The Unwilling Guests & The Marriage Feast

The Unwilling Guests & The Marriage Feast                                       Pg.1

Opening Prayer.  Father God ,  We pray that You will allow your Holy Spirit to work in and thru us, in this study tonight, that we may come to know more about Your Son our Lord Jesus and Your Heavenly Kingdom. We pray that this study will help us to make faithful servants in proclaiming the good news of our salvation, and by so doing we might draw others to You through our efforts. Bless us now as we study Your word. AMEN

Mat 22:1  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.
Why study this scripture?  This Parable’s Primary Focus is about what the cares of this world can do to interrupt our true worship of God. There seems to be an attitude that the worship of God is somewhat secondary to our real world issues and desires. This parable speaks to those matters.
These first three verses represent the banquet invitation. We should take note of  four facts about this banquet. (1)Who is preparing the banquet, (2)for whom it is being prepared, (3)what type of banquet it is, and (4)who is sent out to call those who are invited. And we should also note that those who were invited refused to come.
To draw an analogy, God threw a party for Jesus’ wedding to the Church, and the Jews were the primary guests, and chose not to come. We can only imagine how God must have felt about that.
A Jewish wedding was a big deal, lots of time involved from the time of betrothal to the wedding day, sometimes a year or more. And as to the guests, they would be invited by as much as a year in advance, and then when the time came, the wedding banquet was prepared, the invited guests would be notified of the time and the banquet would then begin.

Q.1 Why did Jesus feel the need to speak this parable?
Q.2 Who are the characters in this parable?
Q.3 Many important matters are covered in marriages what are some of them?
Q.4 When a marriage happens people get emotional. Why is that?
Q.4 What do you think the reason was that no one came to this banquet?
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Vs 4-6"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.

Verses 4 thru 6 are descriptive of how God even sent more servants forth. The seventy disciples, and other ministers of the Gospel, as Barnabas and Saul, and others that were joined to, and were helpers of the apostles, who were sent, and preached to the Jews, before the destruction of Jerusalem: And how the king has offered the best of his gifts for the Jews, and what preparations God has made to persuade them to come to him. The dinner is prepared, and all things are ready.
The Father is ready to accept us, the Son to intercede for us, the Spirit to sanctify us; pardon is ready; peace is ready, comfort is ready; the promises are ready, as wells of living water for supply; ordinances are ready,  angels are ready to attend us, creatures are ready to be in league with us, providences are ready to work for our good, and heaven, at last, is ready to receive us; it is a kingdom prepared, ready to be revealed in the last time. But the Jews in Jesus’ time weren’t convinced of God’s offer, and were busy with their own affairs, and treated God’s servants badly, even killing some of them. It is a perfect description of the reception that the Jews gave to Jesus. And how they killed some of the apostles including, Peter and John.

Q.1 Who were the servants in Jesus’ day that God sent out?
Q.2 And today who are those servants?
Q.3 What are the preparations that God has made for us?
Q.4 And what was necessary for those preparations to be afforded to the King’s guests?

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

Verses 7 thru 10 are descriptive of how the King reacted to the refusal of those who were invited. He was angry at the murderers of his servants. His anger was such as would be the destruction of them and having destroyed them, He then burned their city. So finding that the Jews were not willing to accept his banquet invitation he then speaks against those he first invited, and is now sending his servants out to invite anyone they find, the bad as well as the good.
There are four points to be made in verses 7 thru 10. (1) The king has been offended by those he first invited.  (2) he destroys them and their city, (3) He sends his servants out again to invite anyone willing to come. And (4) the wedding hall is filled with those “other” guests.

Q.1 Why was God angered over the Jews refusing his invitation?
Q.2 Why did he not just let them alone and then go about inviting others to the banquet?
Q.3 In your opinion, Is this parable a true representation of how God really is?
Q.4 Who are the “other” guests that God sent his servants to invite
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Vs 11-14 "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.

The king came in to see the guests, to bid those welcome who came prepared, and to turn those out who came otherwise. Note, The God of heaven takes particular notice of those who profess religion, and have a place and name in the visible church. Our Lord Jesus walks among the golden candlesticks and therefore knows their works. See Rev_2:1 & 2:2.

But there was a man there who represents one of our recent studies, The wickedness of the goats.  This man had not on this garment, this robe of righteousness; it was not imputed to him; he had no knowledge of it; or if he had any, it was only a speculative one; he had no true faith in it; he had never put on Christ, as the Lord and his righteousness. He came in his common and ordinary dress, as he was taken from the highway. And though he had not a garment of his own suitable for the occasion, yet one had been provided for him, if he had applied for it. His not doing it was expressive of the highest disrespect for the king. He had gotten into a church state without it, though there is no entrance into the kingdom of heaven but by it, as our study of the sheep and the goats showed. Only the righteousness of Christ gets one into Heaven.
Of the many that are called to the wedding feast, if you set aside all those as unchosen that make light of it, and avowedly prefer other things before it; if then you set aside all that make a profession of religion, but the temper of whose spirits and the tenure of whose conversation are a constant contradiction to it; if you set aside all the profane, and all the hypocritical, you will find that they are few, very few, that are chosen; many called to the wedding feast, but few chosen to the wedding garment, that is, to salvation, by sanctification of the Spirit. This is the strait gate, and narrow way, which few find.

Q.1 What is represented by vs.11 When does God come in to see his guests?
Q.2 When Questioned by God regarding our righteousness how will our answer be couched?
Q.3 For the man described in vs 11&12 there seemed to be no hope, do you have an answer?
Q.4 What is the meaning of the Phrase “ many are called but few are chosen?


Closing Prayer
Father God , We pray your blessing on us now as we leave this place. We pray that we will be among those who are invited to Your banquet, and that we will be worthy of it. We pray now for those who are sick or bereaved _______________ we pray that you will grant the your peace and comfort. Be with us now as we go our separate ways, and bring us back together next week. We pray this in Jesus’ name AMEN




                                                                                                                                Pg.4
"Meditation: What can a royal wedding party tell us about God's kingdom?  One of the most beautiful images of heaven in the scriptures is the banquet and wedding celebration given by the King for his son.  We, in fact, have been invited to the most important banquet of all.  Jesus' parable contains two stories.  The first has to do with the original guests invited to the feast.  The king had sent out invitations well in advance to his subjects, so they would have plenty of time to prepare for coming to the feast.  How insulting for the invited guests to then refuse when the time for celebrating came! They made light of the King's request because they put their own interests above his.  They not only insulted the King but the heir to the throne as well. The king's anger is justified because they openly refused to give the king the honor he was due.  Jesus directed this warning to the Jews of his day, both to convey how much God wanted them to share in the joy of his kingdom, but also to give a warning about the consequences of refusing his Son, their Messiah and Savior.  The second part of the story focuses on those who had no claim on the king and who would never have considered getting such an invitation.  The "good and the bad" along the highways certainly referred to the Gentiles and to sinners.  This is certainly an invitation of grace -- undeserved, unmerited favor and kindness!  But this invitation also contains a warning for those who refuse it or who approach the wedding feast unworthily.  Grace is a free gift, but it is also an awesome responsibility.  Dieterich Bonhoeffer contrasts "cheap grace" and "costly grace".  "Cheap grace is the grace we bestow on ourselves ..the preaching of forgiveness without requiring repentance ..grace without discipleship, grace without the cross, grace without Jesus Christ, living and incarnate. ..Costly grace is the gospel which must be sought again and again, the gift which must be asked for, the door at which a man must knock.  Such grace is costly because it calls us to follow Jesus Christ.  It is costly because it costs a man his life, and it is grace because it gives a man the only true life."  God invites each of us to his banquet that we may share in his joy.  Are you ready to feast at the Lord's banquet table                      
Questions:
1. Who was it that Jesus describes that didn’t want to be there? Who do you suppose in our world today are the ones too busy to show up?
2. Is there something more important that keeps them away? How about us today, are there people that you cannot drag to church? Who show no respect for God?
3. Was he a sovereign king with power over many? So what did the king do?
4. After his vengeance was abated, Did he cancel the feast?
5. This was to be a great feast, he would then invite other people to the feast, Who did he invite?
6. His orders were to go into all the world, and preach the Gospel to every creature, Jew or Gentile, high or low, rich or poor, outwardly righteous, or openly profane, greater or lesser sinners, and exhort them to attend the Gospel ministry, and ordinances. Is that a good or a bad thing?
7. Are these other people accepted in that day and time? Who are they in our day and time?
8. He knows them that are his, and gives them marks of respect; and he spies out such as are not, and will in his own time discover them, to their utter confusion and ruin. Did he see one at this event?
9. How was that person treated?
10. ' 14 For many are called, but few are chosen. You have heard this before? What is your interpretation of it?