As a reporter I often got to go places that others didn’t. Sometimes it was to places others wouldn’t want to go – like behind police lines or maybe to Iceland. But there were also times when you felt privileged – like being able to meet a president or former president. I remember when President George H.W. Bush came to town we all got invited in while no one else was there.
The odd feeling came later – when all the big wigs would arrive, all the movers and shakers – the people that ought to be there. And sometimes I would think that some official would come walking up to me and say "Hey – you don’t look like you belong here – get out!" That never happened – but the feeling was the same – I’m somewhere I don’t belong because I have a special place that I don’t deserve.
The question is – is that how we feel when we get a special invitation to join God’s party? Or do we feel like "you should be privileged to have me in your midst"? And it begs the question – which invitation impresses you the most – the one the world offers to serve it’s kings – or the one God offers?
Let’s find out.
22:1 Jesus spoke to them again in parables, saying: 2 "The kingdom of heaven is like a king who prepared a wedding banquet for his son. 3 He sent his servants to those who had been invited to the banquet to tell them to come, but they refused to come.
4 "Then he sent some more servants and said, ’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.’
5 "But they paid no attention and went off-one to his field, another to his business. 6 The rest seized his servants, mistreated them and killed them. 7 The king was enraged. He sent his army and destroyed those murderers and burned their city.
Those invited to a wedding feast actually got two invitations – one inviting them to come, the second telling them that all was ready. The people were rejecting the second invitation after accepting the first.
Servants delivering the gospel receive rejection – both passive (not accepting the invitation) and active (abuse). Yet we must be faithful to give the invitation.
8 "Then he said to his servants, ’The wedding banquet is ready, but those I invited did not deserve to come. 9 Go to the street corners and invite to the banquet anyone you find.’ 10 So the servants went out into the streets and gathered all the people they could find, both good and bad, and the wedding hall was filled with guests.
"good and bad" means the servants didn’t discriminate based on social standing reputation, or moral character.
Paul wrote to the Corinthian church: 1 Corinthians 6:9-11
9 Do you not know that the wicked will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: Neither the sexually immoral nor idolaters nor adulterers nor male prostitutes nor homosexual offenders 10 nor thieves nor the greedy nor drunkards nor slanderers nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God. 11 And that is what some of you were. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God.
God does not discriminate against us based on who we are – because "all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God" we are all equally bad, and He offers salvation equally.
Make no mistake – there will be a wedding hall filled with guests one day.
Revelation 19:9 Then the angel said to me, "Write: ’Blessed are those who are invited to the wedding supper of the Lamb!’" And he added, "These are the true words of God."
After everyone who will has come into the church, receiving Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior – God will collect us up from the highways and byways of the earth and we’ll enter a glorious banquet with Jesus, our groom. Also know, that there will be those who refuse to answer the invitation – as the Jewish establishment did at Jesus time. Don’t miss this party – ‘cause the other party going on at that time won’t be any fun at all!
But in this story – not everyone who came to the banquet was welcome.
11 "But when the king came in to see the guests, he noticed a man there who was not wearing wedding clothes. 12’Friend,’ he asked, ’how did you get in here without wedding clothes?’ The man was speechless.
13 "Then the king told the attendants, ’Tie him hand and foot, and throw him outside, into the darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’
14 "For many are invited, but few are chosen."
It was customary to wear good clothes to a wedding feast – or robes would be handed out at the door. To show up in dirty clothes was an insult to the host and a sign that the person didn’t care.
Now – get the symbolism here – none of the guests were worthy to be there – remember the servants went out and invited the "good and the bad." The only thing that made them worthy was the invitation to come, and the covering they wore.
Jesus invites us to cover our sins by His shed blood.
Revelation 19:7-8 Let us rejoice and be glad and give him glory!
For the wedding of the Lamb has come, and his bride has made herself ready.
8 Fine linen, bright and clean, was given her to wear."
Jesus has clothed us with His salvation – that is the only thing that gets us in. This guy apparently assumed that he was okay on his own – like a person who assumes that because they show up to church they are a Christian. Going to church doesn’t make you a Christian any more than watching a race makes you a race car driver.
It says "many are invited but few are chosen." This doesn’t mean that if you accept Christ’s invitation to salvation you stand a chance of getting kicked out once you come. Jesus was talking to the Jews who thought that because they were descended from Abraham that they automatically got salvation as a birth rite. Everyone and I mean everyone must accept the sacrifice of Jesus Christ – either by looking forward to His coming, or by reaching out to Him now.
The Pharisees must have been offended, once again, by Jesus’ sharp words of criticism. But undeterred, they come back, this time bringing with them their political enemies – united against Jesus.
15 Then the Pharisees went out and laid plans to trap him in his words. 16 They sent their disciples to him along with the Herodians.
The Herodians were as the name suggests, fans of the Herods. Herod and his family had been ruling Palestine for many years – though Rome had removed one of Herod’s relatives and put in a Roman governor instead. But what the Herodians wanted was their country – and they supported Rome and Roman taxes in kind of a "go along to get along" fashion.
The Pharisees on the other hand, opposed Rome and its taxes.
"Teacher," they said, "we know you are a man of integrity and that you teach the way of God in accordance with the truth. You aren’t swayed by men, because you pay no attention to who they are.
They supposed that by flattering Jesus – especially his lack of partiality, would put Him off guard. They also didn’t believe what they said – otherwise they wouldn’t have sought to "trap" Him and later kill him.
Just because someone says flattering things about Jesus doesn’t mean they follow Him and have given their life to Him. The true nature of their words reveals itself next.
17 Tell us then, what is your opinion? Is it right to pay taxes to Caesar or not?"
This was a loaded question. In 6AD the Sanhedrin, the ruling council of Israel, was given responsibility by Rome to collect three kinds of taxes – a produce tax of 10 or 25%, a poll tax, and a goods tax of 2 to 5%. The Jews hated the taxes because they funded the Roman oppression and because of the crooked tax collectors who paid a flat fee to Rome but could raise and lower the rates as it suited them to make a profit.
The attempt here again is to trap Jesus in a "no win" situation. The Herodians supported taxes on political grounds because it kept their country alive – but the Pharisees opposed them on religious grounds.
Sometimes people will try to put us as Christians in similar types of situations. "How could a God of love allow evil to exist?" The problem is we get sucked into these conversations but in reality they are a smoke screen for the real issue which is: Jesus – is He your Lord or are you going to reject Him?
When confronted with a no-win situation Jesus answered that both options are right.
18 But Jesus, knowing their evil intent, said, "You hypocrites, why are you trying to trap me? 19 Show me the coin used for paying the tax." They brought him a denarius, 20 and he asked them, "Whose portrait is this? And whose inscription?"
21 "Caesar’s," they replied. Then he said to them, "Give to Caesar what is Caesar’s, and to God what is God’s."
22 When they heard this, they were amazed. So they left him and went away.
We humans too often see things as mutually exclusive – work or family, church or hobbies – and that we can’t do both and have to set one aside to do the other.
But in reality we can be good tax paying citizens and be a loyal servant of our God. We can work hard at our jobs while living a life that is pleasing to the Lord.
The difference comes when one world impinges on the other. When the Romans insisted that people pay taxes, they should pay. But when the same Romans insist that you worship Caesar as God, they refuse. You see, the Romans could obligate payment of money, but they did not own the soul.
The world may demand that we pay taxes and obey its rules – but that doesn’t mean we give our allegiance to the world and get our values from the world. On the coin they brought Jesus was the image of Caesar Tiberius and the inscription "chief priest." This was incorrect – but simply returning the money didn’t mean they worshiped him as god.
Conclusions
So what can we conclude from these two stories?
The world demands loyalty – God invites to a feast.
God is a gentleman and will not force anyone into His kingdom – but make no mistake, only by accepting His invitation can you enter the banquet hall. God won’t make a scene to have a part of your life – are you listening for His call, or the call of His servants bidding you to come and dine with Him? Or are you more interested in your stuff and your desires?
Choose your battles carefully
Know when to give unto Caesar what is Caesars and then to put up a fight. Many well meaning Christians have done wrong by choosing to battle over meaningless things like taxes or property rights. Don’t get caught trying to buy the deck chairs on the Titanic – all of the "stuff" of this world will melt away – but the character God is developing will last for eternity.
You can live peacefully with the state as long as it doesn’t demand that you do something contrary to God’s character
We should cooperate whenever we can with the state.
Peter summed it up very nicely:
1 Peter 2:13-17 Submit yourselves for the Lord’s sake to every authority instituted among men: whether to the king, as the supreme authority, 14 or to governors, who are sent by him to punish those who do wrong and to commend those who do right. 15 For it is God’s will that by doing good you should silence the ignorant talk of foolish men. 16 Live as free men, but do not use your freedom as a cover-up for evil; live as servants of God. 17 Show proper respect to everyone: Love the brotherhood of believers, fear God, honor the king.
Unfortunately, sometimes Christians fight against the government not for godly reasons but for selfish reasons as a cover up for evil. We’re greedy and want more money or freedom from responsibility to others and we hide behind a false belief that God is on our side.
President George Bush (the older one) said something very interesting during the Gulf War. After Sadaam Hussen said "God is on our side," Bush said "We shouldn’t worry about whether God is on our side, but whether we’re on God’s side."
