Introduction
Two of Jesus’ parables have very similar themes. While each parable has unique aspects, they both deal with an powerful host inviting people to come in and attend a prepared feast, but for one reason or another the invited guests were generally not interested, made excuses, mocked the host, or in fact became hostile and violent to those who were sent to bid them to come. So let us first see what they say, and then next consider the spiritual implications that they hold for all of mankind.
Parable of the King’s Son’s Marriage Dinner (full text)
Matthew 22:1–14 , “¶ And Jesus answered and spake unto them again by parables, and said, The kingdom of heaven is like unto a certain king, which made a marriage for his son, And sent forth his servants to call them that were bidden to the wedding: and they would not come. Again, he sent forth other servants, saying, Tell them which are bidden, Behold, I have prepared my dinner: my oxen and [my] fatlings [are] killed, and all things are ready: come unto the marriage. But they made light of it, and went their ways, one to his farm, another to his merchandise. And the remnant took his servants, and entreated [them] spitefully, and slew [them]. But when the king heard [thereof], he was wroth: and he sent forth his armies, and destroyed those murderers, and burned up their city. Then saith he to his servants, The wedding is ready, but they which were bidden were not worthy. Go ye therefore into the highways, and as many as ye shall find, bid to the marriage. So those servants went out into the highways, and gathered together all as many as they found, both bad and good: and the wedding was furnished with guests. ¶And when the king came in to see the guests, he saw there a man which had not on a wedding garment: And he saith unto him, Friend, how camest thou in hither not having a wedding garment? And he was speechless. Then said the king to the servants, Bind him hand and foot, and take him away, and cast [him] into outer darkness; there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth.¶ For many are called, but few [are] chosen.“
Parable of the Great Supper (full text)
Luke 14:15–24 , “¶Then said he unto him, A certain man made a great supper, and bade many: And sent his servant at supper time to say to them that were bidden, Come; for all things are now ready. And they all with one [consent] began to make excuse. The first said unto him, I have bought a piece of ground, and I must needs go and see it: I pray thee have me excused. And another said, I have bought five yoke of oxen, and I go to prove them: I pray thee have me excused. And another said, I have married a wife, and therefore I cannot come. So that servant came, and shewed his lord these things. Then the master of the house being angry said to his servant, Go out quickly into the streets and lanes of the city, and bring in hither the poor, and the maimed, and the halt, and the blind. And the servant said, Lord, it is done as thou hast commanded, and yet there is room. And the lord said unto the servant, Go out into the highways and hedges, and compel [them] to come in, that my house may be filled. For I say unto you, That none of those men which were bidden shall taste of my supper.“
An Exposition of the Two Parables
In both parables, Jesus is instructing us that God the Father has ordained that His Beloved Son, the LORD Jesus Christ, as the Bridegroom, would have a Wedding and Marriage Feast, wherein the Church, the Body of Christ, the true Believers, from throughout all the world throughout all time would be the Bride, exactly as we are told in Revelation:
Revelation 19:7-9, “Let us be glad and rejoice, and give honour to him: for the marriage of the Lamb is come, and his wife hath made herself ready. And to her was granted that she should be arrayed in fine linen, clean and white: for the fine linen is the righteousness of saints. ¶And he saith unto me, Write, Blessed [are] they which are called unto the marriage supper of the Lamb. And he saith unto me, These are the true sayings of God.“
Revelation 21:2, “And I John saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband.”
Revelation 21:9&10, “¶And there came unto me one of the seven angels which had the seven vials full of the seven last plagues, and talked with me, saying, Come hither, I will shew thee the bride, the Lamb’s wife. And he carried me away in the spirit to a great and high mountain, and shewed me that great city, the holy Jerusalem, descending out of heaven from God,“
In both parables, invitations were sent out to an initial list of invitees, and that initial list of those bidden allegorically represented National Israel (the Nation within which Jesus was specifically speaking at the time). National Israel did not accept Jesus as the Messiah. They either scoffed at the idea that a “carpenter’s son”, a man from Nazareth and Galilee could possibly be the promised Messiah or they made excuses for not believing in Him. Then the witnesses of Jesus’ miracles were cast out of the synagogues, and the majority of National Israel, up to and including the High Priest, not only aided and abetted the execution of Jesus, but they joined in scourging and even stoning to death those messengers who later brought the Gospel of Salvation (who in fact were simply bidding them to come to Jesus as LORD God and King and to partake of that consummate wedding feast that would take place at the end of the world). God declared that they would be destroyed, and never enter into Heaven, and, as a result, that the Gospel would henceforth go out to all the Gentile world, bringing in everyone (including a remnant of National Israel saved by Grace) who hunger and thirst after righteousness. God the Father would draw them all to Jesus by The Holy Spirit through the “hearing” of the Word. And this all began at Pentecost in 33 AD after Jesus’ Atoning Sacrifice, Resurrection, and Ascension where He now sits at the Right Hand of God the Father.
The First Parable: “Ye Must be Born Again” (John 3:7)
Beating and Killing the Servants/Messengers
The first part of the parable, where the “And the remnant took his servants, and entreated [them] spitefully, and slew [them]” can be related to the warnings to the chief priests and Pharisees of National Israel, and likened to Jesus’ Parable of the Vineyard Owner that we read about in Matthew 21:33-46, as well as Jesus’ more direct denunciation of the scribes and Pharisees as hypocrites in Matthew 23:29-39 for beating, imprisoning, and killing the prophets whom God had sent to them. [For more on this refusal to come to the wedding feast of the king, please see the Typology of Queen Vashti in the detailed exposition of the Book of Esther]
The Wedding Feast/Marriage Feast
Without any doubt this parable of Jesus in referring to the “marriage/wedding feast/dinner” points us directly back to Revelation 19:7-9, “Let us be glad and rejoice, and give honour to him: for the marriage of the Lamb is come, and his wife hath made herself ready. And to her was granted that she should be arrayed in fine linen, clean and white: for the fine linen is the righteousness of saints. ¶And he saith unto me, Write, Blessed [are] they which are called unto the marriage supper of the Lamb. And he saith unto me, These are the true sayings of God.“
The Man Without a Wedding Garment
Interestingly, the first parable, Matthew 22:1–14, ended with a man who arrived at the wedding feast without a wedding garment. Not only was the man denied entry, but we read of his condemnation by the wrathful king, “Then said the the king to the servants, Bind him hand and foot, and take him away, and cast [him] into outer darkness; there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth.”
What happened there? What was the big deal? When we compare scripture with scripture it becomes clear what this part of the parable is about.
“Wedding Garment“?
From Revelation 19:7-9 above God makes clear that the “wedding garment” represents the robe of Christ’s righteousness imputed to the believer that covers all his or her sins. “…arrayed in fine linen, clean and white: for the fine linen is the righteousness of saints.”
And in order to have the robes of Christ’s Righteousness one has to be “born again”. In John 3:3, “Jesus answered and said unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.”
And that helps to explain why when the servants were told to “…Go ye therefore into the highways, and as many as ye shall find, bid to the marriage. So those servants went out into the highways, and gathered together all as many as they found, both bad and good: and the wedding was furnished with guests.” Those who are born again of the Holy Spirit are spiritually arrayed with that wedding garment are therefore made “good”, and those without a wedding garment remain “bad”.
And this also explains the meaning of “¶ For many are called, but few [are] chosen.“ Those who have the Wedding Garments are not just called, but they are also Chosen. They must be the Elect of God. God chooses, we do not.
“Friend“?
Next, please note that the king addressed the man as “Friend“, from the original Greek word, ἑταῖρος (hetairos)G2083, which means “acquaintance” or “comrade” and most certainly implies close “familiarity”. But we should be careful to note that this word for “friend” is used sparingly in the Bible, only four times and only in the Book of Matthew (and each of the three times that it is found in the singular, it is also capitalized in the King James translation). And, with further scrutiny, we can see that this word translated in English as “Friend” does not have the same positive connotation that one might initially think, in fact just the opposite, it is quite negative.
The connotation is negative, because, most notably, this particular word that is translated as “Friend” just so happens to also be the exact same word that Jesus used in addressing Judas (upon being betrayed by Judas with a kiss) as we read in Matthew 26:48-50, ¶Now he (Judas) that betrayed him (Jesus) gave them a sign, saying, Whomsoever I shall kiss, that same is he: hold him fast. And forthwith he (Judas) came to Jesus, and said, Hail, master; and kissed him. ¶And Jesus said unto him, Friend (ἑταῖρος (hetairos))G2083, wherefore art thou come? Then came they, and laid hands on Jesus, and took him.” And also note how well that compares with Psalm 41:9, “Yea, mine own familiar friend (אִישׁ (‘îš))H376, in whom I trusted, which did eat of my bread, hath lifted up his heel against me.” [[Note that this word in the original Hebrew, which is translated here as “friend” (אִישׁ (‘îš))H376, is almost always (more than one thousand times) translated in the Bible simply as “man“. So, although it was a bit misleading for the King James translators to have translated this Hebrew word into English as “friend”, it nonetheless certainly served God’s purpose to help the reader to relate to it as a prefigurement of Judas Iscariot’s betrayal of Jesus.]]
In English we have only one word for “friend”, but in the Greek there is clearly a distinction between the meanings of the two words found in the New Testament that have been both been translated into English as “friend”. The other word in the original Greek is φίλος (philos)G5384 that was translated into English as “friend” is found in the following verses (and these are just a small sample)”:
John 15:13-16, “Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends. G5384 Ye are my friends, G5384 if ye do whatsoever I command you. Henceforth I call you not servants; for the servant knoweth not what his lord doeth: but I have called you friends; G5384 for all things that I have heard of my Father I have made known unto you. Ye have not chosen me, but I have chosen you, and ordained you, that ye should go and bring forth fruit, and [that] your fruit should remain: that whatsoever ye shall ask of the Father in my name, he may give it you.“
Remember in Matthew 7:21-23, where Jesus spoke regarding Judgment Day, “¶Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven. Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works? And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity.“
Luke 6:46, “¶And why call ye me, Lord, Lord, and do not the things which I say?”
Luke 13:23-28, “Then said one unto him, Lord, are there few that be saved? And he said unto them, Strive to enter in at the strait gate: for many, I say unto you, will seek to enter in, and shall not be able. When once the master of the house is risen up, and hath shut to the door, and ye begin to stand without, and to knock at the door, saying, Lord, Lord, open unto us; and he shall answer and say unto you, I know you not whence ye are: Then shall ye begin to say, We have eaten and drunk in thy presence, and thou hast taught in our streets. But he shall say, I tell you, I know you not whence ye are; depart from me, all ye workers of iniquity. There shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth, when ye shall see Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob, and all the prophets, in the kingdom of God, and you [yourselves] thrust out.“
Speaking of these “friends“, as described above in John 15:13…when we look back in the Old Testament at the original Hebrew word that is translated into English as “friends” by the King James translators in Zechariah 13:6, we can find something very interesting. “And [one] shall say unto him, What are these wounds in thine hands? Then he shall answer, [Those] with which I was wounded (smitten) [in] the house of my friends.” In the original Hebrew, the word that is shown here as “friends” is the word, אָהַב (‘āhaḇ)H157, which means “beloved“. In the King James Bible, אָהַב (‘āhaḇ)H157 is translated in following manner: love (169x), lover(s) (19x), friend(s) (12x), beloved (5x), liketh (1x), lovely (1x), loving (1x). It is a very deep and intimate love. Therefore, this Messianic verse is telling us that Jesus is saying that He was wounded in the house of His “beloved“. Note how this is so very consistent with what we are told in Isaiah 53:5, “But he [was] wounded (desecrated) for our transgressions, [he was] bruised (broken) for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace [was] upon him; and with his stripes we are healed.“
That “man” is an allegorical representative of all those who take upon themselves the name of Jesus Christ, who go to a “Christian” church and are generally associated with the believers, and who are confident that their sins are covered and that they are therefore qualified to be welcomed into Heaven. However, in fact, they have never been “Born Again by the Spirit“, and thus they have never been adorned with the robes of Christ’s Righteousness. They remain naked in their sins, and therefore still subject to God’s wrath, to be cast into Hell forever. The parable rightly ends with the statement, “¶For many are called, but few [are] chosen.“
Many hear the call of the words of the Gospel of Salvation by Jesus Christ, and many go through the motions of what outwardly appear to be the hallmarks of being a Christian, but few are those who are really counted among the Elect of God. And only the Elect of God are internally born again by God’s Holy Spirit. Remember what Jesus said in John 3:5-8, “¶Jesus answered, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God. That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. Marvel not that I said unto thee, Ye must be born again. The wind bloweth where it listeth, and thou hearest the sound thereof, but canst not tell whence it cometh, and whither it goeth: so is every one that is born of the Spirit.“
This is also the same message that we read about in The Parable of the Ten Virgins, which makes clear that Jesus did NOT die to save “everyone” from their sins! Jesus only came to seek and save those whom God had chosen to save, those who are Born Again of the Spirit, those who God counts to be among the Elect of God, and those who are otherwise referred to as “the sheep” of the Flock of The Good Shepherd, The LORD Jesus Christ!
Another pertinent verse to ponder: Luke 12:45-48, “But and if that servant say in his heart, My lord delayeth his coming; and shall begin to beat the menservants and maidens, and to eat and drink, and to be drunken; The lord of that servant will come in a day when he looketh not for [him], and at an hour when he is not aware, and will cut him in sunder, and will appoint him his portion with the unbelievers. And that servant, which knew his lord’s will, and prepared not [himself], neither did according to his will, shall be beaten with many stripes. But he that knew not, and did commit things worthy of stripes, shall be beaten with few stripes. For unto whomsoever much is given, of him shall be much required: and to whom men have committed much, of him they will ask the more.”
We must pay particular attention to these words as they are identical to what we read was the fate of the unprofitable servant in Jesus’ Parable of the Talents as we read in Matthew 25:30, “And cast ye the unprofitable servant into outer darkness: there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth.” Compare also with Matthew 13:49&50, “So shall it be at the end of the world: the angels shall come forth, and sever the wicked from among the just, And shall cast them into the furnace of fire: there shall be wailing and gnashing of teeth.” There is therefore no doubt that the man without the wedding garment and the unprofitable servant shared the exact same fate, and the description of that fate represents the torment that all who remain dead in trespasses and sins (the unsaved) will have to endure in Hell for all eternity. This is the reality Jesus was conveying in His parables, and which has the greatest import for all of humanity!
The Second Parable: No Excuses!
In the second parable, Luke 14:15–24 , instead of mocking the host, the original invitees to the “great supper” simply ignored the host’s sent servant (Jesus Himself) and made excuses “And they all with one [consent] began to make excuse.” Three example excuses are provided, but then, when the host (allegorically representing God the Father) hears of it, he becomes angry. Again we see how the invitees who make excuses are used in the parable to, in the first instance, represent National Israel who were bidden first but refused to come (but more importantly, serve spiritually as a “Type” to represent all of mankind who reject The LORD Jesus Christ and His Gospel call). This is explained more clearly when we look at the role of Queen Vashti in the Historical Parable found in the Book of Esther.
However, as a result of that rejection by National Israel, that same invitation (the Gospel call to come to Jesus and His Passover and ultimately His Wedding Feast) would henceforth go out to all the Gentile world, bringing in everyone and anyone who, because of their natural sin-sick state, are made aware that they are spiritually poor, and the maimed, and the halt, and the blind. Remember in James 2:5, we read, “Hearken, my beloved brethren, Hath not God chosen the poor of this world rich in faith, and heirs of the kingdom which he hath promised to them that love him?” (The account of Ruth, a cursed Moabitess, provides us with a metaphor for someone who is spiritually a widow, a stranger, and poor; and the account of Mephibosheth provides us with a metaphor for someone who is spiritually lame (hence “maimed” and “halt“), and Hearing Ear and Seeing Eye explains what it means to be spiritually deaf and blind). Moreover all believers are commanded by Jesus in His Great Commission to go into “all the world” and preach the gospel to the Gentiles, as we read in Mark 16:15 “And he said unto them, Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature.“
God the Father would draw these desperate, but chosen, people to Jesus by The Holy Spirit through the “hearing” of the Word. And, also again, we see a similar fate for those who declined the supper invitation with excuses, whereupon the angry host declares, “That none of those men which were bidden shall taste of my supper.” Those who deny Jesus, and His Gospel Call, are doomed to endure the wrath of God for their sins for an eternity in Hell.
CONCLUSION
At one time or another, everyone, in some way or another, will be confronted with having to deal with the invitation to Come to Jesus for forgiveness of sins and to come to the great wedding feast in Heaven with Jesus, as prepared by God the Father. Everyone will have to respond by either “hearing” The Word of God and lovingly and joyfully responding to that invitation, or
- Make excuses because of each one’s love of this world, in opposition to God’s warning in 1 John 2:15, “Love not the world, neither the things [that are] in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him.”, and Matthew 10:37, where Jesus said, “He that loveth father or mother more than me is not worthy of me: and he that loveth son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me.” or…
- Dismissively mock Jesus and His Ambassadors, as we read in Matthew 27:41, “¶Likewise also the chief priests mocking [him], with the scribes and elders, said, He saved others; himself he cannot save. If he be the King of Israel, let him now come down from the cross, and we will believe him. He trusted in God; let him deliver him now, if he will have him: for he said, I am the Son of God.” (and remember that these scribes and elders were those who “knew” what the scriptures said, but, because they were spiritually blind, they could not “know” Jesus, Who was the embodiment of those scriptures) and in Acts 2:13, at Pentecost, “¶Others mocking said, These men are full of new wine.“, or…
- Hate the messengers because they hate the message (they hate Jesus). Remember what Jesus said in John 15:18, “If the world hate you, ye know that it hated me before [it hated] you.” and John 15:19, “If ye were of the world, the world would love his own: but because ye are not of the world, but I have chosen you out of the world, therefore the world hateth you.” And remember that by God’s standard, that would make all of them “murderers” as we read in 1 John 3:15, “Whosoever hateth his brother is a murderer: and ye know that no murderer hath eternal life abiding in him.“)
In the end, on Judgment Day, these latter individuals will find out the Truth, but it will then be too late.
“¶For many are called, but few [are] chosen.“
POSTSCRIPT
National Israel Condemned?
The above exposition makes clear that Jesus was condemning National Israel for rejecting Him and the Gospel of Salvation by Grace through Him. Jesus spoke in parables to the multitudes for a reason, which is explained in a previous post on Parables. Moreover, there are many professing Christians and theologians who claim that God still has a special plan and place for National Israel in a future great awakening, in some type of New Dispensation. That is simply NOT TRUE! There is only ONE Gospel of Grace, which spans all of history, and it applies to both Jew and Gentile alike (the remnant of sinful mankind saved by Grace alone through faith), and it has always been the case and will always be the case right up until Judgment Day. How can this be assured?
The Bible is the source book of Truth. We have only to look back in the Bible, in the Old Testament Book of Esther, another Historical Parable, for confirmation. There in the beginning of that book, Chapter 1, verses 1-22, we find another instance of a banquet feast being held by a great king and his bidding of guests to attend.
Foremost of those bidden guests was Queen Vashti: A beautiful queen, the first wife of the king Ahasuerus. When she was bidden by the king (by his “commandment”) to that great feast, she refused to come while holding her own feast for the women; so the king in his wrath decreed that she could never again come into his presence. The king (who is an allegorical “Type” for God) also decreed, at the advice of his wise men, that her royal estate be given “to another that is better than she.” King Ahasuerus then sent letters to all his provinces to be published “to every people after their language” to find a replacement for Queen Vashti.
Esther was that replacement: A fair and beautiful maid, a virgin, (and an orphan, because “for she had neither mother or father”) who was brought up by Mordecai, her elder cousin (both being Benjamite Jews), and he “took for his own daughter“… “when her father and mother were dead“.) Esther pleased king Ahasuerus and “she obtained kindness of him.” “And the king loved Esther above all the women, and she obtained grace and favour in his sight more than all the virgins; so that he set the royal crown upon her head, and made her queen instead of Vashti.“
Please see Deuteronomy 31:16-18, because it lays the foundation for understanding why National Israel, as a people, fell under and have remained under God’s wrath and condemnation: “¶And the LORD said unto Moses, Behold, thou shalt sleep with thy fathers; and this people will rise up, and go a whoring after the gods of the strangers of the land, whither they go [to be] among them, and will forsake me, and break my covenant which I have made with them. Then my anger shall be kindled against them in that day, and I will forsake them, and I will hide my face from them, and they shall be devoured, and many evils and troubles shall befall them; so that they will say in that day, Are not these evils come upon us, because our God [is] not among us? And I will surely hide my face in that day for all the evils which they shall have wrought, in that they are turned unto other gods.”
God provides additional commentary in Psalm 95:10&11 regarding the nation of Israel after their coming out of Egypt, “Forty years long was I grieved with [this] generation, and said, It [is] a people that do err in their heart, and they have not known my ways: Unto whom I sware in my wrath that they should not enter into my rest.“
Going back to the parable of Matthew 22:1-14? The “remnant”, that Jesus said was bidden to the wedding feast, but who refused to come and then slew the King’s servants (the Christians), was National Israel! Like Vashti, National Israel acted rebelliously. She refused to come when bidden to the Feast. She was disobedient. Anyone who takes the same action in response to God’s command to “Come unto me” will be cast out of the presence of God forever. Nonetheless, there is another “remnant” of National Israel who God has chosen by Grace before the foundation of the world to be counted among God’s Elect.
[It has also been pointed out to this teacher, that Queen Vashti has attributes that can also be likened to the apostate “Christian” church (as opposed to the true eternal church of Jesus Christ), which in effect also refuses God’s command to come to His feast, because it is conducting its own feast in the house that otherwise belongs to God]
[Some may think that because National Israel was restored as a nation among nations again in 1948, with its capital established in Jerusalem in 1967, that this means that God brought this about to restore His relationship with National again. Absolutely NOT! Rather, it is because it is the fulfillment of Jesus proclamation concerning the “parable of the fig tree.” Matthew 24:32&33, “¶Now learn a parable of the fig tree; When his branch is yet tender, and putteth forth leaves, ye know that summer [is] nigh: So likewise ye, when ye shall see all these things, know that it is near, [even] at the doors.” The parable was provided in the context of determining the time of the end of the world. Note that it does not say that there would be any fruit. Let him who has ears hear. For more on this topic, please see “Will the Temple Ever Be Rebuilt?]
For additional corroboration please remember what we are told in:
- Romans 2:9-11, “Tribulation and anguish, upon every soul of man that doeth evil, of the Jew first, and also of the Gentile; But glory, honour, and peace, to every man that worketh good, to the Jew first, and also to the Gentile: For there is no respect of persons with God.”
- Acts 10:34, “¶Then Peter opened [his] mouth, and said, Of a truth I perceive that God is no respecter of persons: But in every nation he that feareth him, and worketh righteousness, is accepted with him. The word which [God] sent unto the children of Israel, preaching peace by Jesus Christ: (he is Lord of all:)“
Do you now see how closely this historical account from the Book of Esther so closely mimics and sheds new light upon Jesus’ parables of the two feasts? They are completely consistent!
May this and all the posts found on this website be a blessing to all who read them and may God grant those readers the ears to hear and the eyes to see.
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