Musing – How Does One Respond to a Wedding Invitation?

 Hebraic Musing – How Does One Respond to a Wedding Invitation?

Jesus’ parable (red letters) in Matthew 22:2-14 describes the importance of weddings.  It begins with the King’s preparations and how He deals with guests who refuse to come.  Here’s Jesus’ own words vs by vs in NKJV.

Matt. 22:2  “The kingdom of heaven is like a certain king who arranged a marriage for his son,”   God is preparing a wedding feast for His Son, Jesus.  God’s “marriage to His people Israel was well-known from Psalm 45:15-16.   “With gladness and rejoicing they shall be brought; They shall enter the King's palace.16 Instead of Your fathers shall be Your sons, Whom You shall make princes in all the earth.  Jesus is claiming to be this King’s Son.  The sacrament of marriage is a foreshadowing of God’s plan for each of us.

Matt. 22:3  “and sent out his servants to call those who were invited to the wedding; and they were not willing to come.”    When invitations are extended, they did not include the exact time.  Yehovah’s servants could refer to angels, or it could refer to evangelists, Christians like us who obey Jesus’ command to go into all the world!?!?    But invited guests refused, unheard of in Bible times!  These would be the people in Jesus’ day who loved His miracles, but not all were willing to surrender.  Familiar today?

Matt. 22:4   “Again, he sent out other servants, saying, ‘Tell those who are invited, “See, I have prepared my dinner; my oxen and fatted cattle are killed, and all things are ready. Come to the wedding.”’   Is the killing of an animal symbolic of Jesus being the Lamb sacrificed for us?

Matt. 22:5  “But they made light of it and went their ways, one to his own farm, another to his business.”  These unbelievers are not interested.  Do we still have those who ignore Jesus’ invitation, or even ignore Our Creator God?   It is impossible to have a marriage or a relationship with God without surrender.

Matt. 22:6  “And the rest seized his servants, treated them spitefully, and killed them.”  
This refers to the Pharisees of Jesus’ day.  Or could it also refer to persecutors today, like Hamas?

Matt. 22:7  “But when the king heard about it, he was furious. And he sent out his armies, destroyed those murderers, and burned up their city.”  Could this refer to hell?  Could the “City on fire” be Jerusalem in 70AD?

Matt. 22:8-9  “Then he said to his servants, ‘The wedding is ready, but those who were invited were not worthy. ‘Therefore go into the highways, and as many as you find, invite to the wedding.’”   Are we His servants?  Is everyone in the world invited?  Are we expected to go into all the world and preach the gospel?

Matt. 22:10  “So those servants went out into the highways and gathered together all whom they found, both bad and good. And the wedding hall was filled with guests.”  This sounds like “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature.” Matt..16:15   Who is Jesus telling to go?   And to do what?

Matt. 22:11-12  “But when the king came in to see the guests, he saw a man there who did not have on a wedding garment. “So he said to him, ‘Friend, how did you come in here without a wedding garment?’ And he was speechless.”  Is Jesus reflecting on an OT prophesy in Zephaniah 1:7-8?  “For the day of the LORD is at hand, For the LORD has prepared a sacrifice; He has invited His guests. And it shall be, In the day of the LORD's sacrifice, That I will punish the princes and the king's children, And all such as are clothed with foreign apparel.”   We can also learn from Esther who prepared to meet the king with a full year of beauty treatments.  How could anyone refuse to be properly attired to meet the King of Kings?

Matt. 22:13  “Then the king said to the servants, ‘Bind him hand and foot, take him away, and  cast him into outer darkness; there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.”     This is an obvious reference to hell.

Matt. 22:14  “For many are called, but few are chosen.”

Points to Ponder

What are we servants called to do about our “unsaved” family, friends and neighbors?

What are we servants called to do about the “unsaved” in our churches?

Does my “Biblical Marriage” book* become even more meaningful?

♫  Go, tell it on the mountain, Over the hills and everywhere. Go, tell it … That Jesus Christ is born. ♫

Yosef   a.k.a.  Joe Brusherd                                             November 14, 2023

Author: “Hebraic Insights – Messages exploring the Hebrew roots of our faith” 
“Biblical Marriage”     Weekly “Hebraic Musings”    

Notes – Excerpted from & inspired by Johanna Hocker’s “You are invited”  November 8, 2023
*  My “Biblical Marriage” book is available from Amazon.  Search “Biblical Marriage Yosef”.