Wedding Feast Analogy

Jesus also told them other parables. He said, “The Kingdom of Heaven can be illustrated by the story of a king who prepared a great wedding feast for his son. When the banquet was ready, he sent his servants to notify those who were invited. But they all refused to come! “So he sent other servants to tell them, ‘The feast has been prepared. The bulls and fattened cattle have been killed, and everything is ready. Come to the banquet!’ But the guests he had invited ignored them and went their own way, one to his farm, another to his business. Others seized his messengers and insulted them and killed them. “The king was furious, and he sent out his army to destroy the murderers and burn their town. And he said to his servants, ‘The wedding feast is ready, and the guests I invited aren’t worthy of the honor. Now go out to the street corners and invite everyone you see.’ So the servants brought in everyone they could find, good and bad alike, and the banquet hall was filled with guests. “But when the king came in to meet the guests, he noticed a man who wasn’t wearing the proper clothes for a wedding. ‘Friend,’ he asked, ‘how is it that you are here without wedding clothes?’ But the man had no reply. Then the king said to his aides, ‘Bind his hands and feet and throw him into the outer darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’ “For many are called, but few are chosen.” [Matthew 22.1-14]

Jesus once again spoke of the Kingdom. 

Is it any wonder that the Kingdom is described using the analogy of a wedding feast? Why a wedding feast? Because a wedding feast speaks of blessing and abundance in every way. It speaks of celebration and joy and fellowship.

Question: Why would anyone avoid such a wedding feast? The answer is found in the story above and it is simple: those who refused to come were too busy with their own lives and business.

You see, a wedding feast involves a lot of folks. But, the focal point of the feast is the bride and groom. While everyone enjoys the party, the party is, in fact, about the couple being married. When it is forgotten who the feast is about, then it becomes easy to ignore or avoid it. 

Busyness in our lives can be a sign of misplaced priorities. Busyness in our lives can be a sign that we have become too important to ourselves. This is not to say that a busy person is not serving God, but, it very much indicates that a busy person must purposefully maintain perspective. The litmus test for when we are "too busy" is measured by our time available to (and for) God and others.

In the strictest sense, a wedding feast it is about a groom taking a bride and everyone celebrating with them in the blessing and value of that union. In Kingdom-speak, if Jesus is the groom, and a lost soul is the bride, then, when we are too busy to support that union, we have nothing to do with the Kingdom. Period.

But, it gets more serious. It is evidently possible to show up at the wedding feast unprepared.

How, one might ask, is there any way to do right by this wedding feast? Simple: stay focused on the couple. To support the couple, one will join in the celebration in full participation even to the point of dressing accordingly. Again though, the point is not the "attire" but the attitude of participation in the wedding feast. The attire is simply an indicator of thought given to the event. I believe the attire speaks of personal preparation - I believe the attire speaks of our personal participation in the Word of God and prayer.

So, there really is more to "going to church" than just showing up.

Father, thank You for speaking to my heart today on just how important the whole 'wedding feast' analogy is to the Kingdom and my role in it.