Matthew 21:11-14 “But when the king came in to see the guests, he noticed a man there who was not wearing wedding clothes. He asked, ‘How did you get in here without wedding clothes, friend?’ 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.”
All these guest are from the king’s realm; all are under his supreme authority. He addresses the guest with the wrong attire as his friend, acknowledging this man is part of his kingdom. As in this parable, all humans are part of God’s kingdom. We are all possible friends to the Creator of all things. But this citizen enters the party without appropriate dress, without the garment that shows proper respect for the occasion. His attendance without the right wedding clothes reveals disenchantment with the king’s demands. His mood is self-serving, not heeding the king’s wishes or accepting the requirements of the situation. The king views him as dangerous, for he has a disrespectful attitude towards the king and his party. His adverse behavior is so dangerous to the king that he tells his servants to Tie him hand and foot, and throw him outside, into the darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. The king does not reason with this guest, telling him to go home and put on better clothing. No, the king knows his heart of disobedience that he entered the party some other way than the gate. How did you get in here without wedding clothes, friend? His clothing in a spiritual sense represents a lack of goodness in him. In Revelation we see the final wedding feast; we see a bride who is holy and the attendees as holy. Then I heard what sounded like a great multitude, like the roar of rushing waters and like loud peals of thunder, shouting: “Hallelujah! For our Lord God Almighty reigns. Let us rejoice and be glad and give him glory! For the wedding of the Lamb has come, and his bride has made herself ready. Fine linen, bright and clean, was given her to wear.” (Fine linen stands for the righteous acts of God’s holy people.) Then the angel said to me, “Write this: Blessed are those who are invited to the wedding supper of the Lamb” ! (Revelation 19:6-9) But this uninvited guest is without the righteous dress that God requires of all his guests. He is the thief or the robber who enters the sheepfold in an illegal way, not through the gate. The gatekeeper knows the shepherd and all who enter into the fold, so this man entered the party through another entrance. Very truly I tell you Pharisees, anyone who does not enter the sheep pen by the gate, but climbs in by some other way, is a thief and a robber. (John 10:1) Because of his open defiance to the circumstance of the party, the man is not only a danger to the king’s rule, but to the partygoers. His cancerous yeast of discontent with the king’s demands is in danger of spreading rebellion to others. Therefore, the king does not treat him gently, but has him thrown out of the party, dispatching him to terrible circumstances in outer darkness. The uninvited guests represent those who are too busy with life to attend the wedding feast. Their refusal to the king’s invitation caused the king to send out his servants and invite the people along the highways and byways to attend the marriage feast. So 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, the bad as well as the good, and the wedding hall was filled with guests. (Matthew 22:9-10) These people accepted the call. They are now the chosen. They wear the right clothing. They are not the elite of the community; they are the least in the kingdom, found by the side of the road. Listen, my dear brothers and sisters: Has not God chosen those who are poor in the eyes of the world to be rich in faith and to inherit the kingdom he promised those who love him? (James 2:5) They who are rich in faith will heed the call to the wedding celebration, receiving eternal life, for Jesus is their salvation, in the midst of them who have been abandoned by this world
The call to the feast is for all people. Jesus is not just the answer to the elite in this world: He is the answer to all who will seek his face through faith in his works and not their own. But here is the bread that comes down from heaven, which anyone may eat and not die. I am the living bread that came down from heaven. Whoever eats this bread will live forever. This bread is my flesh, which I will give for the life of the world.” (John 6:49-51) But the activities of life can interfere with the call of God on people’s lives. The people who failed to answer the king’s call were busy with life. They had more important things to think about and do than to respond to the wedding invitation. They thought their involvement in life was more important than God’s will for them. The wedding call was an invitation to an eternal existence with God. But the initial invitees were more concerned about their own existence on earth than an everlasting existence with God. And if they accepted the invitation, they would have to place on hold their own agenda for life. If they considered the king’s agenda over their own, they might lose out in this world. Their affection for the world was great, so they chose not to place the king’s will over theirs. Because of that, they lost out with the king. If Christians desire the world above God’s call in their lives, they will lose out with God. Do not love the world or anything in the world. If anyone loves the world, love for the Father is not in them. For everything in the world—the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life—comes not from the Father but from the world. The world and its desires pass away, but whoever does the will of God lives forever. (1 John 2:15-17) John explicitly states, the will of the Father should be the driving force in our lives, not those activities of our lives that will pass away. If our agenda of living life to its fullest is more important than the will of the Father, we do not love God. If anyone loves the world, love for the Father is not in them. We cannot enter the marriage feast with our worldly clothes of self-will, self-indulgence. Such unholy attire will be quickly exorcized from the community of believers. The pride of life and the things of life should not interfere with the call of God on our lives. If things of this world dominate our lives, our eyes will not see God’s plan for us and our ears will fail to hear the still small voice of the Holy Spirit. We will be as the seed on dormant ground, hardened by life, unable to receive God’s glory. The citizens who rejected the call of the king were hardened by their invested interest into the world’s activities. But they paid no attention and went off—one to his field, another to his business. (Matthew 22:5) They felt they would lose something if they went to the marriage feast. But the least in the world had very little to lose by answering God’s invitation. They abided on the side of the road or on the street corners, no real investment in this world. They were the rejected of the world. They were the African woman with many children, some who died of starvation. They were the bruised by war and famine. They were the sick and disabled. The world looked down on them, but they were jewels in God’s eyes. They would heed the call of the king. The servants went to 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.
Answering God’s call to eternal life demands receiving the Son of God as our life. He alone brings eternal life to every man and woman who accepts him. We cannot enter the banquet feast without his clothing of righteousness. Jesus said to them, “Very truly I tell you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you. Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise them up at the last day. (John 6:50-54) This call is for all people, but only a few will answer the call of God. God’s promise of eternal life is an everlasting call, for every generation, to all people. The chosen are the ones who accept the call. They are the ones who do not hold this life as dear. They are willing to follow God regardless of the circumstances they face. They reach out to God’s enduring love by faith. The Bible indicates that God’s enduring love is for all of his creation. His desire of intimate fellowship with humans will never cease. He warns us not to be critical of others, for He has made us all, loves everyone. To reveal his nature, we are to love others as He loves us. Our love should be an enduring love for others. In the last celebration feast of the bride’s wedding to the Son of God, we see the bride dressed in fine linen, expressing holiness. The guests are also dressed in holy garments. The guests’ clothes depict acts of goodness in their lives. Fine linen stands for the righteous acts of God’s holy people. (Revelation 19) We who are at the banquet feast should be appropriately dressed in the holy garment of our Savior and his good works. We should manifest him in everything we do by performing his works through the Holy Spirit’s power. There are no second chances; we do not go around again in life. As we live presently, we should submit to God’s authority, entering humbly by faith into this feast. Our circumstances in the world should never despoil the light within us. Our hurts and disappointments should never overshadow God’s purpose in our lives. We will have troubles and trials in this world. Often we will feel like the least, not surviving well physically, emotionally, psychologically; but God has promised eternal life to those who endure to the end, to those who enter the banquet with the right attire. Peter says to us to be faithful and diligent to God’s call on our lives. As the chosen, we should live his life every day regardless of our experiences, our suffering. However, if you suffer as a Christian, do not be ashamed, but praise God that you bear that name. (1 Peter 4:16) IN CHRIST, we are in the right garment. We have been called from the side of the road, called to serve God. We are to express the good works of God, and as God moves through his celebration feast, He will greet each of us personally and say to us, welcome my beloved, I am so glad you are here to celebrate my Son’s wedding. We will be with God, not only as guest but also as the bride of Christ, dressed elegantly in his garment of love towards us. Amen!
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