Invited or Chosen? – Matthew 22: 1-14
Intro: A mother took her young daughter to a wedding for a member of her family for the first time. The child was fascinated and impressed by all the different things happening. During the ceremony the little girl leaned over and whispered to her mother saying, “Mommy, why is the bride dressed all in white?” Wanting to avoid a long discussion, the mother responded, “Because white is the color of happiness and today is the happiest day of her life.” --- The little girl whispered again, “Do why is the groom wearing black?”
I This passage is about a wedding. Not just any wedding. VS. 2 “The kingdom of heaven is like a king who prepared a wedding banquet for his son.” Luke 14: 15 – 24 contains the same parable,
A At the time of Jesus it was customary to extend 2 invitations. The first to announce the intent and the second to inform people that everything was ready for them to come. (Like a doctor appointment courtesy call to remind you to come.)
B VS. 4 Tell those who have been invited that I have prepared my dinner: My oxen and fattened cattle have been butchered, and everything is ready. Come to the wedding banquet.”
C This parable is a “judgment parable” in allegory form. King = God / Son = Jesus / invited guests = Israel / Servants = Prophets & Christian missionaries.
II VS. 8 – 10 “Then he (the king) said to his servants, ‘The wedding banquet is ready, but those I invited did not deserve to come. So go to the street corners and invite to the banquet anyone you find. So, the servants went out into the streets and gathered all the people they could find, the bad as well as the good, and the wedding hall was filled with guests.”
A because the invitation to come was ignored, the king set out to gather the “good” and the “bad together in the wedding hall.
B The word in GK used here for “good” is agathos / a?a??? which means “good/benevolent / profitable / useful / to do good to others / well-doing / doer of good.
C The word in GK used here for “bad” is poneros / p?????? which means “evil in a moral or spiritual sense / wicked / malicious / mischievous / perverse / “Satan is the author of all the mischief in the world.
III VS. 11-12 “But when the king came in to see the guests, he noticed a man there who was not wearing wedding clothes. He asked, He asked ’How did you get in here without wedding clothes, friend?’ The man was speechless.”
A To us, this seems like a trivial thing. What we fail to recognize is at such an affair, the king would have provided “wedding clothes.” All the man had to do was to put on the wedding clothes provided.
B Here Jesus is speaking of the kingdom of heaven. – The intent is that grace is freely given by the king; all one need do is put it on.
C The lesson here is not about the clothes . . . It is about attitude. People want to be a part of the feast. However, they want it on their terms. Some individuals don’t want to submit themselves completely to God’s terms. There are 168 hours in a week. 1/10th given over to Christian service would be 16.8 hours. We are invited! Do we accept the consequences of that choice?
Concl: Look with me at VS.14 “For many are invited, but few are chosen.” In this short verse Jesus summarizes his teaching. What is the difference between being “invited” and being “chosen?”
The 2 words used here are very close in meaning. The word for “INVITED” can also be translated as “CALLED”. The word “CHOSEN” can be translated as “PARTICIPATING.”
If you have a cellphone, take it out and hold it up. Here is my interpretation of this short verse. As I share it, I want you to look at your cellphone.
If someone calls you on that phone, you have a choice. You can answer the call or ignore it. If you answer the call, you talk and interact with that person. If you ignore the call, there is no connection between the two of you.
I believe that is what Jesus is saying here. If God calls you, will you answer and interact? Or will you just ignore the call? The decision is yours!
