Matthew 22:11-14

Matthew 22:11-14

“But after the king went in to see the ones who reclined at the table to eat, he saw in that place a man who has not clothed himself in the garment of the wedding celebration.  And he says to him, “My associate, how did you enter in here while not having the garment of the wedding celebration?”  And he was speechless.  Then the king said to his servants, “After tying his feet and hands, throw him out into the darkness outside.  There will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.  For many are called, and few chosen.”

Thoughts for Today

First Thought:

As we look to this portion of the parable, let’s first make sure that we understand that there were two very common rabbinic parables about this topic at the time of Jesus.  The first rabbinic story was about a king who invited people to a feast without telling them when it would start.  The wise ones got ready immediately and then waited for the call of the king.  The foolish ones put off getting ready until they heard the summons, but by then it was too late.  In this story we have a lesson much like the parable of the 10 virgins found in Matthew 25:1-13.  In the second rabbinic parable speaks about a king who gives clothing to his subjects.  The wise subjects stow away the clothing for when they are to have an audience with the king.  In this way they are always ready with something to wear.  The foolish subjects take the king’s garment and wear it around at once in order to impress the people around them.  But by wearing it immediately, they have nothing proper to wear when the king summons them into an audience.  It would seem that Jesus has brought both of these stories together in this parable.  But what is neat to see is that much like today, Jesus’ teaching took common and well known stories from His own day and He repurposed them into His own instruction.  In this parable, we get a glimpse into Jesus’ methodology.

Do you think that it is neat to see Jesus using the stories of His own day in his teaching?  What does this say to you about the importance of knowing your context of instruction?

Second Thought:

Knowing the context of this story, we can see the story jump out at us in new and rich meaning.  The verb choice spoken by Jesus about the inconsiderate guest in this parable is key.  Jesus says that the man “has not clothed himself.”  This verb is in the perfect tense.  Jesus is telling us something about the man’s past and the effects of his past upon the present and future.  At some point in the past, the man chose to not clothe himself for the wedding celebration.  Thus, when the time came for the celebration, the man was not ready to partake.  He came.  Certainly he knew the importance of coming to the wedding celebration.  But he came unready.  This is a major point of Jesus’ teaching.  He was not ready for his audience with the king.  He was in a state of being ill-prepared and it showed when he came into the feast.  Jesus is telling us that while we don’t have to be perfect, we do need to at least be prepared by taking what God gives to us freely and using it to make us ready.  God’s grace is freely given.  We do need to embrace it and make it the core of our life before the king summons us to the great wedding feast.

Are you ready?  Have you embraced God’s grace?  Have you prepared yourself for the summon of the king of this universe?

Third Thought:

Also notice that the man was speechless.  It isn’t like he never got a garment.  Had he never gotten a garment, he would have had a ready excuse!  But he is speechless because he knows that there is no excuse.  He knows he was ill-prepared, and he is silent before the king.  The king has him bound and thrown into the outer darkness.  And then we hear the famous line from Jesus.  Many are called, but few are chosen.  In fact, we know that Jesus is actually underselling the reality at this point.  Everyone is invited into God’s grace.  Everyone can come to the great wedding supper of the lamb as portrayed in Revelation 19:6-10.  Not just many are called, everyone is called!  There is nobody who is outside of God’s grace.  But the reality is that few are chosen.  Few will receive God’s grace and put it on.  Few will embrace the free gift.  Many will be like this man and find out only too late how unprepared they were.  It’s not me to judge who is in that category, of course.  That is God’s domain.  But it is my job to hear the words of Christ and ponder their truth deeply.  Many are called, few are chosen.  There will indeed be much weeping and gnashing of teeth.

How do you interpret the words many and few in Jesus’ closing remarks for this section?  Why do you think the man was speechless when the king ask him why he was not in the proper attire?

Passage for Tomorrow: Matthew 22:15-22