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The Parables
Of Matthew
It Matters To God
Matthew 22:1-14
Introduction:
When People Are Dying
I met John at Little League tryouts
on a February Saturday morning in 1989.
He arrived with his son Cory, a large-for-his-age 10-year-old
who was immediately noticed by all the coaches.
When we introduced ourselves, I found he had recently
moved to California from Plymouth, Minnesota to become the
Parks and Recreation Director for the City of Sunnyvale.
Cory was a year older than our son.
John and Carolyn’s daughter, Kelsey, was the same age
as our daughter.
That Saturday morning began a growing
friendship as our children played against and sometimes with
each other on various teams.
Our daughters spent lots of time with each other, sometimes
going to the mall with John for a session of what he called
power shopping.
My friendship with John
ended in 1996 when he died of cancer at the age of 50. I was one of 3 friends asked to speak at John’s
memorial service. Now,
more than ever before, I realize you find out a great deal
about a person when he knows he is dying.
When I saw John in the hospital, I saw him not as a
pastor (John was very active in his Lutheran church), but
as a friend. John was
far more concerned about his family than he was himself. For anyone who knew John, nothing other than
this would have been expected.
We talked much about them—reliving many events.
On our visits, however, the main priority was to pray.
You do find out a great deal about
people when they know they are dying. While we are all dying, I’m talking about that
watershed moment when the doctors tell you there isn’t anything
more that can be done. Everything
that came before that moment is increasingly illusory as it
slips away; everything that comes after grows more convincingly
real.
The
different ways people face that moment provides some interesting
observations. Some pass into eternity defying God. Others, by the end, welcome the release. One of the most interesting reactions
is the
person who attempts to convince you, and maybe themselves,
that they are acceptable to God. Life has been lived with a brash
self-confidence and the end is faced the same way.
·
I’ve lived a good life—certainly better than most.
·
When I get to heaven, I think the Lord will be glad to have me.
Others are more contemplative. There is an honest self-examination. They want to be sure about eternity. Some may even know that Jesus said, “For many
are invited, but few are chosen.” Most people understand that
when it comes to the issue of where eternity will be spent
that it matters to God.
The
ultimate issue of where we spend eternity is the focus of
our study as we continue in the Parables of Matthew.
When we move below the surface concerns of daily life,
we find that the end of life is an issue that is on most people’s
minds. The parable Jesus told brings the issue out
into the open as he concludes with a puzzling conclusion,
“For many are invited; but few are chosen.”
How would you respond
if you were told you didn’t have long to live? When
you hear Jesus say, “Many are invited (called), but few are
chosen,” how does that strike you?
At first reading, this seems very exclusive and prompts
many questions.
·
Why are so few chosen?
·
Doesn’t God want all
people to know and love Him?
·
Why would God want to
exclude anyone from heaven?
Let’s
look at the parable to see if it helps us to understand what
Jesus was saying.
The
Story
In
the teaching story Jesus told, He compares the kingdom of
heaven to a wedding celebration.
A king arranges for his son to be married and invites
his friends to come and share his joy. When the friends receive the invitation they
refuse to come! Jesus
immediately has His listeners’ undivided attention.
What friend would refuse an invitation to the wedding
of the prince? Unthinkable!
The
king doesn’t give up. He
sends more messengers to again announce the invitation.
“Dinner is ready. My
best livestock is prepared for the feast.
Come to the wedding banquet.”
This time some ignore the invitation.
Others kill the messengers.
The angry king sends soldiers to punish the murderers. By this time, those listening to the story have
to be asking, “Who in their right mind would kill a messenger
of the king?”
The
king still doesn’t give up.
There was still a wedding to be held.
He instructs his messengers to go and find any who
will come and invite them. That’s what the messengers did.
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.
Matthew 22:10
One
of the guests, however, attends without the proper clothing. As I read the story that doesn’t seem too unusual—the
guests were being pulled off the streets to attend. When the king arrives he immediately notices
this man.
Friend,
how did you get in here without wedding clothes? Matthew 22:12
The
man is speechless. I
think he has many reasons he could offer, but he says nothing.
He knows the wedding garment is required.
The king orders the man bounced from the party, bound
hand and foot, and thrown into darkness where there will be
weeping and gnashing of teeth. This certainly marked a sharp contrast to the
joy of attending a wedding feast.
Does this bother you
at all? The action seems very extreme. The punishment doesn’t seem to fit the crime.
Did this man miss the notice somewhere that coat and
tie were required? Now,
stop and think for a moment.
How
did the other guests find proper clothing?
The only way they could have the clothes is by
having them provided by the one who offered the invitation. Jesus would have known a rabbinical proverb
of the time telling of a king who told his servants to be
ready at any time to be called to a wedding feast.
As part of the invitation the king gave each person
a garment. Some grew tired of waiting, discarded the garment
and became involved with other interests. When the king announced the time for the celebration
had arrived, they weren’t ready.
Seen
in this new light, the man has defied the king.
He knows what is required, but he hasn’t complied. He tries to get in on his own terms and is thrown
out. It is then Jesus
says, “For many are invited, but few are chosen!”
The
Interpretation
How are we to interpret
what Jesus said? We must remember a parable has just one main
point. Each of the
specific details isn’t necessarily intended to have meaning.
Rather, the story is meant to highlight the one truth
being taught.
In
this parable it is clear the king represents God and the invited guests are the
people of Israel who are called by God. The obvious
thrust of the parable is the persistence of the king in extending
an invitation with the corresponding burden of response being
upon those who are invited.
God
first called His people through Abraham. His
people later went into captivity in Egypt for 400 years. God’s chosen people were delivered when Moses
led them out of captivity.
Through the prophet Hosea
God declared,
When
Israel was a child, I loved him, and out of Egypt I called
my son. But the more I called Israel, the further they
went from me. Hosea 11:1-2
The
wedding feast represented God’s promised blessing to Israel,
an illustration that everyone listening would have understood.
Through the years God had sent many prophets, but those
servants of God had been ignored, rejected and even killed,
as recently as John the Baptist.
Others
would now receive the invitation.
Some would see themselves as morally good; others,
morally bad. Both audiences were equally unworthy. One was no more acceptable to God than the other.
Anyone without the proper garment was not acceptable.
Many
are invited, but few are chosen.
It could simply mean that few choose to respond to
the invitation. After all, the kingdom of heaven is not at exclusive
club. All are invited,
but few take up the offer.
The wording that comes closest to literally translating
the original is, “Many are called, but few choose to come.”
This
is the call Moses extended to Israel when he said,
I have set before you life and death,
blessing and curses. Now
choose life, so that you and your children may live and that
you may love the Lord your God, listen to his voice and hold
fast to him. Deuteronomy
30:19-20
Jesus
sounds His call to the kingdom and eternal life. He asks them to make a choice—to choose life.
Jesus’ call to us always comes before
our decision to follow. He told His disciples,
You
did not choose me, but I chose you…
John 15:16
The
gospels unfold a three-year saga as the disciples struggle
to be willing to choose their chosen-ness.
The
Crucial Element
The
crucial element in the story, then, for us is the wedding
garment. “What is the wedding garment? Why was this man thrown out?” He had
already been called to the feast.
He had actually shown up, doing better than the so-called
friends who had refused the invitation!
Nevertheless, he was missing the one thing the king
required. So, whatever
Jesus had in mind, we know that it is essential to being chosen.
The
garment is God’s righteousness given to those who repent of
sin and ask God for salvation in Jesus.
Since Cain first attempted to be please God by offering
the sacrifice he wanted to bring rather than the sacrifice
for which God had asked, people have tried to come to the
Lord on their own terms. They
fellowship with believers, join the church, become active
in leadership, give generously and tell of their devotion
to God. But, if it
is only on their self-declared terms as a way to earn God’s
favor, they are walking on dangerous ground.
One of the most sobering passages in the Bible tells
how people who are doing many good things have obviously missed
the most important one. Near the close of The Sermon On The Mount Jesus
said,
Not
everyone who says to me, “Lord, Lord,” will enter the kingdom
of heaven, but
only he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. Many will say to me on that day, “Lord, Lord,
did we not prophesy in your name, and in your name drive out
demons and perform many miracles?”
Then I will tell them plainly, “I never knew you.
Away from me, you evildoers!” Matthew 7:21-23
Many
of those listening to Jesus speak would have known Isaiah
61:10. It is a beautiful verse as Isaiah testifies,
I
delight greatly in the Lord; my soul rejoices in my God. For he has clothed me with
garments of salvation and arrayed me in a robe of righteousness…” Isaiah
61:10
Sincere
Jews knew that, contrary to the man-made, legalistic requirements
of their rabbis, God not only required inner righteousness
but He also offered it as a gift. Jesus’ point is boldly simple:
The gift only needs to be
accepted to be prepared for the wedding.
The
Application
“But why so few?” is the question I still ask. This
phrase communicates the Biblical tension between the sovereignty of God and man’s choice
concerning salvation and righteousness.
The balance is clearly tilted toward God. It is probably a 95/5 ratio. 95% of salvation is God’s action. 5% is our response. That 5%, however, determines how much of the
95% we are able to receive. God calls us and chooses us. He created us for Himself. He sets
us free to respond, but we must respond.
John
MacArthur provides understanding when he writes,
But
few of those who heard the call were willing to accept it
and thereby be among the chosen.
The gospel invitation is sent to everyone, because
it is not the Father’s will that a single person be excluded
from His kingdom and perish in the darkness of hell (2 Peter
3:9). But not everyone
wants God, and many who claim to want Him do not want Him
on His terms. Those who are saved enter God’s kingdom because
of their willing acceptance of His sovereign, gracious provision. Those who are lost are excluded from the kingdom
because of their willing rejection of that sovereign grace.
Our part may be small compared to God’s,
but the response of our choice is crucial—eternally crucial!
Conclusion:
Are You Among The Few?
The last time I visited my friend John was the day before he died. He knew his hours were few. We talked about many things. I recalled how
he always had a newspaper in his back pocket.
We talked about our families.
We talked about how he would challenge a player with
his familiar, “Bear down,” while I was encouraging that same
player to relax. We also prayed again that day. As he prayed
he thanked God that he had been chosen and was looking forward
to being with him in heaven—soon.
You
really can tell a great deal about a person when he knows
he is dying. The biggest thing you can tell is if he or she
has responded to the invitation to the wedding by putting
on the wedding garment of righteousness provided by the king.
Many are invited, but few are chosen.
The question is, “Are you among the few?”
It matters to God where you will spend eternity. He provided the way. All you need to do is accept the gift of His righteousness.
Closing Thought: If you have settled the issue about where
you will spend eternity, you now have the privilege of inviting
others to go to heaven with you. One of the core beliefs of
Discovery Church is that God expects us to find people who
are without Christ and lost. Because we believe this, we are
committed to bringing as many people as possible with us to
heaven. Is there someone you know—right now—you should find
a way to talk to about where they plan to spend eternity?
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