seekeroftruth
Well-Known Member
Matthew 22:1 Jesus spoke to them again in parables, saying: 2 “The kingdom of heaven is like a king who prepared a wedding banquet for his son. 3 He sent his servants to those who had been invited to the banquet to tell them to come, but they refused to come.
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.’
5 “But they paid no attention and went off—one to his field, another to his business. 6 The rest seized his servants, mistreated them and killed them. 7 The king was enraged. He sent his army and destroyed those murderers and burned the city.
8 “Then he said to his servants, ‘The wedding banquet is ready, but those I invited did not deserve to come. 9 So go to the street corners and invite to the banquet anyone you find.’ 10 So the servants went out into the streets and gathered all the people they could find, the bad as well as the good, and the wedding hall was filled with guests.
11 “But when the king came in to see the guests, he noticed a man there who was not wearing wedding clothes. 12 He asked, ‘How did you get in here without wedding clothes, friend?’ The man was speechless.
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.’
14 “For many are invited, but few are chosen."
Yesterday the guy who owned a vineyard had to send three sets of servants. Here, the king sent out three sets of servants. The first ones came up empty. The second ones came up empty. And the third just took anyone who was sitting around.... including the bum on the corner who wasn't bothering anybody but heard about a party and decided to attend. One of the "not really invited" guests made it all the way into the wedding feast. He was a bum who apparently didn't have time to go out and earn the money to buy the proper tux but was there anyway. He's kind of like the deacon who only went to church because his wife made him do it.... and he got caught up in "helping" and couldn't get out of it. He never believed.... he just went to get his wife off his back. He got thrown back.
Now, if I go back and compare.... it seems to me that Jesus is telling the same story with different characters. I think He's still talking to those dirty rotten self-centered hardheaded moronic chief priests and elders.
I bet He knew the first parable didn't get thru so He's using the lack of a tux as a metaphor for the lack of acceptance. We have to accept God as the One True Living God to earn a place in Heaven. It seems like a small task for such a big reward... but that's it. Renting or borrowing a tux seems like such a small price to pay for attending the king's son's wedding.
The people God invited to the feast.... well, they got off the boat when the golden calf caught their eye. They are more interested in what God will do for them rather than what they can do for God. They always have a hand in the offering plate.
The backup group... well they were a good likeness, and they were willing to get dressed up, but they didn't really care about the king or his son, so they had other plans. That's like the guy who's been sitting in the pew for years but never bothered to accept God as the One True Living God. These are the ones who go to church on Easter Sunday. That's good enough for them. They won't even get to the door.
The third group... well they are everyone who was left... the dregs of society who didn't give a hoot about the king or his son. They got caught up in the confusion of the last minutes before the bride was about to walk down the aisle. they are like a murderer finding God in prison and the preacher who never quite got around to accepting God walking up to Heaven's gate together. The murderer would be one of those who had a tux in the back of the closet that he pulled out at the right second to be accepted. The preacher, in my scenario is the bum.
Those no good dirty rotten self-centered moronic chief priests and elders were more interested in protecting the venders than worshipping God at the Temple... after all, without the venders, who's going to pay their salary?
Those no good dirty rotten self-centered moronic chief priests and elders were invited to the wedding but couldn't be bothered... too busy polishing the rich man's gold with an old worn-out cloth.
Many were invited.... some were thrown out.
