Stories: The Parables of Jesus - Week 2 (Matthew 22:1-24)
Matthew 22:1-14
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Matthew 22:1-14 〰️
Hello! Welcome to week two of our series Stories: The Parables of Jesus. If you attended the 9a (or listened to the sermon podcast), you heard David Gladney preach on Matthew 22:1-14! For those who attended the 11a service, you heard Athens Drive Baptist Church’s Pastor, Tim Howel, preach from the book of Hebrews. For the sake of continuity across all our community groups, we’ll all be in Matthew 22 together, so give the episode a listen if you missed it on Sunday!
The Parable of the Wedding Feast
In this parable, our Savior paints a clear picture of the kingdom of heaven. At least ten times in Matthew’s Gospel, Jesus says this same phrase that opens up our passage this week: “The kingdom of heaven is like…” Jesus is giving the hearers a glimpse into what God’s kingdom looks like, how it functions, and ultimately, how God operates. There will always be aspects of God’s nature that we never understand, but here, Jesus wants us to understand a truth: God’s invitation for relationship is for many, and He doesn’t take rejection lightly. This passage, in a way, foreshadows Stephen’s story that we read a few weeks ago in Acts 6-7. God has extended His hand of invitation to humanity for thousands of years with a multitude of evidence, and yet there will be those who reject Him. In this parable, Jesus clearly states that this is how the kingdom of heaven works, how God has operated.
“He sent his servants to summon those invited to the banquet, but they didn’t want to come. Again, he sent out other servants and said, ‘Tell those who are invited: See, I’ve prepared my dinner; my oxen and fattened cattle have been slaughtered, and everything is ready. Come to the wedding banquet.’
“But they paid no attention and went away, one to his own farm, another to his business, while the rest seized his servants, mistreated them, and killed them.” (v3–6).
Jesus clearly explains God's invitation. In Genesis, God chose His people (Genesis 17), and His people routinely rejected Him (see all of Judges). Jesus is offering yet another warning that rejecting the Lord and His servant(s) will yield destruction. Culture often caricatures God in two ways: Old and New Testaments, God of wrath and God of love, respectively. But we know this isn’t true, as God’s abounding patience is so evident in the Old Testament. If you read the book of Judges, you see this cycle of rejection, crying out to God, and God rescuing His people from their own sin. Yes, there is judgment and punishment, but one of those alone does not characterize our Lord. Likewise, God is not without judgment in the New Testament. During His earthly ministry, Jesus routinely warns of the cost of rejecting Him. So it is the same in this parable, as this invitation is compared to a wedding banquet in v4. All those who were invited to attend, yet they rejected this invitation, with some mistreating and killing the king’s servants.
We see this invitation from the king in the parable extended to two groups of people in two phases: “those who are invited” (v3, 4, 8) and “everyone” (v9, 10). “Those who are invited” can be interpreted as Israel, God’s chosen people. In Genesis, God specifically invited Abraham, the father of the nation of Israel, to be in covenant with Him. This invitation to covenant would lock Israel into an intimate relationship with God:
“As for me, here is my covenant with you: You will become the father of many nations. our name will no longer be Abram; your name will be Abraham, for I will make you the father of many nations. I will make you extremely fruitful and will make nations and kings come from you. I will confirm my covenant that is between me and you and your future offspring throughout their generations. It is a permanent covenant to be your God and the God of your offspring after you. And to you and your future offspring I will give the land where you are residing—all the land of Canaan—as a permanent possession, and I will be their God.” (Genesis 17:4-8).
All Abraham’s people needed to do to be God’s people was to uphold this covenant invitation. Or, put more simply, all they needed to do was to attend. However, there was nothing they could do, as we saw, to be uninvited. God would neverbreak His covenant with them (or us), even though they and we repeatedly break our covenant with Him. We could write a whole guide on the reason for the old covenant and Law and how the new covenant with Jesus overturns and fulfills the Law, but for our purposes today, what’s important is for us to remember that the Law was given to Israel to reveal man’s inability to fulfill it and need for a Savior, Jesus. So, this once-exclusive invitation to the fold of God (“those who are invited”) is now, through the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus, an invitation for everyone.
Our application for this week is simple, but two-fold:
1) Invite everyone. Verse 10 tells us that the servants invited all, both evil and good. It’s not our position or role to determine someone’s worthiness of an invitation.
2) Take stock and ask, “am I claiming Christ but dishonoring the Lord by living in discontinuity?”
Now, we get to the confusing portion of this passage, v11-14. For the sake of some of our discussion questions and the questions our people may have about this, I’d suggest reading this next paragraph aloud, as it may provide some clarity!
A common school of thought among scholars is that the banquet guests represent the disciples of Jesus, with the improperly dressed guest representing a false disciple. This false disciple’s “presence seems initially to honor the Son, but his refusal to wear festive garments dishonors him. Similarly, many false disciples appear to honor Jesus by calling him “Lord,” but their lack of true faith and repentance offends him.”¹
So the question must be asked: are we dishonoring our Lord, despite our physical presence, in doing the “right things”? Are we claiming Christ, “accepting” this invitation to show up, only having attended without preparing ourselves or our hearts? David Platt’s commentary on this parable was especially helpful for me in wrapping my mind and softening my heart, so we’ll close with this:
“This wedding guest did what many people do today: they profess Christ while their lives show no evidence of saving faith. Such people are ungrateful to God, and their [stubbornness] when confronted reveals a deep-seated rebellion against God’s authority. They have no joy in God, no real desire to read or hear His Word. They continue to pursue the fleeting and empty false joys that this world has to offer, but they end up miserable and angry at God.”²
Discussion Questions
Could a few people read Matthew 22:1–14 for us?
What stood out to you from the passage?
Does this passage remind you of another part of Scripture?
Do you have any questions?
Setting the scene, who all is represented in this parable? (King, king’s son, the banquet, servants, guests)
What distinction did Jesus make by telling about a guest who came improperly dressed to the wedding? What might this reveal about our own hearts in accepting God’s invitation?
What spiritual truth do you think Jesus was trying to teach through this parable?
In what ways do you “accept” the invitation to God’s kingdom, but come improperly dressed?
How does this parable provide a warning to those who profess Christ, but don’t live accordingly? Consider how God may be calling you to respond in whole-hearted devotion.
1. Charles L. Quarles, “Matthew,” in CSB Study Bible: Notes, ed. Edwin A. Blum and Trevin Wax (Nashville, TN: Holman Bible Publishers, 2017), 1540.
2. David Platt, Exalting Jesus in Matthew, ed. Daniel L. Akin, David Platt, and Tony Merida, Christ-Centered Exposition Commentary (Nashville, TN: Holman Reference, 2013), 292.