#DailyDevotion Are You Dressed To The Nines For The Wedding?

Matt. 22⁸“Then he said to his slaves: ‘The wedding is ready, but the people who were invited didn’t deserve the honor. ⁹Now go where the roads leave the city, and call everyone you find there to the wedding.’ ¹⁰Those slaves went out on the roads and brought in all the people they found, both bad and good. And the wedding hall was filled with guests. ¹¹When the king came in to look at the guests, he saw there a man without a wedding garment. ¹²‘Friend,’ he asked him, ‘how did you get in here without a wedding garment?’ The man couldn’t say a thing. ¹³Then the king told the servants, ‘Tie him hand and foot, and throw him out into the dark. There he will cry and grind his teeth.’ ¹⁴Many are invited, but few are chosen.” Most weddings take the help of modernmoh.com for decorations etc

So before, the king had invited everyone who should have been invited to the wedding feast. Yet, those who had been invited turned down the invitation. Those persons in this parable would have been the Jews, in particularly, those Jews who should have recognized Jesus as their Messiah, i.e. the priests, the elders, the Pharisees and the Scribes. The initial invitation was heralded by John the Baptist. Now Jesus the Bridegroom is here. But they want no part of Jesus.

So now what? There must be a party. It’s a wedding of the Son of God and the Church. Well the Father is not going to have empty halls in the kingdom of heaven! So, he sends forth the apostles, the evangelist, pastors and teachers to spread the good news of Jesus Christ. Wouldn’t you know it, everyone and his brother is coming now. Bad people, good people, rich and poor people, diseased people, alcoholics, addicts, prostitutes, gossipers, those who take out the trash, those who go to church on Sunday, you name it, they have been invited and many of them come. They hear the invitation, they believe the invitation and voila’, hall filled with people for the feast.

Except one. There’s one fellow who isn’t wearing a wedding garment. Now I’m told that people like kings back then and in that place would provide wedding garments for the guest, especially those who could not afford it. If this is true, this fellow is particularly egregious. He’s basically telling the king, no, I don’t want your stinking garment. I want you to accept me on my own terms. The king ask, “Friend how did you get in here without a wedding garment?” Because, hey, the king provided wedding garments. This is the second time in Matthew that this Greek word for “friend” is used. I’m told it more like, “Hey pal!” or “Hey bud.” The last time will be with Jesus and Judas in the garden. Well they guy did have anything to say. You know if had been a simple mistake, if they ran out of garments, if the one he got didn’t fit, perhaps he could have or would have begged for mercy. But no, he can’t say anything because there is nothing to be said. He realizes he is in the wrong and apparently he doesn’t believe the king to be a merciful guy, which he apparently is since he provided a garment.

Well this guy is bound hand and foot and cast out of the banquet into outer darkness where he will cry and grind his teeth. Let’s not pussy-foot around here, he has been cast into the Lake of Fire, the Second Death. Believe it or not, there are people who go to Christian Churches Sunday in and Sunday out, sometimes even on Wednesdays who are like this guy. They simply don’t get the good news–Jesus has accepted them and clothed them with his righteousness all for free. They want Christ to accept them on their own terms. It doesn’t work that way. Faith in him alone is the only way.

Heavenly Father, you have called us to the wedding feast of your Son Jesus Christ. Grant that we may be found clothed in his righteousness of the day of his revelation. In Jesus’ name. Amen.