Sunday, August 21, 2011

Matthew 22:1-14 Follow Christ' Call no matter how busy you are

Jesus again in reply spoke to the chief priests and the elders of the people in parables
saying, “The Kingdom of heaven may be likened to a king
who gave a wedding feast for his son.
He dispatched his servants to summon the invited guests to the feast,
but they refused to come.
A second time he sent other servants, saying,
‘Tell those invited: “Behold, I have prepared my banquet,
my calves and fattened cattle are killed,
and everything is ready; come to the feast.”’
Some ignored the invitation and went away,
one to his farm, another to his business.
The rest laid hold of his servants,
mistreated them, and killed them.
The king was enraged and sent his troops,
destroyed those murderers, and burned their city.
Then the king said to his servants, ‘The feast is ready,
but those who were invited were not worthy to come.
Go out, therefore, into the main roads
and invite to the feast whomever you find.’
The servants went out into the streets
and gathered all they found, bad and good alike,
and the hall was filled with guests.
But when the king came in to meet the guests
he saw a man there not dressed in a wedding garment.
He said to him, ‘My friend, how is it
that you came in here without a wedding garment?’
But he was reduced to silence.
Then the king said to his attendants, ‘Bind his hands and feet,
and cast him into the darkness outside,
where there will be wailing and grinding of teeth.’
Many are invited, but few are chosen.”



In this parable, we see a comparison with the Kingdom of God with a wedding feast. In this story the King invites many people to come to the party but few choose to go. Similarly, Jesus proclaims the Kingdom of God and few choose to follow him. Next we see a judgement passed on those who do not attend the wedding, similarly there is a belief that those who know Jesus' teachings and still refuse to follow them shall receive a harsh judgement. Finally we see that both good and bad are present  at the party but the King only wishes to eat with the good. This may be an allusion to the finial judgement where the goats and sheep are separated and only the sheep allowed to enter the kingdom. This parable reminds us that if we hear the words of Jesus, we must follow them regardless of how busy we are or where we are in life. 

No comments:

Post a Comment