When we read this parable of the marriage feast, it is very similar to Luke 14. This is indeed a different parable though, and we are compelled by Jesus to pay close attention. Jesus just told the parable of the landowner in the previous chapter, the Pharisees already hyper-sensetive to the fact that Jesus was talking about them. This parable was not just talking about the Pharisees and religious elite, this parable entails the purpose of our lives.
Parable Breakdown
· The King – God the Father
· The Son – Jesus Christ
· The Marriage – Jesus taking on human form to save us
· The Marriage Feast – the death and resurrection of Christ
· The Servants – prophets, apostles, teachers of the gospel though some scholars attribute the Holy Spirit to this mention
· First Invite – The Old Testament Prophecies and Covenant
· Second Invite – The apostles preaching the gospel in Jerusalem
· Third Invite – Gospel to the gentiles
This parable was not some illustration of a principle that Jesus was trying to make, but rather a historical and prophetic picture of the kingdom of God. For example, the treatment of the second invitation servants foretells of the coming persecution of the early Christian church. The fact that the king in verse 7 burns and destroys the city of these invitees has a strong prophetic voice towards the destruction of Jerusalem in 70 AD. The third invite, being for the gentiles, is a prophecy concerning the gospel being preached beyond the Jewish people once Christ ascended and the Day of Pentecost arrived.
What we may often miss in this parable is not the fact that a man was not wearing a robe once the king came to see the guests, but rather the fact that only the king could tell he was not wearing the proper attire. The King of kings exposes all insincerity! We may think we have fooled everyone into believing we are truly Jesus followers, but if we are not genuine we may find ourselves in a Matthew 7:21-23 situation. As I was preparing a message to our youth group on this very parable I was compelled to do some searching of my own motives and heart.
Obviously the grace and mercy of Christ is available to all who seek Him, but we must always be careful to take lightly the grace of God. Last night I spoke of the grey areas of life such as alcohol, clothing, entertainment, and relationships. I challenged each young person to know so well teh conviction of the Holy Spirit that those grey areas become black and white for them. The Apostle Paul in Romans 14 tells us that we can eat or drink anything, but it must be done in faith as the last verse tells us. Can some the activities we partcipate in truly be done in faith!
Why did the subject of the grey areas of life come out of this parable? As I was studying the parable and the cultural context, I realized this man who was found ill-equipped was offered the right robe. He most likely even put it on as no guest without the right robe would have gone unnoticed, and perhaps he hemmed it, or died the fabric slightly, or ripped it. We often do this with the Word of God, we take a doctrine or solid foundation and we lighten it up. We do the God-thing our own way, and we lift the boundaries we should have on modesty, entertainment, and relationships. We start to build ministries, churches, and movements off of the false sense of freedom we get out of our own desires. May we be like King David who cried out for God to search him… search us O God, know our innermost thoughts, find all that is unpleasing and out of your will!
