Matthew 22:1-14 English Standard Version

The Parable of the Wedding Feast

1 And again Jesus spoke to them in parables, saying, 2 “The kingdom of heaven may be compared to a king who gave a wedding feast for his son, 3 and sent his servants to call those who were invited to the wedding feast, but they would not come. 4 Again he sent other servants, saying, ‘Tell those who are invited, “See, I have prepared my dinner, my oxen and my fat calves have been slaughtered, and everything is ready. Come to the wedding feast.”’ 5 But they paid no attention and went off, one to his farm, another to his business, 6 while the rest seized his servants, treated them shamefully, and killed them. 7 The king was angry, and he sent his troops and destroyed those murderers and burned their city. 8 Then he said to his servants, ‘The wedding feast is ready, but those invited were not worthy. 9 Go therefore to the main roads and invite to the wedding feast as many as you find.’ 10 And those servants went out into the roads and gathered all whom they found, both bad and good. So the wedding hall was filled with guests.

11 “But when the king came in to look at the guests, he saw there a man who had no wedding garment. 12 And he said to him, ‘Friend, how did you get in here without a wedding garment?’ And he was speechless. 13 Then the king said to the attendants, ‘Bind him hand and foot and cast him into the outer darkness. In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’ 14 For many are called, but few are chosen.”

Confusion can happen when the unbelieving read parables. They do not have the Holy Spirit to explain to them the will of the Father.

There will be those that hear the invitation and try to enter by their own understanding. It is their understanding to become a witness to the marriage, not a part of the wedding. They could not come dressed to be part of the wedding because they were not chosen and have no wedding attire, robes of righteousness.

These robes of righteousness are given to all that are betrothed to the Son, not because they are worthy, but because they are betrothed to the Son as chosen by the Father. We are dressed after the manner of a daughter who has nothing to offer but herself. The Father dresses his “daughters” in these robes. Men have a difficult time in identifying themselves as a bride which is classically seen as a woman’s role.

Galatians 3:28 There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is no male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.

Our earthly identity is stripped of us once we enter the family of God. None of us are what we were before we accepted Jesus by faith. We struggle with that because we still live in the world and we are still flesh and struggle with our very humanity.

Jesus, born of woman, fully man and fully God, did not allow His humanity to infect His Holiness.

Exodus 21:9 And if he have betrothed her unto his son, he shall deal with her after the manner of daughters.

It is my understanding that God would not ask anything of man which He would not do Himself. God is just. So those of us that have been redeemed by Jesus are now betrothed to Him by the Father and as such shall be treated as a daughter. The examples for that can be seen in the Jewish traditions.

Daughters own nothing.

Daughters inherit nothing.

Daughters live with their family until the bridegroom has prepared a home for them.

The bridegroom’s father determines when that home is properly prepared and tells the groom to go and receive his betrothed.

The tradition of men says a marriage is between one man and one woman, unless the man is King and then the King can have as many wives as He has been given.

1 Kings 11 says Solomon clung to these in love. He had 700 wives, who were princesses, and 300 concubines. To this I must admit, I joked about King Solomon being the wisest man. But the point here is that King So;omon was not forbidden, just forewarned. “Surely they will turn away your heart after their gods.” In his old age they did exactly that. The end result of Solomon’s failure to heed God’s warning was the division of Israel into the upper and lower kingdoms by his sons.

We who are betrothed to Jesus have not yet come to the wedding feast. We are not the wife and will not be until we have been translated into our incorruptible bodies, ones prepared in perfection, incapable of worshipping anyone or anything but our God.

Until that day, God the Father treats us like daughters. Loved, protected, and adorned as befitting His beloved.

Jesus paid with His life to redeem His betrothed. How many are covered? No one knows, not even Jesus but the Father alone who will some day say to His Son, “Go get your bride.”

Until that day; know that you are loved, protected and adorned.