Just as the parable of the great supper is unique to Luke’s Gospel, so the parable of the wedding banquet belongs to Matthews Gospel.
As we shall see, the parable of the wedding banquet speaks of God’s gracious invitation to us in the gospel and of the indifferent and arrogant way men and women sometimes respond to it.
It speaks of hell, the end of those who attempt to enter the king’s presence without the wedding garment of Christ’s righteousness. Wise is the man or woman who learns from it.
THE PARABLE ITSELF
The parable begins with a certain king who prepared a wedding banquet for his son, and sent servants to those who had been invited to tell them that the feast was now ready and that they should come. But they refused to come.
Graciously the king sent out a second invitation and again they refused to come. But this time they did not just refuse the invitation of the king but mistreated the messengers and killed some of them.
The king, in righteous wrath, sent out his soldiers to punish the murderers and burn their city. After that he invited others.
The king told his servants to go out to the street corners and to invite anyone who wished to come to the banquet. Both good and bad citizens came in great numbers, so that the wedding hall was filled with guests.
But when the king came in to see the guests he noticed a man there who was not wearing wedding clothes.
The king instructed his servants to take this defiant guest, tie him up, and throw him out into the darkness where there is weeping and gnashing of teeth.
THE EXPLANATION OF THE PARABLE
The king is God, sitting upon the throne of the universe. The son is His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ. The messengers are the prophets and early preachers of the gospel. The banquet is the marriage supper of the Lamb.
Those to whom the gospel was first preached were Jews and those who actually came to the banquet were Gentiles, as it taught in
John 1:11-12
Men by nature hate God, see no need for the righteousness of Christ and will not come to Christ that they might have life.
God’s patience is not everlasting, and when His mercy does not encounter repentance, the result is judgment.
The king is a picture of benevolence and thus portrays the mercy and love of God. God extends to sinners from all walks of life the invitation to come to the gospel banquet and trust in Jesus His Son for righteousness.
The king invites the people, and he expects them to put on the clothes he provides.
By wearing the wedding garment furnished by the king, no one reveals poverty or misery. Every guest can hide his social and economic status behind the clothes received from the king.
Everyone was invited (outward call) to come to the banquet but they couldn’t come anyway they wanted. They had to wear the wedding clothes provided by the king.
Not everyone may attend the wedding of the son. Only those who accept the king’s invitation and come on his terms may attend the wedding.
The guest who refused to put wedding clothes on at the wedding banquet unmistakably represents the self-righteous sinner.
“For not knowing about God’s righteousness and seeking to establish their own, they did not subject themselves to the righteousness of God” Romans 10:3
APPLICATION OF THE PARABLE
It is an utter impossibility to appear before God without the protective clothing offered by Jesus Christ. “Clothed in His righteousness alone, faultless to stand before the throne.”
The main lesson here is that those who refuse to come to Christ, as well as those who come on their terms instead of God’s are not God’s elect and will not enter the kingdom. “For many are invited but few are chosen.”
A sinner needs to come to Christ on Christ’s terms. That means he has to come in repentance and faith, realizing that in his own condition he is totally unworthy to enter the presence of God, and he needs to be clothed in the righteousness of Christ.
The invitation of the gospel is proclaimed throughout the world, but relatively few people respond to the offer of salvation or are willing to come on God’s terms.
“Small is the gate and narrow the way that leads to life and few are they who find it” Matthew 7:14.
Audio of Lesson
