The Parable of the Wedding Banquet (Matthew 22:1-14)

“Jesus spoke to them again in parables, saying:  “The kingdom of heaven is like a king who prepared a wedding banquet for his son.  He sent his servants to those who had been invited to the banquet to tell them to come, but they refused to come.” (Matthew 22:1-3 NIV).

We had said in our earlier posts that parables are dark speeches used by the prophets of the Old to communicate certain truths to a certain audience. A parable would usually contain facts, fiction, and the lesson. They are illustrative and as such the details in the story do not always precisely depict the message. So a parable could be said to be a symbolically, fictitious narrative that conveyed a certain truth; which may be moral or spiritual.

Jesus employed this method in communicating to the people of His day. Yet, He explained to His disciples that parables were not the method He wanted to use to communicate with them but to outsiders (Matthew 13:34; Mark 4:10-13,34). Even at that, the disciples still struggled with the meaning of those stories and were afraid sometimes to ask Him (Mark 8:21; Mark 9:32; Luke 18:31-34; John 10:6).

One of such parables that Jesus told is, The Parable of the Wedding Banquet. Some aspects of this parable has remained perplexing to many.

Let us see the lesson in this story:

• The King – God.
• The Son –Jesus.
• The Servants – The Disciples.
• Invitation to the Banquet – The Gospel/Salvation.
• Those who had been invited – The Jews (they were near).
• The street corners and invite to the banquet anyone you find – Gentiles (they were far away and without covenant).
• Without wedding clothes – He wanted to be accepted on his own terms of filthy rags of self-righteousness and religion. His fate is the same with those who ignored the invitation.
• Outer Darkness – Outside of Christ. Jesus is the Light and thus anyone outside of Him is in darkness.
• For many are invited, but few are chosen – All are invited to salvation but only those who receive Christ and His own righteousness experience the salvation that God has offered.

Would you accept the invitation to this grace banquet today?

If you have, you are already chosen, in Him. Relax and do not fret. Be anchored in this assurance of your salvation.