The Parable of the Wedding Feast

And the remnant took his servants and entreated them spitefully and slew them. But when the king heard thereof, he was wroth, and he sent forth his armies and destroyed those murderers and burned up their city. Then saith he to his servants, The wedding is ready, but they which were bidden were not worthy. Go ye therefore into the highways, and as many as ye shall find, bid to the marriage.

So those servants went out into the highways and gathered together all as many as they found, both bad and good. And the wedding was furnished with guests. And when the king came in to see the guests, he saw there a man which had not on a wedding garment. And he saith unto him, Friend, how camest thou in hither not having a wedding garment? And he was speechless.

Then said the king to the servants, Bind him hand and foot, and take him away, and cast him into outer darkness. There shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth, for many are called, but few are chosen. Let’s pray together. Lord, we just want to come to you and take a moment to commit the scripture to you. That is, commit the study of your word to you for your blessing and grace and help.

Lord, we acknowledge that without your help and your illumination and enlightening our mind and opening our eyes, Lord, that we will just study in vain. We’ll read the scripture in vain. We pray for grace and help as we read the scripture, as we study it, that you would help us to apply it to our hearts, to take it seriously, Lord, to learn from it, to grow from it.

Lord, there might be someone among us who is not yet born again, who does not know the Lord Jesus Christ for certain. If so, Lord, you are the God who knows the hearts of all men. And I pray that you would prick the heart and conscience of that person. And Lord, for the saints that are among us that want to serve you and love you and want to live for you, I pray that you would strengthen them to do that very thing.

Lord, we just, we need your help. I need your help. So Lord, help me to be able to help your people. For we ask all in Jesus’ name. Amen. Now, if you’ll notice in chapter 22, this parable is the parable of the wedding, the wedding supper. And there are some things in this particular parable that are similar to things that we’ve studied recently. So I want to take a minute and look at those similarities.

Now, if you study parables in scripture, you know that oftentimes when the Lord gives parables, which are designed to reveal truth, but also to conceal truth at the same time. And so in that concealing work of parables, sometimes the Lord will give us the interpretation. In other words, he’ll give us the parable and then he’ll tell us immediately after what the parable is supposed to mean, what his intention is as far as the meaning.

And other times he doesn’t do that. He just leaves it to us to understand and to study and figure out. Well, sometimes though the Lord takes a parable and he’ll give one parable and then he’ll interpret that parable. And then he’ll give another parable either close by or maybe a little bit remote. And he will not explain the second parable. But there are so many similarities between it and the previous one that we can draw conclusions as to the meaning of the second.

Does that make sense? So we’re building, this is why, listen, this is why you can’t study the Bible just like with cherry-picked verses. That’s not the way the Bible is intended to be consumed. It’s intended to be studied in its entirety. It’s intended to be studied kind of wholly, holistically to use a trendy term, right? It’s intended to be studied altogether. And that’s what we’re going to do this morning.

Now notice, I want to point out some similarities between the parable of the wedding supper and the parable of the vineyard in Matthew 21. So if you want to kind of flip back and forth between the two, notice the similarities. Now in this parable, it is a parable of a wedding supper that this king has made for his son. Now we did see son, the mention of a son in Matthew 21 in the parable of the vineyard.

Notice what it says, verse number, verse 37. It says this, but last of all, he sent unto them his son saying, they will reverence my son. Notice that. So the king has a son. Now the context of the parable, the two parables are different. One is a vineyard and it deals with the man, the householder with the vineyard and sending the servants. And then finally his son who they who kill and cast out of the vineyard to take it.

And we saw that deals with the Jewish leaders. And then when you come here, you see a son, but the context is different because in this case, a marriage is being held. The son is getting married. And as a part of that, they’re having a feast, right? A reception we would call it in our in our world, right? And so there is a son in both this mention, but look at verse number six in chapter 22.

The Bible says, and the remnant took his servants and entreated them spitefully and slew them. So those who were sent out to invite the guests to the wedding were mistreated and eventually killed. Now if you would look at verse 36 in Matthew 21, again, he sent other servants unto more than the first. Notice the mention of servants and they did unto them likewise. And last of all, he sent unto them his son.

So the husband, verse 35, I’m sorry, I meant to start verse 35. And the husbandman took his servants and beat one and killed another and stoned another and eventually killed the servants. Just like in the parable of the marriage. The servants go to do the bidding of the Lord, of the king, and they are oppressed and they are persecuted and they are harmed. And eventually they are killed.

Just the same. Look at verse seven. But when the king heard thereof, he was wroth and he sent forth his armies and destroyed those murderers and burned up their city. You see, these people had committed murder in that they had killed the servants who were sent to them to invite them to the wedding, which is crazy. But notice the judgment, the punishment. In Matthew 21, verse number 41, notice what it says.

They say unto him, he will miserably destroy those wicked men and will let out his vineyard unto other husbandmen, which shall render him the fruits in their seasons. Both parables have a mention of judgment of the rejecters. Verse number eight. Look at that, if you would, in chapter 22. Then saith he to his servants, the wedding is ready, but they which were bidden were not worthy. Now look at verse 43 in the previous chapter.

Therefore I say unto you, the kingdom of God shall be taken from you and given to a nation, bringing forth the fruits thereof. So in the parable before us, those who were originally invited showed themselves by rejection to not be worthy of the invitation. Right. That’s what made them unworthy. And so what did the what did the king do? He took away there. He withdrew rescinded his invitation and then gave an invitation to a whole new set of people that were not originally invited.

You see that? And in the parable of the vineyard, that’s exactly what happened. He picked these husbandmen to take care of the vineyard. They treated his servants wrongly and then killed his son. So he destroyed them and then gave that they gave that job to another set of people who whose job it was not originally. OK, we’re on the same page. Lastly, look at verse number nine.

Go you therefore into the highways and as many as you shall find bid to the marriage and then go to verse number forty three in the previous chapter. Therefore I say unto you that the kingdom of God shall be taken from you and given to a nation, bringing forth the fruits thereof. So the uninvited guests were people who were not originally invited, obviously, but they were just random people off the street.

And in chapter forty three, you had the same idea of it wasn’t the Jewish people. It was another nation, right? Off the if you could say maybe put it like this off the highway in the street of the world, not the Jewish people. And so you see this this transition from a select group to a broad group. And that’s exactly what you find in verse in chapter twenty one.

And so based upon these parallels, I think we can safely we can safely conclude that the stories being told are basically the same story. There’s some differences. And in chapter in the in the parable of the vineyard, the Lord is targeting the Jewish leaders because they have they were given a job to take care of God’s vineyard, which is Israel. And they took advantage of that job and and oppress the servants that came to gather the fruits and eventually killed the son, which, of course, that’s a reference to Christ.

And then finally, they that Jesus predicts and prophesied that they would be destroyed. And that vineyard, the kingdom of God, based upon verse forty three, the kingdom of God shall be taken from you. God took it away from them and gave it to the church. OK, so it’s a it’s a predictive prophecy of Israel’s rejection, which hasn’t fully happened at this point yet in Matthew twenty two and of their judgment and of the Lord taking the kingdom of God, which was intended for them and giving it to another group, which is which ended up being the church.

That’s basically the same thing we’re reading in chapter twenty two with the parable of the of the of the wedding. Now, so let’s start back in verse number two with that understanding. The kingdom of heaven is like unto a certain king, which made a marriage for his son. Now, we’re all familiar with the idea of the marriage supper of the lamb. You have the bride of Christ.

There’s a there’s a an analogy, if you will, being used in throughout scripture. It’s in Ephesians. It’s in Revelation where the church is the bride of Christ. And one right now, we’re in a position of betrothal. It’s just such a beautiful. You ought to study this out one day. If you if the church is the bride, we’re not the bride quite yet, although we are because in Jewish custom, the bride and the groom, even during the betrothal period, which is something analogous to engagement, but it’s far more serious because it’s contractual.

And even even like you see with Joseph and Mary, when they were when they were betrothed and espoused to one another, they called each other husband and wife. They were considered to be that even though they had not come together yet. And so it is with the church. So the church is the bride. But we haven’t we’re just espoused to Christ right now. That’s what Ephesians tells us.

And then and right now we’re separated from him. We’re not in his house, but one day he’s going to come for us. And when he comes for us, he’s going to take us into himself. That’s what John 14 says. And we’re going to go be with him forever. And when that happens, there’s going to be a supper. Right. You remember when we do the Lord’s Supper from time to time at our church, one of the looking forward part, he says, I will not drink henceforth of this fruit of the vine with you until I drink it with you new in my father’s kingdom.

That’s that supper. So the next the next Lord’s Supper that we’re going to be a part of that is going to be with the Lord is going to be the one where we’re getting married to him. We’re we’re coming together as the bride of Christ. And so that’s what’s being that’s what we see in verse number two. The son mentioned is, of course, the son of God, just like the son in the parable of the vineyard.

Verse three, he sent forth his servants to call them that were bidden to the wedding and they would not come. Again, he sent forth other servants saying, tell them which are bidden. Behold, I have prepared my dinner, my oxen and my fatlings are killed and all things are ready. Come unto the marriage. Now, we know that these who are invited ended up doing harm to the servants of the king.

Do you remember seeing that? And that matches the parable of the vineyard with the Jews who reject Christ and the servants that are sent to to to them. And so this is also a reference to the Jewish people. In other words, the kingdom of God was offered to the Jewish people. Christ himself was a Hebrew person. He was a Jew. And the Jewish people were the people to whom the Lord gave the promises originally.

The Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, was a Hebrew. The salvation that God was providing through Christ was a salvation that was a Jewish salvation. Romans chapter nine, verse three, listen to these verses. For I could wish that myself were a curse from Christ for my brethren, my kinsmen according to the flesh, who are Israelites to whom pertaineth the adoption and the glory and the covenants and the giving of the law and the service of God and the promises, whose are the fathers and of whom as concerning the flesh Christ came, who is overall God blessed forever.

Amen. So this verse tells us the Jewish people, the salvation of God came by the Jewish people, for the Jewish people, first and foremost, just like we read here. The invitation that God is giving, that God gave concerning Christ, concerning salvation, concerning the gospel, was embedded and prophesied in the Jewish scriptures, the Hebrew scriptures. And the Lord invited them. That’s why the Lord Jesus never set foot outside of the Jewish land.

And his ministry was entirely to the Jewish people. And how was he received? He was rejected. He was rejected. And so just as in the parable here, notice the servants are sent to make known of the invitation. And so when they hear the invitation, they give excuse. But notice there’s a progression here because they, verse three says they would not come. So as a matter of will, no thank you.

And then you go to verse number four and the king tells them of the things that they’re missing and all the things that have been prepared for them. And they said, no. Verse five says they made light of it and went their ways, one to his farm and another to his merchandise. So they made, so first they said no. Secondly, they made light of it. That one, that’s worse.

And then third, they’re going to start to oppress the ones who are inviting them. That’s even worse. Now, what I want you to see in verse number three and four is the provision. Notice this wedding has been prepared by the king in the parable. And the king, of course, represents the Lord. And this, all this feast and everything has been prepared by him. They are, all that they have to do is show up.

All they have to do is arrive. They’re being invited to a feast that is already done. In fact, verse four says, I have prepared my dinner. My oxen and fatlings are killed. All things are ready. So it is not that the guests don’t show up and have some job to do to, or they don’t somehow earn their invitation. They’re given an invitation freely for a, listen, for a salvation that has already been accomplished.

Right? And that is exactly the way it is with the Gospels. The Gospel. The Jews were offered by the Lord Jesus Christ a salvation that they did not earn nor pay for, that was paid for, lock, stock and barrel, 100% by the Lord Jesus Christ himself, by his cross, and by his resurrection. We don’t contribute to that. The only duty that we have is to respond to the invitation to freely come.

We have, we have nothing to boast of whatsoever. And that is, but that is exactly what was offered to the Jews. And they said no. They made light of it. I love this fact that the King, in this case the Lord, is the preparer and the provider. And the invitation, the way I think of it is that it is an invitation of grace. Whenever someone invites you to something that you contributed nothing to, that’s an act of grace.

Right? That is exactly what the Lord has done with the Gospel. First and foremost to the Jews. He invites us to receive something that we play no part in preparing at all. But we are the beneficiaries of everything that he has prepared. Christ died on the cross for sinners. He did that. Not you, not me. We provided, as one famous preacher says, the only thing we provided, the only thing we contributed to our salvation was the sin that made it necessary.

And that’s true. He provided it all. We don’t meet God halfway. No, God came all the way to us. And he lays before us an invitation to the salvation that he has given, that he has provided. All things are ready. You can say that to anybody with whom you share the Gospel. You can say, listen, all things are ready. It’s another way of saying it’s done. It is but for you to receive.

It is but for you to believe and to accept and receive the invitation. Notice if you would take a peek at John chapter 1. John chapter 1. We’ll come back to Matthew in just a minute. John chapter 1. Look at verse 11. Now we’re reading a parable in Matthew 22, but John chapter 1 says in plain and literal language what the parable says in parable form. Verse 10 says this, he was in the world, speaking of the word Jesus Christ, he was in the world and the world was made by him and the world knew him not.

He came unto his own, a reference to the Jewish people, his own people, and his own received him not. No thank you to the invitation. But as many as received him, you see how the invitation was broadened. It’s not just his own now. It’s now widened to anyone and everyone. But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God. Notice he gave the power, again, he prepared it, not us, he did it all.

To become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name. That’s the receiving of the invitation. Now notice verse 13, which were born not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God. You see one of the problems the Jewish people had, and one of the hang-ups, is they assumed that because of their ethnic group, their bloodline, being the people of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and the descendants of those men, they thought that somehow they were right with God because of that.

And John the Baptist famously reminded them that God is able to raise up stones to be children of Abraham if necessary. That meant nothing. And that’s why verse 13 says, which were born not of blood. See the Jews rejected the offer that God gave to them, trusting in their blood, trusting in their bloodline. I think, listen, I think there’s people in, I’m getting ahead of myself a little bit, but I think there’s people in Christian churches that think they’re getting in because of their bloodline, because mommy and daddy are Christians.

It doesn’t work like that. It never has worked like that. And I promise you on the authority of God’s word, it will not work like that for you. You had better make sure you are one who is trusting in Jesus Christ and him alone. So going back to Matthew chapter number 22, notice in verse number five, of course, this is referring to the Jews to whom the invitation was first given by Jesus Christ, to whom the gospel was, for whom the gospel was first prepared.

They rejected it. So, lest you get bogged down in the nuts and bolts of this, all this parable is describing is kind of a, kind of a prophetic, like an overarching view of the kingdom of God, kind of its procession throughout history. The Jews rejected it in verses three and four. They made light of it in verse number five. Each man went his way. Notice that. And each man went his way.

You know, that’s why people, if you boil it down to the main reason that people reject Christ and his offer of free salvation and forgiveness of sin and eternal life, you boil it down to one thing. Why do people reject Christ? It boils down to one thing. They want to go their own way. You boil it down to whether that way is sin, whether that way is religion, whether that way is pride, whatever the case might be, it’s their own way, not God’s way.

And in fact, the freeness of the gospel, the fact that the feast has already been prepared, is itself sometimes a stumbling block to people because in their mind, they think, well, there’s got to be some form, there’s got to be some steps I must take in order to, you know, to accomplish this thing. I have to contribute to it in some way. And God’s trying to tell you, God is proclaiming by his servants.

It is an invitation. It’s done. All things are ready. Come to the invitation. As many as receive him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God. It’s free. It’s by grace. It’s not by any work that you provide.

But every man gets hung up on his own way. And when they’re hung up on that, they reject God’s offer and God’s invitation. They look lightly upon what God has said. Verse 6 says this, And the remnant took his servants and entreated them spitefully and slew them. But when the king heard thereof, he was wroth. And he sent forth his armies and destroyed those murderers and burned up their city.

Notice he calls them murderers. When the deacon Stephen was preaching to the Jewish council in Acts chapter 7, the first martyr for Christ, he says this, Acts 7, 52, Which of the prophets have not your fathers persecuted? Now remember, Stephen, who’s a Jew, is speaking to the Jewish council, the Sanhedrin, the Jewish leaders. Here’s what he says. Which of the prophets have not your fathers persecuted? They have slain them which showed before the coming of the just one, of whom ye, the council, have been now the betrayers and murderers.

You see why I say that this is a reference to the Jewish people? That’s what verse 7 is talking about. They’re called that. Go to verse 8. Then saith he to his servants, The wedding is ready, but they which were bidden were not worthy. They which were bidden were not worthy. You know, this plays out in the book of Acts as well. Do you know that? Because when Paul and Barnabas go out at the beginning in Acts 13, verse 46 says this, Then Paul and Barnabas waxed bold and said, It was necessary, speaking now to the Jews, where they were, It was necessary that the word of God should first have been spoken to you, but seeing you put it from you, that’s rejection, and judge yourselves unworthy of everlasting life.

Notice what they say. So here’s what I want you to see. Is that you can see it in this parable. Those to whom the invitation was originally given rejected it. And as a result of that, number one, they will be judged. Number two, as a result of that rejection, the king decides to send the invitation to a different group and a much broader group. Notice verse eight.

Then saith he to his servants, The wedding is ready, but they which were bidden were not worthy. Go ye therefore into the highways, and as many as ye shall find bid to the marriage. Why? Okay, so look at verse number eight, or verse number nine. Look at verse number nine. Why does he tell the servants to go into the highways? And find people to bring into the wedding feast.

He goes out because he was rejected by the original invitees, those he originally invited. That’s what the word therefore indicates. You see, just think about this. All of these people, all the riff raff, all the people who weren’t part of the original invitation are now invited.

And the, hear me now, and the same wedding feast, the same meal that has been prepared, that was originally prepared by the king for the guests, the same one in no way different is now going to be offered to a different group that was not originally invited. You know where that puts us? We are in verse number nine.

That is people who had no claim to God, to Christ, no claim, our ancestors were not, by and large our ancestors were not Jewish people, were not part of the covenants of God at all. But because the Jews rejected that invitation, the Lord opened that invitation to us, those who had no claim on him. That’s you and that’s me. Notice what it says in verse number, verse 10.

So those servants went out into the highways and gathered together all, as many as they found, both bad and good, and the wedding was furnished with guests. Look if you would in Matthew, just a little bit ahead in Matthew chapter 13, I’m sorry, backward, Matthew 13 verse 47. I want to show you.

Something here, Matthew 13, verse 47. Now in our parable here, it mentions that they go out into the highways and they find as many as they gathered together all, as many as they found, both bad and good. I thought that was an interesting way to put it, but this is not the first time bad and good have been mentioned in the parables. In Matthew 13 verse 47 says this, again, the kingdom of heaven is like unto a net that was cast into the sea and gathered of every kind, which when it was full, they drew to shore and sat down and gathered the good into vessels, but cast the bad away.

What? It’s this huge dragnet, and as a result of that, you got good and bad. So the Lord has now, the gospel message, eternal life, being adopted as a child of God, and all of the blessings of salvation that have come through Christ was a feast, if you want to call it that, that was prepared for the Jews, which they rejected, and as a result, that same feast in no way different has been offered to all mankind.

It’s been offered to you. It’s been offered to me. Not only that, look if you would at verse number three back in chapter 22, there’s a repeated mention of the servants.

Verse three says this, he sent forth his servants to call them. Verse four, he sent forth other servants to call them. Verse four, he sent forth other servants. Verse six, and the remnant took his servants and entreated them spitefully. Verse eight, then saith he to his servants, the wedding is ready, but they which were bidden were not worthy. Go ye therefore into the highways. Verse 10, so those servants went out.

Who are the servants? You know who they are. They are the people that the Lord has appointed to go and bear the invitation, offer the invitation. The invitation comes from the king, but they’re the ones carrying it. You know what, whether it’s to the Jewish people, you see servants who are mistreated, and that references the prophets of the Old Testament. Right? Just like in the previous parable in chapter 21.

But then you also see servants that go out and call all the riffraff on the highways and lanes of the city. You also see servants doing that. You know what that is? That’s me and you. We have come to the wedding. We have, those of you that have put your faith in Christ have received this feast. You’re enjoying it right now. It’s free, prepared for others, but you’ve gotten in on it because they rejected it.

That’s Romans chapter 11. That’s good solid doctrinal truth, right? But now you and I have a job to go out and tell other people and to invite them to this feast. You know what? Most people don’t want to have anything to do with it.

Because everybody has their way. Everybody’s got something they got to do. Everybody has their own thing. And so not everybody’s interested in this invitation. That’s just a fact. But it is nevertheless the job of the people of God to go tell people about this invitation and about this feast that has been prepared at the expense of Christ’s blood. If we do not do it as the people of God, then they will never receive the invitation.

It is our duty and our job. This is why we have evangelism at Choicest Baptist Church and why that’s never going away. God helping us. This is why we have gospel tracts. This is why we try in 10 different ways. That’s what we do. Downtown, gospel tract, website, whatever. We try all these different ways. Personal witnesses, witnesses to your family. We try as many ways as possible to try to invite people.

And it discourages us, to be honest, that people are not more interested in this literal feast. How many of you would say that your life is a feast? How many of you would say that your life with the Lord Jesus Christ is an absolute feast? It is not a meal from Burger King. It is an absolute feast. This life is abundant. Would you say amen to that?

We’re not just eking by. We are not just eking by in our walk with God. We’re not just barely making it. Sometimes I get so sick of these southern gospel songs that sing, talk like, that have lyrics like that. We’re not eking by. We literally are heirs of everything. Joint heirs with Christ. We ought not pour mouth the feast that the Lord has prepared for us. It is a great feast and we paid nothing for it.

We were just invited. Christ paid everything. But we are also in this parable, the servants, who Christ has sent out in his great commission to tell other people and invite them. Yes, I want to tell you something. Yes, it is hard to be rejected. Yes, it’s sometimes awkward. Yes, bringing up this subject to complete strangers is sometimes very difficult to do. Sometimes people act very awkward or angry or upset, but that cannot deter us no more than it deterred the servants in the Old Testament when they were refused by those to whom they gave the invitation as well.

We cannot be deterred, brothers and sisters. We can’t. And if you and I, if we need strength to do it, we need to say, God, give us the strength to do it, to open our mouth and invite those.

And so we go down to verse number 11. So they go out into the highways and they invite all. That’s a general invitation to anyone and everyone. This is not just the Jews. Now, this is everybody. That’s exactly what ye shall be witnesses unto me, both in Jerusalem and in all Judea and in Samaria and unto the outermost part of the earth. That’s what our mission conference is about.

That’s this right here, this parable. Get to verse 11. Verse 11 through verse 13 are just very unusual. It completely changes. I would expect this parable to end in verse 12 because what do you have? You have the invitation goes to everyone. The guests are all full. The feast is populated and filled. Everybody’s happy. And then you have this tag on the end.

Verse 11, and when the king came in to see the guests, he saw there a man which had not on a wedding garment. You see in this verse, the feast is already underway. The king, he’s present. This represents the judgment.

The king is personally there going through the guests one by one. Now remember, who are these guests? These are not the original guests. These are the guests from the streets of the city that have been brought in from this general invitation.

Now I know these days it is taboo to have a wedding or a funeral, a church service, or any other, a job, it is taboo to have any kind of dress code.

Is it not? It is totally taboo. You say, well, if you’re coming to the wedding, wear a coat and tie. It’s like, oh. Or your job says, business casual. Man, I can’t wear my flip flops and shorts. But it is taboo. I want to tell you something though. We live in this small sliver of humanity at the very end of time. Most of human history prior to this, it mattered.

You show up to a wedding and you’re not wearing the right thing, they’re kicking you out. Now that doesn’t happen in our time. Our generation, and I’m saying our, our generation, comparing mainly to mine and those under me, needs to learn to dress up for important occasions. That has nothing to do with this parable except for the wedding garment part, but just a little point of irritation.

You’ll bear with me a little bit. Dress up for the occasion. Show honor, right? Somebody has a funeral, dress up. Show honor. Because you show honor by dressing up. And that is exactly what we see here. You see, a wedding garment is a culturally specific thing. All cultures throughout the world have a certain way that they dress. Do you know that? And some of them are real fat.

You go to Middle Eastern cultures, you go to Asian cultures. There’s all these different kinds of ways that you dress and certain garments you’re supposed to wear and not supposed to wear in all the different colors. I know in Cambodia it took us forever to figure out what we’re supposed to wear to a funeral and to a wedding. I mean, it was hard to figure out. They wore white to funerals.

And then weddings are supposed to wear other things that aren’t, you know, it’s just confusing. And every culture has its own way to dress for each thing. But one thing is true that’s kind of cross-cultural is this. It is greatly frowned upon in many cultures to show up to an important occasion, like a wedding, dressed inappropriately.

It was a sign of disrespect. One writer actually read, said this, said in a royal wedding like this, which is what this is, not only would you be expected to show up in a certain attire, but you would also be provided the clothing by the king. So you showed up with a wedding garment that has been provided by you. Now, I don’t know if that’s true or not.

That’s one thing I read. But the king finds in verse 11, he finds someone that does not have a wedding garment on. Verse 12, he saith unto him, Friend, how camest thou in hither not having a wedding on a wedding garment? And he was speechless. The answer to that question, how did he get there without a wedding garment? Well, because he came with the open invitation, right?

In the highway. Hey, there’s a wedding, come on in. There’s a feast, come on in. And everybody came. So there’s a group, kind of a mixed good and bad group here.

But because he does not have the garment, verse 13 says, And the king said to the servants, Bind him hand and foot and take him away, And cast him into outer darkness, There shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth.

Here’s what I want you to see about this, ma’am. We know in scripture that the clothing in symbolism, the clothing is representative of our righteousness or lack of righteousness. Dirty clothes represents unrighteousness. Clean clothes represents righteousness. And the idea of putting clothes on. The Bible actually describes someone who has come to the Lord Jesus Christ as having put on Christ, like clothing. He is our righteousness. But this man shows up and he doesn’t have a wedding garment.

He’s naked, if you will. So what happened is this man came in with the broad invitation. He appears to be part of the wedding party that has been invited now the second time. He appears to be part of them, but upon closer inspection, it is found by the king that this man is not fit to be there because he doesn’t have the wedding garment. He respects the wedding garment.

He responded to the broad invitation, but as an individual, he is not prepared to be at the wedding because he does not have the right clothes. And I want to, this is talking about the judgment. This is referring to the judgment. When we see the Lord Jesus Christ and when God judges us, listen, this is a recurring theme you probably remember from Matthew. Matthew chapter seven. There shall be many that say unto me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name?

Have we not done many wonderful works in thy name? And then will I profess unto them, depart from me, I never knew you. You see, when we stand before the Lord, this is not a corporate judgment. This is individual and the Lord is going to inspect us. There are many people that come in, listen now, come into the church. They come into Christianity with the broad invitation because it’s open to everybody and that’s true and that’s right and that’s good.

But they come in among the people of God but are not of the people of God. And this is repeated over and over where the Lord warns us, there is no group salvation. You, listen please, you had better make sure that you are righteous, you have the righteousness of Christ as an individual otherwise you are not getting in.

That’s what this parable is showing us. The Lord is looking for individual righteousness and that is not what you have performed, that is what you have received from Christ. A righteousness he gives you when you put your faith in the one who died for you.

There is no group entrance into heaven. Nobody’s going into heaven because they’re a part of a group that’s going into heaven. Be it a family, be it a church or be it a religion.

You as an individual, I, we must have, we must have as an individual the righteousness of Jesus Christ. Are you prepared to meet him? If the Lord were and indeed he does and he will in the day of judgment, if the Lord were to right now inspect you are you wearing the wedding garment? Are you wearing the wedding garment? Not only have you come in among them, but are you of them?

Of the saints of God who had put your faith individually, personally in the Lord Jesus Christ. Let’s pray together.