Bible Memory Verse
“…Blessed are those who are invited to the wedding supper of the Lamb…”
Revelation 19:9
Matthew 22: 1-14
“Jesus spoke to them in parables saying, (2 ‘The kingdom of heaven is like a king who prepared a wedding banquet for his son. (3 He sent his servants to those who had been invited to the banquet to tell them to come, but they refused to come.
(4 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.”
(5 But they paid no attention and went off—one to his field, another to his business. (6 The rest seized his servants, mistreated them and killed them. (7 The king was enraged. He sent his army and destroyed those murderers and destroyed their city.
(8 Then he said to his servants, ‘The wedding banquet is ready, but those I invited did not deserve to come. (9 Go to the street corners and invite to the banquet anyone you find. (10 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.
(11 But when the king came in to see the guests, he noticed a man there who was not wearing wedding clothes. (12 “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.’”
1. Who prepared a banquet? Who did he prepare it for? What does this symbolize?
2. What happened to his servants when they went to get those who were invited? Who do the servants symbolize?
3. What did the king do when he became enraged?
4. What happened to the man who didn’t have the proper wedding clothes? Who does this person symbolize?
5. What does the marriage banquet of the son symbolize? (marriage supper of the Lamb)
Revelation 19:6-9
“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 ear.’ ( Fine linen stands for the righteous acts of the saints.) Then the angel said to me. ‘Blessed are those who are invited to the wedding supper of the Lamb.’ And he added ‘These are the true words of God.’”
6. How do we accept the invitation to the marriage supper of the Lamb?
John 3:16
“For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.”
John 20:31
“These are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name.”
Romans 3:21-26
“This righteous from God comes through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe. There is no difference, for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Jesus Christ. God presented him as a sacrifice of atonement, through faith in his blood. He did this to demonstrate his justice at the present time, so as to be just and the one who justifies the man who has faith in Jesus.”
Romans 6:23
“For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.”
Romans 10:9-10
“…That if you confess with your mouth, ‘Jesus is Lord,’ and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your heart that you confess and are saved.”
Ephesians 2:4-5
“But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions—it is by grace you have been saved.”
7. What excuses do people make to not accept God’s gift of eternal life?
“In both languages, it refers to a large group. In English, “many” is restrictive, but in Greek it is inclusive. In other words, if I say “many of the people came” in English, it implies that most of them did not. If I said the equivalent of “many of the people came” in Greek, it would imply that practically everyone did.
In this case, we are dealing with a Greek usage that divides the whole into two unequal parts, which are called the many and the few. In Greek you might say, “The many are on time, but the few are late.” The English equivalent is, “Most are on time, but some are late.” In Greek, “the many” and “the few” add up to everyone; just as in English, “most” and “some” add up to everyone.
In this parable, everyone was invited to the wedding, but the invitation went out in two waves. The respectable people were invited first, but they did not heed the invitation or they only pretended to accept. They lied, they pretended, but the result is that they didn’t show up. So the king told his slaves to send out the invitation again to the people who were not originally on the invitation list, and these people actually did show up. One of them was not wearing a wedding garment, so he was thrown out. In those days, the host furnished the wedding garments, so anyone who wasn’t properly dressed was very disrespectful.
In the end, everyone had been invited, but only a few were permitted to stay for the wedding. In other words, everyone is called, but some people refuse the invitation and are not chosen.
Another purpose of this parable is to prepare the disciples for the fact that when they evangelized the Jews, they would meet with disappointment for the most part, and that they should turn to the gentiles, whom they would otherwise consider unworthy. The bit about the man who avoided the distribution of the wedding garments means that the second group cannot presume acceptance, any more than the first group can presume acceptance because they are Abraham’s children. Just being called doesn’t mean you are chosen; you have to respond appropriately in your faith and conduct and then you are chosen.
Christians are presented with the problem that the gospel is Jewish, but Jews for the most part do not accept it:
The first explanation comes from Paul and parallels this parable. If the worthy had accepted the invitation, the unworthy would never have been invited; that means if the Jews had accepted the gospel, the gentiles would never have been evangelized. The Jews’ rejection of the gospel is not Jewish stubbornness, it is divine providence, so all can be saved.
The second explanation is that God wants to preserve the Jews as a witness to the One True God. The Jews were a very small and insignificant ethnic group in ancient times, yet they survive to this day… the only possible reason why this tiny ethnic group could survive when all those larger nations passed away is that they really were chosen by the One True God to bear witness to His existence and providence.
This parable does not mean that God calls a lot of people, picks over them, and keeps only a few. If that were true, the middle of the parable would have no meaning. It means that God calls everyone and gives them the power to respond—but to be chosen, we must respond to the call, using the power God gave us for that purpose.” Taken from Internet
“The many called embrace all who hear the gospel; the whole Jewish nation, and the Gentiles of every land where the gospel is preached. The chosen are those who accept
it.” Geneva Study Bible
“Many are called; few chosen – Many hear; few believe.” Wesley’s Notes
“The provision made for perishing souls in the gospel, is represented by a royal feast made by a king, with eastern liberality, on the marriage of his son. Our merciful God has not only provided food, but a royal feast, for the perishing souls of his rebellious creatures. There is enough and to spare, of every thing that can add to our present comfort and everlasting happiness, in the salvation of his Son Jesus Christ. The guests first invited were the Jews. When the prophets of the Old Testament prevailed not, nor John the Baptist, nor Christ himself, who told them the kingdom of God was at hand, the apostles and ministers of the gospel were sent, after Christ’s resurrection, to tell them it was come, and to persuade them to accept the offer. The reason why sinners come not to Christ and salvation by him, is, not because they cannot, but because they will not. Making light of Christ, and of the great salvation wrought out by him, is the damning sin of the world. They were careless. Multitudes perish for ever through mere carelessness, who show no direct aversion, but are careless as to their souls. Also the business and profit of worldly employments hinder many in closing with the Saviour. Both farmers and merchants must be diligent; but whatever we have of the world in our hands, our care must be to keep it out of our hearts, lest it come between us and Christ. The utter ruin coming upon the Jewish church and nation, is here represented. Persecution of Christ’s faithful ministers fills up the measure of guilt of any people. The offer of Christ and salvation to the Gentiles was not expected; it was such a surprise as it would be to wayfaring men, to be invited to a royal wedding-feast. The design of the gospel is to gather souls to Christ; all the children of God scattered abroad, Joh 10:16; 11:52. The case of hypocrites is represented by the guest that had not on a wedding-garment. It concerns all to prepare for the scrutiny; and those, and those only, who put on the Lord Jesus, who have a Christian temper of mind, who live by faith in Christ, and to whom he is all in all, have the wedding-garment. The imputed righteousness of Christ, and the sanctification of the Spirit, are both alike necessary. No man has the wedding-garment by nature, or can form it for himself.” Matthew Henry
“He openly exclaimed in the parable, "My Kingdom was being actively rejected by these leaders!" To drive this point home, He spoke of a king that planned the prince’s wedding. When preparations were ready, the king sent out messengers to call the guests. They rejected the invitation (22:3), and even harmed the messengers (22:4-6). Their insult was returned as the king sent judgment upon them (22:7) and extended the invitation to others in the same nation that had not previously been invited (22:8-9). Guests poured in, all respectful of the occasion and dressed (22:10). One man came in without proper dress for the occasion (a symbol of contempt for the host in that day) and the king singled him out (22:11-12). The king commanded that he be bound and cast out of the feast hungry for the insulting behavior (22:13). Jesus then closed the illustration with a popular ancient proverb, "Many are called, but few are chosen."
What was He saying? He was making the point to those who were rejecting Him that there was NO WAY for them to attain the blessing of fellowship with His Father except by honoring Him with proper respect. They were like the man without the wedding garb – they wanted "in" without respecting Jesus, and that simply couldn’t happen.
The proverbial statement is used three times in the Apocryphal book of 4 Ezra, and is used in a very wide context. In this case, the Gospel writer chose the words "called" (Greek: klay-tos, probably best translated "invited" in this passage) in place of the Hebrew or Aramaic term Jesus originally employed (it is hard to believe two Jews in the Temple would be speaking Koine Greek to each other!). For the word "chosen" the writer, under Divine direction of the Spirit chose the term "eklayktos" (akin to the word later used to denote "church" in the New Testament). This word simply means selected, but in this context probably is best translated in its general sense, "having been found of a quality that was desired." In other words, Jesus is saying:
"Many are invited, but only a few of those that have been invited have met the criteria of proper respect for the King to be fully accepted." Taken from Internet