THE REVELATION OF JESUS CHRIST: The Wedding Feast (4)

- Matthew 21

Recap. When you strip away everything from all the religions of the world, except for its basic tenant of faith, you with either find man working his way towards God, or the cross of Christ. The cross is the only way to salvation. Our wedding garment is Jesus Christ Himself, and unless we put Him on, we will miss the wedding feast.

Resume. For his crime against the king, the improperly attired guest was thrown out into the darkness. For their crimes against God, there will be many who will be consigned to the darkness. That darkness is existence without God for eternity. Christ concludes the parable with the sad fact: “For many are invited, but few are chosen.” This deals with salvation and its offer being available to everyone, but only a few accepting it.

Put on the wedding garment that God has provided to you. That garment is the salvation found in Jesus Christ by His atoning death on the cross for your sin. We are all sinners (see Romans 3:23), and “the wages of sin is death” (see Romans 6:23). Physical death for all mankind because of the sin of Adam, which we all inherit (see Hebrews 9:27). Spiritual death which is eternal separation from God (see Revelation 20:14), and functional death for the Christian living with unconfessed sin in their life, preventing them from serving God (see Revelation 3:1).

With this garment, with Christ as your Lord and Savior, you will be attending the greatest wedding feast of all time and eternity - the wedding supper of the Lamb (Christ) mentioned in Revelation 19:7-9. The Parable of the Wedding Feast was a direct warning and pronouncement of condemnation on the Pharisees. The Parable of the Wedding Feast is also a message to us, to make sure we are relying on God’s provision of salvation, not our own good works or religious service.

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QUESTION 2

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This parable is filled with much symbolism, as in all parables. Let us examine some of the symbols, and construct a "glossary", to help us glean the deeper meaning.

"The kingdom of heaven is like unto a certain king, which made a marriage for his son ..." Matt 22:2

1.Who is the "King"?

2.Who is the son?

3.Who is the bride?

4.What is the "marriage" (what does it represent)?

ANSWER 2

In the parable, the King is God, and the Son is Jesus Christ. The marriage is an allusion to the joy that is possible for those who are the bride of Christ, that is, the church. All those who love Christ, and live in the light of His commandments are joined to Him, in His body, as a bride and bridegroom are joined in marriage.

"And wherefore is it called a marriage? One may say. That thou mightiest learn God's tender care, His yearning towards us, the cheerfulness of the state of things, that there is nothing sorrowful there, nor sad, but all things are full of spiritual joy: Therefore, also John calls Him a bridegroom, therefore Paul again saith, "For I have espoused you to one husband;" and, "This is a great mystery, but I speak concerning Christ and the Church."" (St John Chrysostom)

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"The kingdom of heaven is like unto a certain king, which made a marriage for his son, {3} And sent forth his servants to call them that were bidden to the wedding: and they would not come."

(Matt 22:2-3)

1.Who are these first servants?

2.How did the servants accomplish their task?

3.There are two "callings" mentioned, "to call them that were bidden." What are these two callings?

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The servants are the holy prophets, who proclaimed the coming of Christ by their words and deeds.

"And when were they bidden? By all the prophets; by John again; for unto Christ he would pass all on, saying, "He must increase, I must decrease;"7 by the Son Himself again, "Come unto me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will refresh you;" and again, "If any man thirst, let him come unto me, and drink."9 But not by words only, but also by actions did He bid them, after His ascension by Peter, and those with him. "For He that wrought effectually in Peter," it is said, "to the apostleship of the circumcision, was mighty also in me towards the Gentiles."

The two callings darkly mention a deep mystery - how God is revealed to the human soul. Our salvation is corporate, and it is personal. Truly the breath of the Holy Spirit enlightens a man, but this does not happen to him in isolation, as he must also be part of a body, that is the church, and respond to its faithful teaching.

"If they were already invited, why are they going to invite them again? Learn, then, that each of us by nature has been called towards the good, for we are being called by the word of the innate teacher within us. But God also sends us external teachers, to call us from without, we who were first called by the word in our nature."

For answers to the above questions, and a more in-depth study of the "The Parable of the Wedding Feast" click: