The Man Without A Wedding Garment

THE MAN WITHOUT A WEDDING GARMENT

Mt. 22:1-14

INTRODUCTION

A. HUMOR: CRAZY THINGS CAN HAPPEN AT A WEDDING

1. “How did the wedding go?” asked the pastor’s wife. “Fine, dear, until I asked the bride whether she would ‘Love, honor, and OBEY her husband.’” “She looked at me and said, ‘Do you think I’m crazy?’ Then she looked at the Groom, who awaking from a dream, said, “I do!” Then things started to happen!”

2. A Sunday school teacher showed her class a picture of 2 boys pulling on the same dog – one pulling the dog’s head, the other pulling the dog’s tail (she was trying to teach kindness to animals). She asked the class, “What Bible verse does this remind you of?” One boy raised his hand and said, “What God has joined together let not man separate!”

B. TEXT

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. 8 “Then he said to his servants, ‘The wedding banquet is ready, but those I invited did not deserve to come. 9 So 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, the bad as well as the good, and the wedding hall was filled with guests. 11 “But when the king came in to see the guests, he noticed a man there who was not wearing wedding clothes. 12 He asked, ‘How did you get in here without wedding clothes, friend?’ 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.”

C. THESIS

1. Our text today involves a wedding and at this one there was a mix-up about what clothes to wear.

2. The title of this message is “The Man Without A Wedding Garment.”

I. ALLUSION: BANQUET OF THE MESSIAH

A. SITUATION/ HEARERS

1. BACKGROUND. “Jesus entered the temple courts, and, while he was teaching, the chief priests and the elders of the people came to him. “By what authority are you doing these things?” they asked. “And who gave you this authority?” Mt. 21:23.

2. Jesus was teaching at the Temple. He was being challenged/ accosted by the chief priests and elders.

3. Jesus told them 3 parables:

a. The Two Sons, Mt. 21:28-32. Here Jesus dealt with God’s love and longing for His children who are in sin.

b. The Tenants who wouldn’t pay rents Mt. 21:33-46. This parable touched on the Jewish leaders not being willing to honor God’s Son, and how their rejection/killing of Him would lead to their destruction.

c. The Parable of the Wedding Banquet, Mt. 22:1-14.

B. TRADITION OF THE ROYAL BANQUET

1. Down through time, all great kings would have a large number of favored guests dine with them at their table. It was and is a great honor. King Belshazzer of Babylon, to show his lack of concern during a siege, had a banquet with 1,000 of his nobles!

2. The kings of Israel also maintained a royal table. David assigned a seat at his table for Mephibosheth; "... and you will eat bread at my table continually" (2 Samuel 9:7).

3. At this table, the wisdom of the king was shared in glorious intimacy. The Queen of Sheba marveled at the glorious feast provided by Solomon.

4. HUMOR: Not all feasts have skillful eaters.

a. Star Wars heroes Luke and Obi-Wan were in an ‘All-You-Can-Eat’ Chinese restaurant having a meal.

b. Skillfully using his chopsticks, Obi-Wan was deftly working through a large portion of noodles along with some chicken and cashews – all with the ease you'd expect from a Jedi Master.

c. But poor Luke couldn’t get it in his mouth – even using chopsticks in both hands – he dropped it on the table and himself.

d. Obi-Wan looked at Luke disapprovingly and said, "Use the forks, Luke." (‘forks’ in place of ‘Force.’)