Scripture
Matthew 22:11-14 (NIV)
11 But when the king came in to see the guests, he noticed a man there who was not wearing wedding clothes. 12 He asked, ‘How did you get in here without wedding clothes, friend?’ 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.’
14 “For many are invited, but few are chosen.”
Observation
In Matthew 22:1-10 Jesus is telling another parable.
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.3 He sent his servants to those who had been invited to the banquet to tell them to come, but they refused to come.
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. 6 The rest seized his servants, mistreated them, and killed them. 7 The king was enraged. He sent his army and destroyed those murderers and burned their city.
8 “Then he said to his servants, ‘The wedding banquet is ready, but those I invited did not deserve to come. 9 So go to the street corners and invite to the banquet anyone you find.’ 10 So the servants went out into the streets and gathered all the people they could find, the bad as well as the good, and the wedding hall was filled with guests.
In this parable, one can break down the characters and events as such:
King – God.
King’s son – Jesus.
Servants – the prophets, people of the Old Testament, Believers.
Those who had been invited the first time – The Jewish people.
Wedding banquet – Salvation in Heaven.
The burned city – Jerusalem and the nation of Israel when it was taken into captivity and again in 70 AD when the Romans destroyed it.
Those who are invited the second time – Gentiles.
The wedding bride – The Church.
The guests – Gentiles who accepted the invitation.
Salvation was first offered to the Jewish people who, time and again, killed the prophets sent by God. After killing the prophets and turning to follow other gods, and eventually crucifying Christ. Salvation was then offered to the gentiles. The guests we see here are all of those gentiles who were invited and accepted the message of the Gospel. However, as we can see, there’s a guest who isn’t wearing the proper attire for the wedding banquet.
Who is this guest? How did he get in? Why isn’t he wearing wedding clothes?
Since we’ve determined that the guests in this parable are all of those who have been offered the salvation offered through the shed blood of Jesus, we know that this guest is one of those people.
This guest was “invited” to partake in the salvation of the Lord through His death and resurrection. A gift offered to everyone who accepts it.
It wasn’t uncommon for someone very rich, and well off, such as a king, to have clothing that was provided to wear at an event such as a wedding banquet. Sort of like a black-tie event, costume party, etc. However, in this case, the clothing is already available for the guests to wear.
We don’t know why this guest isn’t wearing wedding clothes that were provided for him, and the guest doesn’t seem to know either. We do know that it is an insult to the host of the party since the clothes were provided for him, so he’s thrown out.
I think the wedding clothes here represent being clothed in the righteousness of Jesus. What does that mean?
It is not enough to believe that Jesus is God. Even the demons believe this and shudder (James 2:19). There is only one way to God. That is through Jesus Christ. He is the way, the truth, and the life (John 14:6) We are clothed in the righteousness of Jesus when we give our lives to Him, by faith. Once we’ve given our lives to Jesus then God wants us to live a holy life which we cannot do without Jesus. Everyone has sinned and fallen short of the glory of God (Romans 3:23). This doesn’t mean that we give up when we sin. When we sin, we need to repent, know that God has forgiven us, and move on, in faith. Once we have given our life to Christ, through faith, God wants us to do two things:
1. Love God with all of our heart, soul, and mind (Matthew 22:37).
2. Love other people (Mark 12:31).
How can I not get kicked out of the party?
If you’ve given your life to Christ and have been baptized, you are saved by faith. If you haven’t yet given your life to Christ then you can pray this prayer.
Father, it is written in Your Word that if I confess with my mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in my heart that You have raised Him from the dead, I shall be saved.
Therefore, Father, I confess that Jesus is my Lord. I make Him Lord of my life right now. I believe in my heart that You raised Jesus from the dead. I renounce my past life with Satan and close the door to any of his devices.
I thank You for forgiving me of all my sin. Jesus is my Lord, and I am a new creation. Old things have passed away; now all things become new in Jesus’ name. Amen.
Congratulations!
There are abundant resources available online for new Christians. You can visit here for more information on what to do next. You can also leave me a comment, and I’ll do my best to help you on the next step of this incredible journey.
Application
The best way that I can see to apply what I’ve read and learned today is:
1. Read my Bible.
2. Pray.
3. Fellowship with other people.
4. Listen and trust God.
Prayer
Father, I praise and magnify you! I thank you for who are. Thank you for speaking to me today and giving me illumination in your word. I pray, Father, in the name of Jesus, that I would be attentive to what you say to me. I pray that I would be discerning and know your voice in the chaos of life. In Jesus’ name, I pray. Amen.
Four-Calendar Café 
Hello Jason!
This is an amazing parable and you do well to share it and to do as the servants in the parable were commanded. That is our command as believers in Christ. I pray that your efforts will bear fruit. I agree with your assessment of the identities of the various parties within the parable, but I do wonder, also, about the man without the wedding garment. As I am still learning in the scriptures I am always interested in these sorts of parables and their meaning because they are not given at face value and opinions vary (and my own tend to vary with time).
I would share my present thoughts on that man, for your consideration as well, but please do with them as seems best to you. You see, if as you suggest, to wear the wedding garments means I must uphold the two commands you cite in order to not be thrown into outer darkness (out of the kingdom), then salvation would seem to me to be not a gift, but rather something I must yet merit, and the work of Christ on my behalf would seem to me to not be complete, but yet requires my participation, and then I ponder, will not a part of the glory be mine were I to succeed? (And alas I have already failed many times and do so daily, but not willfully.)
After thought, a preferable interpretation for me, and one which may perhaps better accord with the scripture that declares that salvation is by grace through faith, would possibly be to see the wedding garment as Christ’s righteousness, imputed to me at the moment of salvation. Perhaps I don that garment when I trust in Christ alone for my righteousness. (To your point about the demons who believe, I would suggest that effectual faith / true belief will thereafter spend the rest of its life walking with Him, joyfully seeking His holiness, loving God and others, but will still struggle against sin, and will walk and love imperfectly, ever and continually repenting, growing, and trusting in Christ alone for salvation and not trusting in its performance or in anything except Christ.)
As to the man in the parable, might he not then represent the one who seeks heaven by any other means than by trusting in Christ alone? If the finished work of Christ were the garment provided by the King, and putting our faith/trust in His finished work as the lamb of God were the donning of the garment, then refusing to don the garment and yet making bold to attend the banquet would then be to refuse to trust in Christ alone for salvation. The Pharisees addressed by the parable foolishly thought that by the careful observance of the law they could gain heaven and scoffed at the teaching of the new covenant, persecuting those who received it. Perhaps one of the points Jesus was making was that there will be no getting into the banquet by any other means, and any who try will be cast out (aka “away from me, I never knew you”).
Anyway, I do apologize for such a lengthy comment, and will take no offense if you should deem it unfit to remain or fear that it could distract from your purposes for this post, so if you have any reserve or take any issue whatsoever, please remove it and accept my sincere apology. I like your page and have followed you for a while and will surely continue to do so and respect any such decision, yet I did not know how else to enter into discourse with you, and since you have given thought to this parable already I would be interested in your additional thoughts, but not to quarrel, simply to more thoroughly understand another’s point of view.
God bless,
Craig
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Thank you, brother, for your wonderful comment! I really appreciate your time and effort in pointing this out to me. Thanks for being my Proverbs 27:17 buddy.
You are correct. It is only through Jesus that we can get to God. In Christ, we are the righteousness of God. Our salvation is, indeed, through our faith in Christ. When we accept Him as our Lord and Savior then we are saved by that faith.
Matthew 7:21-23 comes to mind.
21 “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. 22 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 in your name perform many miracles?’ 23 Then I will tell them plainly, ‘I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!’
There are many people who believe in God and those who believe that Jesus is God. However, not all of these people have gone beyond that belief. Hence, James 2:19. People may believe that God is one. That is, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, rather than a myriad of gods. Their belief in one God doesn’t bring them salvation.
I will suggest that there are also people who declare a life for God and then never live that life out. On Sunday, they were in Church, gave their life to Jesus, and they continued on their merry way. 2 Corinthians 5:17 comes to mind, “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here!” An issue with taking scripture out of context is that it’s out of context. What I know about this verse is that it say’s, “in Christ.” What does it mean to be “in Christ?”
If we read Galatians 3:26-28 (NIV) then we can see what it means to be, “in Christ.”
26 So in Christ Jesus you are all children of God through faith, 27 for all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ. 28 There is neither Jew nor Gentile, neither slave nor free, nor is there male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.
This supports the notion, that you and I both believe, that we are saved by faith in Jesus, our subsequent declaration, and baptism.
And yet Matthew 7:21-23 is still on my mind. I think on the 2015 statistic that 75% of adults in the United States identified as Christian (65% in 2019). A quick search on Google shows 331,002,651 people in the U.S. as of mid-2020 according to U.N. data.
331,002,651 * .65 = 215,151,723 (Using 2019 data of 65% of people who identify as Christian)
“By this everyone will know that you are my disciples if you love one another.” John 13:35 NIV
Brother, I don’t see the love (the fruit) in the United States that supports a population of little Christs walking around. I do believe that we are saved by faith, not by works. However, I do believe that the Gospel does tell us that we are to live and behave a certain way. Do I succeed in living this way? No, do I try, and when I fail, repent and walk in God’s grace? Absolutely!
My conclusion here is that I don’t understand all of this. How everything works. I know that there are people who know more than I do. I am grateful that the Lord gave this to me today in my daily devotion. Did I get it right? (If I have to lose love to be right then I’d rather be wrong.) I don’t know. Are two brothers discussing God’s word in love? I believe so.
Forgive me for my long reply!
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Amen. I, like you, don’t have all the answers, and similarly I see that although doctrine matters (and it surely does), it is possible to be saved and not understand much more than the fact the Christ died for me, and conversely it is possible to have a comprehensive command of sound doctrine and lack love, and even still be lost.
I also lament the state of the church in the West. Whether my understanding is 100% correct or not (and odds are good it’s not 100%), clearly there are multitudes who identify as “Christian” and go through the superficial ceremonies and declarations, but exhibit no lasting, outward indication of the inward change that scripture declares will accompany all those who hold saving faith.
Within my current understanding, I see those whose faith is only superficial and/or who fall away with time or trial as the tares sown among the wheat. I speculate that our culture’s Christian origins have provided fertile ground for tares, and the true church (those who Jesus would own as His) is far smaller than the visible population of nominal Christians.
The current spiraling of morality in our culture is quickly changing that, and I think that as the culture becomes more hostile to biblical Christianity, the purity of the visible church will grow, even as its apparent size shrinks. The gospel will still be declared by the faithful, and people will continue to respond and be saved, but the ratio may appear to drop. My own view is that even if all of my labor in the Lord wins a single convert it will be worth it, and should the number be zero, that will still be OK as long as the Lord is truly glorified in my life and I have been faithful to His call.
God bless!
Craig
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I’m glad that neither one of us has all of the answers! As brothers in Christ, we can, through the guidance of the Holy Spirit, encourage one another. I appreciate your time, your comments, and you. You have encouraged me.
If someone is saved and only understands that Jesus died for them then that’s not a bad thing! I agree that all the knowledge, without love, is useless.
If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing. (1 Corinthians 13:2 NIV)
When I think about the state of the church in the West, I think of Galatians 6:1
“Brothers and sisters, if someone is caught in a sin, you who live by the Spirit should restore that person gently. But watch yourselves, or you also may be tempted.” (NIV)
In our discourse, I believe, that being aware of the issue will allow us to better pray, and then act, as we are directed by the Lord, to help those who have gone astray.
God bless you, my brother!
-Jason
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