10/18/2026
“And again Jesus spoke to them in parables, saying, “The kingdom of heaven may be compared to a king who gave a wedding feast for his son, and sent his servants to call those who were invited to the wedding feast, but they would not come. Again he sent other servants, saying, ‘Tell those who are invited, “See, I have prepared my dinner, my oxen and my fat calves have been slaughtered, and everything is ready. Come to the wedding feast.”’ But they paid no attention and went off, one to his farm, another to his business, while the rest seized his servants, treated them shamefully, and killed them. The king was angry, and he sent his troops and destroyed those murderers and burned their city. Then he said to his servants, ‘The wedding feast is ready, but those invited were not worthy. Go therefore to the main roads and invite to the wedding feast as many as you find.’ And those servants went out into the roads and gathered all whom they found, both bad and good. So the wedding hall was filled with guests. “But when the king came in to look at the guests, he saw there a man who had no wedding garment. And he said to him, ‘Friend, how did you get in here without a wedding garment?’ And he was speechless. Then the king said to the attendants, ‘Bind him hand and foot and cast him into the outer darkness. In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’ For many are called, but few are chosen.”” ~ Matthew 22:1-14 ESV
This is a pretty straightforward parable so let’s the the basics out of the way. The King is God. The feast is Heaven. God sent out invitations to the feast. Wedding feasts were a big deal back in the day. So the invitation was an equally big deal. In this case, Jesus was the invitation. He tells us elsewhere that no one gets to heaven except through him.
It’s important to note that the people who were invited chose not to attend. It’s not that they couldn’t make it. They specifically chose to not believe in Jesus. They went so far as to mistreat the people bringing the good news. This is the Jewish people rejecting the disciples and the prophets that were sent to them.
So the King invited everyone else (that’s us!!). And many of us showed up to the feast. The new guests were clothed (what you wear to the feast matters). That means we live the life of a believer in Jesus. We accept him and were invited. We get the clothes.
Here’s where I want to focus. The person who refused to change clothes. Do you know people who think if they are nice enough, give enough money to charity, whatever it might be, that they can get to heaven even if they haven’t accepted Jesus. Not so fast! That person got booted out of the feast right away.
Guess where that leaves us? You got it. We need to either convince the people who rejected the whole idea of Jesus and heaven to believe the good news. Or we need to get the people who think they can get into heaven on their own merits that Jesus is the only way. Yep. The Great Commission again. We have work to do friends. No time like the present.
Drive thru is open 8:00-1:00. Have a blessed Sunday.
