SEEKING / REJECTING GRACE: MARRIAGE OF THE KING'S SON
(Message by Tanny Keng)
1. Seeking / Rejecting Grace
a) The parables of the Workers in the Vineyard and the Marriage of the King’s Son illustrate the kindness and mercy of God. Workers waiting for jobs in the vineyard, and a King's invitation rejected, show us that we need to seek God’s grace and say yes to God when he seeks us. The second parable also illustrates the wrath of God (Matthew 22:1-14).
2. Marriage Of The King’s Son
Matthew 22:1-6
“1 Jesus spoke to them again in parables. He said: 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. 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 all is ready. Come to the wedding banquet!' 5 But they took no notice. One went away to his field and another to his business. 6 The others seized his servants, mistreated and killed them.”
a) It shows the grace and goodness of God. His goodness, however, is spurned. Some simply ignore his kind invitation. Others answer the invitation with malice and violence toward those who bring it. Similar atrocities took place in the parable of the wicked tenant farmers, recorded in the previous chapter (Matthew 21:33-46). There Jesus indicates that he is thinking in particular of the rejection of God’s grace —and of the Christ — by the Jewish religious leaders. However we find everywhere those who ignore God’s invitation, and even those who respond to it with persecution and violence against God’s servants and messengers.
Matthew 22:7-10
“7 The king was furious. He sent his army and destroyed those murderers and burnt their city. 8 Then he said to his servants, 'The wedding banquet is ready, but those I invited did not deserve to come. 9 So go to the street corners and invite to the banquet anyone you may find.' 10 So the servants went out into the streets and gathered all the people they could find, the bad along with the good. The wedding hall was filled with guests.”
a) Its shows the wrath and severity of God. The king in this parable represents God. The king was angry and he ordered his armies to destroy those who rejected his invitation, and to burn down their city. This is very likely a reference to the destruction of Jerusalem which was to happen circa AD 70. However it is certainly more widely applicable to the destruction of all ungodly at the end of the world (2 Thessalonians 1:6-10).
Matthew 22:11-14
“11 But when the king came in to see the guests, he noticed a man there who was not dressed in wedding clothes. 12 He asked, 'Friend, how did you enter here without wedding clothes?' The man had no answer. 13 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.' 14 Many indeed are called; few however are chosen.”
a) It shows the conditional nature of God’s grace. In this part of the parable we come across something that we might not have expected. Here we find a man who accepted the king’s invitation, yet the king treated him as one who had rejected it! How can this be?
b) When we look carefully at this parable, we find the king punishing those who slighted his invitation. However not all slighted or rejected his invitation in the same way.
c) When we examine the matter, we find three ways the invitation was rejected:
i) First there were those who ignored the invitation.
ii) Second there were those who answered it with violence.
iii) Third there was one who accepted it disrespectfully.
d) This man had not ignored the invitation, nor had he responded with violence. He had accepted the invitation and come to the feast. Yet he was cast out and punished just as severely as those who had rejected the invitation. Why? The king noticed that the man was not dressed for the occasion. When asked why, the man had no answer. The king was insulted and made angry by this man’s disrespect for the king’s son, in whose honor the guests had assembled. This shows us that whilst God’s invitation is extended to everyone and anyone, no one can accept it on their own terms. The invitation is conditional, and if you don't take care to meet the conditions, then you are treated as one who has rejected God’s invitation.
e) Jesus finished the parable with the comment, "Many are called but few are chosen" (Matthew 22:14). The invitation of God goes far and wide, but only those who accept it on God’s terms will be privileged to enter heaven.
The End ...
1. Seeking / Rejecting Gracea) The parables of the Workers in the Vineyard and the Marriage of the King’s Son illustrate the kindness and mercy of God. Workers waiting for jobs in the vineyard, and a King's invitation rejected, show us that we need to seek God’s grace and say yes to God when he seeks us. The second parable also illustrates the wrath of God (Matthew 22:1-14).
2. Marriage Of The King’s Son
Matthew 22:1-6
“1 Jesus spoke to them again in parables. He said: 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. 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 all is ready. Come to the wedding banquet!' 5 But they took no notice. One went away to his field and another to his business. 6 The others seized his servants, mistreated and killed them.”
a) It shows the grace and goodness of God. His goodness, however, is spurned. Some simply ignore his kind invitation. Others answer the invitation with malice and violence toward those who bring it. Similar atrocities took place in the parable of the wicked tenant farmers, recorded in the previous chapter (Matthew 21:33-46). There Jesus indicates that he is thinking in particular of the rejection of God’s grace —and of the Christ — by the Jewish religious leaders. However we find everywhere those who ignore God’s invitation, and even those who respond to it with persecution and violence against God’s servants and messengers.
Matthew 22:7-10
“7 The king was furious. He sent his army and destroyed those murderers and burnt their city. 8 Then he said to his servants, 'The wedding banquet is ready, but those I invited did not deserve to come. 9 So go to the street corners and invite to the banquet anyone you may find.' 10 So the servants went out into the streets and gathered all the people they could find, the bad along with the good. The wedding hall was filled with guests.”
a) Its shows the wrath and severity of God. The king in this parable represents God. The king was angry and he ordered his armies to destroy those who rejected his invitation, and to burn down their city. This is very likely a reference to the destruction of Jerusalem which was to happen circa AD 70. However it is certainly more widely applicable to the destruction of all ungodly at the end of the world (2 Thessalonians 1:6-10).
Matthew 22:11-14
“11 But when the king came in to see the guests, he noticed a man there who was not dressed in wedding clothes. 12 He asked, 'Friend, how did you enter here without wedding clothes?' The man had no answer. 13 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.' 14 Many indeed are called; few however are chosen.”
a) It shows the conditional nature of God’s grace. In this part of the parable we come across something that we might not have expected. Here we find a man who accepted the king’s invitation, yet the king treated him as one who had rejected it! How can this be?
b) When we look carefully at this parable, we find the king punishing those who slighted his invitation. However not all slighted or rejected his invitation in the same way.
c) When we examine the matter, we find three ways the invitation was rejected:
i) First there were those who ignored the invitation.
ii) Second there were those who answered it with violence.
iii) Third there was one who accepted it disrespectfully.
d) This man had not ignored the invitation, nor had he responded with violence. He had accepted the invitation and come to the feast. Yet he was cast out and punished just as severely as those who had rejected the invitation. Why? The king noticed that the man was not dressed for the occasion. When asked why, the man had no answer. The king was insulted and made angry by this man’s disrespect for the king’s son, in whose honor the guests had assembled. This shows us that whilst God’s invitation is extended to everyone and anyone, no one can accept it on their own terms. The invitation is conditional, and if you don't take care to meet the conditions, then you are treated as one who has rejected God’s invitation.
e) Jesus finished the parable with the comment, "Many are called but few are chosen" (Matthew 22:14). The invitation of God goes far and wide, but only those who accept it on God’s terms will be privileged to enter heaven.
Comments
Post a Comment