1Jesus spoke to them again in parables, saying: 2"The kingdom of heaven is like a king who prepared a wedding banquet for his son. 3He sent his servants to those who had been invited to the banquet to tell them to come, but they refused to come.
-Another parable about what the kingdom of heaven is like. Jesus talks a lot about this pointing at different aspects of heaven.
-If heaven is like a wedding banquet it should be quite the celebration and we should be overjoyed and expectant to go there.
-Odd that those who were invited wouldn't come. Maybe illustrative of Israel being God's people and refusing to believe in Jesus. Also to the whole world who God sent his son to invite them into the kingdom of heaven.
4"Then he sent some more servants and said, 'Tell those who have been invited that I have prepared my dinner: My oxen and fattened cattle have been butchered, and everything is ready. Come to the wedding banquet.'
-Another invitation...God really wants these people to be there. God's suggestion to us isn't once and done, but he sends his message again and again.
5"But they paid no attention and went off—one to his field, another to his business. 6The rest seized his servants, mistreated them and killed them. 7The king was enraged. He sent his army and destroyed those murderers and burned their city.
-There are so many things that we put ahead of the kingdom of heaven in this life. Some just ignore, others amazingly tortured the servants sent. This would be illustrative of anyone who preaches the good news and is persecuted.
-It sounds so crazy when people would mistreat messengers for telling them of a wedding banquet, but this happens all the time when it comes to the gospel.
8"Then he said to his servants, 'The wedding banquet is ready, but those I invited did not deserve to come. 9Go to the street corners and invite to the banquet anyone you find.' 10So the servants went out into the streets and gathered all the people they could find, both good and bad, and the wedding hall was filled with guests.
-The invitation was open to all who would come. This is how God's invitation is to the world now.
11"But when the king came in to see the guests, he noticed a man there who was not wearing wedding clothes. 12'Friend,' he asked, 'how did you get in here without wedding clothes?' The man was speechless.
-Even tho all were invited there will be no mistake on who actually belongs there and who does not. I suppose if you truly accept the invitation you would prepare to go there. It would be an insult to the bride & groom to show up totally unprepared.
13"Then the king told the attendants, 'Tie him hand and foot, and throw him outside, into the darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.'
-Outside heaven is not a good place.
14"For many are invited, but few are chosen."
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1 comment:
That's actually a pretty scary passage. It's a very cool visual of what the kingdom of heaven is like, but when you start thinking about where you stand and how you might end up, that's pretty harsh. Definitely something to remind ourselves. Thanks.
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