This parable paints a scene where a king arranges for his son to be married, so he sends out his servants to invite the guests to the wedding (22:2-3); however, they refuse to come. Again, the king sends out his servants to the same people and invites them to the wedding but the servants are met with the same reaction (22:4-6). Furthermore, some of the invited guests take the king’s servants and kill them and the king becomes furious so he sends out an army to destroy their city (22:7). The first part of this parable is an illustration of the so-called religious leaders of the day who had rejected the message brought to them by people such as John the Baptist. The king is symbolic of God the Father and the son is Jesus Christ. Those invited to the wedding feast pictures salvation, which was especially first extended to the Jews (God’s people). Jesus continues the parable by saying that the king then tells his servants to go into the highways and invite as many people as they can to the wedding, whether good or bad (22:8-10). Jesus goes on to say that the wedding hall is full with the guests his servants had found. This is a beautiful representation of God’s salvation being offered to all people regardless of their past. It appears that since the servants had invited people off of the streets that the king provided them with the proper attire for the wedding. The reason I say this is because there is one guy whom the king sees not wearing the proper attire and so he inquires as to how he got in (22:11-12). The kings inquiry is met with a speechless reaction as the king calls his servants to take this man away and cast him into outer darkness (22:13). My initial reaction is to think that the king is pretty harsh, but further examination reveals that this man just refused to be clothed in the garments the king had provided. Again, this is a perfect illustration of how we are clothed with the righteousness of Jesus Christ when we admit our inability to clothe ourselves in righteousness (Isaiah 61:10). Paul wrote about this same illustration in Philippians 3:9 when he says “not having my own righteousness which is from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness which is from God by faith.” Jesus ultimately wants people to know that salvation is not found in self-righteous works, but rather in grace through faith, which is His gift to us.
Dear God, thank You for providing the righteousness I needed in order to be Your child.
