Summary: "For many are called, but few are chosen." Does this verse make you a little nervous?

Parable of the King’s Son’s Wedding

Want to read you a verse and then ask you a question

 Matt 22:14 "For many are called, but few are chosen."

 Does this verse make you a little nervous? Why is that?

 Want to look at this section of scripture to see if there is truly is a need for us to be apprehensive about being included in the “few” that are chosen

This is another of the parables of Jesus and comes under the classification of a Parable of Judgment

 These parables are called Parables of Judgment because they usually end with “bad news” for someone

Matt22:1 Jesus spoke to them again in parables, saying: 2"The kingdom of heaven is like a king who prepared a wedding banquet for his son.

 Can’t help but get the impression from God’s word that He likes to party

 In OT has its annual feasts; in the NT were have the Lord’s Supper, and on Christ’s return, we have the marriage supper of the Lamb

3He sent his servants to those who had been invited to the banquet to tell them to come, but they refused to come.

 Matthew was primarily written to the Jews so these invitations have to be viewed in the context of Jewish history

Matt 22:4 "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 everything is ready. Come to the wedding banquet.' 5"But they paid no attention and went off--one to his field, another to his business

 Okay, so what do we begin to see here…who is leaning over backwards to include Israel in this party

 But it gets worse

6The rest seized his servants mistreated them and killed them.

 This has been the history of God’s dealing with Israel over 1200 years

 And here we see the Pharisees ignoring a direct invitation from Jesus

7The king was enraged. He sent his army and destroyed those murderers and burned their city.

 There is a time when the patience of God does run out, but not before he has given adequate warning of the consequences

 This happened to Jerusalem in 70 AD under Titus

 Matt 21:43: “Therefore I tell you, the kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to a nation producing the fruits of it.”

8"Then he said to his servants, 'The wedding banquet is ready, but those I invited did not deserve to come.

 “did not deserve to come” notice this statement. Whose fault is it that they are not included?

 God did not just drop the Jews after one bad experience

 This had been going on for centuries, with Moses, the prophets, John the Baptist, and now even Jesus himself for three and a half years

 Even after his death, God through the apostle Paul continued to reach out to the Jews, but eventually he too moved on

 In Acts 13:46, Paul and Barnabas said to the Jews of Antioch, “It was necessary that the word of God should be spoken to you first; but since you reject it, and judge yourselves unworthy of everlasting life, behold, we turn to the Gentiles.”

 Probably a better translation of the verse we read at the beginning would be, “Many are invited, but few refuse to come!”

So the banquet is all prepared, food, drink, servants, entertainment, what do you do, waste all the food and preparation time?

 No, you have a party

9Go to the street corners and invite to the banquet anyone you find.'10So 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.

 Notice to whom the invitation is extended – Both good and bad, so along with the good Baptists, Catholics, protestants, the low life, the trailer trash, pimps, prostitutes, the long haired riff-raff with their ghetto blasters are also invited

 by the end of the parable, there is no one who is not invited to the son’s wedding feast, Jew or Gentile, good or bad

 When God throws a party, it’s the biggest bash in town, there isn’t a single person who is left off the invitation list.

 “Many” truly are invited

 And the only thing that prevents anyone from attending the banquet is their own indifference or their own stubborn refusal to accept the invitation

 Notice also in the story there is no mention of anyone having to qualify to earn an invitation, it is simply a matter of accepting the invitation

But now we come to this unfortunate incident at the banquet

11"But when the king came in to see the guests, he noticed a man there who was not wearing wedding clothes.

 Now you might be forgiven for asking how the king expected the guests who had come from all over the place, from different socio-economic conditions would have the appropriate clothing for a wedding feast

 However the custom at the time was for the king to supply his guests with an appropriate garment

 All the guests had to do was to show up and put them on

 But here was this laid back guy who was happy with his tee shirt, shorts and flip flops

 When we lived in LA, there was a restaurant that no one dared to go to over-dressed

 If you wore a tie to this place they cut it off with a pair of scissors and hung it from the ceiling

 But this guy was cool, he shows up presents his invitation, refused the Armani jacket, he wants to flaunt his individuality and comes to the king’s feast on his own terms

 But their was something very special about these garments presented to the guests and this explains the Kings behaviour

12'Friend,' he asked, 'how did you get in here without wedding clothes?' The man was speechless. 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.'

 People usually wear designer labels to impress others with their wealth

 Tommy Hilfiger, Gucci, Versace, Ralph Lauren

 But when it come to the Wedding supper of the Lamb, none of these labels will count for anything

 There is only one label that will be recognized at that time, and we better be wearing it, otherwise we won’t like the consequences

 The reason is we can’t dress ourselves up good enough to be accepted by the Father

 There is only one label that is going to admit us into the Wedding banquet of the lamb

This label goes all the way back to the Garden of Eden

 What did God have to do to cover Adam and Eve’s nakedness when they sinned?

 Blood of an animal was spilt, the skin taken and used to make garments for them

 Who made the garments to cover their nakedness? Gen 3:21The LORD God made garments of skin for Adam and his wife and clothed them.

 Zech 3:1-5 Then he showed me Joshua the high priest standing before the angel of the LORD, and Satan standing at his right side to accuse him. 2 The LORD said to Satan, "The LORD rebuke you, Satan! The LORD, who has chosen Jerusalem, rebuke you! Is not this man a burning stick snatched from the fire?" 3 Now Joshua was dressed in filthy clothes as he stood before the angel. 4 The angel said to those who were standing before him, "Take off his filthy clothes." Then he said to Joshua, "See, I have taken away your sin, and I will put rich garments on you." 5 Then I said, "Put a clean turban on his head." So they put a clean turban on his head and clothed him, while the angel of the LORD stood by.

 Notice who provided the acceptable clothing

 Isa 61:10 I will greatly rejoice in the LORD, my soul shall be joyful in my God; for he hath clothed me with the garments of salvation, he hath covered me with the robe of righteousness, as a bridegroom decks himself with ornaments, and as a bride adorns herself with her jewels.

 Rom 13:14 Rather, clothe yourselves with the Lord Jesus Christ, and do not think about how to gratify the desires of the sinful nature.

 Part of that sinful nature, pride, wants to clothe ourselves

 Galatians 3:27 For all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ.

 Revelation 19:6-9 Then I heard what sounded like a great multitude, like the roar of rushing waters and like loud peals of thunder, shouting: "Hallelujah! For our Lord God Almighty reigns! Let us rejoice and be glad, and give him glory! For the wedding of the Lamb has come, and his bride has made herself ready. Fine linen, bright and clean, was given to her

 So what do these garments represent?

 They represent the righteousness of Jesus Christ which has been attributed to us and is used to cover up our sin so God can accept us

 if we think we can rock up to the wedding supper dressed in our own righteousness, we are in for a rude shock

 there are going to be bouncers on the door and unless that garment has the label, “the righteousness of Jesus Christ” on that label we will be bounced into outer darkness

So what conclusions can we draw from this Parable of Jesus

1) Nobody is ever kicked out who wasn’t already included!

 the first invited guests, the Israelites, the rich, the powerful, were the recipients of the kings favour

 the replacement guests, the low life, the drunks, the prostitutes, were the recipients of the Kings favour

 Even the one who refused the king’s garment was in the kings favour

 God in not mad at anyone, the invitation is extended to all – because they have all been accepted on the basis of Christ’s death and resurrection on our behalf

 God will is for all to celebrate with Him

 Judgment is pronounced only in the light of the acceptance or rejection of the invitation

2) Acceptance to the party rests on two simple truths – faith and grace

 God has paid the enormous price of inviting all to the party with His own death

 Evil is not the problem, sin is not the problem- both have been taken care of by Jesus death and resurrection

 God is able to extend grace because we have been washed clean by Christ’s blood and we have been clothed with Christ’s righteous garments

 But it is apparent that some are foolish enough not to want to even want to play the game of “faith” and “grace”

 They want acceptance on their own terms – their works, their standing in society

 The only thing that can possibly be a problem is a faithless non-acceptance

3) Hell remains totally unnecessary

 Hell may be an option, but it is only given after we have been given the option of sitting in heavenly places in Christ Jesus

 Hell is the nowhere reserved for those who do not accept their acceptance by grace

 How we are dressed will determine where we are seated in eternity - smoking or non-smoking!

 But its an entirely unnecessary outcome, because God has provided the means by which we can enter into eternity

So to go back to out original question, why are few chosen?

 Is it because we’re not good enough, or, we don’t measure up, or, we are not spiritual enough?

 No! The reason not many are chosen is because apparently there are knuckleheads out there who simply refuse to play the game of “faith” and “grace”

 God cannot make salvation easier for us, he done all the hard work for us

 If we are willing to accept the invitation and be clothed with the righteous garments of Jesus Christ there is no reason to fear not being numbered with the “Few”