Come to the Party
Come to the Party
Matthew 22: 1-14
Once more Jesus spoke to them in parables, saying: 2 “The kingdom of heaven may be compared to a king who gave a wedding banquet for his son.
3 He sent his slaves to call those who had been invited to the wedding banquet, but they would not come.
4 Again he sent other slaves, saying, ‘Tell those who have been invited: Look, I have prepared my dinner, my oxen and my fat calves have been slaughtered, and everything is ready; come to the wedding banquet.’
5 But they made light of it and went away, one to his farm, another to his business, 6 while the rest seized his slaves, mistreated them, and killed them.
7 The king was enraged. He sent his troops, destroyed those murderers, and burned their city.
8 Then he said to his slaves, ‘The wedding is ready, but those invited were not worthy.
9 Go therefore into the main streets, and invite everyone you find to the wedding banquet.’
10 Those slaves went out into the streets and gathered all whom they found, both good and bad, so 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 a wedding robe, 12 and he said to him, ‘Friend, how did you get in here without a wedding robe?’ And he was speechless.
13 Then the king said to the attendants, ‘Bind him hand and foot, and throw him into the outer darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’
14 For many are called, but few are chosen.”
Introduction
Every parable Jesus tells is a window into the heart of God, but this one is also a mirror held up to us.
It asks a simple, piercing question: when God invites you to the feast, what will you do?
As with the parable about the vineyard and the servants - which we discussed last week - Jesus tells this story in the last week of his life, in the temple courts, to the chief priests and elders — the very people who should have been first in line at God's table.
* And if you go back to last week’s parable, you will see some significant parallels with today’s parable.
And by the end of the parable, we discover that the invitation is wider than anyone expected, and the stakes are higher than anyone imagined.
Let's walk through it in three movements:
- the invitation refused
- the invitation extended, and
- the invitation examined.
I. The Invitation Refused (vv. 1-7)
A king throws a wedding feast for his son — the highest honor a subject could receive, an invitation any reasonable person would drop everything to accept.
He sends his servants to call those already invited.
They refuse to come.
He tries again — a second, more urgent summons: "the oxen and fat calves are killed, everything is ready."
Nothing is lacking.
Matthew 22: 1-14
Once more Jesus spoke to them in parables, saying: 2 “The kingdom of heaven may be compared to a king who gave a wedding banquet for his son.
3 He sent his slaves to call those who had been invited to the wedding banquet, but they would not come.
4 Again he sent other slaves, saying, ‘Tell those who have been invited: Look, I have prepared my dinner, my oxen and my fat calves have been slaughtered, and everything is ready; come to the wedding banquet.’
5 But they made light of it and went away, one to his farm, another to his business, 6 while the rest seized his slaves, mistreated them, and killed them.
7 The king was enraged. He sent his troops, destroyed those murderers, and burned their city.
8 Then he said to his slaves, ‘The wedding is ready, but those invited were not worthy.
9 Go therefore into the main streets, and invite everyone you find to the wedding banquet.’
10 Those slaves went out into the streets and gathered all whom they found, both good and bad, so 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 a wedding robe, 12 and he said to him, ‘Friend, how did you get in here without a wedding robe?’ And he was speechless.
13 Then the king said to the attendants, ‘Bind him hand and foot, and throw him into the outer darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’
14 For many are called, but few are chosen.”
Introduction
Every parable Jesus tells is a window into the heart of God, but this one is also a mirror held up to us.
It asks a simple, piercing question: when God invites you to the feast, what will you do?
As with the parable about the vineyard and the servants - which we discussed last week - Jesus tells this story in the last week of his life, in the temple courts, to the chief priests and elders — the very people who should have been first in line at God's table.
* And if you go back to last week’s parable, you will see some significant parallels with today’s parable.
And by the end of the parable, we discover that the invitation is wider than anyone expected, and the stakes are higher than anyone imagined.
Let's walk through it in three movements:
- the invitation refused
- the invitation extended, and
- the invitation examined.
I. The Invitation Refused (vv. 1-7)
A king throws a wedding feast for his son — the highest honor a subject could receive, an invitation any reasonable person would drop everything to accept.
He sends his servants to call those already invited.
They refuse to come.
He tries again — a second, more urgent summons: "the oxen and fat calves are killed, everything is ready."
Nothing is lacking.
The table is set.
And still, verse 5 says, "they paid no attention and went off, one to his farm, another to his business."
Notice — it isn't hatred that keeps them away.
It's not that the invitation offends them. It's that ordinary life crowds it out.
A field to tend.
A deal to close.
Good, respectable things become the very things that keep people from the feast.
That should unsettle us.
Most of us are not kept from God by scandal — we're kept from him by errands.
And still, verse 5 says, "they paid no attention and went off, one to his farm, another to his business."
Notice — it isn't hatred that keeps them away.
It's not that the invitation offends them. It's that ordinary life crowds it out.
A field to tend.
A deal to close.
Good, respectable things become the very things that keep people from the feast.
That should unsettle us.
Most of us are not kept from God by scandal — we're kept from him by errands.
We don’t avoid God’s invitation because we fear Him or hate Him.
We refuse God’s invitation because we are convinced that what we want and what we are doing is more important…
Then the parable takes a darker turn: some seize the servants, mistreat them, and kill them.
(Remember last week’s parable?)
The king's response is severe — he sends his armies and destroys those murderers and burns their city.
(Remember what the Pharisees said should happen to those who killed the king’s son last week?)
This is Jesus speaking prophetically, within earshot of the very leaders who would soon hand him over to be crucified, about a nation and a temple whose judgment was drawing near.
The refusal of the invitation is not a small thing. It has consequences that ripple through history.
II. The Invitation Extended (vv. 8-10)
Here the parable turns, and this is the gospel breaking through the story like light through a cracked door:
"The wedding feast is ready, but those invited were not worthy. Go therefore to the main roads and invite to the wedding feast as many as you find."
The servants go out into the streets and gather everyone they find, both bad and good, and the wedding hall is filled with guests.
Read that again: bad and good.
Not the deserving.
Not the respectable.
Not the ones who had earned a seat.
The king empties the highways and hedgerows to fill his son's wedding hall, and he does not run a background check at the door.
This is the scandal of grace.
The invitation that the religious insiders treated as an inconvenience is handed to the outsiders, the overlooked, the people who never imagined their names would be called.
If you have ever felt like you don't belong at God's table — too broken, too late, too far gone — this verse was written for you.
The king wants the hall full.
He is not looking for reasons to leave seats empty; he is looking for anyone willing to come.
III. The Invitation Examined (vv. 11-14)
And yet the parable doesn't end with the hall full and the music playing.
The king comes in to look at the guests, and he finds a man without a wedding garment.
He asks him, "Friend, how did you get in here without a wedding garment?"
We refuse God’s invitation because we are convinced that what we want and what we are doing is more important…
Then the parable takes a darker turn: some seize the servants, mistreat them, and kill them.
(Remember last week’s parable?)
The king's response is severe — he sends his armies and destroys those murderers and burns their city.
(Remember what the Pharisees said should happen to those who killed the king’s son last week?)
This is Jesus speaking prophetically, within earshot of the very leaders who would soon hand him over to be crucified, about a nation and a temple whose judgment was drawing near.
The refusal of the invitation is not a small thing. It has consequences that ripple through history.
II. The Invitation Extended (vv. 8-10)
Here the parable turns, and this is the gospel breaking through the story like light through a cracked door:
"The wedding feast is ready, but those invited were not worthy. Go therefore to the main roads and invite to the wedding feast as many as you find."
The servants go out into the streets and gather everyone they find, both bad and good, and the wedding hall is filled with guests.
Read that again: bad and good.
Not the deserving.
Not the respectable.
Not the ones who had earned a seat.
The king empties the highways and hedgerows to fill his son's wedding hall, and he does not run a background check at the door.
This is the scandal of grace.
The invitation that the religious insiders treated as an inconvenience is handed to the outsiders, the overlooked, the people who never imagined their names would be called.
If you have ever felt like you don't belong at God's table — too broken, too late, too far gone — this verse was written for you.
The king wants the hall full.
He is not looking for reasons to leave seats empty; he is looking for anyone willing to come.
III. The Invitation Examined (vv. 11-14)
And yet the parable doesn't end with the hall full and the music playing.
The king comes in to look at the guests, and he finds a man without a wedding garment.
He asks him, "Friend, how did you get in here without a wedding garment?"
The man is speechless.
He is bound and cast out.
At first this feels jarring, even unfair — wasn't this man just pulled off the street like everyone else?
But in the customs of the time, a king hosting such a feast would provide garments for guests who couldn't afford their own.
This man wasn't refused a robe; he refused to wear the one offered.
He wanted the banquet on his own terms — a seat at the table without surrendering to the King's provision.
This is Jesus telling us that grace is free, but it is not casual.
Being called to the feast is not the same as being clothed for it.
Many will come near the kingdom, sit in its shadow, enjoy its blessings, and still refuse the one thing the King actually asks: to be covered by what he provides rather than what we bring.
That's why Jesus closes with the sobering line that gives the whole parable its edge:
"For many are called, but few are chosen."
Conclusion — Come, and Come Clothed
Two failures sit side by side in this parable, and either one can keep us from the table.
The first is refusing the invitation altogether — letting the farm, the business, the noise of ordinary life crowd out the call of God.
The second is coming to the feast, but attempting to do so on our own terms — showing up without ever actually receiving what the King offers.
The good news is that the King is still sending servants into the streets today.
He is bound and cast out.
At first this feels jarring, even unfair — wasn't this man just pulled off the street like everyone else?
But in the customs of the time, a king hosting such a feast would provide garments for guests who couldn't afford their own.
This man wasn't refused a robe; he refused to wear the one offered.
He wanted the banquet on his own terms — a seat at the table without surrendering to the King's provision.
This is Jesus telling us that grace is free, but it is not casual.
Being called to the feast is not the same as being clothed for it.
Many will come near the kingdom, sit in its shadow, enjoy its blessings, and still refuse the one thing the King actually asks: to be covered by what he provides rather than what we bring.
That's why Jesus closes with the sobering line that gives the whole parable its edge:
"For many are called, but few are chosen."
Conclusion — Come, and Come Clothed
Two failures sit side by side in this parable, and either one can keep us from the table.
The first is refusing the invitation altogether — letting the farm, the business, the noise of ordinary life crowd out the call of God.
The second is coming to the feast, but attempting to do so on our own terms — showing up without ever actually receiving what the King offers.
The good news is that the King is still sending servants into the streets today.
He is still filling the hall.
He has not run out of patience, and he has not run out of room. But the parable will not let us stop at being invited.
It presses us further: Come — and come clothed in what he provides.
He has not run out of patience, and he has not run out of room. But the parable will not let us stop at being invited.
It presses us further: Come — and come clothed in what he provides.
The wedding garment is not our own righteousness stitched together from good intentions or good behavior.
It is the covering God himself supplies — offered freely, worn by faith, not manufactured by us.
The invitation is open to bad and good alike. The garment is offered to bad and good alike too.
The only question left is whether we'll wear it.
The table is set.
The music has started.
Will you come — and will you come as he asks you to come?
"Blessed are those who are invited to the marriage supper of the Lamb." — Revelation 19:9
It is the covering God himself supplies — offered freely, worn by faith, not manufactured by us.
The invitation is open to bad and good alike. The garment is offered to bad and good alike too.
The only question left is whether we'll wear it.
The table is set.
The music has started.
Will you come — and will you come as he asks you to come?
"Blessed are those who are invited to the marriage supper of the Lamb." — Revelation 19:9
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