But we're going to be in Matthew chapter 22. Before we read, I just want to speak to the boys and girls for a couple of minutes just so we're all set for reading and knowing what this story is about.
Jesus is going to tell one of his many stories called parables and it's about an amazing invitation.
So quick show of hands, boys and girls, if you've ever been invited to a friend's house for a play date, put up your hands.
Okay, so that's lots of boys and girls. Excellent. Okay, who's ever been invited to a birthday party? Put up your hands.
Okay, lots of you. Okay, this one might mean less hands.
Who's ever been invited to a special kind of party, a fancy dress party? Anyone been invited to one of those?
Oh, a bit less. Oh, sun's been. So less people to a fancy dress party.
Who's ever been invited to a very special occasion like a wedding? Hands up if you've been to a wedding before.
Ah, so more weddings than fancy dress parties and weddings. Well, kind of different fancy dress, isn't it?
Now, okay, so you know what invitations are. You've enjoyed lots of them.
Let me ask, boys and girls, have any of you ever been invited to the Queen's house for tea?
No.
Were any of you at either of the fairly recent royal weddings?
No, any of the adults managed to hook themselves one of those invitations? No.
No.
This is what our story is about.
Jesus is going to say, you and I are given an invitation by God to something amazing.
Actually, to something even more amazing than a king's or a queen's wedding feast.
God gives us an invitation to know him and to enjoy him by trusting in Jesus.
And Jesus says, the kingdom of heaven, life with God is like the most amazing feast, the most amazing party ever.
Really, because God is there.
That's the best thing.
Heaven is going to be wonderful because Jesus will be there.
But like every invitation we get, we have two answers that we can possibly get.
So for all of you who've been to parties, you obviously at some point said, yes, I'd like to go.
Sometimes we have to say no because we're not able to go.
Maybe you're so popular you get two party invitations for the same day and you have to choose.
Sometimes we say no because we don't want to go.
So the Bible invites us, God invites us, Jesus invites us to the most important thing that you could ever imagine.
And all of us, however young or however old we are, we need to decide how we are going to respond to his invitation.
So in our story, we're going to find some people who say no to Jesus.
And we're going to find some people who say yes to Jesus.
And those people who say yes, they end up receiving all the joy.
They're part of the feast.
So boys and girls, our prayer for you is that you'd be those who would say yes to Jesus.
That you would understand the joy that he offers.
And so we'll read this story and you can think about the invitations you've had.
Think about the invitation that this king offers.
And most of all, think about how you want to respond to Jesus.
So let's read together from Matthew chapter 22.
Jesus spoke to them again in parables saying,
The kingdom of heaven is like a king who prepared a wedding banquet for his son.
He sent his servants to those who'd been invited to the banquet to tell them to come, but they refused to come.
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 slaughtered and everything is ready.
Come to the wedding banquet.
But they paid no attention and went off.
One to his field, another to his business.
The rest seized his servants, ill-treated them and killed them.
The king was enraged.
He sent his army and destroyed those murderers and burned their city.
Then he said to his servants,
The wedding banquet is ready, but those I invited did not deserve to come.
Go to the street corners and invite to the banquet anyone you find.
So 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.
But when the king came in to see the guests,
he noticed a man there who was not wearing wedding clothes.
Friend, he asked,
How did you get in here without wedding clothes?
The man was speechless.
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.
For many are invited, but few are chosen.
We're going to continue to discover more amazing grace in Matthew's gospel.
Grace, God's free and undeserved kindness to broken, sinful people such as ourselves.
Last week, the God of grace was inviting us to rest.
This week, the God of grace invites us to the feast.
So today's story, as we talked with the children,
in some ways has sort of normal elements that we recognize,
but also has an out of this world kind of aside to it as well,
because we've all received invitations.
Some of those have been expected.
Some have perhaps taken us by surprise.
We are familiar with the idea now of sending a save the date for a big event.
We know what it is when we receive an RSVP and we need to respond by a certain time.
We also know too that sometimes we receive invitations where there is an expected dress code,
perhaps a black tie event or something similar.
So we know what it is to find ourselves invited and to be part of a guest list.
But here, Jesus is reminding us of the wonderful thing about God's invitation
when He pictures an invitation from a king to the feast,
to the wedding feast that He is throwing for His Son.
As Jesus is telling the story and the people are thinking,
well, to be on that guest list would truly to be have made it.
We have arrived.
We have access to the highest honor and privilege if our king invites us to a feast.
So that's our setting for today,
the invitation to the wedding feast of a king for His Son.
And we want to think in this story, how do we see the grace of God through the story?
And how do we respond to the grace of God as we see different responses in the story?
Before we get into it, some important background questions to cover really quickly.
When does Jesus tell this story?
It's important to remember parables are not just free-floating stories.
They have a setting and a context.
In chapter 21, at the beginning, we're told of Jesus' triumphal entry into Jerusalem,
riding on the donkey as God's promised servant king.
And this ushers in the week before the cross.
So triumphal entry into Jerusalem.
Seven days later, He will have been killed.
And so this week in between where this parable takes place is when the conflict
between Jesus and the religious leaders who oppose Him reaches its climax.
And that's important background.
Because who does Jesus tell this story to?
Verse 1 of chapter 22, it says,
Jesus spoke to them.
He's already been speaking to a particular group of people.
If you turn back to chapter 21 and verse 45,
when the chief priests and the Pharisees heard Jesus' parables,
they knew He was talking about them.
So there is a particular audience in mind,
this group who presumed that they were insiders.
Well, if anyone's in the kingdom of God, it's bound to be us.
And so Jesus tells stories that explode their spiritual religious pride.
They are the group who are resisting and rejecting Jesus.
And because of that, and we'll see this in the story,
they are not those who are part of God's kingdom.
Again, tied up with that, how does Jesus tell this story?
There are some extreme elements in the story.
Did you notice some of the more surprising language?
The king that sends an army to destroy murderers.
The attendants who bind someone hand and foot
and throw them out into the darkness.
How does Jesus tell this story?
He tells this story as God's true prophet.
Just like in the Old Testament,
here is Jesus the prophet announcing judgment
on those who are robbing God of His glory,
those who are dishonoring God as they dishonor His son Jesus.
And so this parable, like the Old Testament prophets,
is inviting the people to see the consequences
of rejecting God and His rule.
So why does Jesus tell this story?
Two reasons.
One, to show how wide God's invitation of grace goes out.
And we've seen this in the mission of Jesus,
how quick He is to welcome outsiders,
to welcome those who are rejected by others,
who are on the margins of society.
But in Jesus' mission, those outsiders
who recognize their spiritual need,
they are brought in.
Here, they're brought into the feast.
And so it's a reminder to us, again,
of just how wide God's invitation of grace is.
But He's also telling the stories we've already said
to make clear the consequences that come
from our response to God's King
and the invitation that He offers.
There's two consequences.
Either deadly destruction or joyful life.
There is no middle ground as the invitation to life with God goes out.
Now, let's think about this.
What is this story?
Let's look at the details together to see what we can learn.
Verse 2, Jesus said,
The kingdom of heaven is like a king who prepared a wedding banquet for his son.
So this is the king's feast.
And this feast represents the kingdom of heaven,
this kingdom that is dawned at the coming of Jesus.
And as we've seen in the life of Jesus,
invitations to be part of the kingdom,
to repent and believe, are going out.
And they're still going out.
We're still being invited to this feast today.
And as we see in the story,
as we see in the life of Jesus,
there are still two types of response.
One that says yes,
one that says no.
Now, in the time of Jesus,
it was typical when somebody was arranging a special event like a feast,
there would be a double invitation.
So this king would have to send out servants to say,
this wedding is going to take place so that he would get initial acceptance from those who were to be invited.
Kind of like the equivalent of our save the day.
It's coming in the future.
Are you going to come?
And then as the time for the wedding drew near,
as the food was ready,
another message would go out through,
I guess, through the kingdom perhaps,
saying, okay, now is the time.
That feast that you said you were going to come to,
now is the time to arrive.
And remember,
this is the king's feast
that we are being invited to,
or these folks in the story are being invited to.
So let's look at the king's invitations,
because there's two.
First of all, in verse 3,
he sent his servants to those who'd been invited to the banquet
to tell them to come.
So that's standard practice.
Everything's ready.
Now's the time to come.
And that makes what happens next so outrageous.
They refused to come.
That's a shocking refusal.
They've been invited into joy, honor, privilege,
and they simply turn their back.
But the king is not done.
There's a second invitation that goes out to this group.
He sent more servants,
and he said,
tell those who've been invited that I've prepared my dinner.
My oxen and fattened calf have been slaughtered,
and everything is ready.
Come to the wedding banquet.
Here is insight into the incredible patience
and mercy and grace of God.
And grace of God is pictured in this king.
He doesn't simply do away with these people who have treated him so badly.
Rather, he highlights the greatness of what's in store.
He's saying,
there's nothing but the best.
I have done everything to get this wonderful feast ready.
Please come.
He's giving them every opportunity,
every invitation.
But despite that,
the king is rejected.
Verse 5,
they paid no attention
and went off one to his field,
another to his business.
The rest seized his servants,
ill-treated them,
and killed them.
Again,
if we put ourselves in the crowd,
as Jesus tells this story,
this would have created a sense of high scandal.
In an honor and shame culture,
you just do not do this to anybody,
never mind the king.
Here is the glory of the king
and his feast being trampled upon
and being regarded as nothing.
As one group says,
do you know what?
We've got more important things to do.
So they ignore the invitation.
And then you have the other group
who begin violent attacks on the king's servants
and in doing so,
are engaged in a violent attack on the king
and his honor.
Here is open rebellion.
Here is down with the king.
Here is let's find ways to dishonor
this king who has invited us
to receive his grace and kindness.
And then in verses 7 and 10,
we see the king's responses,
and there are two.
Verse 7,
the king was enraged.
He sent his army
and destroyed those murderers
and burned their city.
destruction is one response.
The king has been rejected,
abused,
attacked.
And remember the context.
This is during the time
when the religious leaders
are plotting to kill Jesus.
But that very graphic language
stands out to us
and is a clue for us
that Jesus is speaking as a prophet,
that this is about the kingdom of heaven.
This isn't simply a nice story
about a wedding feast.
And this is all about
how the people are responding
to Jesus.
So there's that first response
of destruction,
but then there's the second response
from verse 8 to verse 10.
He said to his servants,
the wedding banquet is ready,
but those I invited
did not deserve to come.
Go to the street corners
and invite to the banquet
anyone you find.
So 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.
So here is incredible grace
and kindness.
He throws wide open
the invitation to the feast,
to honor, to joy, and to glory.
It's open to anyone
who will come.
Both good and bad are here.
That would have been
a great ending
if we were looking
for a happily ever after,
wouldn't it?
Here is the feast beginning
and the crowds
have filled up the space.
But as Jesus sometimes does
with his parables,
he has a sting in the tail.
There is this end-of-story stress,
and we see it in verse 11 onwards
with the king's demand.
When the king came in
to see the guests,
he noticed a man there
who was not wearing
wedding clothes.
Friend, he asked,
how did you get in here
without wedding clothes?
The man was speechless.
Whether good or bad,
everyone knows
there is a dress code.
The people at the feast
must do two things.
They must receive
the invitation,
and they must follow
the demands of the invitation,
so they must dress appropriately.
So this man here,
he is confronted.
He has chosen
not to wear
the appropriate clothing,
and he knows
he is guilty.
He knows
he has done wrong.
I have a recurring dream,
which is something
of a nightmare,
in which I'm invited
to speak
in a church,
and I turn up
in my pajamas.
Do you know,
I'm very grateful
I can wake up
at that point
and realize
this is just a horrible dream.
The outcome
of wearing
the wrong clothes
in this story
is no laughing matter,
though, is it?
The outcome
is to be thrown out
to experience
the king's judgment
for failing
to meet
the king's demands,
and Jesus concludes
in verse 14,
for many are invited,
but few are chosen.
The invitation
to the kingdom of heaven
goes far and wide,
but many refuse
to accept,
and many refuse
to follow its demands.
So that's the story.
And what I want to do now
is to think briefly
about what lessons
can we learn
from the main characters.
I want us to think
about this king
and to see that God
invites us
to enjoy his grace
through Jesus.
Even the setting
of this story,
the fact that it's
a wedding feast
and it's the king's
wedding feast,
reminds us
of the privilege
and the honor
to which we are called.
Invited to know God
is the greatest privilege
imaginable.
And then we think about
who's telling the story.
Here's Jesus,
and Jesus in his life
was constantly
eating with people,
and those were meals
with a mission.
As he invited the poor,
as he invited the despised,
as he invited the physically
and spiritually needy
to feast with him,
they were feasting
with God's king.
It's a great picture
of that invitation of grace
that's open to us all.
Jesus is still inviting us
to enjoy a full life,
a joyful life,
with God
by faith
in him.
In this parable,
the king speaks
about the great cost
that he has gone to
to prepare the feast.
Now,
we know for us
God's grace,
God's kindness
comes to us
as a free gift.
It's free for us
to receive.
But there was a cost
to Jesus,
which Jesus
was well aware of.
Here he is
in this last week
before the cross.
And God had chosen
for his son
to walk that path
of suffering
and death
so that we might
be forgiven,
so that we might
be clothed
in the perfect righteousness
of Jesus Christ,
so that we might,
by faith,
receive the hospitality
of the king,
so that we might feast
and have real joy.
We have a remarkable
God
pictured here
as this king,
a king who is willing
to overlook
the shame
that we bring on him,
a king who is willing
to overlook
the rejection
and the disobedience
shown to him.
Day by day,
he is willing
and patient
to forgive us
and to show us grace.
So there is hope
for any of us
here today,
whatever our past sin
and our past shame.
However,
in the past,
we may have ignored
the call of Jesus.
He is willing
to forgive
and to save
and to bring you
to the feast.
There's a great picture
in verse 9
of the servants
being sent
to the street corners.
This king
who is willing
to invite any,
to show honor
and to extend joy
to any,
whoever
we might be.
We might be used
to missing out
when invitations
are handed out.
We might be used
to not earning
the approval
of others,
of having people
think not much
of us
and perhaps we don't
think much
of ourselves.
But the good news
of God's grace
is that in Christ
we don't have to fight
to earn God's approval.
God approves
of us
when we are in Christ
and He gives us
honor
and He welcomes us.
And so we find
in this king
a picture of God
and a God
who invites us
to enjoy His grace
through Jesus.
But we also have
attention drawn
to those first guests
who are invited
who refuse
to come to the feast.
And that reminds us
that rejecting
the invitation
of God's grace
leads to
deadly destruction.
We've already said it.
Jesus as God's prophet
is announcing judgment.
Jesus as God's king
has the authority
to judge.
And here He is speaking
a solemn word
to those who
persistently
and deliberately,
violently
were opposing
and rejecting Him
and we'd conspire
together to have
Him murdered.
So Jesus is speaking
to the Pharisees
but there are lessons
for each one of us.
So as we think
about the response
of these guests,
examine yourself,
examine your heart.
Do I recognize
any of these attitudes
in my own heart
and life?
If you're here today
and you're not a Christian,
do you see
the danger
through the story
of that position?
Let's look at
the different ways
people reject
the king's invitation
which is a picture
ultimately
of rejecting Jesus.
First,
there is the group
that ignore Him.
Verse 5,
they pay no attention.
One goes off
to his field,
another to his business.
Too busy
for their king.
I wonder today
if any of us
find ourselves
so busy
with life,
so busy
with work
and responsibilities
that we've never
really taken the time
to think carefully
for ourselves
about
who is Jesus
and what has Jesus done?
Because the claims
that He makes
and the actions
that He takes
are so profound
that they demand
our response.
Neil Postman
a number of years ago
wrote a book
called
Amusing Ourselves
Today.
It's entirely possible
spiritually
to be so busy
with pleasure
or so busy
working ourselves
to death
that we never
take time
to think about
the realities
of eternity.
There are
serious implications
for putting
other things
ahead
of this
invitation.
As Jesus
said another time,
what good is it
to gain the whole world
but lose
your eternal soul?
What good is it
for these men
to go off
to their fields
to work
but then
to find the king
who comes
to destroy them
for their
resistance
of him?
So we can
reject Jesus
simply by ignoring
him and his claims.
There's another
way to reject
Jesus
and that's to
deliberately
rebel
against the king
and that's what
we see in verse 6
when they seize
the king's servants
ill-treat them
and kill
them.
R.C.
Sproul
talks about
the sin
of cosmic
treason.
God is the king
we owe
our allegiance
and honour
to
but in our
own hearts
we can be so
quick to try
and remove
God from the
throne of our
lives so that
we can occupy
that place.
God has
made us
so that we
would know
and enjoy
and give
him glory
in our
lives
but we
can
deliberately
rob God
of glory
because we
want life
to be
about us.
We like
Adam
and like
Eve in the
garden
can believe
the lie
that true
freedom,
true happiness
is found
in leaving
God and
his word
behind
in living
and setting
our own
rules
and setting
our own
direction
salvation.
So that
we can
in our
own
mind
just like
the people
in this
story
we can
find
ourselves
at war
with
God
hostile
to him
not wanting
to hear
his claims
or demands
because we
are a rival
king
to God.
But that's
not the
only way
to reject
God's
grace
in the
sending
of Jesus.
There's
one last
way and
that's
represented
by the
man who
wasn't
wearing
the
wedding
clothes.
We
can
resist
the
king's
demands.
Clearly
there was
the expectation
that the
guests would
wear
appropriate
clothing.
Everybody
else in
the feast
good and
bad
they were
doing that
except for
this one
representative
man who
in his
pride has
said I
will make
my own
path.
I will
set my
own
standard
of
goodness.
And we
can do
that in
our own
lives when
we get it
into our
heads that
our goodness
or our
religion are
our way to
pay our
way into
the kingdom
of God.
Where we
fail to believe
that it's by
grace we're
saved through
faith and
instead we
are persuaded
that we
have to
earn it
and that
we can
by ourselves
earn it.
In which
case we
of necessity
find ourselves
saying I
don't need
Jesus or I
need Jesus but
I also need to
contribute to
my salvation
and it's
pride.
And it's
resisting the
demands of a
king who
simply says
come and
receive what
I have
provided.
Receive the
wedding clothes
which when we
think about how
it's pictured in
the New Testament
is to put on
the righteousness
of Christ.
To receive what
he has done for
us on the
cross and to
humbly accept
that as a
gift.
This story
makes it very
clear for us
that with any
invitation there
is an accepted
or a rejected
choice.
We either say
yes to Jesus
or no to
Jesus.
Jesus himself
said he who
is not for
me is against
me.
There is no
neutral ground,
there is no
sitting on the
fence when it
comes to
Jesus.
And so the
shocking elements
of this story
Jesus gives to
us in order to
wake us up.
Just like the
prophets of the
Old Testament,
they brought
news of
impending judgment
to shock the
people into
repentance and
faith.
Jesus wants us
to see the
horror of
ignoring and
rebelling against
and resisting
our good and
gracious King.
And he wants
to show us the
urgency of our
need to respond
positively to
Jesus.
One of the
things that this
story reminds us
of is that grace
is only grace if
the outcome should
be different.
By rights,
because of our
rebellion against
God, we should
all experience
judgment.
But only in
Jesus is there
grace and
salvation.
And so we need
to receive that
invitation.
And that takes us
to our last
group.
The group that
find themselves in
the feast.
And they remind us
that receiving the
invitation of God's
grace leads to
joyful life.
The story reminds
us that God's
guest list is full
of surprises.
Jesus' life on
earth and his
mission shows us
that God's guest
list is full of
surprises.
Now we're told
anyone, verse 10,
both good and bad,
in the world's eyes
or indeed in our
own eyes, if we
believe in Jesus,
we will be in
the feast.
Because it's about
grace and it's not
about merit.
It's not about rank
or status.
It's about, do I
see my need?
Do I trust the
goodness of God,
my King, and the
sending of Jesus,
his Saviour, to
forgive my sin and
to give me new
life?
How do we enter
the feast?
We be thinking
about God's grace,
but what's our
part?
There's faith
involved, isn't
there?
We need in the
first place to say
yes to the
invitation.
We need to say
yes that we want
to come to
Jesus, that we
want to have him
as our Lord, that
we trust that what
he did on the
cross, he did for
me to deal with
my sin, to give
me new life with
God.
And we also, as
the story shows us,
we need to obey
the dress code.
We need to come
dressed in the
right way.
And that's not
coming dressed in
our own goodness.
We don't come
saying, well, look
at my good deeds, I
should be in the
kingdom of heaven.
And we come
clothed in the
righteousness of
Christ.
It takes us back
to that great
exchange that
happens at the
cross.
Jesus takes our
sin and he
gifts us his
perfect record of
righteousness.
God sees us in
Christ, perfectly
righteous in him so
that we are able to
enjoy life with God.
We can be welcomed
and accepted when we
are in Christ.
And because of that,
we get to enjoy life
in the feast.
It's a great picture of
the kingdom of heaven,
isn't it?
It reminds us of the
joy that we have as
Christians.
I read an article by a
guy called Randy
Alcorn this week and he
said, Christianity is
not a frowning
context.
Sometimes, perhaps
that's the image or
the message that we
portray to the
world.
Rather, Jesus is
saying, by faith in
him we enter this
feast.
We are brought into
this good news of
great joy.
We have this prospect
of happiness now and
eternal happiness to
follow.
So that actually the
joy that we have as
Christians should be a
crucial part of our
mission.
As we're inviting
others to come to
Jesus, people should
be saying, what's the
basis for your hope?
What's the basis for
your joy?
This is different from
the kind of happiness
that I'm pursuing which
comes and goes.
Yours seems lasting
and solid.
So joy is part of our
mission because joy is
our ultimate destination.
And joy is what we
have now when our
faith is in Jesus.
God in Jesus, his son,
invites us to the
feast.
The guests here were
surprised by the
invitation of the king.
And it's sometimes,
isn't it, it's the
surprising invitations
that bring us surprising
and wonderful joy.
We still remember and
talk about that time
years ago when we were
on holiday in Corsica,
one of the French
islands and we'd gone
for a day trip to a
fairly remote beach
and we'd missed the
bus and so we were
stranded and hitchhiking
in this really remote
part of Corsica when
somebody drove along
who'd just been back
from a fishing trip.
And it turned out he
was the ex-chief of
police in Corsica, a
man who was very both
familiar and fond of
Glasgow.
And so there was a
great chat and then we
got invited back to his
mansion.
And we had a wonderful
dinner with his family
and we stayed in touch
for a number of years
and it was a wonderful
and surprising invitation.
God in his mercy and his
grace invites us to so
much more than that,
doesn't he?
To a feast that we don't
deserve, a feast that we
don't need to earn the
invitation for.
He has sent his son
Jesus, he has paid the
great cost to invite us to
the feast, to provide that
clothing of his
righteousness so we can
come in and know our
God.
To have that joy that
begins now, to have that
joy that lasts for all
eternity.
So today, will you come?
Will you come to this
feast?
Will you enjoy life with
God through faith in Jesus?
And if that's where you're
at, if you're already
feasting on that joy, will
you share that invitation
with others, continuing
that mission to bring
others to know the joy
there is in Jesus?
Thanks.
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