Wedding Banquet Of The Lamb Series

Wedding Banquet of the Lamb

Matthew chapter 22:1-14

Introduction

Good Morning,

Today we finish up our series “Love worth finding”

We have looked at God’s love for us and found that it is boundless and it is unconditional.

We have looked at loving others like Christ loves us and saw the only way to do that is to be filled with His Holy Spirit so we can love like Him.

It is impossible to think that we can love like God without God empowering us to do so.

Today, we look at the parable of the wedding banquet and the invitation God gives to each one of us.

What will we do with His invitation?

When we come to the table of the feast, will we have brought others to His table to enjoy the same invitation that He gave us?

Matthew 22:1-14 Read from Bible

Prayer-

Let me set up this text up.

The Jewish tradition was when there was to be a wedding that invitations go out (Save the date) thing of today and then as the wedding feast nears being ready, another invitation is sent out and a quick response is expected.

Characters in the parable-

King- God

Son- Jesus

Servants- Believers

Guest- saved and unsaved sinners

So the king had long sent out an invitation to this great feast, it was now ready and His servants were sent out to summon the guests to the feast. So in their refusal, it was insulting to the king to not respond. It was an insult on the Kings Son to not come to the invited feast in his honor.

It shines a light on the Jews heritage and the law they understood.

The Jews, who were to be God’s chosen people had been invited by God to be the chosen, and then when Jesus entered the world, they were invited to follow Him and they (Jews) for the most part refused.

The invitation then went out to the highways and bi-ways. The people on the highway and byway were sinners and the Gentiles, who never expected an invitation from God into the kingdom of God.

Those that didn’t expect an invitation, were the ones now invited by the king, and those who were to be the honored guest were the ones that refused and insulted the King by not responding.

Jesus talks about weddings a lot in His Word-

It was to be a time of celebration. Jesus turned water into wine as his first worldly miracle.

Weddings can be a stressful time for us as you get out invitations, as you make arrangement for your food and fellowship.

You have to book the venue and make sure all the things needed for a wedding are in place before the big day.

We have had too or will have to keep the list short so that you can keep the cost down, so each one invited is a special guest.

We all have had crazy aunts and uncles that we pray don’t embarrass us on our special day.

Jesus takes a wedding and makes it a backdrop for the importance of responding to your invitation to the Lord and the importance of inviting others to the feast.

If you have ever seen the movie wedding crashers, it takes everything holy and honorable about a wedding and turns it into finding free food, wine, and chasing women.

That is how some approach the wedding invitation of God.

They turn it into something it was not meant to be- instead of a celebration of life, by ignoring the invitation or not taking the invitation seriously, they will turn it for themselves to tears and heartache.

After reading this text, it should cause us to think a minute.

For those that have responded to the invitation of Christ, we should be praising God that the invitation was extended to us.

To those that see others that have not opened their hearts to the invitation of Christ, it should cause heavy hearts to see them get an opportunity to respond to His great invitation.

Look at verse 8 again-

“Then he 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 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 guest.”

3 ways to look at this passage-

What will you do with God’s invitation?

If/when you accept that invitation, will you allow it to change the way you live?

What will we do so that others don’t ignore their invitation?

One thing I find about getting older is that it seems more of the people you know are dying off. Recently my friend Dr. Reid, He was 87 years old. This week, I find out our neighbor across the street from the church Norman died and he was 92. I find myself seeing that time is short and the time when God asks us to do something, we don’t always get a second chance. He used to walk his dog in our field and comment about current events and his love for his dogs. I got to ask him some spiritual questions but not sure where he is spending eternity, and I will not get the answer on this side of heaven.