“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.’
“But they paid no attention and went off—one to his field, another to his business. The rest seized his servants, mistreated 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.” — Matthew 22:2-14
Instructions:
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In this passage we are told that the kingdom of heaven is like a marriage feast, i.e., a big party. Many were invited, and all the likely candidates didn’t come. Some just made fun of the invite, others actually mistreated and abused the king’s messengers. So the king sent his messengers out to bring in whatever riff-raff they could find. This king was determined!
We may tend to think of the “kingdom of heaven”, as mentioned in this passage, as referring to some grand, cosmic, future reality, as in “I sure want to go to that feast in heaven when I die.” But Jesus, by his incarnation, death, resurrection, and sending of the Holy Spirit, came to bring the reality of the “kindgom of heaven” to the here and now.
The King is inviting us to his Son’s marriage feast each day. Today, when I get the invitation, what will I choose? Will I enter into his Presence, join his feast? Or will I scorn the invitation, and choose instead to feed sinful appetites? Or maybe I’ll just choose distractions–things that aren’t necessarily bad in themselves, but just fritter away my time and energy.
Lord, today I choose to come to the feast that you invite me to. Lord, I choose to receive from your hand, rather than the world, since I know that everything that comes from your hand is good.
Mark Peterson: markamypeterson (AT) gmail.com
