Mt 22:1-14

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124. The royal wedding feast (Matt 22:1-14)

Throughout the Old Testament period and into the New, God sent his messengers to Israel, but the people ignored his message. God was like a king who invited people to a wedding feast for his son, but when the time for the feast arrived, they refused to come (Matt 22:1-5).

This was a picture of the refusal of the Jews to accept Jesus’ message and enter the kingdom of God. Their rejection of Jesus would bring God’s judgment upon them and result in the destruction of Jerusalem (Matt 22:6-7). Meanwhile, the invitation that the Jews refused went to the Gentiles instead, and there was a great response (Matt 22:8-10).

However, not all the people who responded to the invitation were genuine. Some were like the man who thought he would like to go to the feast, but was either too lazy or too busy with his own affairs to prepare himself properly. The king had issued an invitation to all, but he denied entrance to those who wanted to gain the benefits of his feast without changing their self-centred ways. Jesus invited all to enter his kingdom, but there was no place for those who said they believed but showed no change in their attitudes and behaviour (Matt 22:11-14; cf. Mt 7:21-23; 11:29; 13:20-21; 16:24).