Saturday, October 06, 2012

What is Jesus saying through His last final parable here on earth? Matthew 22:1-14

Matthew 22:1-14 was the final parable Jesus preached in His public ministry here on earth. His last word must be delivered with much weightiness - both on His heart and on the hearers' heart.

Jesus must be thinking... "I'm going to leave the people with these parting words. I've kept it till my final hours to say this... I've spoken of many things that my Father has entrusted me to say, and pressed on to do all the things He has told me to do... This is the very message that will sum up what's on my Father's heart...may they take heart...may they take heed and respond..."

Why did Jesus liken the kingdom of heaven to a certain king who arranged a marriage for his son (Matthew 22:2). What does He mean when He ended the parable with the statement, "For many are called, but few are chosen." (Matthew. 22:14)?


What is the kingdom of God like?
There are three major focuses in this parable. Firstly, it speaks of what the kingdom of God is all about (v2). Many parables in the gospel describe the "kingdom paradigm" - the kingdom of God is like a man who sowed good seed into his field... the kingdom of God is like a mustard seed... the kingdom of God is like leaven ... the kingdom of God is like treasure hidden in a field... and so on... In Matthew 22:1-14, Jesus describes the kingdom of God as a certain king who arranged a marriage for his son. It gave the clearest description of why Jesus came for the first time and what He is looking for in His second coming. He is looking for a bride for His Son, a bride who is equally-yoked in love and maturity with Jesus, for the wedding feast to come!

The parable crescendos to the verse in Matthew 22:37-38:

"Jesus said to him, “‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.’ This is the first and great commandment."

The parable of the Wedding Feast, as what Matthew 22:1-14 is commonly referred to, provides the context for the Call to the First and Great Commandment. Matthew 22:37-38 is in the context of a wedding feast!  God is calling out to us to love Him wholeheartedly because there is a wedding to come! Oh God, let this truth marinate our hearts! May we know what You are saying and looking for!


How then shall we preach the gospel?
Secondly, this parable shows us how we should proclaim the kingdom of God. Do we preach a gospel that merely tells people that it is the way to escape the lake of fire? - "believe in Jesus and you will be saved from hell's  fire!" Or do we proclaim what is the eternal plan in God's heart? - the very core message of the Gospel centres around a wedding feast! This is the very ultimate desire of God the Father! He has a Son and He is looking for an equally-yoked bride to 'marry' Jesus. This union is nothing sensual in the human sense, rather, what God means is that He seeks a spiritual intimacy with believers that is at the closest level. Apostle Paul aptly proclaims this in the context of the relationship between husband and wife in Ephesians 5:32

"This is a great mystery, but I speak concerning Christ and the church."


The importance and necessity to prepare ourselves
Finally, this parable reveals the highest focus of any ministry - to be prepared for the wedding to come! The core message of the Gospel, the ultimate desire of God and the highest focus of any ministry is hidden in the parable of the Wedding Feast (Matthew 22:1 - 14). So take heed! Whatever ministry that God has given us, they are an instrument to enhance our love for God and an expression of our love for God and people. We are to be faithful in doing it - be it exciting, laborious or even at times mundane. We are to be faithful till the end, standing firm on His truth, with clarity in what we are doing, even when our 'assignment' from God may seem unpopular, our ministry is not growing or we face resistance from all sides..

Yet we need to remember that the primary goal of any ministry is love, for there is a wedding day to come! Are we preparing the flocks that God has entrusted us to be ready in wholeheartedness before His coming? Is the focus of our ministry one that enhances love for God? We often put the cart before the horse and get distracted and preoccupied with the works of the ministry and so neglect our First Love. The works of the ministry are important, yet they are to be secondary. When we put the secondary things in the first place, we will burn out and lose our First Love...

As we read what God is saying and looking for in this parable, may we see the importance and necessity to prepare ourselves for the wedding feast. God has given us a blueprint in the Scriptures, showing us how we should prepare ourselves - the Book of Esther gives us an allegorical description of how Queen Esther, depicting the bride of Christ,  responded to the bridal invitation and prepared herself in partnership with God 'for such a time as this'. She stood in readiness, even unto death, having been through a lengthy process of bridal preparation and intercession. The book of Joel also gives the clearest description of how we should prepare ourselves in times of crisis, which is the very hour we are entering into. May our hearts tremble and may we take heed and respond!


What God is saying and how shall we respond?
The primary and premier work of the Holy Spirit in such a time as this is to restore and awaken the Church to her First Love! (Matt. 22:37-39; Mark 12:30; Deu. 30: 1-14; Songs 6:8-9). Are our hearts burning for God? Do we love Jesus more today than yesterday? Oh, may our goal here on earth be this - to be able to present to Jesus at the end of our life - a life testimony of complete obedience and the offering of our perfect love to Jesus. (1 John 4:12-17). We can love God wholeheartedly! If God has called us to love Him, He will give us grace and empower us too!

Our readiness for the wedding day to come is determined by our preparation. The readiness of an individual believer is the result and combination of both the divine grace of God and human responsibility. We don't earn what God has in store for us, our destiny in Him, but we reach for it (Rom. 8:28-29; Phil. 2:12; Rev. 19:7). It's not about attaining perfection but about the posturing of our hearts to pursue God wholeheartedly with diligence, focus and intensity. For many have said "yes" but few go after it intentionally and deliberately (Matt. 22:14)...


One of the questions of the hour
The parable ends with an exhortation to prepare ourselves and the consequence of not being ready for the wedding day. Matthew 22: 11-12 says,

"But when the king came in to see the guests, he saw a man there who did not have on a wedding garment. So he said to him, ‘Friend, how did you come in here without a wedding garment?’ And he was speechless. Then the king said to the servants, ‘Bind him hand and foot, take him away, and cast him into outer darkness; there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’ "

One of the questions of the hour is this: "Friend, how did you come in here without a wedding garment?" (Matthew 22:12) What a sobering sight - the man was already in the wedding feast but he did not have a wedding garment on. Who was this man? He was in the eternal city but did not receive the full inheritance God has in store for Him because he was not ready. He could be a nominal believer who is casual about his faith or lived in compromise in sin and thus did not esteem loving God wholeheartedly and running in partnership with Him here on earth as important and a priority.

God exhorts us in 2Cor. 13:5 "Examine yourselves as to whether you are in the faith. Test yourselves. Do you not know yourselves, that Jesus Christ is in you?—unless indeed you are disqualified."  

The consequence of not being prepared was liken to being in the outer darkness where there is weeping and gnashing of teeth for the glory of entering into the wedding feast and eternity in proximity with God is something he could have but it was too late. Oh God, give to us understanding of the 'it's too late' reality...let Your truth so strike our hearts...give us understanding and grace to respond! In that day, we want to be speechless in gazing at the fullness of Your glory; not speechless in realising that we are not prepared when we could have done something about it...

He who has an ear,  let him hear what the Spirit of God is saying! And as we hear, may we respond in bridal preparation, intentionally and deliberately. And having done that, to contend earnestly for the fullness God has for us!

"Beloved, while I was very diligent to write to you concerning our common salvation, I found it necessary to write to you exhorting you to contend earnestly for the faith which was once for all delivered to the saints." (Jude 1:3)


 
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