for the celebration.
What is the preparation that is required? Is it really a wedding garment? No, but God gives us instructions for the kind of life we are to lead. Many of those instructions are difficult for us to meet. And even when we have a tough time doing everything right we are all still invited and God still approaches us as “Friend”. But if all we can do in our own defense is to remain speechless, if our reasons for not doing right are because we followed our own desires and not God’s, we too will be cast into darkness. God doesn’t expect anyone to be perfect, but He gives each of us a chance for our own justification. Only those who come prepared are chosen.
Many are invited, but few choose to come. Many are called but few are chosen. And it is definitely desirable to be among the chosen.