Sunday 11 October 2020

The Wedding Feast

 



The Gospel reading today is from Matthew Chapter 22:1-14 Jesus tells a parable about a king preparing a wedding feast for his son. He invites many guests who do not turn up, so eventually, he invites all the people his servants can find in the streets until the wedding hall is full of guests.

Read the story in the Bible. It is not very long.

What Jesus is teaching here is that we are all invited to Heaven. God's invitation is for everyone.

But many don't answer the call. Some even respond violently to the invitation by beating and killing the messengers. Just like we did when we beat and killed the prophets, and just as we still do now in many countries; persecuting and killing people for their religion. Here in the UK we use more subtle methods by mocking and ridiculing anyone who is a Christian. Often you see on TV and hear on radio snide remarks about God and Christianity. Remarks like, "I'm an atheist myself. I don't understand people who still believe in a bearded old man sitting on a cloud looking after us!"

If a politician here stood on a Christian ticket he would not last long. Celebrities who have declared they are Christian are often ridiculed.

At the end of this parable there's an intriguing bit. The King enters the hall full of guests and sees a man not wearing wedding clothes. He is angry with him and gets him tied up and thrown out into the street.

Now this seems rather harsh treatment for someone not wearing the right clothes. Until we stop and understand Jewish tradition.

Jesus was talking to the Jews who understood very well that there are special clothes to wear at weddings. Almost every family had such special clothes in case they were invited to a wedding; even the poor would either have such clothes or borrow some.

No one would dare go to a wedding without special clothes. Even more important, traditionally the host of the wedding also provided special garments for those who did not have any, so they can borrow them for the occasion. So it was more offensive to the King for this guest to wear no garment.

Who does this guest represent? It is all those so-called Christians who pretend they are believers, who believe and hope they will go to Heaven; yet their lifestyles and behaviour is far from what you would expect from Christianity. 

Note the distinction between those invited guests who refused to attend and the one with no special clothing. Those who refused to accept God did it knowingly and openly. The guest with the wrong clothes represents those who half-heartedly accept God as an insurance policy ... just in case ... believers in name only.

But how about us? It is just not enough spending a lifetime on our knees praying, or going to church, if our deeds are far from what is expected of us as followers of Christ.

Jesus said, "Not everyone who calls me Lord will enter the Kingdom of God, but only those who do what my Father wants them to do". (Matthew 7:21).

21 comments:

  1. ...and a celebrity declaring himself a Christian only to win votes is sinful.

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    1. Yes ... you are very right, Tom. I agree.

      God bless.

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  2. Very true. A lot of people just want that fire insurance policy...

    God bless you Victor!

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    1. Christians in name only, Amelia. Sad isn't it?

      God bless you.

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  3. Dearest Victor,
    Yes, nowadays it seems to be rather 'cool' for mocking anything related to Christianity. Most of the 'Hollywood Crap' mock all Christianity and sell their 'Crap' worldwide... Yes, they earned that title!
    Here in the USA, the liberals have stripped almost all mention of God or Prayer from school or any public gathering. Crosses have been taken down etc. How cool is that?! What do they think how they themselves will ever feel, once standing in front of their FINAL JUDGE?!
    We can be very proud of our President Trump, and his fine Vice President Pence, who mention God and acknowledge that we are a One Nation under God! The People will send their voices for November 3 and no doubt, God will support those that call out!
    Yes, I try hard to live with an open visor and not by posting bible verses only on Social Media... Actions always speak far louder!
    Hugs,
    Mariette

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    1. Here too in the UK Christianity and God are often mocked on TV and radio. And the audience laughs and approves.

      God bless you, Mariette.

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  4. We cannot enter God's presence if we are only paying lip service to Him. No, we must commit ourselves fully and willingly to worshiping and following Jesus every day of our lives. May we all submit to God's will for our lives with humble and grateful hearts.
    Blessings, Victor!

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    1. You said it better than me, Martha.

      God bless you.

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  5. I've read that parable many times. I've accepted the invitation and on my way to heaven! :)

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  6. The choice is yours to make, God gave us that, the rest is up to us.

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    1. Yes indeed Bill. We need/have to make the right choices now.

      God bless always.

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  7. I fear there's another unspoken pandemic among us ... that of skepticism and ridicule. Thank you for helping me want to recommit to His will every new day.

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    1. You are right, Mevely. In the UK at least, there seems to be an unspoken movement to ridicule Christianity and any belief in God is considered old fashioned and not "cool" or "with it".

      You/we need to re-affirm our belief in God daily. We need to pray, "I believe God. As best as I humanly can, I believe in You. Please help me when I'm weak". (See Mark 9:24)

      God bless you my dear friend.

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  8. After reading this passage I always come away feeling a little unworthy. Even though I try to be a good Christian, will it be good enough?

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    1. I understand what you are saying, Kathy. Often we feel we have not done enough, we are not good enough. But God, our Creator, knows how and what we are and He is happy when we at least genuinely try to do His will.

      God bless.

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  9. Skeptics about here now. In fact, denial of truth is the rampant thought of the day.

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  10. An excellent explanation of the parable, thank you. As for the skeptics, the evidence is clear, they just don't want to see it.

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    1. Thank you so much for your kind words, Mimi.

      God bless you always.

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