“Jesus spoke a parable, and said, the kingdom of heaven is like a king, which made a marriage for his son, and sent his servants to call them that were bidden to the wedding: and they would not come. Again, he sent other servants, saying, tell them which are bidden, behold, I have prepared my dinner: come unto the marriage. But they made light of [it], and went their ways, one to his farm, another to his merchandise: and the remnant took his servants, and slew [them]. When the king heard [thereof], he was wroth: and he sent his armies, and destroyed those murderers, and burned their city. Then said he to his servants, the wedding is ready.
“Go into the highways, and as many as you find, bid to the marriage. So those servants went into the highways, and gathered as many as they found, both bad and good: and the wedding was furnished with guests. When the king came, he saw a man without a wedding garment: he said unto him, friend, how came you in not having a wedding garment? He was speechless. The king said to the servants, bind him, and cast [him] into outer darkness; there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth. For many are called, but few [are] chosen” (Mt. 22:1-14).
Jesus is saying the kingdom is like a wedding banquet a king has prepared for his son.
In the time of Jesus, invitations to weddings were sent in advance, and those invited knew they must be ready at a moments notice.
When preparations are completed, people drop everything to get to the dinner.
The host experiences great shame from “no shows.” Why did those in Jesus’ story refuse to come?
The first group “made light of it” and chose to do something else; farming and business.
They were not evil activities, but they were a higher priority. The next group hated the source of the invitation and killed the messengers.
The king was determined to honor his son and not let the efforts of wedding preparations be for nothing. He chooses a new group.
He gathers good and bad people who are willing to come from unlikely places. The banquet is filled with people wearing wedding attire that the host supplied.
When the king enters and finds a man without a wedding garment, he inquires why he is not properly attired. The man is speechless and the king has him bound and thrown into outer darkness.
Jesus concludes by saying “many are called but few are chosen.”
Who is this ill clad participant and why such harsh treatment? This man was a part of the first group who was invited, and decided it was not important because he was so busy.
However, when he found out the king was displeased, he decided to run down to the wedding and make a quick appearance.
He had just come from his farm and did not consider this supper significant enough to change out of his work clothes. He again insulted the king by inferring what mattered to the king did not matter to him. It cost him his life.
The application of this is simple: if you are too busy for God it could cost you your life.
You might say, “I would like to go to church and hear God’s word, and go to prayer meetings, and read my Bible; I would like to serve God and give my time for the cause of Christ, and move in the power of the Holy Spirit and live a separated life; I would like to — but — we have baseball practice, soccer practices, dance lessons, football games, college sports on television, the NFL, NBA and the PTA — we have booster club, Lions club, Masonic lodge, Christmas shopping, Thanksgiving dinner and Halloween parties galore — we have got New Years Eve celebrations, spring break, summer camps, summer vacations, movies and plays, friends on MySpace and Facebook, computer games, Bridge Club, psychotherapy, band concerts and, Sunday is our family day to rest from all the important things we did all week.
“So, I will serve God when I get time. But right now I am busy.”
Remember the consequences for being too busy: “Cast him out…”
Jesus can work with frail and faulty people, however, he cannot work with busy people. People that are frail and foolish just need to keep showing up and they will get help. The busy person is hopeless because everything else takes precedence.
We must learn to unencumber ourselves from nonessentials, and take an inventory of our priorities. Jesus must be first. Every activity mentioned was not evil.
However, they keep you out of the kingdom of God; not because the deeds were evil, but because they were of more value.
The person sent to outer darkness had received the invitation, accepted, backed out, and then tried to “slip-in” at the last minute with no preparation or devotion to the occasion; he just wanted a free meal.
Do not take a chance on last minute resolutions, they may not work out so well.
The next time you say, “gosh, I’m so busy”, you might want to examine your priorities.
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“Jesus spoke a parable, and said, the kingdom of heaven is like a king, which made a marriage for his son, and sent his servants to call them that were bidden to the wedding: and they would not come. Again, he sent other servants, saying, tell them which are bidden, behold, I have prepared my dinner: come unto the marriage. But they made light of [it], and went their ways, one to his farm, another to his merchandise: and the remnant took his servants, and slew [them]. When the king heard [thereof], he was wroth: and he sent his armies, and destroyed those murderers, and burned their city. Then said he to his servants, the wedding is ready.
“Go into the highways, and as many as you find, bid to the marriage. So those servants went into the highways, and gathered as many as they found, both bad and good: and the wedding was furnished with guests. When the king came, he saw a man without a wedding garment: he said unto him, friend, how came you in not having a wedding garment? He was speechless. The king said to the servants, bind him, and cast [him] into outer darkness; there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth. For many are called, but few [are] chosen” (Mt. 22:1-14).
Jesus is saying the kingdom is like a wedding banquet a king has prepared for his son.
In the time of Jesus, invitations to weddings were sent in advance, and those invited knew they must be ready at a moments notice.
When preparations are completed, people drop everything to get to the dinner.
The host experiences great shame from “no shows.” Why did those in Jesus’ story refuse to come?
The first group “made light of it” and chose to do something else; farming and business.
They were not evil activities, but they were a higher priority. The next group hated the source of the invitation and killed the messengers.
The king was determined to honor his son and not let the efforts of wedding preparations be for nothing. He chooses a new group.
He gathers good and bad people who are willing to come from unlikely places. The banquet is filled with people wearing wedding attire that the host supplied.
When the king enters and finds a man without a wedding garment, he inquires why he is not properly attired. The man is speechless and the king has him bound and thrown into outer darkness.
Jesus concludes by saying “many are called but few are chosen.”
Who is this ill clad participant and why such harsh treatment? This man was a part of the first group who was invited, and decided it was not important because he was so busy.
However, when he found out the king was displeased, he decided to run down to the wedding and make a quick appearance.
He had just come from his farm and did not consider this supper significant enough to change out of his work clothes. He again insulted the king by inferring what mattered to the king did not matter to him. It cost him his life.
The application of this is simple: if you are too busy for God it could cost you your life.
You might say, “I would like to go to church and hear God’s word, and go to prayer meetings, and read my Bible; I would like to serve God and give my time for the cause of Christ, and move in the power of the Holy Spirit and live a separated life; I would like to — but — we have baseball practice, soccer practices, dance lessons, football games, college sports on television, the NFL, NBA and the PTA — we have booster club, Lions club, Masonic lodge, Christmas shopping, Thanksgiving dinner and Halloween parties galore — we have got New Years Eve celebrations, spring break, summer camps, summer vacations, movies and plays, friends on MySpace and Facebook, computer games, Bridge Club, psychotherapy, band concerts and, Sunday is our family day to rest from all the important things we did all week.
“So, I will serve God when I get time. But right now I am busy.”
Remember the consequences for being too busy: “Cast him out…”
Jesus can work with frail and faulty people, however, he cannot work with busy people. People that are frail and foolish just need to keep showing up and they will get help. The busy person is hopeless because everything else takes precedence.
We must learn to unencumber ourselves from nonessentials, and take an inventory of our priorities. Jesus must be first. Every activity mentioned was not evil.
However, they keep you out of the kingdom of God; not because the deeds were evil, but because they were of more value.
The person sent to outer darkness had received the invitation, accepted, backed out, and then tried to “slip-in” at the last minute with no preparation or devotion to the occasion; he just wanted a free meal.
Do not take a chance on last minute resolutions, they may not work out so well.
The next time you say, “gosh, I’m so busy”, you might want to examine your priorities.
