Exodus 2:11-20 & Matthew 22:1-10
The Lord Jesus enjoyed a good party, like most of us. A casual reading of the Four Gospels reveals this about Jesus. In fact, because He went to parties and seemed to enjoy them, He was accused by the religious establishment of being a drunkard and a glutton. He liked parties so much that He used illustrations from parties to teach about the Kingdom of Heaven — like the one before us in this parable in Matthew 22.
The word on these pages is about invitation. It is a script about inviting anybody and everybody to a party. Believers in Jesus Christ are called to be an inviting people — people who love to tell the story of Jesus and His love. Inviting anybody and everybody to a party.
How do you, how do we view our church? How do you characterize her? Loving? Hateful? Humble? Arrogant? Exciting? Boring? Easy? Difficult? Hospitable? Inhospitable? How about a party?
And what about your individual life in Christ: Is your life in Christ a party?
Jesus says the Kingdom of Heaven, His rule and reign in our individual lives and our collective life as one Body of Christ awaiting His Second Appearing, is to be like a party, a banquet, a feast like those that are given in conjunction with a wedding. “The kingdom of heaven is like a king who prepared a wedding banquet for his son” (v. 2).
Weddings were fun occasions in biblical times. They are supposed to be in modern times too. But in the modernity of today they can be, not always, but can be, pains in the neck or other parts of the anatomy depending on which day of the week it is.
Anybody ever watched the reality TV show “Bridezilla”? My dear soul. Have you ever seen such? Those are some pretty angry women. These are really some unhappy people. Most of the people on those “reality” shows are unhappy and unhappy people often make for narcissistic, utterly selfish people. And that is what some brides and grooms and mommas and daddies and invited wedding guests are today: unhappy and living with the “it’s all about me” disorder. When it comes to weddings, some people have forgotten the joy that is supposed to be associated with them.
Obviously the people to whom Jesus referred in this troubling story were invited guests to a wedding party or banquet and, at the last minute, they refused to come. They must have been stricken with that “it’s all about me” disorder. They had been invited and didn’t show up. They didn’t even have the courtesy to decline the invitation, which, in first century culture, was taboo. It was an insult not to attend a party if you had been invited.