The Invitation Of God Series

Series: Stories from the Kingdom

Text: Matthew 22:1-14

Title: “The Invitation of God”

I. The Wedding Feast (1-2)

• “A certain king which made a marriage (wedding feast) for his son.”

o A royal wedding feast was truly a major event.

o It was an honor to be invited and would have been considered treasonous to reject the king’s request.

o Wedding feasts would have lasted 7 days and those who have been invited would have known well in advance when it was going to take place.

Biblical Truth

• The wedding feast was often used as imagery to describe the time when the presence of God would come and dwell with men once again.

*Isaiah 25:6 -- The LORD of hosts will prepare a lavish banquet for all peoples on this mountain;

*Revelation 19:9 --Then he said to me, “Write, ‘Blessed are those who are invited to the marriage supper of the Lamb.’ ”

• The feast was indeed prepared, for Jesus Christ, was the very presence of God dwelling with us.

*John 1:14 -- And the Word became flesh, and dwelt among us, and we saw His glory, glory as of the only begotten from the Father, full of grace and truth.

II. The Servants (3-6)

Vs. 3

• “And he sent forth his servants.”

o The servants were to act as messengers for the king, to announce that everything was ready.

o Truth: God is still sending out His servants to proclaim His message.

*Matthew 28:19 --“Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations,

*Acts 1:8 -- but you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be My witnesses both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and even to the remotest part of the earth.”

• “To call them that were bidden.”

o The invitations had already been sent out by the king.

o The servants were merely working in cooperation with the work the king had already done.

o Truth: God is the one who convicts, invites and draws; we are only called to be faithful messengers.

*John 6:44 -- “No one can come to Me unless the Father who sent Me draws him;

• “And they would not come.”

o It was the invitation of the king that was rejected, not the servants themselves.

o Truth: When we share the gospel with someone and they reject it, it’s not us they are rejecting but God.

Vs. 4

• The servants are sent out again with the same message, but with more information.

o They now go into more detail about what has been prepared.

o Truth: In spite of rejection God expects us to continue to proclaim His message.

o One reason I hear for people not witnessing is that someone will ask a question that I don’t know the answer to; but that should cause us to go back and get more information and be better prepared the next time.

Vv. 5-6

• The servants’ message was again rejected by those who had been invited.

o Except this time they are mistreated and killed.

Underlying Meaning:

• Jesus is also speaking of the Jews rejection of Himself here (21:45).

o Servants = God’s messengers, more specifically God’s prophets.

o Invited guests = the children of Israel.

• God’s people rejected the message of God’s prophets and in deed killed many of them (John the Baptist).

*Matthew 23:37 --“Jerusalem, Jerusalem, who kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to her!

Vs. 7

• Prophecy that was fulfilled in 70 A.D when the Roman General Titus destroyed Jerusalem and burnt it to the ground.

o All because they had rejected God’s invitation to salvation.

III. The New Guests (8-10)

Vs. 8

• Those who had been invited first (Jews) were not worthy because they had rejected the king.

Vv. 9-10

• The king sends out his servants again to tell those who were not originally invited to come and join the king’s wedding feast.

o We see from Scripture that salvation was offered first to the Jews and then to everyone else.

*Matthew 10:5-6 --These twelve Jesus sent out after instructing them: “Do not go in the way of the Gentiles, and do not enter any city of the Samaritans; 6 but rather go to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.

o Significance of Jesus’ commission to go to Jerusalem, all Judea, and Samaria and to the uttermost parts of the earth.

• We were not second choice when the first option did not pan out, but this has been God’s plan from the beginning.

*Isaiah 49:6 --Indeed He says, ‘It is too small a thing that You should be My Servant To raise up the tribes of Jacob, And to restore the preserved ones of Israel; I will also give You as a light to the Gentiles, That You should be My salvation to the ends of the earth.’ ”