The Wedding Banquet
A few days ago, when I asked God to speak to me, he showed me this:
The Parable of the Wedding Banquet
Jesus spoke to them again in parables, saying: “The kingdom of heaven is like a king who prepared a wedding banquet for his son. He sent his servants to those who had been invited to the banquet to tell them to come, but they refused to come.
”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.’
”But they paid no attention and went off—one to his field, another to his business. The rest seized his servants, mistreated them and killed them. The king was enraged. He sent his army and destroyed those murderers and burned their city.
”Then he said to his servants, ‘The wedding banquet is ready, but those I invited did not deserve to come. Go to the street corners and invite to the banquet anyone you find.’ So 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.
”But when the king came in to see the guests, he noticed a man there who was not wearing wedding clothes. ‘Friend,’ he asked, ‘how did you get in here without wedding clothes?’ The man was speechless.
”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.’
”For many are invited, but few are chosen.”
So. At first after reading this, I was appalled that Jesus would turn a guest invited to his party away. Just because he was too poor. I couldn’t fathom it so I turned the page and tried to find something else to read. I soon realized however that I read that for a reason; and I felt a deep conviction to decipher the parable…
I began to think. In the parable, Jesus invited all he guests. And none came. Then He invited those who “served” Him. And none came. So He pleaded with one of His servants to invite everyone in the streets, key words: GOOD and BAD. EVERYONE. Sound familiar? For God so loved THE WORLD (EVERYONE) that He gave His one and only Son…
So, the banquet was a symbol for our invite to eternal life. But why did God turn one away?
Well. Frankly, he didn’t come dressed. He came dressed very very poorly. So the other poor people took the time and effort to change their outfit into what they were invited to be…This man came dressed in his old ways…
So I began to reflect…in my life, am I attending the banquet dressed in my old clothes?
