“Then he said to his slaves, ‘The wedding is ready, but those who were invited were not worthy.’” (Matthew 22:8)
I recall a very bitter experience not long after we arrived at Fort George G. Meade, MD. It was my son, Daniel’s 7th birthday and my wife had sent invitations to all 30 students from his class. The day arrived, but no one showed for the party. Now, I’ve known a lot of rejection in my own life. So the fact that no one considered his party worth attending opened some old wounds. But what really infuriated me was when Daniel looked up to me with his big brown eyes and asked, “Why is no one coming?”
Fortunately, one student from his class showed late. Then a few uninvited guests walked in on the party and kept it from becoming a total train wreck. But the experience sensitized me to what the King in this parable may have been feeling.
The King’s invitations had gone out to the nobility of his realm, informing them of the coming special day. The wedding of his Son, their future King, and its accompanying feast were approaching. One would think that attendance would be nonnegotiable. The King’s invitation would not be considered a suggestion, but a demand.
Yet all the invitees blew off the King and his Son. The King even sent out a last minute warning. “Everything’s been prepared – the fattened livestock have been slaughtered and cooked. Come at once!” Yet no one showed.
This open insubordination was an affront. Then there was the mistreatment of his servants – an expression of the hatred the subjects actually had for him. On top of that there was the potential waste of such wealth. There was no refrigeration at this time. All the prepared food would soon spoil and be wasted. But most painful was the disregard the King’s subjects had for his own Son. In response, the King sends his army and burns the city of those rebels – a warning of what awaited Jerusalem if it failed to respond to God’s invitation and does not cease to mistreat God’s prophets.
To redeem this disaster, the King sends his servants out to gather the “riffraff” of his realm. He brings in the poor, the lame, the good, and the bad. For he wants to fill every seat at his banqueting table (Luke 14:23). But for those who rejected his Son, there will only be “outer darkness.”
REFLECTION
- Can you see the urgency of responding to the King of Heaven’s invitation to honor and obey His Son, Jesus Christ (Psalm 2:12; John 14:1-6)?
- Can you understand God’s anger toward those who dismiss His Son and allow such a great provision for their salvation to go to waste (Hebrews 2:3)?
- We need to answer God’s call to follow His Son – at once.