It’s Wednesday. This is one of three parables Jesus delivers while standing in the temple’s courtyard with a crowd of people surrounding him and the religious leaders standing by. The attention Jesus is receiving threatens the leaders. His calls to repentance and true salvation suggest internal righteousness the leaders hadn’t preached to the people before.
Jesus’ riddles point the judgment finger at the self-righteous religious system set up. Old Testament prophets forecasted the Messiah would come. Jesus undeniably performed miracles and validated his claim, and all of His words affirm who He is, yet for three years, the religious leaders rejected Jesus as the Messiah.
Bitterly, the religious leaders confront Jesus in the courtyard and ask him by what authority he has to question the traditions they teach in the temple. Jesus gives a trilogy of responses. Jesus’ messages seem abstract or foreign concepts to the religious leaders, so Jesus uses familiar, known events and scenes to convey his spiritual truth. The first analogy is about two sons, the second about tenant farmers, and the last one, a royal wedding feast.
The Point of A Parable
Jesus speaks to us through analogies. He uses familiar, everyday experiences and speaks spiritual truth through them.
As an avid hiker, the Lord would often use the woods, my walks, and my routines to convey profound spiritual truths. Have you heard the Lord speak through familiar, common occurrences, habits, and experiences in your life? If you enjoy sewing, He may use a spinning spool of thread to speak to you. Maybe you enjoy cooking. The Lord has used sizzling eggs and sauteing vegetables to speak spiritual truths to me. He’s used fishing villages and the fields of Tuscany to enlighten my soul.
Hearing of my experiences may sound random to you, but they were very personal and familiar to me. That’s Jesus. He knows how to speak to us personally in ways we can understand. These messages are common to us but may seem very random to others. So, what are some of your personal experiences with Jesus’ spiritual truths?
The King’s Royal Celebration
Verses 1-2 The kingdom of Heaven is where God is sovereign and rules by grace and salvation. He is king over redeemed people.
When Jesus delivers this parable, it was customary for a wedding to be one big, long feast. Days long. Might be a week or even longer. This isn’t the aftermath of a wedding, it’s part of the wedding. Jesus shares that this is a king giving a royal wedding feast for his son. So for the people listening, the visual here is of the biggest, grandest wedding celebration they’ve ever known. Have you ever watched a royal wedding?
Glued to the television, the fanfare of Prince William and Kate Middeton’s royal wedding dazzled my eyes. And then some years later, Prince Harry and Meghan Markle’s royal wedding celebration. It was a small-scale view of what heaven’s royal wedding celebration might look like in all that royal pomp and splendor. So picture that times a million for days and days and days.
The Invited Guests
Verse 3 Invites went out. The servants call for the invited guests, and they did not come. If the biggest royal celebration invited you to attend, you’d probably be getting ready for it, anticipating it, and crossing the days off your calendar, right?! So this is inconceivable for anyone listening to the parable that invited guests would not come when called for the celebration.
Verse 4 The king sends the servants a second time to tell these guests that they will have the best food there and that they should come.
Verse 5 The invited guests were not concerned and responded with indifference. They walked away. Went back to their farms and business. Ridiculous, right?! The invited guests were selfish and preoccupied with their own agenda to even consider the glorious celebration the king invited them to. This was an insult to the king’s gracious invitation.
Verse 6 It gets worse. Some shamed the servants and killed them! The hostility and rebellion seem outrageous. It was just an invitation. Why are these invited guests killing the king’s servants?
The kingdom of heaven is a place of rich joy, divine blessing, and eternal salvation. God, the king, is throwing a royal wedding feast or banquet for his son, Jesus, and He calls those invited – the Jews (Israel) – to come to His kingdom. God used his servants, who were apostles and prophets, to call the Jews to come and celebrate His Son. But some of the Jews were indifferent to the invitation and preoccupied with earthly matters like their business and physical possessions. They couldn’t understand the heavenly realities, like the salvation that was being offered to them.
We can easily get caught up in the striving and satisfaction of gain and wealth. Bigger, more, further, higher, greater. Indifference does not care that there is another way. They want their false religions because it is easier to follow a system we’ve seen than the unknown.
A secular theology stamps out spiritual truth with indifference and systems of seen results.
With thoughts trapped by the pursuit of this world, we will miss the greater celebration that awaits our attendance.
Others filled with anger and hostility, like the religious leaders, actually killed servants like John the Baptist and the apostles.
Verse 7 When the king hears of this, he is justifiably angry. This merciful king was so kind, patient, and forgiving to send a second set of servants to bring in the invited guests and they still didn’t come. So the king sends out a small number of troops to destroy the murderers and burn up their cities.
Verse 8 Those who were called were not worthy of this royal wedding feast because they refused the invitation. Worthiness isn’t tied to our morality, nobility, generosity, or good standing with others.
Worthiness is tied to acceptance of the invitation.
Kingdom worthiness has nothing to do with our designs of perceived goodness. We can’t be good enough to be accepted into the Kingdom.
The only thing that makes us worthy of this kingdom celebration is saying ‘yes’ to the invitation to come. The invitation says that salvation and entry into the Kingdom come through Jesus, His Son. If we refuse salvation through the King’s Son, Jesus, we can’t come.
In this instance, the Jews were rejecting Jesus as the Messiah. They were rejecting the Son as the way to salvation. Because they had rejected the Messiah, God rejected them.
Verses 9-10 The king now extends his invitation to anyone who will come, since those he initially chose won’t come.
God will not be frustrated. If his called people will not come, He will invite other people. The king requested his servants go everywhere and invite anyone who will come.
Go into all the world and preach the Gospel and make disciples.
The servants found both humanly good and humanly bad people. There’s no moral discrimination in the kingdom. All are invited to come; the good, bad, moral, immoral, criminal, and non-criminal. The only thing that makes them worthy to come is their willingness to accept the invitation.
If they’re willing to come on God’s terms, clothed in the appropriate garments which is the righteousness of Jesus, they are allowed into the Kingdom.
The Wedding Crasher
Verse 11 Hidden in the crowd is an inappropriately dressed man. Apparently, everyone else had access to proper clothing for this royal wedding feast except this guy and he was easy to notice in the crowd.
Verse 12 When asked by the king about his inappropriate outfit, he was speechless and had no excuse. Thoughtlessly, he came in with his pride and did things on his own terms, consequently insulting the king.
Verse 13 The king says this man needs to be tied up and thrown out of the kingdom so he doesn’t come back again.
It says in Isaiah 61, “I am overwhelmed with joy in the Lord my God! For he has dressed me in the clothing of salvation and draped me in a robe of righteousness. I am like a bridegroom dressed for his wedding or a bride with her jewels.” Isaiah 61:10 NLT
The King rejects self-righteousness. Jesus’ robe of righteousness is the only garment worthy of the King.
Missing The Mark
There are some who go to church, maybe even join the church, and get involved. But there’s no heart change. They live on their own terms, never putting on the robe of righteousness, which is right living under Jesus. They don’t want to change their thoughts, their speech, or their actions. They have no reverence for Jesus. No holiness in their lives. No godliness. Their pride says people should accept them as they are. They don’t need to change. They might try to camouflage in a crowd of believers thinking they’ll never be found out.
Some even put all their eggs in the basket of Jesus’ imputed righteousness, which means they say that Jesus’ righteousness is theirs through faith, and on the basis of Jesus’ righteousness, God will accept them regardless of how they live.
When we truly surrender to Jesus, He changes the way we think, speak, and act. This is imparted righteousness. God, through Jesus and the power of the Holy Spirit, works in us to enable and empower sanctification, which means we are freed from the power of sin and made holy. That produces right living or righteousness!
Whew, I hope you got all that.
We are saved by imputed AND imparted righteousness. We are saved by faith under Jesus’ righteousness and holiness, AND we are saved by his work in us to produce a life of right living, which is righteousness or a holy, reverent life.
The mark of a true believer has manifested righteousness.
A true believer lives a life of holiness and reverence for Jesus that others can see. Their lives are internally and externally changed. They wear the robe of right living. They reject living on their own terms or by any other self-righteousness plan.
And this is why in Matthew 7 Jesus says, “Not everyone who calls out to me, ‘Lord! Lord!’ will enter the Kingdom of Heaven. Only those who actually do the will of my Father in heaven will enter. On judgment day many will say to me, ‘Lord! Lord! We prophesied in your name and cast out demons in your name and performed many miracles in your name.’ But I will reply, ‘I never knew you. Get away from me, you who break God’s laws.’” Matthew 7:21-23 NLT
Are you a kingdom crasher or an invited and chosen guest?
The world is filled with people who have selfish or secular pursuits and who are indifferent to Jesus. And then there are those who call themselves Christians but have no fruit from living a holy life. They act the same as the world. They strive to show fruit but have no internal change.
When we love and receive Jesus, we receive the righteousness of God. (2 Corinthians 5:21 NLT) And that’s our robe of righteousness. This love for Jesus changes us.
We can be morally “good people” and be thrown out of the kingdom because we do not have Jesus. We must be clothed with His righteousness by faith in His death and resurrection.
Do you have internal righteousness that manifests external right living? What would those around you say? Can they see the fruit of righteousness working itself out in your life? If we say we put our trust in Jesus, then it must manifest holy and right living.
Verse 14 The Gospel invitation is sent out and calls all to come. The will of man will either receive or reject God’s invitation.
Some are indifferent and hostile, clinging to their own religious persuasions, like these religious leaders. Or like atheists. They totally reject Jesus. Others try to crash the wedding or kingdom on their own terms.
Many are called, but few are chosen.
Prayer
Jesus, forgive me for being so forgetful. Have mercy on my soul as I analyze the way I’ve been living. Let your Holy Spirit sift my thoughts, words, and actions and convict me of any terms I’ve been trying to come to you with that are not your terms. You see my persistent sin that refuses to submit to your Word, Jesus. Have mercy on me. Help me love you more than I love myself, my ways, my will. I want to change. I believe you are my Salvation, Jesus; You are my Righteousness. These are the terms I want to abide in. Holy Spirit, weed out indifference and apathy in my heart. I am not worthy, my works are not worthy, and my will is not worthy of your kingdom, God. I don’t want to live a superficial life, calling myself a Christ-follower without the evident fruit in my life. I reject the lure of hypocrisy, self-righteousness, or a camouflaged life. I come to you in full faith today, Jesus, with my filthy rags asking for a life clothed in your robe of righteousness, right living, and right thinking.
Thank you for the gift of salvation, Jesus. Thank you for changing me. Thank you for calling me out of my suffering and pain, my own will, and raising me up to live a new life in You. A confident, joyful, peaceful, assurance in You. That is my inheritance. Thank you for choosing me and inviting me to the royal wedding. I don’t have to work for it. My faith in Your work on the cross for me opens the door to your kingdom. Let your life-changing, redeeming work have its way with me, Jesus. My sights are set on that glorious, royal wedding with You. Thank you, Jesus. It’s in your name I pray, Amen.